The Women's Movement

This instruction comes directly from the Bible, and in essence, solidifies the belief that women should be subordinate to their husbands. This idea was to be carried on for centuries later, until at least the 1800s, where women were finally afforded certain rights with the emergence of the Women’s Movement in 1848. The Movement is a political and social movement that sought for the equal rights and opportunities for men and women in areas such as politics, economics, and especially in areas such as their personal lives (Burkett, 2015). It also gave rise to the ideology of feminism and a second-wave movement of feminism in the latter part of the second half of the 20th century. Prior to this, women’s positions remained undermined in a largely

This has become a reality in many cases, as we see instances were more women than men are enrolled in academic institutions and women pursuing careers in previously male-dominated fields (Miller,1986). Women are clearly become more career-oriented. This is all perfect for women empowerment, except that it encourages the postponement and even cancellation of traditions such as marriages and childbearing. In fact, studies by the Pew Research Center (2011) revealed that the average age a woman decided to get married moved from twenty (20) to a few months over the age of twenty-six (26). The US Bureau of Census (2013) revealed similar statistics when it found that the median age of marriage for women rose from twenty-one (21) in 1973 to a little over twenty-five (25) in 2013. This suggests that women view marriage as a “capstone” as opposed to a “cornerstone”, and invested more time and resources into their education and careers, pushing other life achievements such as marriage to the back burner. “Career women” view such achievements as drawbacks and little emphasis is placed on

Feminists in particular, strongly believe that the women’s movement has provided more positive impacts in society. Revolutionary feminists theorist such as Betty Friedan and Shulamith Firestone assert that the movement challenges the stereotypical gender roles in society and it is for this reason why people, particularly men, believe that it undermines the stability of marriage and family life. While we won’t deny that the women’s movement afforded many women rights, we cannot ignore the fact that it is some of these very reasons (divorce laws e.g.) that has caused breakdown in many families across the