In this paper I will be going over issue 17, “Has the Women’s Movement of the 1970’s Failed to Liberate American Women?”. Sara M. Evans and F. Carolyn Graglia each voice their opinions about the issue. They talk about the history of the women’s movement throughout time and the effects it had in our country. F. Carolyn Graglia writes about how she agrees the movement has failed to liberate American women. Her views on feminism concluded that the feminist movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s was a reasonable but a faulty idea, in that it was based on a worthy opinion (that all men and women should be equal).
Sexism often enforces a social role on women in which they are subordinated to men; (p. 478). In the particular case of (Kowalski and Thompson); the modes of oppression according to (Andre Lorde. “There Is No Hierarchy of Oppression”; Interracial Books for Children Bulletin, 1983, 14, 9; p. 479-80). On the basis of these “isim’s” the choices or wishes of the couple that society didn’t recognize (Thompson & Kowalski) were denied, and their sexuality was controlled; (p. 479); with the end result being no quality of life, for either; at least not for the next nine years; while the legal battle ensued as well
In nearly all historical societies, sexism was prevalent. Power struggles between genders mostly ended in men being the dominant force in society, leaving women on a lower rung of the social ladder. However, this does not always mean that women have a harder existence in society. Scott Russell Sanders faces a moral dilemma in “The Men We Carry in Our Minds.” In the beginning, Sanders feels that women have a harder time in society today than men do.
Words such as ‘unspoken assumption’, ‘insidiously’,‘exaggerating’, and “preoccupation” show suspicion towards the topic of women's rights and movements . In addition, the author also gives emphasis towards the downfall of men’s rights by including details such as “special privileges and protection to women” and “men’s supposed mistreatment of women”, thus showing how the author is directly opressed by the fight for equal rights. The author sees men's rights and their struggle with oppression as them being expected to have traditional cordial manners and fall into the traditional role of the patriarchy of the family, and decides to ‘debunk’ feminism by using these few points against a legacy of hatred, oppression, and misogyny that created
The progressive era was a historical movement in time where extensive social activism and political reform were taking place all across America. If would be inadequate to say that one class of women, either the working class or the middle class, were affected more or less than the other by this era. They were both handing different forms of change and reform, but all of equal value. The working class women were piloting research, implementing reformation programs, attempting to increase wages, improve working conditions, and lobbying legislation to make positive changes. Amongst the working class women were many notable women that changed history.
The ethical issue that Marylin Fryer is addressing is the construct of sexism being oppressive. Frye argues that sexism is not just a matter of individual attitudes or actions, but rather a systemic and redundant form of oppression that operates through various means of exclusion, marginalization, and control. Fryer also introduces additional issues such as sex-marking, sex-announcing, distributive inequality, and “Bind and Restrict”, which all be discussed in the premises section of this paper. Frye's work also highlights the ethical imperative to address social inequalities and to work towards a more just and equitable society. She argues that we have a collective responsibility to challenge and resist forms of oppression and to work towards
During this week, we have covered numerous topics, none more prominent than the oppression of women. Everyone had different opinions, allowing me to take into account different views on the issue. In one of the texts we examined, “Oppression”, Marilyn Frye, a philosopher, debates the subjugation of women. She states the cultural customs that causes oppression of women. I do agree with her view that women are oppressed, but I do not agree that it is just women.
The following quote should hopefully secure the idea that oppression is still very much a prominent part of society that affects women, “We look silly, incompetent, weak, and generally contemptible” Frye writes, regarding the differences between female restrains and male restraints, “Our exercise of this discipline tends to low esteem and self-esteem. It does not benefit us. It fits in a network of behaviors through which we constantly announce to others our membership in a lower caste and our unwillingness and/or inability to defend our bodily or moral integrity” (16). In essence, this quote displays how women are mocked for attempting to develop their own independence.
1. Mill and Marx both argue that women are oppressed in modern society. How are their understandings of this oppression similar/different? Mill’s and Marx’s understanding of female oppression by the society is more different than similar.
When analyzing the characters of the Handmaid's Tale and the Scarlet Letter through the feminist lense, sexism has become so internalized that women work to maintain the system through prejudice and belittling one another for not fulfilling orthodox gender roles.
Works of literature often portray ideas relating to Marxist theory, this is why in a dystopian society, class distinctions dominate the social climate, using Marxist ideologies as a tool to define the lives of the narrator and those around her. In Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, ideologies from Marxist theory dominate the society in which Offred, the narrator, lives in, evidenced by the strict class systems and limited interaction between them. In writing the novel, Atwood makes a point to create a world that could exist using technology and ideas already accessible in today’s society, meaning the events that take place in The Handmaid’s Tale could happen in present day. Offred lives in a reality where class distinctions dominate society, and women, especially fertile women. These women are displaced downwards, although there are those women who attempt to resist the grip of society.
In a society that is heavily influenced by mass media, women are repeatedly compartmentalized into unrealistic, and often degrading standards of appearance and sexuality. Doris Bazzini’s research on magazines and Caroline Heldman’s blog explores themes related to a woman’s appearance, while Jessica Valenti elaborates on the concept of virginity in her essay titled, “The Purity Myth”. Despite the diversity in scope when it comes to womanhood, there is a numerous set of expectations that a female must fit in order to be “ideal”. However, this checklist is so specific and debasing that it renders the criteria useless. The three main pre-requisites in being the ideal woman include physical attractiveness, sexual accessibility, and purity.
With the rise of civilization also came the rise of patriarchy-based societies and the slow decline of the importance of women in society. For the longest time the history of the world has been written by men who have been the head of the patriarchy and have forgotten the role of women in history. It is important to realize that women do in fact have a place at the table with men when it comes to importance in history, and are not just the ones cooking and serving the meal. It is women who tasked with raising the next generation. By looking at women of the past, people of the future can learn and evolve to fight oppression and gain their own power.
Marxism and feminism are two sides of a coin. Encarta reference library defines Marxism as “a theory in which class struggle is a central element in the analysis of social change in western societies”. Feminism is defined as a recognition and critique of male supremacy combined with efforts to change it. Marxism is an economic and social system.
Drawing on Anderson’s (2015) definition, modern misogyny is a devious and subtle form of prejudice that uses feminist ideology against itself. The 21st century paradigm, as Anderson discussed in Modern Misogyny: Anti-Feminism in a Post-Feminist Era, asserts that feminism won, and that women are now empowered and have limitless choices. These mistaken notions of gender equality in modern world underpin what Anderson called modern misogyny, which has especially detrimental effects on women since it deters collective action in favor of individual. Issues such as sexual harassment and assault come to be individual victim’s problems, and are overlooked as systemic sequel of inequality. Social changes enabled modern misogyny to build up a stronghold.
