Some modern feminists believe that much discrimination against women still exists in the USA and European nations, and there is a great variety of ideas within the movement as to how much of a problem exists, and how to confront it.
Feminism has created political and social movements, and advocacy groups for women. However, given the many changes in the status of women, many women and feminists now see some elements of feminism as no longer contentious. Feminists disagree over the role of men within the movement. Some female feminists on college campuses feel that it is inappropriate to call feminist men 'feminist' and instead prefer the title pro-feminist man; however, in most of American society this terminology has not caught on. One of the largest and most influential feminist organizations in the U.S., the [National Organization for Women]? (NOW) generally embraces male members and supporters. Members are wont to point out that their organization's name says for women, not of women. Most local chapters have male members.
Feminists in general take a holistic approach to politics, believing the saying of Martin Luther King Jr., "A threat to justice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". In that belief, feminists usually support other movements such as the [civil rights movement]? and the [gay rights movement]?. At the same time many black feminists such as [bell hooks]? criticise the movement as dominated by white women. Feminist claims about the disadvantages women face are often less relevant to the lives of black women. Many black feminist women prefer the term womanism? for their views. This, however, is not strictly feminism; rather this is an intersection between feminism and other social movements.
Feminists are sometimes wary of the transgendered movement because they blur the distinction between men and women. Transgendered women are rejected by some feminists who say that no one born male can truly understand the oppression women face.
Feminism has effected many changes on society, including womens' suffrage, broad employment for women at more equitable wages ("equal pay for equal work"); the right to initiate divorce? proceedings and "no fault" divorce; the right to control their own bodies and medical decisions, including obtaining birth control devices if unmarried, abortion, and many others. Most feminists would argue, however, that there is still much to be done on these fronts. As society has become increasingly accepting of feminist principles, some of these are no longer seen as specifically feminist, because they have been adopted by all or most people. Some beliefs that were radical for their time are now mainstream political thought. Almost no one in Western societies today questions the right of women to vote or own land, a concept that seemed quite strange 200 years ago.
In some cases (notably equal pay for equal work) major advances have been made but feminists still struggle to achieve their complete goals.
Feminists are often proponents of using non-sexist language, using "Ms." to refer to both married and unmarried women, for example, or the ironic use of the term herstory instead of history. They are also often proponents of using gender-inclusive language, such as "humanity" instead of "mankind", or "he or she" in place of "he" where the gender is unknown. Feminists in most cases advance their desired use of language either to promote a respectful treatment of women or to affect the tone of political discourse, rather than in the belief that language directly affects perception of reality (compare Sapir-Whorf hypothesis).
See also Feminist Spirituality, , Feminist theology, Feminist science fiction
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