[Home]Feminism

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Feminism is a social and political movement that promotes women's rights and issues. Feminists believe that women are oppressed by what they term a patriarchy?, where most of the advantages of society fall upon males. In contrast to humanism or masculism, feminism approaches gender issues from a proudly female perspective. Historically, the feminist movement is rooted in the West and especially the [reform movement]? of the 19th century. The organised movement is dated from the first woman's rights convention at [Seneca Falls]?, New York, in 1848. Over a century and a half the movement has grown to cover different perspectives on what constitutes discrimination against women, and to what extent men are to blame. Early feminists are often called the [first wave]? and feminists after about 1960 the [second wave]?.

Attitude towards men and women

The earliest works on 'the woman question' criticised the restrictive role of women without necessarily claiming that women were disadvantaged or that men were to blame. Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Woman is one of the few works on 'the woman question' writen before the 19th century. In sharp contrast to modern feminists Wollstonecraft compared women with the elite of society, and argued that while women were coddled they would pay the price of intellectual and moral sloth. Both sexes contributed to this situation and Wollstonecraft accepted that women had considerable power over men.

For if, excepting warriors, no great men, of any denomination, have ever appeared amongst the nobility, may it not be fairly inferred that their local situation swallowed up the man, and produced a character similar to that of women, who are localized, if I may be allowed the word, by the rank they are placed in, by courtesy? Women, commonly called Ladies, are not to be contradicted in company, are not allowed to exert any manual strength; and from them the negative virtues only are expected, when any virtues are expected, patience, docility, good-humour, and flexibility; virtues incompatible with any vigorous exertion of intellect.

By the 1830's this male-positive attitude was already in danger in America. Early feminists active in the [abolition movement]? began to increasingly identify women's role with the slavery of the negro. Inevitably this exaggerated metaphor cast men as the slave owner. Women were as blameless for their condition as the slave was for his slavery. Men as "masters" could not be seen as disadvantaged by their own restrictive sex roles, and women's advantages were ignored.

Feminists coming from the [temperance movement]? added to the negative image of men, the stereotype of the brutal and drunk husband beating his wife. A powerful argument for their campaign against alcohol but it encouraged an attitude among feminists that women were morally superior to brutish men.

Most of the early feminists were Christians, especially Quakers. As feminists began to pull together these ideas about men and women, religious beliefs were also used to justify them. [Sarah Grimké]? suggested that the curse placed upon Eve in the Garden of Eden, was God's prophecy of a period of universal oppression of women by men. (Letters on the Equality of the Sexes, 1837)

And the Lord God said unto the woman, "Thou wilt be subject unto thy husband, he will rule over thee" (Gen 3:16). That this is not allude to the subjection of woman to man is manifest, because the same mode of expression is used in speaking to Cain of Abel (Gen. 4:10-12). The truth is that the curse, as it is termed, which was pronounced by Jehovah upon woman, is a simple prophecy. The Hebrew, like the French language, uses the same word to express shall and will. Our translators having been accustomed to exercise lordship over their wives, and seeing only through the medium of a perverted judgment, very naturally, though I think not very learnedly or very kindly, translated it shall instead of will, and thus converted a prediction to Eve into a command to Adam; for observe, it is addressed to the woman and not to the man. The consequence of the fall was an immediate struggle for dominion, and Jehovah foretold which would gain the ascendancy.

Armed with the knowledge that men in all societies and throughout all history had been oppressing women, early American feminists set about compiling lists of examples of women's plight, in foreign countries and in ancient times. Often these lists showed more enthusiasm than accuracy, as the ladies had to rely on less than reliable sources for information about the world. The same criticism applied to their understanding of the law within their own states.

Despite the growing negative attitude towards men, feminists continued to aim their message at both men and women during the 19th century. If anything men were more likely to listen to their message of women in peril at the hands of violent men. Rational arguments tended to be less sucessful. Victoria Woodhull argued in the 1870's that the 14th amendment to the [United States constitution]? already guaranteed equality of voting rights to women. She anticipated the arguments of the [United States supreme court]? a century later.

Feminists of the second wave generally increased the anti-male rhetoric and radical feminists made explicit what had previously been implicit in feminist arguments. Men were the enemy. Men were violent. Men were the oppressors.

"And let's put one lie to rest for all time: the lie that men are oppressed, too, by sexism--the lie that there can be such a thing as 'men's liberation groups.' Oppression is something that one group of people commits against another group specifically because of a 'threatening' characteristic shared by the latter group--skin color or sex or age, etc. The oppressors are indeed FUCKED UP by being masters (racism hurts whites, sexual stereotypes are harmful to men) but those masters are not OPPRESSED. Any master has the alternative of divesting himself of sexism or racism--the oppressed have no alternative--for they have no power--but to fight. In the long run, Women's Liberation will of course free men--but in the short run it's going to COST men a lot of privilege, which no one gives up willingly or easily. Sexism is NOT the fault of women--kill your fathers, not your mothers." --- [Robin Morgan]?

Increasingly the dominant metaphor used by feminists to describe the relationship between men and women was rape. [Marilyn French]? bluntly stated, "All men are rapists and that's all they are" in her best selling book, The Women's Room. Feminists were no longer aiming their message at men.

Feminists disagree over the role of men as participants 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 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.

Relation to other movements

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.

Impact

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).

Perspective: the nature of the modern movement

Some modern feminists believe that much discrimination against women still exists in the USA and European nations.

There is a great variety of ideas within the movement as to how much of a problem exists, and how to confront it. Extremes on the one hand include radical feminists such as [Mary Daly]? whose ideology is overtly hostile to men. There are also debates between [Difference Feminists]? on the one hand, who believe that there are important differences between the sexes (which may or may not be inherent, but which cannot be ignored), and the [Equity Feminists]?on the other hand, who believe that there are no essential differences between the sexes. There are also dissidents, such as [Christina Hoff Sommers]? or [Camille Paglia]?, who identify themselves as feminist but who accuse the movement of anti-male prejudices, although there are many who who would question the use of the "feminist" label as applying to these individuals.

Notable feminists:

First wave,

Second wave,

Dissident feminists,

See also Feminist Spirituality, Feminist theology, Feminist science fiction

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Edited December 8, 2001 11:22 pm by Taw (diff)
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