Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Movements Essay Example

Movements Essay Example Movements Essay Movements Essay Movements Name: Course: Date: Movements The word feminism can be generally defined or used to describe political, economic, cultural or social movement of women or people addressing women issues aimed at ensuring equality of women to men in terms of legal, political, economic and general rights (Tandon, 2008). They focus on gender inequalities on issues revolving around gender politics, sexuality and power relations. Feminism theories are concerned with changing the view that women are inferior beings to their male counterparts. Feminism theory can be considered a tool for social change considering its aims are changing the social norms of subordinating women. Majority of the issues addressed by feminist theory are concerned with social issues such as equal rights to exploit opportunities. In this regard, it aims to change the views of the society, thus making it a tool for social change. Within the social context, women have been considered to be lesser or inferior to men. In many instances, this has rendered them to remain submissive to the men since they lack opportunities that men receive (McCann Kim, 2003). They have to rely on men by submitting. In order to rely on men, women have to be desirable to attract men so that they can get the support they need. Within the working or employment environment, women have received lesser pay than men have as well as lesser intellectual roles. This has made them reliant on men to provide for them both financially and intellectually (McCann Kim, 2003). In the previous ages, women were supposed to remain quiet and without ideas. Any issue arising required women to ask their husbands for ideas on how to tackle the issue. Simply, women were supposed to be servants to their men. In these circumstances, women have suffered a lot since they find it hard to be independent. Feminism aims at changing this social perception to grant women equal rights as their male counterparts. Feminism started many years ago because of women suffering in subordination by men. Women started advocating for equal rights such as rights to vote in America, rights to own property and have their own ideas. It surfaced as a movement that advocated for gender equality where women held campaigns demanding their rights and interests. The feminist movements have managed to change many perspectives within the society within a wide range of area. Some of the areas where feminism has seen changes are culture and law. The feminists have campaigned for legal rights, where they sought to achieve equality in terms of rights to own property, vote and contractual rights (Tandon, 2008). Cultural rights achieved by feministic movements include bodily integrity, rights to autonomy, contraceptive rights, protection from sexual harassment, protection against domestic violence and rape amongst others that have changed the way the society views women. Out of the feminist movements, theories were formed to deal with the wide range of issues to be dealt with. Some of the theories are such as liberation theories seeking to liberate women from oppression, art theories and literal theory amongst others. The aim of the theories is to explain and educate the women on issues revolving around gender inequality, social roles, feminist politics, experiences, education and sociology amongst other fields. Their aim is enlightening people about issues revolving around inequality between men and women within the society. Their praxis or application means changing the status quo that subordinates women. All the theories are based on two beliefs or tenets, which are that they should focus on the conditions of women within the society and on the assumption that women are subordinated in the society. With these tenets, feminist theories find a reason for their existence (McCann Kim, 2003). It is clear that feminism has achieved several changes within the society, qualifying it as a tool for change that focuses on changing the views and treatment of women within the society. The issue has been around for a long time but has received scholarly work several decades ago, mostly during the 1960s and 70s when the movements were heightened. McCann and Kim (2003) in their book Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives have provided a detailed account of issues on a global and domestic perspective. The book provides the reader with good knowledge and sound definitions of feminism movements as well as theories. References McCann, C.R. Kim, S. (2003). Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives. New York, N.Y: Routledge. Tandon, N. (2008). Feminism: a paradigm shift. Atlantic Publishers Dist

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.