Free Essays on Feminism

FEMINIST MOVEMENT FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE PRESENT IN USA Women traditionally had been regarded as inferior to men physically and intellectually. Both law and theology had ordered their subjection. Women could not possess property in their own names, engage in business, or control the disposal of their children. Historically they have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men but also a major source of temptation and evil. In Greek mythology, for example, it was a woman, Pandora, who opened the forbidden box and brought plagues and unhappiness to mankind. Early Roman law described women as children, forever inferior to men. Early Christian theology perpetuated these views. St. Jerome, a 4th-century Latin father of the Christian church, said: "Woman is the gate of the devil, the path of wickedness, the sting of the serpent, in a word a perilous object." But throughout centuries women began to understand that they were not inferior. From this moment they began to seek their equality in the name of Feminism. Feminism is a movement for the political, social, and educational equality of women with men; the movement has occurred mainly in Europe and the United States. It has its roots in the humanism of the 18th century and in the Industrial Revolution. We first see the Feminist Movement in French Revolution with Olympe de Gouges’ writings. In Europe there’re 2 important feminist writers that wrote classics in Feminist Literature. First one is English writer Virginia Woolf with her famous work ‘A Room of One’s Own’. The second writer is French Simone de Beauvoir with her work ‘Le Deuxieme Sexe’. Feminist issues range from access to employment, education, child care, contraception, and abortion, to equality in the workplace, changing family roles, redress for sexual harassment in the workplace, and the need for equal political representation. The history of American feminism - the self-conscious desire to achie... Free Essays on Feminism Free Essays on Feminism FEMINISM The woman’s position wasn’t always the same across the different cultures of the world. Either it was bad or good there was always something different. Some scientists believe that the first type of human society was the matriarchy. Women had more and greater rights than men. However, as time passed by the two categories of human sexes began wanting to command respect to each other. The result of this â€Å"battle† was that men managed finally to make women obey them. Undoubtedly, women made great efforts in order to overcome the disadvantages of the situation that they ended up facing, and in a way, they succeeded. Women who couldn’t stand this oppression any more decided to demand their rights by creating a movement called Feminism. Feminism can be considered as a philosophical and sociological theory, which supports that the two sexes are equal not only in a social and economical level but in an urban and political level as well. However, even though by this movement women managed many things, in none of the countries the roots of the woman’s eternal inferiority haven’t yet obliterated, we can still see sometimes that new types of super session and imbalances make their appearance. Women are no longer expected to stay at home, keep the house, take care of children, wait patiently their husband to return and bring some money. Unlike they work hard by leading two lives. In the morning we see many women going to their office, and then in the afternoon running in order to be at home early to prepare the food for the children and the husband. But neither in the workplace, nor in the house they are equal patterns with men. In the 1960’s and 1970’s, a number of factors contributed to the resurgence of Feminism. Young women who were active in this movement gained experience in the politics of protest, but found that movement leaders often viewed women’s issues as trivial and relegated them to gender- stereotype... Free Essays on Feminism FEMINIST MOVEMENT FROM ITS ORIGINS TO THE PRESENT IN USA Women traditionally had been regarded as inferior to men physically and intellectually. Both law and theology had ordered their subjection. Women could not possess property in their own names, engage in business, or control the disposal of their children. Historically they have been considered not only intellectually inferior to men but also a major source of temptation and evil. In Greek mythology, for example, it was a woman, Pandora, who opened the forbidden box and brought plagues and unhappiness to mankind. Early Roman law described women as children, forever inferior to men. Early Christian theology perpetuated these views. St. Jerome, a 4th-century Latin father of the Christian church, said: "Woman is the gate of the devil, the path of wickedness, the sting of the serpent, in a word a perilous object." But throughout centuries women began to understand that they were not inferior. From this moment they began to seek their equality in the name of Feminism. Feminism is a movement for the political, social, and educational equality of women with men; the movement has occurred mainly in Europe and the United States. It has its roots in the humanism of the 18th century and in the Industrial Revolution. We first see the Feminist Movement in French Revolution with Olympe de Gouges’ writings. In Europe there’re 2 important feminist writers that wrote classics in Feminist Literature. First one is English writer Virginia Woolf with her famous work ‘A Room of One’s Own’. The second writer is French Simone de Beauvoir with her work ‘Le Deuxieme Sexe’. Feminist issues range from access to employment, education, child care, contraception, and abortion, to equality in the workplace, changing family roles, redress for sexual harassment in the workplace, and the need for equal political representation. The history of American feminism - the self-conscious desire to achie...