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A New Age Of Feminism |
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Kate Loving Shenk |
| Date: |
2007-01-17 |
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The February issue of Playboy magazine hit the stands this week. An Airforce sergeant holds the dubious honor of centerfold celebrity stardom.
Her name is Michelle Manhart.
Ms. Manhart is mother of two, whose husband is also in the airforce. She trained in the Air force law enforcement academy and the K9 program, soon racking up a long list of medals and commendations. She served in Kuwait on the second anniversary of 9/11, got a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Northern Iowa, and started on a master's degree.
Her childhood dream was always to be a Playboy model. And her wish has finally been granted.
When Manhart told her superior officier about the Playboy pictures, she was taken off the job.
"The staff sergeant's alleged action is not representative of the many thousands of outstanding airmen who serve in the US Airforce today."
Manhart now has a lawyer.
"There's nothing wrong with it," Manhart said last week. "By no means did I see anything wrong in what i was doing."
My sister and I were discussing this on the phone last evening. We decided that The New Age of Feminism is here.
In simple terms, feminism is the belief in social, political and economic equality of the sexes, and a movement organized around the belief that gender should not be the pre-determinant factor shaping a person's social identity or socio-political or economic rights.
Our grandmother was a suffragette. Feminism as an organized movement appeared in the late 19th century in a number of countries, and agitation for votes for women became increasingly visible and vocal at the beginning of the twentieth century. After the granting of suffrage, women's movements turned to other issues of social reform and equality. The two world wars changed much of the world and with it the perception of women's work outside the home.
After the Second World War, feminism entered a second stage or wave with campaigns for reproductive rights and removal of discrimination. The United Nations created an office to represent women's rights. Since then feminism has continued to reinvent and redefine itself to adapt to a changing world and a diversity of cultures.
"When we were young, women did not serve in the military nor did we want to serve, because we were pacifist--at least everyone we knew were pacifist," said my sister.
"We, our generation, thought Playboy bunnies were sexist pigs, starting with Hugh Hefner," I said.
I see things differently, these days.
I see Manhart's actions as an extention of the bravery she displays by her service to our country. Women all over the globe are oppressed and abused. 90% of the nursing workforce are women, who are hostile and aggressive to one another, especially to new nurses coming in.
So when Michelle Manhart decided to live out her chilhood dream, little did she know that she resurrected Women's Liberation to a new level of expression.
Her right to uninhibited free expression translates to a greater level of freedom for women everywhere, in the long run.
The military, for starters, will drop the double standard.
Maybe after I'm gone from this physical plane, Muslam women will drop their veils, the Widows of India will be given the freedom to remarry, Taliban women will be given the right to a good education.
The list goes on and on........
The freedoms that American women enjoy are light years ahead of what women in third world countries experience.
And Michelle Manhart's story just dropped the barriers even further.
For that, I am grateful.
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Related Article:A New Age Of Feminism |
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Sharon White |
2007-05-21 |
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Title: The Third Wave of Feminism
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It is hard now to clearly distinguish or even name all of them, however the most powerful and significant opposition was declared by four of them – Marxist feminism, liberal feminism, ‘black’ feminism and radical feminism. Although all groups had the similarity in fighting for women’s rights the approaches to classify the problem and define the methods to improve the women’s position were quite unlike.
Any idea which is worth existence in society is inevitably to create an interest group and be originated from political system. Feminism was not an exception. Thus, two confrontational ideas of political system – Marxist and bourgeois – gave the names of the two feminists’ groups which argued different approaches to women’s freedom and equal rights.
Comparing with Marxist approach liberal feminists had quite an opposite focus. While Marxists desired to change a society as a structure liberalists focused on changing individuals in their society. Liberal changes were founded on justifying the women’s low position as a result of inborn biological difference in gender. Girls initially are given different development and education based on bringing up mother-like householders who are biologically subordinate to males. Thus, changing attitude to sex attribute would inevitably lead to changing attribute to the women’s place in society.
The question arose: “What is the reality now?” Women, indeed, felt the consequences of the greater errors of their older sisters and decided to not support any of the earlier approaches. Some of them classified and selected the best ideas from all previous branches of feminism, some call the new ideas. The only similarity is that all of them has called their strivings and desires “The Third Wave”. The Third Wave Foundation started in May 1992 by Walker and Shannon Liss is the response of several unfair trials on rape, abortion and family violence. The Foundation keeps traditional ideas of feminism to promote women’s active social and political life and educate young women how to protect their rights in the modern society.
The modern feminists’ wave has to inevitably recognize the past feminism movement partial win in a few spheres of social life such as gender equality in sexual relationships, parenthood and education. It also has to recognize the great losses in collapsing patriarchy and male dominance at the highest levels of political, economic and social spheres.
The women’s dissatisfaction with the previous feminism experience regardless their different approaches has helped them to understand the priorities of the modern feminism direction.
Unlike the previous experience of gathering women in special groups aimed to lobby their interests in society the modern feminism unifies.
Can the modern feminism approach be a signal of considerable changes in society? Are women able to come to reality when males end up their criticism of female starting her own business or great career of vice president of big corporate body? Yet, these questions will remain without an answer for at least a couple of decades. However, the accepted approach of the modern feminism can keep human minds optimistic and success believable: ‘improve yourself and change your mind if you want your society to be improved.’
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Sharon White |
2007-04-23 |
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Title: Feminism By Bourdieu
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Many feminists have sought to ‘appropriate’ Bourdieu’s theories to explain the subordinate position of women in contemporary western societies; there are certain affinities between the two schools of thought and the theory builds a bridge between theory and practise. Bourdieu believed that the point of social research was to enable people to better understand their own actions, and those of others; ‘the study of human lives would not be worth the trouble if it did not help agents to grasp the meaning of their actions’.
This echoes many feminists call for research to be an empowering process.
Bourdieu’s’ concept of the ‘field’ may be useful in thinking through differentiation within gender identity and the ‘uneven and non-systematic’ nature of subordination’ and may aid explanation of the social relations of power in relation to the production of knowledge, and this might explain the marginalisation of much feminist research. Bourdieu also stresses ‘symbolic violence’, the forceful nature of naming, reiterating the feminist focus; ‘Domination has many faces: physical violence, coercion, structural violence...and symbolic violence’. To name a thing as female is to name it as subordinate, and ‘...it is clear that the symbolic aspects of social practice are an essential part of the repression of women’. Finally, Bourdieu’s focus on the everyday, humdrum details is not far removed from feminisms focus on the biographical and personal, enabling a microtheoretical analysis of power.
Thus there are many overlaps between aspects of feminist thought and that of Bourdieu, the question remains however, whether it is necessary to modify the theory to fully explain the subordinate position of women.
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Sharon White |
2007-04-23 |
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Title: Sociological Theory Of Feminism
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In the sociological theories developed in the nineteenth century men’s masculinity strategies are seen as those of investment, as the game of honour does have economic and political effects. Excluded from the ‘games’ of the men, women are in a critical position; they both recognise the ‘silliness’ of the games and provide the ‘flattering mirror’ to them.
Femininity, no less than masculinity, may be considered an asset, dependant on context. Indeed, the strategies of middle class feminists that led to increased education for women and second wave feminism may in part be responsible for the reconstitution of the mental/ manual divide which restricts working class women to employment centred on their ‘traditional’ skills. no capital has a ‘pure’ field, as there is always resistance; the family may be said to be dominated by the gender sufficiently to constitute its primary field. The family has long been studied within feminism as the primary site of gender domination and social reproduction.
It is not enough to view the gendering of levels of capital as limiting life-opportunities; gender itself must be viewed as a capital and a strategy, with the power to cross fields. A child is gendered before it learns to speak. The gender capital gained as a child has repercussions throughout life; an infant that learns to be a woman will find that her femininity is both a constraint and an enabler; her habitus is gendered, as is her future.
By learning to be a woman, she unwittingly reproduces the system that subordinates the feminine; by choosing the forms of education and employment that she does; by adopting the behaviour considered suitable for her sex and teaching this to her daughter, a woman plays an important role in the continuation of the existing social hierarchy.
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Sharon White |
2006-11-10 |
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Title: The Third Wave of Feminism
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It is hard now to clearly distinguish or even name all of them, however the most powerful and significant opposition was declared by four of them – Marxist feminism, liberal feminism, ‘black’ feminism and radical feminism. Although all groups had the similarity in fighting for women’s rights the approaches to classify the problem and define the methods to improve the women’s position were quite unlike. Any idea which is worth existence in society is inevitably to create an interest group and be originated from political system. Feminism was not an exception. Thus, two confrontational ideas of political system – Marxist and bourgeois – gave the names of the two feminists’ groups which argued different approaches to women’s freedom and equal rights. Comparing with Marxist approach liberal feminists had quite an opposite focus. While Marxists desired to change a society as a structure liberalists focused on changing individuals in their society. Liberal changes were founded on justifying the women’s low position as a result of inborn biological difference in gender. Girls initially are given different development and education based on bringing up mother-like householders who are biologically subordinate to males. Thus, changing attitude to sex attribute would inevitably lead to changing attribute to the women’s place in society. The question arose: “What is the reality now?” Women, indeed, felt the consequences of the greater errors of their older sisters and decided to not support any of the earlier approaches. Some of them classified and selected the best ideas from all previous branches of feminism, some call the new ideas. The only similarity is that all of them has called their strivings and desires “The Third Wave”. The Third Wave Foundation started in May 1992 by Walker and Shannon Liss is the response of several unfair trials on rape, abortion and family violence. The Foundation keeps traditional ideas of feminism to promote women’s active social and political life and educate young women how to protect their rights in the modern society. The modern feminists’ wave has to inevitably recognize the past feminism movement partial win in a few spheres of social life such as gender equality in sexual relationships, parenthood and education. It also has to recognize the great losses in collapsing patriarchy and male dominance at the highest levels of political, economic and social spheres. The women’s dissatisfaction with the previous feminism experience regardless their different approaches has helped them to understand the priorities of the modern feminism direction. Unlike the previous experience of gathering women in special groups aimed to lobby their interests in society the modern feminism unifies. Can the modern feminism approach be a signal of considerable changes in society? Are women able to come to reality when males end up their criticism of female starting her own business or great career of vice president of big corporate body? Yet, these questions will remain without an answer for at least a couple of decades. However, the accepted approach of the modern feminism can keep human minds optimistic and success believable: ‘improve yourself and change your mind if you want your society to be improved.’ The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com. Sharon White is a senior writer and writers consultant at term paper. Get some useful tips for http://masterpapers.com/book_review_essay.htm" title="book review essay">book review essay and APA dissertation.
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Lucy Brookes |
2008-04-01 |
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Title: What is Liberal Feminism?
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Liberal Feminism has been called the mainstream form of feminism out of all the sub types.
It is said that liberal feminism is an individualistic form, concentrating on women having the ability to maintain their equality through being responsible for their own actions and choices.
The ideology of the liberal feminist is that women will transform society, through their own personal interactions with the opposite sex.
The liberal feminist believes "All women are capable of asserting their ability to achieve equality, therefore it is possible for change to happen without altering the structure of society."
The liberal feminist also believe that the equality of men and women can only be achieved by changes being brought through political and legal reform. They want the eradication of institutional bias and implementations of fairer laws towards women.
Some of the main issues of liberal feminism include reproductive and abortions rights, sexual harassment, voting rights, education, affordable childcare and affordable health care.
The United States liberal feminists campaign for the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment and the Constitutional Equity Amendment. They want to ensure that men and women are treated as equals under the democratic laws that influence and govern women's lives.
They also bring to the forefront the issues of sexual and domestic violence perpetrated against women.
Other issues that the liberal feminists identify are disability rights, ecofeminism, family, marriage equality, mother's economical rights and media activism.
Writers of liberal feminism, Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill were publishing within the first wave of feminism during the nineteenth and early twentieth century.
The second wave of feminism during the 1960's to 1970's produced liberal feminist writers such as Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem and Rebecca Walker who is one of the third wave's liberal feminist's writers.
Critics of liberal feminism say, "Individual assumptions make it difficult to see ways in which underlying social structures and values disadvantage women."
They state that even if a woman is no longer dependent on an individual man, they will still be living in a patriarchal state. Thus institutional changes alone are insufficient to give women equality in society.
The liberal feminist has also been criticised further for being based on white, middle class women's issues. It was noted that they had ignored the plight of other women of different races, cultures or class.
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Lucy Brookes |
2008-04-01 |
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Title: What is Radical feminism?
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Radical feminism state that the defining feature of women’s oppression is the societies, sexist and capitalist hierarchy.
The movement believe that only the eradication of our patriarchy society will give women true equality.
The radical identifies that the only way to rid society of patriarchy is to attack the causes of the problems and also to address the fundamental components of society that support them.
The radical feminists ideology is, "A male-based authority and power structure and that it is responsible for oppression and equality, and that as long as the system and its values are in place, and society will not be able to be reformed in any significant way."
The feminist identified other oppression that is apparent in a patriarchal society. The oppression is also based on gender identity, race, and social class, perceived attractiveness, sexual orientation and ability.
The radicals theory of patriarchy recognises the key element is a relationship of dominance and exploits others for their own benefit.
The use of this oppression is a social system that includes other methods that are incorporated to suppress women and non-dominate men.
In 1984 Ellen Willis wrote, "That radical feminism got sexual politics recognised as a public issue. They sparked the drive to legalize abortion and were the first to demand total equality in the so-called private sphere."
The private sphere consisted of equality in sexual and emotional needs, childcare and housework.
Another form of radical feminism is the separatist; they do not support heterosexual relationships. They believe that sexual disparities between the sexes make it impossible to resolve the main issues in society.
The separatist feminist purports that men are a hindrance to the feminist movement as they "replicate patriarchal dynamics."
Marilyn Frye a writer on radical feminism purports, "Separatist feminism is separation of various sorts or modes from men and from institutions, relationships, roles and activities that are male defined.
"Also being male dominated and operating for the benefit of males and the maintenance of male privilege – this separation being initiated or maintained, at will, by women."
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Lucy Brookes |
2008-03-27 |
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Feminism is concerned with gender inequalities in society and the equal rights for women. This encases social, cultural and political movements, theories and moral philosophies that affect women in everyday life. Feminism also takes up the fight against other forms of discrimination. Some feminists argue that "gendered and sexed identities, such as 'man' and 'woman' are social constructs, meaning that some gender roles are socially conditioned rather than innate." For many people the feminist movement came in three waves starting from the 19th century to the present day. The first wave occurred between the 19th and early 20th centuries, starting in the United Kingdom and United States. Their main concerns were with equal contract and property rights for women. The Suffrage movement began at the end of the 19th century, with the main focus being on gaining political power and the right for women to vote. The second was during the 1960's and 1970's were cultural and political inequalities were bound together as problem faced by women. The beginning of the third wave started in the early 1990's to the present day and slams the failure of the second wave. They deem the previous wave to be too focused on the upper middle class white women's views and experiences. It was argued and still is that through the history of feminism the majority of the leaders have been white middle class women from Western Europe or North America. Thus alienating women of different colours and races, which was stated in a speech given to US Feminists by ex black slave " Sojourner Truth" in 1851. Sojourner purports that as a black woman she is viewed as even lower than white woman. Women of other races set up alternative feminist groups which gained more followers in the 1960's civil rights movement in the United States. Post-colonial and Third World feminism proposed alternatives, with the post-colonial feminist slamming western feminism for being ethnocentric. The definition of ethnocentrism will be discussed in a later article. In the 1980's feminists realised that an understanding of global issues that also effect women of different races, colours and cultural was essential to understanding gender inequality. In turn this would show that racism, homophobia and classis are intrinsic in society and how they control women. The Feminist political activists have challenged and brought women issues to the forefront of people's concentions while also creating debate. They changed laws in women right to contract and property and the right to bodily integrity and autonomy. This includes the right for a woman to have an abortion and the right to take and access contraception. Furthermore they are advocates for the protection of women from domestic violence, rape and sexual harassment. Also rights for women in the workplace and the legal right for maternity leave and equal pay.
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Lucy Brookes |
2008-03-27 |
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Title: Sex-positive Feminism
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Sex-positive feminism is also called pro-sex feminism, sex-radical feminism or sexually liberal feminism. The sex-positive feminist movement was started in the early 1980’s and was set up in response to anti-pornography feminist. Advocates of the sex- positive movement are Ellen Willis, Susie Bright, Patrick Califia and Gail Rubin. Catharine Mackinnon, Andrea Dworkin, Robin Morgan and Dorchen Leidholdt were prominent anti-pornography feminists. They believe that pornography is an example of oppression of women, which is opposite to what the sex-positive feminist believe. Thus creating the beginning of the " Feminist Sex Wars" in the early 1980's. Gayle Rubin an acclaimed sex-positive feminist purports: "There have been two strains of feminist thought on the subject. One tendency has critized the restrictions on women's sexual behaviour and denounced the high costs imposed on women for being sexually active. "This tradition of feminist sexual thought has called for liberation that would work for women as well as for men. The second tendency has considered sexual liberalization to be inherently a mere extension of male privilege. This tradition resonates with conservative, anti-sexual discourse." However some sex-positive feminists are not against other feminists but are attacking the patriarchal control of women's sexuality. They also purport: " that in the area of sexuality, government blatantly discriminate against women." The ideology behind sex-positive feminism is sexual freedom of women is essential. They will fight any legislation or social efforts to control individual's sexual activity. Sex-positive feminist will fight the government or other feminist who they see as trying to control people's sexuality. They believe that as long as it between two consenting adults it is no-one business what you do in your sex life. Sex-positive feminist are not only for women they support sexual minority groups with the idea of building a united front with groups are who are targeted by sex-negativity. The male sex is not viewed as the enemy with the sex-positive feminist, instead they welcomed into the group as they acknowledge all of human sexuality. They believe that pornography should not be over regulated, as it is just another way patriarchal limiting sexual expression. Some anti-censorship activists, feminist scholars, sex radicals, producers of pornography and erotica are brought together under the umbrella sex-positive feminist ideology.
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Andrew |
2007-10-15 |
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Title: The Aim of Feminism
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The first wave of feminism started in 1920s, when women understood that they also have the rights to higher education, getting job and voting. From the very beginning of its appearance this movement was not supported in media, as they stated that women should be the embodiment of humility, subservience and obedience. According to the feministic points of view women possess the same rights as men. Women wanted to prove that they had the same rights and must be treated not only as objects of sexuality and beauty. The women all over the world became to say about their rights and opportunities. They believed that they possess the same rights as men. Especially it concerned the most popular spheres of social life, getting the job, education and of course the right to vote and show their personal will.
Feminist movement succeeded only in giving them some rights, as men had, but it did not make them free from the opinion, that the main feature of women’s value is their appearance and beauty. The explanation on the first feminist movements could easily be applied women’s situation post-Second Wave Feminism, the reaction as women were fighting for more rights is always achieved by establishing their body image. The main demands were enjoying the same rights and giving the opportunity to take part in political life that is to be able to sit in the government. That period some feminist parties appeared. The objectification of women has meant that although evolution in legal and material circumstance has been made, the supremacy balance still favors the male and requires women to prove herself worthy of such freedoms through beauty. The movement of feminism was not approved by the society, as initially women were assumed that their natural state is passivity and modesty, but not rebel against some rules, rooted in society for many centuries.
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Nick |
2007-08-20 |
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Title: Modernism and Feminism
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Now we are doing to talk about such line in epistemology as modernism, its features and description. Slow but sure the progress of epistemology theory shows the increasing significance of affaires around divergence and multiplicity. This theory has overgrown modernism. The significance of modernist discussions can serve for providing the necessary constructions in which standpoint epistemology goes forward in such spheres like language, truth, and actuality. At this time post-structuralism suggests the ways out for the science with feministic character and social science learned previously proposed by Marxian epistemology.
It is important to add that epistemology theory exists around multiplicity and divergence to some measures as feministic ideas are regarded as social experience that can be subdivided into classes, races and so on. In order to continue, it is needed to say about the difficulties got by women from the Third World. The results lie in their less intercede knowledge and less imprecise. And as for Afro- American women, well, they are able to be the separate group improved sociological discussion. Pointing out societal groups as the main source some point of reality should be brought in the science. The main points of the theory count on different factors, which can impact on the theory, some of them are gender, sexual orientation, race and so on. As a result there is no particular feminist viewpoint. To tell the truth there are great number of variety of points of view. And the reason for this is diverse social groups and their practice during the whole life.
Such supplementary point to epistemology theory gives the opportunity to be closer to post-structuralism. During the period of post-structuralism female movement touch the point not of women lives, but women are conceptualized with gaze at variety and assortment.
That is all, concerning the main features of how far feminism can go in comparison to the modernism.
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