Backlash Against Feminism
Autor: katea.obrien • December 10, 2012 • Essay • 1,464 Words (6 Pages) • 1,494 Views
Backlash against Feminism
The relationship between men and women has almost always been unequal and oppressive. Women tend to be invisible; the intellectual and artistic achievements of women are largely ignored. History is written as if women had no role in it and hardly even present. Feminism includes a great deal of Patriarchy, this is literally “the rule of fathers” thus is a form of social originations in which males dominant women to a large extent”. While a great deal of feminism is universal. Global variations occur. According to the United Nations, the Scandinavian countries Norway, Sweden and Finland afford women the highest social standing by contrast to women in Asian Nations of East Africa have the lowest social standing compared to men. Sexism also plays a role in Feminism. Sexism is the belief that one sex is innately superior to the other, this is the ideological basis of Patriarchy (John J 2001) “Feminism is a multi-disciplinary approach to sex and gender equality understood through social theories and political activism. Historically, feminism has evolved from the critical examination of inequality between the sexes to a more nuanced focus and sexuality (Eastern Kentucky University 2010). It refers to a diverse variety of beliefs ideas movements and agendas for action (Johnson 2012). This essay will explore different types of feminism, the laette culture, sexualisation and Media in respect to Feminism.
There are many different types of Feminism. Liberal Feminism refers to the principal object is to gain equal rights for men and women. This is when women want to gain equal right, but do so with little social change. Women who believe in Liberal feminism feel that women should enter all male occupations. This is a prime example of the “Lad Culture” which will be explored in detail in this essay later. Backlash rose in a great deal from this. An American feminist Betty Fredian is best known for “second wave feminist “She felt so strongly that she decided to publish a book called the Feminise Mystique. The myth of the Feminise Mystique involved 1. Sexual passivity 2 Acceptance of male domination 3 Primary responsibility for domestic labour and child rearing 4 Provisions of maternal love for both children and adult males. Backlash was also evident due to the fact that in America by the end of the 1950s the average age of marriage was reaching as low as into the teens. A century y before this many feminist fought for higher education, now women went to college solely to find husbands. Colleges built dormitories for “married students” but the students were almost always the husbands women were almost seen as bystanders. A new degree was instituted for wives (Putting Husbands Through) [Freidan 1963].
In the Feminine Mystique Fredian explores the unhappiness of the mid-20th century women. She described women’s unhappiness
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