Women Place In The Society: Feminism Fight

Essay 4: Women Place in the Society Name Institution Introduction Women have all along been oppressed by societal norms and rules. In most traditional societies, women have been considered submissive to men and thus lived in male-dominated societies. Most cultures and families were patriarchal in that men were considered the heads of families and sole breadwinners. As a result, women could not make independent decisions even those regarding their own lives. This is the reason some practices considered as crimes in today’s society such as rape in marriage were allowed. Women were therefore to be seen and not be heard. It is the same reason women were deprived of their rights and did not have any institutions to report to. Women were physically abused or punished for going against the directives given by their husbands. At all times, it was expected that women were under men. As young girls, they were under their fathers, later under their brothers (including their younger brother) and fathers, and eventually under their husbands. As a result, women were not supposed to get formal education since this was not required in their domestic duties. Instead, they had to spend more time with their mothers and other female relatives to learn how to take care of the family, children, and husbands. However, with changes in the society, it was revealed that women were not lesser human beings and thus had to fight for the rights. This led to the start of feminism movements, which have been considered as threats by men forcing them to do everything possible to stop it and negate everything it fights for. This essay will discuss the struggles of women in their feminism fight and the counter fight from men thus having women maintain their low status position in the society. Women Place in the Society According to Edley and Wetherell (2001), while feminism should be a female movement, it has clear implications for men. This is because “A central tenet of feminism holds that gender relations are power relations, which implies that any improvement in the position of women much, in a sense, be ‘offset’ by a reduction of the power and influence wielded by men” (p. 439). While this is after empowering women, it is considered a threat by men and it is the major reason men feel unsafe with the movement. To counter the feminist movement, men have launched a counter-offensive movement. This is by having writings by academics arguing that patriarchy is only a feminist myth since for men, they are the real victims requiring state protection to maintain their position. Other men also argue that feminism has destabilized family institutions and undermines fathers’ rights. These arguments by different men in different regions have led to development of pressure groups that are geared towards fighting against anything women are fighting for including criminalization of rape in marriage and child custody. Men also fight against feminists themselves by producing heavy negative stereotypes such as considering them physically unattractive and militant. This way, many women are discouraged from identifying themselves and feminists thus trying to kill the strength and influence of the movement. Even though there are some men who have a positive perception towards feminism, most of them view it with negativity making it less optimism. The aim is to prevent women fighting for their rights and position from succeeding thus ensuring that they continue being second-hand citizens. This is the reason even with the progress feminism has made, it will never assure women of the same position as men. In order to ensure that women maintain their lower status in the society, Herring, Johnson and DiBenedetto (n.d.) argue that men are doing everything possible to prevent women from participating on the Internet. While women are noted to increasingly engage in human-to-human text-based interactions thus using computer networks, they are prevented from assuming the same position as men. It is notable that computer network technology was developed initially to democratize human interaction influence. However, “It is already becoming apparent that men dominate computer-mediated interaction much as they dominate face-to-face interaction: by ‘talking’ more, by taking an authoritative stance in public discourse, and by verbally harassing and intimidating women into accommodation and silence” (p. 67). This way, women are prevented from taking the same positions as men when participating in discussion over the Internet. Once women prove their active participation in Internet mediated conversations, they are silenced by men using different strategies. From the two analyzed discussions held over the Internet, Herring, Johnson and DiBenedetto (n.d.) note that irrespective of the contributions made by women, men would do everything possible to silence them. This can be done by failing to address concerns raised by women by considering them trivial. In addition, men can intellectualize the discussion far from its original focus. Lastly, men can erupt into accusations and ang...