Feminism At A Crossroads. Social Sciences Essay Paper

FEMINISM AT A CROSSROAD
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Feminism At A Crossroads
Feminism has become a household name across the world today. Feminism takes broad categorization that seeks to illuminate on the lives of women, the general nature of knowledge as well as various theories about humans. Feminism has an umbrella definition that incorporates a myriad of principles, social and political movements all with a similar aspiration of identifying and attaining equality in social, economic and political aspects for both all genders. The shared objective also seeks to establish equality in opportunities available to both men and women in education and professional growth. Feminism is also associated with strong calls for equality notably, “equal pay for equal work” as well as “equal access to the same educational, professional, and financial opportunities [for women] as men.” Numerous achievements in gender equality can be credited to the continuous campaigns by feminist movements.[Hawkesworth, Mary E. Globalization And Feminist Activism (2006)] [Beasley, Chris. What Is Feminism? (2011)]
Feminism has a long history representing the struggles and challenges of gender inequalities that women have endured in history across the globe. Notably, the publication of the article “La Citoyenne in the World: Hubertine Auclert and Feminist Imperialism,” by a French feminist author Hubertine Auclert captures several gender imbalances of the 19th century. Hubertine Auclert sought to expose existing gender disparities existing within the French society at the time. Through political and social feminism movements, struggles that endeavor to empower women’s position in the society continued to emerge throughout history. Women in the Victorian era came to be regarded as the “first-wave feminists” whose mission was to improve the status of women in the society through better education, improved working opportunities as well as advocating for women’s voting rights in the UK. Another notable feminist in history is Mary Wollstonecraft, a British national who is known for her advocacy in women’s rights. Wollstonecraft’s book, “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman,” was published in 1792 and voiced the plight of women called for equality of sexes as well as advocated for the rights of women to vote.[Haines, Hallie Grace. "Modernizing the Marianne: The French Feminist Movement and its Effects on Gender Equality." PhD diss., The University of Mississippi, 2015.] [Abrams, Lynn. "Ideals of womanhood in Victorian Britain." BBC History 9 (2001).] [Abrams, Lynn. "Ideals of womanhood in Victorian Britain." BBC History 9 (2001).]
The 20th century saw a rise of feminism movements with transitioning from mere theories to instructional movements. Virginia Woolf is a crucial player in the twentieth-century feminism. Her essay “A Room of One’s Own (1929)” depicts the helplessness of women in the society that constrains her space and economic ability. Virginia Woolf’s essay depicted the inferiority of women in a society fueled by major wealth inconsistency and recommended bridging the economic gap to attain gender equality. Feminism and feminist movements began to flourish in the latter 20th century. In the 1970s, academic institutionalization of the feminist theories began with initial study programs on women in the United States being published in peer-reviewed journals covering feminist theory such as “Feminist Studies (1972), Signs (1975), Frontiers (1975), Camera Obscura (1976), and Feminist Review (1979)”. Feminism continues to grow exponentially incorporating different societal issues making it even more difficult to contain it to a specific definition.[Woolf, Virginia. 1929. A Room Of One's Own. London: Hogarth.] [Disch, Lisa Jane, and M. E Hawkesworth. The Oxford Handbook Of Feminist Theory. (2018, pg. 2)]
Overall, feminism still strives to eliminate barriers and challenges that define different genders in different cultures throughout history through movements and activists. Throughout the ages, feminism still shares similar defining features such as “the convictions that widely held presumptions about the naturalness of sexed embodiment, gender identity, and heterosexuality are mistaken, and that sex, gender, and normative sexuality are political constructs, rather than natural givens, and vary cross-culturally and from one historical era to another”. Tong also contends that feminism concepts resist conceptualization in their broad and growing definition that “has a past as well as a present and a future.” While the current purpose of feminism remains, the same and consistent towards liberation and gender equality advocacy, the push for political correctness has swayed this purpose and is leading feminism off the course.[Ibid]
Initial feminism movements were keen to advocate for equal rights for both sexes - the push for equal rights shaped historical feminist movements with the push for rights such as equal rights for women to vote, to earn fair wages with improved working conditions, rights to hold public office and receive a better education. Other rights that feminists have championed include right to own property, right to valid contracts, equal partners in marriage as well as the right to maternity leave in their workplaces. Total equality has, however, not been achieved to guarantee global gender equality. Women are still held in low status across many cultures globally, a trend that is deeply entrenched throughout our history. The weak economic status notable in women world over is linked to these unequal opportunities for women throughout our history. Men have continued to dominate in all circles of the society both politically and economically. Feminism struggles to eliminate this extreme inequality. The continued inequality in our society confirms the profoundly “entrenched bias against the working, liberated female will only die out when they do.” A new crop extreme feminism has emerged radicalizing calls for actions on seeking justice and equality.[Echols, Alice, and Ellen Willis. Daring To Be Bad. (2009)]
Subsequent waves of feminist activism have continued to rally for support using various channels as women strive themselves from traditional inequalities that are associated with definitive gender roles. Through continuous activism, feminists have achieved monumental success such as women can procure safe and legal abortions for unwanted pregnancies, seek legal redress against acts of domestic violence and inequality, sexual harassment and even rape. Thanks to feminism, society has also learned to appreciate and accept the integration of women in society, and workplaces, able to pursue any physical activity and work they prefer without victimization. Modern feminism has become successful in advocating and establishing the rights of women equating them as those of men and giving women more freedom for their choices. The so-called “fourth-wave feminism” utilizes online social media platforms creating a new era of fighting gender inequality and injustices with a certain degree of instant success. Kira Cochrane describes fourth-wave feminism as a fight for equality and against sexual exploitation brought to the web and the streets.[Roberts, Jacob. 2017. "Women’S Work". Science History Institute. /distillations/magazine/womens-work.] [Echols, Alice, and Ellen Willis. Daring To Be Bad. (2009)] [Messer-Davidow, Ellen. Disciplining Feminism. (2002)] [Cochrane, Kira. "The Fourth Wave Of Feminism: Meet The Rebel Women". (2013)]
The ‘fourth-wave feminism’ gained traction and continued use after the initial use by The Guardian’s Kira Cochrane All The Rebel Women: The Rise of the Fourth Wave book in 2013. In her book, Cochrane covers four crucial aspects of modern feminist activism namely; “rape culture, online feminism, humor, and intersectionality and inclusion.” Technology and social media access across the world has become a catalyst for the fourth wave of feminism even getting ahead of academic institutionalization. Chamberlain postulates that the fourth wave of activism “has not been purely identified by academics, but is being used by activists, and journalists commenting on the unfolding action, [thus] is indicative that the surge has penetrated multiple disciplinary manifestations of feminism.” The fourth wave feminists use various web applications and platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and feministing.com to express their disapproval, call for actions, impatience, and justice for victims of sexual harassment and gender injustices. The use of technology to create a social movement, especially for younger feminists, has become a convenient method that eases and promotes communication among participants, encourages campaigns and mass participation.[Ibid] [Ibid] [Ibid]
Feminism and feminist movements have experienced increased and enormous changes starting the ninetieth century to the expanded liberal views expressed by feminists. The twentieth century saw an increase in the number of working outside their ...