Module 4 Answering the Opposition ITT Technical “The Latest from the Feminist Front” What was your initial reaction to Limbaugh’s claim that “feminism was established so that unattractive women could have easier access to mainstream of society?” My initial reaction was that Limbaugh was being disrespectful to women in general. Al women have a right to easier access to society whether they are attractive or unattractive. They are still women and women should be respected as much as men are respected. His statement is also very insensitive. What are two of Limbaugh’s main points?
Despite popular belief, the main focus of feminism is not the hatred of men. Instead, according to Seidman, feminism focuses on gender inequality. This inequality is exhibited through the spheres of work, politics, and family. Feminism also refers to the ideas that are generated by women in an attempt to evoke change in society while attempting to enhance their self-awareness. Feminists believe that women are viewed as a socially subordinate, and disadvantaged group compared to men.
Still today, whatever the reasons may be, be it the upbringing or beliefs and religion, women are continuously treated differently in places like the Middle East as to here. Other issues like female circumcision may be something that is religious, but at the same time, it is dangerous and harmful. It causes emotional and physical pain, shock and even death to women. It is not enough if one side of the world has appealed to its female freedom and rights, when the other side is struggling. A situation like that is not fair.
Liberal feminists are concerned with the human and civil rights and freedoms of the individual; they believe all human beings should have equal rights. Reformism is the idea that progress towards equal rights can be achieve by gradual reforms in society without the need for a revolution. Liberal feminists believe women can achieve gender equality by arguing that laws and policies against sex discrimination in employment and education can secure equal opportunities for women. To add they campaign for cultural change, traditional prejudices and stereotypes about gender differences are a barrier to equality. They reject the idea that biological differences make women less competent than men or men are biologically less emotional or nurturing than women.
From the very moment we are born, our gender plays a vital role in shaping our lives. It determines our identity through our attitudes, our behaviours, and the path in which our life is going to take due to status, stereotyping, gender roles (McDermott & Hatemi 2011). Whilst gender and sex are commonly grouped together, they do not mean the same thing. A person’s sex refers to the biological characteristics distinguishing male and female, whereas gender refers to the social, cultural and psychological components of what it means to be feminine or masculine. This implies that all people can be placed into either category, when it isn’t in fact this simple.
Women had an inadequate amount of freedom and were expected to conform to the ideologies of society. Antigone’s gender is a major part of the tragedy, her gender affects not only the meaning of her actions, but the consequences as well. In Ancient Greece, the role of men was viewed as more significant than the role of women. Antigone and her sister, Ismene, were very unlike eachother. Ismene was the ideal Greek woman and was the complete opposite of Antigone.
Newton is to educate on the issue of discrimination in the work place and political affairs. Newton believes that discrimination is unjust and that all those affected by it can suffer greatly. She also believes that if there is too much awareness for discrimination and that it can lead to the issue of reverse discrimination. Reverse discrimination is when the awareness for discrimination becomes too high, then the group being discriminated against receive almost a form of special treatment where they start to get more rights than the initial discriminators who are now receiving the discrimination. This creates a form of irony and chaos, where the government and or the community are not sure what to do when it comes to how to treat those of different gender and race in the work place.
Besides attention and knowledge another important factor in dealing with a problem is the amount of effort put into solving it. Being aware of the problem is not enough to eradicate the issue at hand. Effective measures must be taken in order to eliminate a problem. In the case of race and whiteness action should be taken to remove the alienation and discomfort placed on those affected by race and whiteness. Ruth Frankenberg, the author of White Women, Race Matters: The Social Construction of Whiteness, argues that similar to the way gender shapes the different experiences in men and women’s lives, race is what shapes the experiences in white women’s lives (Frankenberg 1).
Her aim was to gain allegiance from middle class white women but in this process she lost esteem from the women within her own race. She played into assertive ideals and clichés in order to be recognized. The author focused too much on gaining acceptance from white people instead of having self-assurance and understanding of possibly never being fully welcomed by her aggressors. It is one thing to desire equality, but when the basis of gaining equality requires degrading your own race, it is no longer equality of race nor mankind, but only gaining appreciation based on performance. McDougald thinks that the low class black women intrude as a hindrance for the entire black race and the few who have proven their dominant are still associated with ignorance and the signification of being a black woman.
“Feminists can produce a positive stereotype, considering that women work just as hard as a man, inside and outside of the home. It’s unfair that women who participate in the feminist movement are accused of being butch or trying to live in a “man’s world”. They are not trying to live in a man’s world; they just want to co-exist be equals, not dominant, like men feel they need to.” Sanbonmatsu, K.