Feminism serves as one of the widely adopted belief systems among human rights activists, who seek to achieve and maintain socioeconomic, as well as political equality between men and women. In essence, the primary purpose of feminist movements revolves around ensuring equality within the complicated and multifaceted female-male relationship, especially when it comes to any given social setting. Available historical documents and recent literature and studies have so far revealed that feminism was founded to counter male domination, which, for a long time, played a leading role in containing women’s lives. In this sense, radical, multicultural, and liberal feminists firmly believe that present-day society is patriarchal, meaning it remains male-dominated, denying individual women the much-needed opportunities to prosper. For this reason, the sexes in question have and continue to engage in conflict with the sole purpose of maintaining and improving their social status. According to feminists, who constitute both men and women, male members of society remain power wielders, while their female counterparts are disadvantaged in all aspects of life; social, political, and economical. Feminism looks at the differences witnessed between women and men, including education, politics, relationships, and the economy and suggests a variety of solutions.
Gender Equality
Feminism places great emphasis on gender-based exclusion and discrimination, objectification, power and oppression, stereotypes, and structural inequality. In this respect, feminist theory plays a central role in shifting its topical focus, assumptions, as well as for analytic lens away from the already established and propagated male viewpoints toward female perspectives (Ferguson 271). In doing so, the approach in question identifies a broad range of issues, challenges, and trends that have been overlooked by the dominant male viewpoints and ideologies within social theory. In particular, feminists tend to rely on patriarchy as a concept to justify their movements and associated arguments. They make tireless efforts toward explaining the privilege, as well as stratification of power, by gender in society. Accordingly, feminists believe that the oppression of female members of society results from the bias created by a patriarchal society.
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The systematic bias against individual women is witnessed in social relationships, which, have since been defined and shaped by stereotypes and socially constructed and oppressive traditions. Traditionally, women have been viewed by other society members as inferior individuals (Rogan & Shelley, 5). By perceiving a woman as a weak human being, society expects all women, regardless of education and career, to remain submissive to men. Women are required to serve as sex objects and housewives, bear and take care of their children, and undertake other household chores. On the other hand, men should play a leading role in serving as sole breadwinners, decision makers, and leaders. For instance, in some African and Eastern countries, such as Uganda and Iran, girls were forced into early marriages because they had little to no say when it comes to choosing their partners (Montazeri et al. 8615929 ). The identified undermining social norms and practices in the male-dominated society have and continue to suppress men.
Wrongful gender stereotyping remains a major concern among feminists because it serves as the primary factor for social vices and other forms of human rights violations meted on women. Apart from forced marriage, for instance, certain communities tend to justify marital rape and other types of sexual violence. In essence, these societies tend to perpetuate the widely held belief that a woman serves as a man’s sexual property (Montazeri et al. 8615929; Spierings & Zaslove 831 ). Some people also blame women for rape, claiming that they can prevent sexual violence by behaving modestly. In response, most feminists advocate women’s rights, including the use of contraceptives, right to abortion, and implementation of stringent rules or laws on sexual and physical violence against women as key ways to address social relationship problems facing female members of society. Therefore, feminism involves the desire to create equality-driven communities in which female-male relationships remain characterized by a lot of shared responsibilities, high-level trust and respect for one’s value, and loving one another unconditionally.
Economy
Women comprise the underpaid and highly despised workers and employees in the United States’ (U.S.) current workforce. Economists, researchers, and other policymakers have attributed this economic problem to the persistence of gender inequalities, which the world has and continues to witness at the workplace (Verniers & Vala e0201150). Although recent studies have revealed that women have so far gained skills and knowledge necessary for the increasingly diverse labor market, they the gender wage gaps in different have failed to narrow further (Connolly & Gregory). For instance, Dasco found that between 1994 and 2004, inequality at the various workplaces grew in the U.S., which, in turn, widened the country’s gender pay gap by approximately five percent (3). In essence, women from across the globe often undertake the same job as men, but the former end up getting a meagre salary. Besides low-pay, working women face a variety of obstacles in their careers, including opposition from motherhood and unpaid work.
In their study, Verniers and Vala corroborate that women more than two hours every day doing tasks that do not generate any income (e0201150). Women do this because they often engage in part-time jobs with the sole purpose of attending to the socially constructed motherhood needs. Feminists firmly believe that reduced working hours plays a central role in hindering female career progression; given they have little to no time for training and development and associated advancement opportunities. Socialists, commonly known as Marxist feminists, have argued, asserted that the gendered division of workforce or labor has resulted in the various workplace inequality and other employment challenges witnessed by women today (Dasco 11). Concisely, feminism’s other objective revolves around addressing occupational segregation, increasing wages for women, and creating equal opportunities for both sexes when it comes to the workplace.
Politics
Despite recent findings that have shown expanding participation of women in politics and other leadership positions, a report by the United Nations (UN) has indicated that only 24.3 percent of women served as national parliamentarians by February 2019. In the report, only 11 percent of women were presidents or prime ministers in their respective countries by June 2019. In response to this biased and discriminative approach to leadership, liberal feminists have argued that the best possible way to address the issue and fight patriarchal systems, which determine political positions and other leadership domains involves the establishment of equality-driven policies and legislation. In essence, the position of this group of feminists can be traced back to the 18 th century when they proposed and advocated the Equal Rights Amendment. During this time, women had no voting rights, which denied them the freedom of speech or expression and choice and other civil rights (Rogan & Shelley 7; Spierings & Zaslove 840). Ultimately, feminism seeks to establish affirmative actions, which, in turn, presents women and their male counterparts with equal opportunities when it comes to ascending to power and leading government agencies and assuming leadership roles in other sectors, including the rapidly changing and highly competitive corporate world.
Education
Feminism, which thrives in its advocacy role and demand for equality remains opposed to gender stereotypes; given their harmful effects on men’s, as well as women’s capacity to empower themselves through the development of personal abilities and gaining equal access to education and professional careers. Studies have established that the male-dominated society undermines girls from accessing educational opportunities necessary for their success in society (Arnot 559). In essence, feminists are justified to corroborate that curricula in different countries tend to favor male students. Although the curriculum serves as a critical tool for gender socialization in school settings, it revolves around the traditionally male-dominated subjects. For example, Food Technology and Tourism or Hospitality Management are some of the subjects, which remain aimed at a given gender group, women (Ellemers 271). By associating female learners with food, the curriculum stereotypes women as cooks and house help, people who are weak and less creative than men. On the other hand, male students often undertake or pursue challenging tasks, including engineering and other science-related courses. Very simply, these subjects were believed to play a leading role in preparing girls for their future motherhood roles.
Apart from gendered disciplines in the educational system, senior managers in many schools remain are held by male teachers as opposed to female educators, who are the majority. Although this may not apply to some schools, especially those in developed economies, available data on leadership has shown that women are expected to submit to male authority, regardless of their qualifications. On the same note, recent reports have revealed that female learners face not only a great deal of emotional, as well as physical violence in the classroom but also a playground. In response to these gender-based educational problems in learning or school settings, feminists have suggested the adoption and implementation of drastic measures, which would go a long way in offering equal opportunities for women teachers and learners (Arnot 550). At the same time, they have proposed changes in educational policies, such as performance-based curriculum and stringent disciplinary rules to protect female learners from bullying and any other forms of violence.
Conclusion
In summary, feminism has helped a great deal in the fight against inequality in present-day society. Feminists advocate equal opportunities for both men and women, especially when it comes to access to employment, leadership, and education. Feminism emerged as a response to retrogressive forces, which seek to contain or undermine women. Although this has remained the primary goal of the movement in question, any individual, regardless of gender, can be a feminist; given feminism revolves around the achievement and maintenance of equality in society.
Works Cited
Arnot, Madeine. “Education Feminism, Gender Equality and School Reform in the Late Twentieth Century England.” International Studies in Educational Inequality, Theory, and Policy , 2007, pp. 538-557.
Connolly, Sara, and Gregory, Mary. “Moving Down: Women’s Part-Time Work and Occupational Change in Britain 1991-2001.” The Economic Journal , 2008. Doi:10.1111/j.1468-0297.2007.02116.x
Dasco, Zsuzsa. Wage Inequality and the Gender Wage Gap: Are American Women Swimming Upstream? 2012. Available at https://drum.lib.umd.edu/bitstream/handle/1903/13259/Daczo_umd_0117E_13599.pdf
Ellemers, Naomi. “Gender Stereotypes.” Annual Review of Psychology , vol. 69, 2018, pp. 275-298.
Ferguson, Kathy. “Feminist Theory Today.” Annual Review of Political Science , vol. 20, 2017, pp. 269-286.
Montazeri, Simin, et al. “Determinants of Early Marriage from Married Girls’ Perspectives in Iranian Setting: A Qualitative Study.” Journal of Environmental and Public Health , vol. 2016, 2016, pp. 8615929.
Rogan, Frances, and Shelley, Budgeon. “The Personal is Political: Assessing Feminist Fundamentals in the Digital Age.” Social Sciences , vol. 7, no. 132, 2018, pp. 1-19.
Spierings, Niels, and Zaslove, Andrej. “Gender, Populists Attitudes, and Voting: Explaining the Gender Gap in Voting for Populist Radical Right and Populist Radical Left Parties.” West European Politics , vol. 40, no. 4, 2017, pp. 821-847.
UN. Facts and Figures: Leadership and Political Participation . 2019. Available at: http://www.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/leadership-and-political-participation/facts-and-figures
Verniers, Catherine, and Vala, Jorge. “Justifying Gender Discrimination in the Workplace: The Mediating Role of Motherhood Myths.” PLoS ONE , vol. 13, no. 7, 2018, p. e0201150.
