Transcript Feminism Or, who the heck are these people, anyway? In the simplest terms, feminists past and present are for gender equity – or.

Feminism
Or, who the heck are these people,
anyway?
In the simplest terms, feminists past and present are for
gender equity – or for the moral, cultural, political and
material enfranchisement of women.
“If we survey human societies at a glance, sweeping
through history and across continents, we see that
they have commonly been characterized by: the
subjugation of women to male authority, both with the
family and in the community in general; the
objectification of women as a form of property; a
sexual division of labor in which women are confined
to such activities as child raising, performing personal
services for adult males, and specified (usually low
prestige) forms of productive labor.”
http://www.uic.edu/orgs/cwluherstory/CWLUArchive/socialfem.html
A Bit of History
 Birth of a Movement
– 1848 – 1921
College Students picket
the White House in
1917
Many states restricted
women’s voting rights: in New
Jersey, the 1844 Constitution
banned women from voting.
Voting became a human rights
issue.
Florence Noyes, Treasury Building,
Washington, DC
Relation to abolition
 The abolition movement
was in full swing before
the suffrage movement.
 People of good will
worked for the abolition
of slavery.
 Women could not
Harriet Tubman (1820 – 1913)
Runaway slave from Maryland;
leader in the Underground
Railroad
effectively support
abolition without the
vote.
Some Abolition Facts
 Began as early as the 1500s, with black
resistance to slavery
 First abolitionist society: 1775 in Philadelphia
 1820 – 1950: 100,000 slaves escape the
South through the Underground Railroad
 Famous names:
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Sojourner Truth (Isabella Baumtree; 17971883)
Frederick Douglass (1818-1895)
John Brown (1800-1859; hanged)
Goals of the Suffragists
 Civic and educational equality for women

Primary justification: to have an effective voice
in the abolition debate
 Secondary justification: humanity trumps
gender
 Tertiary justification: women educate the
future generations and can only be
“companions” to men if self-developed
• Raise consciousness (heyday in the 1950s
– 1970s)
Mary Wollstonecraft
 The Rights of Women – 1792
 Wollstonecraft pointed out that men
encouraged women to prettify
themselves and engage in other
'devious' activities in order to gain
influence; since they were largely
powerless otherwise. Then men
castigated women for being feeble
and only concerned with their
looks.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
 Helped organize the Seneca Falls
convention after the World AntiSlavery Convention in London
denied delegate status to women
(1848)
 Pushed for a strong reaction to the
passage of the 14th Amendment,
enfranchising “male citizens.”
Stanton and Susan
B. Anthony
So What’s the Problem?
 Women and men deserve
Liberal Feminism
the same rights and
responsibilities.
 Political and civil inequity
 Often misinterpreted as
should be rectified by
political action.
“Women and men are the
same.”
 Focus on individual civic
freedoms
 Example: marriage as a
property relation for men
 Seemed to ignore
institutional sexism
So What’s the Problem?
 Women and men have
Marxist Feminism
unequal shares of the work
which sustains the economy of  Women’s work is both invisible
a country.
and invaluable
 Example: marriage as an
economic v. a social institution
 Economic inequality provides
the “means” through which
women’s oppression is
effected.
 Economic independence is a
condition of freedom
 Emergence of an awareness of
the social as well as economic
value of women’s labor
So What’s the Problem?
 Women need individual
freedoms, but society needs
healthy children, elder care,
etc.
 Social institutions favor and
reward “men’s work”
 Some social functions
should be performed by the
government.
Socialist Feminism
 Addresses the intersections
between all of the elements
of human life that affect
relations between the sexes.
 Introduces the idea of a
“sex/gender” system.
 Asserts that multiple
differences (race, ethnicity,
etc) are part of sexism and
conversely.
So What’s the Problem?
Radical Feminism
 Women and men are
differently burdened by
biology
 The root of all oppression is
patriarchy (i.e., exploitation of
natural differences).
 Human liberation has always
come through the
intervention of technological
innovation and manipulation
of our environment
 Oppression is the
exploitation of natural human
tendencies to “dehumanize”
the “other”
 Socially, these differences can
be challenged
 Reproductive technologies are
welcome for their liberating
effect for women.
So What’s the Problem?
 Women are biologically
different from men – but in
positive ways
 Women are kinder, gentler
and more nurturing of both
present and future
generations.
Cultural Feminism
 Biological difference should
be recognized and
celebrated.
 Change should occur
through individual action
and/or local group countercultural activities
Accomplishments
Civic:
Legal
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Some political advancement
Inclusion in traditionally maleoriented employment
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Social:
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Women’s health advances
A more holistic conception of
feminists (includes men as well as
the concerns of minority/poor
women)
Expanded access to sports
Religious:
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New leadership and symbolic roles
Right to own property and have credit
Recognition of sexual harassment
Increased awareness of domestic
violence
Personal
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A presumptive right to control marriage
roles with their partners
Expanded sense of possibilities re:
vocations and avocations for both men
and women
More control over sexual and
reproductive lives
Contemporary Issues
Feminism today is dealing with a number of
concerns – related to the past as well as
expressive of the present.
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Past: Did the Second Wave of feminism leave
us with unrealistic and gender-hostile ideas of
work and family?
Present: How can we develop a productive
conversation among women of all
backgrounds regarding “women’s” needs and
interests?
Contemporary Issues
What do you think?