Feminist Theory

Introduction

Feminist theory, also known as feminism can be described as political, cultural and economic movement aimed at promoting equal and legal rights for women and men. It focuses on promoting gender equality and equal rights between men and women. The movement campaigns for protection of equal women rights since women were neglected in the past few years. Feminism develops sociological and political theories that advocate for gender equality for women and ensure the rights of women are respected. Feminist activists have campaigned all over the world and ensured the rights and legal rights of women are not violated. Such rights include right to own properties, voting rights, abortion rights, workplace rights, rights against domestic violence and harassment, rights against any form of discrimination against many other women rights. Therefore the feministic theory was developed as a result of the feminist movements that took place in the 1960s. Therefore this paper will focus on discussing the feminist theory and its effectiveness.

History of Feminist Theory

Feminist and other scholars have divided feminism into three important waves (Bryson, 2007). The first wave describes the movements that took place in the US and United Kingdom in the early twentieth and nineteenth century as women activists mainly fought for the rights of women to vote (International Development Research Centre, 2000). Initially, the movements fought for equal rights for women in owning property but later on focused on women’s suffrage since most women rights were violated thus being treated badly. Other activists such as Margaret Sanger during this time fought for economic rights of women as well as reproductive and sexual rights which had been violated before (Disch, & Hawkesworth, 2016). The second wave mainly campaigned for the legal and social rights for the women (Parrish, 2014). The wave began in the 1960s and ended in the 1980s. The wave saw the activists fight discrimination of all forms thus wanted equal social rights among women meaning that women would no longer be subjected to any form of discrimination. The wave aimed at educating women and helping them appreciating themselves and learning their political rights which they had been denied. This wave saw Women’s Liberation put into consideration since women had been given unfair treatment by the men (Parrish, 2014). The third wave was a continuation, and gave room for reaction as a result of failures that arose in the second wave (Lennox, 2006). The wave began in the 1990s and ensured that failures experienced in the second wave would be solved. The wave aimed at explaining that gender roles are equal and that there should not be specific jobs for men and women. The third face continues to date since it focuses on ensuring all the rights of women are failed and that there are no differences between men and women. The only difference is the different sex but the abilities and capabilities are equal.

Theorists Associated With the Feminist Theory

Rachel Speght was the first to come up with the issue of women’s rights back in 1597 and even published her work under her name. Olympe de Gouges was the second theorist who spoke not only on her behalf but other women as well and wrote on the Declaration of the Rights of a Woman and That of a Citizen (Littlejohn & Foss, 2009). She made people understand that man and woman were not the same but the woman was an equal partner to the man. She published her work in 1789 and made people understand the role of women. Mary Wollstonecraft published on the Vindication of the Rights of Woman which is an important idea in the fight for women’s rights. Her growing ideas on rights of women were cut short by her early death but her ideas on women are still important. Judith Sargent Murray did some works on the education, religion and politics among women. She is known for the writings on equality of education opportunities for women in her paper known as The Gleaner (Parsons, 2014). Frederika Bremer is another theorist who wrote something on socialism and feminism.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton initiated a movement in 1848 on women’s rights even with the opposition of her husband. She was opposed by most people but it did not hinder her from fighting for the rights of women. She is one of the mothers of human suffrage and is known since she was aggressive in fighting for the rights of women. Anna Garlin Spencer was known for her participation in women rights and published a book on women and the family. Woman’s Share in Social Culture is the name of the book she wrote in order to teach the roles of women in the family and society (Villaverde, 2008). Sarojini Naidu was the Indian woman to fight for womens righst in India and was the founder of Women’s India Association. Crystal Eastman came up with an essay in 1920 that paved way for her feminist and economic feminist theory. Simone de Beauvoir published a book, The Second Sex, which encouraged many women and taught women on their roles in the society (Connor, 2010).

Betty Friedan opposed feminists who took positions who made it difficult for the issue of gender mainstream. Gloria Steinem was a major figure during the 1969 movement that saw women fight for their rights. She was the founder of Ms. Magazine which began in 1972 and was the favorite spokesperson for the movement since journalist preferred discussing the issue of the feminist movement with her. She was however criticized for being middle class oriented. Robin Morgan is known for her participation in the feminist movement through writing. She wrote writings on feminism such as Sisterhood Is Powerful (Ferber & Nelson, 1993). Andrea Dworkin is another feminist who was against the issue of pornography since she argued out it was a tool used by men to control women and make them their objects. She argued out that pornography promoted sexual violence and harassment against women.

Social Work Knowledge Base

Feminist theory is used currently in gender studies where people are taught on the topic of gender equality and equity. The feminist theory is widely recognized thus taught as a subject in many institutions (Mann & Patterson, 2016). Women are currently not given equal treatment with men in the society regardless of providing they have equal capabilities with men. Women have been given education and job opportunities since they have proved they can perform in the education and employment sectors. Though the feminist theory is widely used today, women continue to face some inequalities in the modern society. For instance women are subjected to little wages in the places of work compared to men. Women are still subjected to sexual harassment and rape cases are on the increase. This shows that discrimination against women because their gender is still high regardless of feminism. The status of women in the society is not equal with that of men since women are considered subjects by men. Women do not enjoy equal political rights with men as well as legal rights regardless of the feminism movements. Feminism activists and feminist theory will continue remaining aggressive as long as discrimination and violation of women’s rights continue taking place.

Major Terms of Feminist Theory

Major terms of the theory include; social movement which means groups of people coming up together with the same ideas who want to achieve common goals. A feminist is a supporter of equal rights for men and women (Rakow & Wackwitz, 2004). Feminism is a policy that advocates for equal rights for women since their rights have been violated by the society. Voting right is commonly used in the theory and it means equal rights to vote. Activism is described as the policy set to achieve the set political and social goals. A woman is described as a female person who is an adult (Rakow & Wackwitz, 2004). Women continue to face discrimination even to date regardless of the movement. Workplace is a place where work is carried out. Women were and are facing discrimination in the places of work. The discrimination though is little compared to the past before feminism began. Equality can be described as the quality of having the same value or quality. Women suffrage can be described as the legal right to vote among women.

Major Assumptions of Feminist Theory

The theory assumes that women suffer some injustices because of their gender. The society has come up with gender divisions that all favor the male gender compared to the female gender (Palestini, 2013).

The theory assumes that women at all times are viewed by media houses as cleaners, house wives and domestic servants used to serve men. In real sense women have equal capabilities with men and should not be used by men as their objects (Biggart & Wiley InterScience, 2002).

The theory assumes that there are no men and women roles (Palestini, 2013). Both men and women can perform equal tasks since they have equal abilities and capabilities.

The theory assumes that only women are subjected to discrimination. Men too can be discriminated against but the theory focuses on fighting only for equal rights of women.

The theory assumes that women are denied equal legal and political rights (Palestini, 2013). Women currently are being given chances to vie for political positions and vote as well. In addition women can now own property.

The theory assumes that education sector is male dominated while girls are seen to even perform better than boys. Boys are seen to seek more attention from teachers since they believe they can do better compared to the girls (Kirschner & Martin, 2010).

Conclusion

It can evidently be concluded that the feminist theory has empowered women and women can now enjoy some rights they were denied in the past. The current woman is more respected compared to the past women since feminism has empowered the position of women in the society. Women are able to vote and vie for political positions. This was unlike in the past where politics were carried out by men. Women are educated and able to get formal employment currently. This shows that feminism has helped the current woman and empowered her. Women were viewed as inferior people in the past but nowadays they are able to express themselves and express their ideas. Women are capable just like men and thus their right should be upheld and respected.

References

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