Second Wave Feminism A Feminist Perspective - 2232 Words

What is feminism? What makes someone a feminist? In today’s society, a common answer might be â€Å"an angry lesbian that hates men.† However, feminism as defined by the OED, is â€Å"the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.† Simply put, a feminist is someone who believes that women and men should be treated equally, regardless of gender. The rise in feminism is due in part to the multiple waves of feminist movements that have raised awareness concerning gender inequalities and women’s experiences. In this essay, we will aim to explore second-wave feminism, how second-wave feminist poets used poetry to bring gender equality to the forefront of the discussion, and its ever-lasting impact on our society. Second-wave feminism is a period of feminist activity that expanded the discussion regarding women’s sexuality, domesticity, the workplace, abortion rights, and much more. Prior to second-wave feminism, the discussion had mainly focused on women’s suffrage. Second-wave feminism originated in the 1960s and was a delayed response to the renewed domestic ideologies of women after World War II. TV shows such as Father Knows Best and Leave It to Beaver began idealizing domesticity, making it part of mainstream American culture (DeKoven 268). Consequently, the ideal marriage consisted of a stay at home wife and the breadwinner husband. The wife would care for the children and household, while the husband held all rights to earnings,Show MoreRelatedFeminist Theory Of Feminism1245 Words   |  5 Pagesinvited to feel welcome to participate in the conversation ( Watson, 2014). In the feminist perspective, which is an extension of feminism, there is support of equality for both women and men. Feminism is a belief that women and men have equal rights and opportunities. There are many different branches in the feminist perspective, one of the most interesting one is intersectional feminism. Intersectional feminism believes that experiences of class, gender, and race can not be adequately understoodRead MoreFeminist Student Culture And The Issues Of Postsecondary Education946 Words   |  4 Pagessynthesize and discuss feminist student culture and the issues in postsecondary education. First, the paper reviews the various definitions and movements surrounding feminism. In addition, the paper analyzes the perspectives of women and men and whether they support or are against feminist student culture. Lastly, the paper discusses recommendations and future research for student affairs professions to maintain feminist student culture in higher education. Understanding feminism Feminism in the United StatesRead MoreFeminism : Women s Role1541 Words   |  7 Pages Feminism has had a tremendous result on women’s roles in society and in their everyday life. After a while, women got sick of living a strict lifestyle. They became tired of staying caged in their houses, cooking, and cleaning, and not being able to do what they truly wanted and so desired. So, they decided that they wanted this no more and needed to do something to put a stop to this and make change. What they really wanted was equality between men and women and wanted the same opportunities thatRead MoreFeminism : Social And Economic Context1086 Words   |  5 Pagescultures and the problems that are included with feminism. Cultural feminism was developed from a different type of feminism called radical feminism. Radical feminism is known as the perspective where the male supremacy is not included in any social and economic context. The purpose of radical feminism is to get eliminate patriarchy by challenging the existing norms and other institutions, rather than through a pure political process. This type of feminism includes challenging the notion of traditionalRead MoreFeminist Theory1345 Words   |  6 PagesFeminist Theory Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, or philosophical discourse, it aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines womens social roles and lived experience, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, psychoanalysis, economics, literary criticism, education, and philosophy. While generally providing a critique of social relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on analyzing genderRead MoreGender Equality And The Movement For Women s Rights On A Global Scale1174 Words   |  5 Pagescontroversial perceptions of the meaning of feminism and what feminists stand for. For many years, feminism is considered a series of mere actions exhorting for only women, which is anti-men and overaggressive. Recently, there is a gradual change in the understanding of what feminism is. It is all about the equality that every living human should be treated regardless of gender, race, religion or class. My essay will analyze in-depth the case study of Emma Watson’s feminism campaign, HeforShe campaign, basedRead MoreFeminism : The First Wave Of Feminism1267 Words   |  6 PagesFeminism is a movement calling for social change, holding to a belief that women are oppressed by American society due to patriarchy’s inherent sexism. This social movement explained quite simply started in the 19th century when women fought for the right to vote, sought to improve workplace conditions for women as well as increase working opportunities. From this initial movement, called first wave feminism, stemmed other waves that though somewhere in the same vein, they held many differing goalsRead MoreFeminism And The Reality Behind Feminism Essay913 Words   |  4 PagesA poll on whether individuals identify themselves as feminist, conducted by the Huffington Post and YouGov, states that only one-fifth of Americans identify themselves as feminist. Although the participants did not assoc iate with the â€Å"feminist† term, 82 percent of the respondents agree that men and women are equal in the aspect of social, political, and economic rights. Ironically the respondents agree with what feminism stands for. The confusion is the result of several negative connotations associatedRead MoreThe Feminist Theory Of Animal Studies924 Words   |  4 PagesFeminist scholars are concerned with a broad range of issues and topics for discussion. Taking this into consideration, animal studies is a new and edgy field, especially in the context of feminist theory. The general findings of this paper include patriarchal establishments, and speciesism as an institution of oppression influencing and interconnected with sexism. However, this literature review will not explore the connections of animal studies within queer theory due to insufficient research,Read MoreFeminism And Its Impact On Women s Rights Movement Essay1586 Words   |  7 Pages Growing up, misconceptions of feminism lead me to reject the idea quickly. Identifying myself as a feminist made me uncomfortable since it evoked the image of a troop of an angry man-hating, unattractive women. When signing up for classes for senior year, I wanted to pick classes of interest to me, but sadly those classes were filled up, leaving me with no choice to enroll in a Gender Studies class. Unexpectedly, I never met with a mass of enraged women spewing hate towards males; rather it was