Feminism Case

18. Modern feminism: pros and cons.

Feminism is the organized movement which promotes equality for men and women in political, economic and social spheres.

Feminists believe that women are opposed simply due to their sex based on the dominant ideology of patriarchy. Throughout history men have had greater power in both the public and private spheres. To maintain this power, men have created boundaries and obstacles for women, thus making it harder to hold power.

Feminism ideology can take many different forms. In the 1970s, women started developing a theory which helped to explain their oppression. Pockets of resistance began to organize and challenge patriarchy. By the 1980’s, however, feminists started disagreeing. What was once one theory, began to branch  out into many theories. I can name some of them.

1. Social feminism.  Socialist feminists believe that there is a direct link between class culture and the oppression of women. Society rewardsworking men because they produce material goods, on the other hand, women’s work in the domestic sphere is not valued. The way to end this oppression is to put an end to class and gender.
2. Cultural feminism. Cultural feminists believe that there are fundamental, biological differences between men and women, and that women should celebrate these differences. Women are inherently more kind and gentle. They believe that if women ruled the world there would be no more war.
3. Ecofeminism. Ecofeminists believe that male domination is harmful to women, as well as the environment. Men feel as though they conquer both in order to have complete power. There is a deep connection between the earth and women men can’t understand, hence the terms” Mother Nature” or “ Mother Earth”.

Like any other movement feminism has its own pros and cons.

Pros:

1. Women strived to obtain equality in every sphere of life and have achieved this aim.
2. The equal rights help to create healthy society, which is the generator of social balance.
3. The ability of self realization
4. The ability of women to protect themselves.
5. Through feminism women get greater confidence in themselves.
6. Women have acquired a higher social status as a result of this movement.
7. Elimination of job and sex discrimination.
8. More possibilities opened in jobs and social activities.
9. Feminism caused more participation in the family affaires on the part of men.

Cons:

1. Higher rate of divorces, low birth rate
2. Appearance of gender war and hatred to men
3. Some radical types of feminism were created. For ex “ feminaris” – women who try to produce as many abortions as possible
4. Loss of femininity,as a result of this the creation of unisex and problems with gender identification.
5. Domination  of the role of men
6. Same sex marriages
7. Linguistic factors: extreme cases in the language (history-herstory)