Feminism I & II
according to MW dictionary,
feminism means
the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes;
& it has the following aim:
organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests
this is no surprise that women in various ways, obvious, or not-so-obvious are short-changed in the societies which they are born into.
in one way or the other, throughout history, merely, being females, somehow negatively impacted their personhood or selfhood as living and thinking individuals.
they could not or were not able to communicate their rights, their want of an equal status, not necessarily in the sense of some artificial and egoistic pursuit of all things ‘male’ – profession, aggression, instincts, and so on and so forth, but equal status in the sense of being valued as individuals, who possess their own ideals and should be able to advance them, without living in the shadows of their counterparts, in any role that they take on to fulfill.
an the extreme spectrum of disparity can be seen in the classic example of a society in which women excel at learning, social activism, labor force, and strong familial and civic involvement.
whereas, in another society, the object of being a female is being an object, really, & that is done by attracting others, to live off of the resources of others.
types of feminism: radical, liberal, socialist, eco & cultural feminist. All of these have their arguments as the headings suggest.
radical feminists will be an extreme form of feminism that emphasizes the differences between the two genders.
liberal feminists will take the argument of equality by creation and thus equal rights to be had by both genders.
socialist feminists believe in the class structure of a society and how it factors in the oppression of women.
eco-feminists draw upon the nature’s tending effect and give an analogy of nature to women’s nature, that male domination is in fact a negative thing for the environment itself.
cultural feminists look at the bright and positive effects of male-female biological differences and state that this is not to be despised, in fact it should be celebrated as division of roles are so simple.
why does a religious or ethnic background makes its own impression on the philosophy of a group of women? That has to do with identity, in different societies, women would like to have different status either because it suits them or they find it to be useful for the time being.
Rationalizing the idea that being feminist is a bad thing or a good, even for men to be a feminist male, is an interesting abstract thought.
a woman, who sees a man in distress, may want to do all that she can to relive him of his pain, give him water, tend to his wound, and need be, at least bury him to pay his final respects, but why would not a male be trained to do so? why would he not stand up when he sees that a woman or women are being hurt all around him, in the society of which both belong? women are equipped to bear and raise the baby human – a task so difficult that no man can imagine doing. & women do so tirelessly, endlessly, throughout their lifer spans, volunteering their time and efforts to raise their children well, to contribute to the society, the ultimate that anyone can – their own child.
so, what makes the work of a feminist meaningful for women in particular and for the rest of the society in general?
for women, the ideals of personal autonomy and personal excellence to be achieved independently, as people, is important. that is perhaps the most concrete argument that we make. however, it should be made clear at this point that is not desired by the well-meaning feminists to apply this in such a way that it compromises the very nature of women – kind and caring. they are intelligent, & an example of human beauty. but, so are men who are kind, caring, intelligent and are another example of human beauty with strength. how, each one of them uses their qualities, is up to each of them.
the meaningfulness of the feminism work to the society is this: it empowers one half of its, often times, abused, abandoned, bonded, coerced, disgraced, enslaved, forced against the will, humiliated, manipulated, mutilated, over-killed, spoiled and finally brutally tortured, trafficked, victimized by violence, and weakened population.
when this happens, those whose lives the women are expected to make comfortable, experience a spiral of failures, as the future generations reflect the onslaught of all the mistreatment that women have been silently bearing until they die.
what can be done to make the accurate and functional image of feminism more obvious?
feminists, in general, do agree that they have to take along the men with themselves, that they need to make the consultation by involving men in carrying out a substantive debate over the injustice, absence of rights and ill treatment of countless women - conflicts which must be resolved by come to a solution from a platform of mutual collaborative work in personal, familial, work and social as well as civic lives that we all lead.
this has been studied by many fields of disciplines: sociological, human developmental, economics, medicine, psycho-biological, & anthropological to name a few, & all of these have delved deeper into the factors, and successfully out lined the stressors which account for stress in women, when they are not able to live as they want.
the fact that people’s feel and insight for feminism is this, that it is some kind of campaign against men, is not a good thing. the positive aspect which should be acknowledged is simply this: feminism is not a conspiracy to dissolve all men. but, in fact, on the contrary, it is a way of thinking and of being, by those women who feel that they are luckily well-positioned to truly help the more down-trodden and weaker strata of the female gender population. feminism is and can get political.
genuine regard, trustworthiness, and cohesion in securing the feminist idealism to a state of a welcome reality, does need help from the male-counterparts & it is inevitable. without that, feminism may take on a face which no one would feel comfortable with, i.e. of an oppressed who becomes the oppressor. & this has to be avoided by all means, while simultaneously taking sure footed steps to dispel all wrongs and pave the way for a seamless partnership between the two genders for a peaceful accord, by way of persistently reflected societal good in addressing each other, in helping each other and in making each other stronger, for happy, and strong people in well-established societies that are fair to all its members.
chime if you would like to share your thoughts on this?
References
Code, Lorraine. Encyclopedia of Feminist Theories. London: New York: Routledge, 2000.
but oh well!