Webster’s defines feminism as the “principle that women should have political, economic and social rights that are equal to those of men”. I would like to express my views regarding this subject as I am a feminist in the truest sense of the word, however, I believe that feminism has become twisted and tainted by special interest parties and the results have been devastating to our gender.
Historically, feminism was a fire that burned in the hearts of devout Christian woman who, because of their belief in the Bible, which declared there to be “no male or female”, that is no partiality between the sexes in God’s view. At the time, woman had no legal rights and were considered inferior and were therefore subservient to men. The spiritual truth of equality ignited the passion which began many of the founding woman’s rights movements in our nation.
The fight for equality (feminism) finds it’s roots first in individuals whose hearts cry for equality blazed the way. In 1792, Mary Wollstonecraft wrote “A Vindication of the Rights of Women”, one of the first books to claim that women should have equality with men. Sara Moore Grimke wrote an essay called “Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Woman” in 1838, one of the first works by an American on the subject. Lucretia Coffin Mott founded two anti slavery groups as well as organized the first women’s rights meeting in the U.S. She became a Quaker minister and founded Swarthmore College.
Women were not allowed to vote in the United States until the required number of states ratified the 19th Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. The struggle for suffrage stretched over almost a century pioneered by Susan B. Anthony and Martha Carey Thomas. These woman believed that woman were equal to men and fought for that truth to be recognized within our society.
The Great Depression and perhaps the industrialization of society sent more men and woman from home to make ends meet. Fast forward to the 50's and 60's where the “Women’s Liberation” movement took off. This movement represented a fundamental change in the original intention of it’s predecessors and herein lies the problem. Woman burned their bras, opened their own doors and sang along with Helen Ready “I am woman hear me roar” all to the underlying tune of “there is no difference between men and women and we want to be treated exactly the same”.
Equal is different than the same. Equality recognizes our fundamental gender differences and celebrates those differences proclaiming that each gender is uniquely valuable and necessary and therefore should have equality in society. The assertion that we are all the same nullifies the difference and uniqueness and thereby devalues both genders suggesting that the only fair society is a de-gendered one in which neither is celebrated.
Disagree? Look at where we are gals. Women’s styles have become increasingly more masculine, not the other way around. Not only that but the socially celebrated body type is that of a young adolescent male, no bumps, no curves. It’s no wonder that women all struggle with self esteem and I’ll go so far as to say that is a primary factor in the development of the social rampage of eating disorders.
More woman, the statistics are ridiculous, have been the targets of sexual abuse/harassment than ever. In fact, our media, in the name of freedom, in proclaiming to the world that our gender may be used and abused in any way anyone can invent. There is no such thing as respect for sensitivity of women. Like it or not it is locker room mentality for us all, ladies.
Most of us now work full time, care for the kids and house and many of us have been abandoned by that significant other who contributed to the creating of our chaos. Men are less responsible for everything than they’ve ever been and we are quickly becoming a matriarch society. If that sounds appealing to you check out the Carribean countries where the women have been carrying all the responsibilities for decades. What is their number one priority? To try to teach their sons to take responsibility. Why?
It is because each gender, male and female, is unique. Men and women together must be equal in sharing both the privileges and responsibilities in society in order for it to function in health. Each gender represents something that can not be duplicated by mere action, as gender is deeply entwined within our being and is at the core of who we are. We are equal but we are different and we need each other to operate in our uniqueness to find wellness in society once more.