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Essay Subject: Definitions of feminism.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Definitions of feminism. Beliefs and goals of liberal feminists of the 19th and 20th centuries. Different forces. Women's Rights, economic justice versus civil liberties. Post-modern feminists and issues of gender equality and social harmony. Separating gender roles from sexual roles. Inequality of gender stereotyping. Paper Introduction: Historically, gender occurred as behavior patterns and personality traits differentiated along lines of biological sex. These later became associated with cultural norms for the meanings of “masculinity” and “femininity” (Tong, 1989). For example, early hominids lived in communities of some sort that offered protection, belonging, food shelter, and a sense of belonging. Because of this early need of community, and the needs of those in the community, there was a break down of duties and a separation of labor early on. Men, being usually bigger, became the hunters and gatherers, while the women stayed at home to tend the fields, cook, and care for the children. In exchange, a woman was offered protection from wild animals as well as from other men who might want to “claim” her, while the man was provided with a home and nest where he was offered physi Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Men, being usually bigger, became thehunters and gatherers, while the women stayed at home to tend the fields,cook, and care for the children. Separating gender from sex is difficult when there has been ahistorical link between the two that seems to have cemented particulartraits and roles to each sex without consideration of their individualityor personality type. Historically, gender occurred as behavior patterns and personalitytraits differentiated along lines of biological sex. Affirmative action is a derivative ofthis type of liberalism. "'Women's Liberation' Aims to Free Men, Too."Washington Post. Feminist Thought. In essence, this is a way trying tolevel the playing field, yet it still does not separate gender from sex inany truly effective manner as there is still a belief that the best way toliberate a woman is by teaching her to be a man. Shanley, M. Observer. He did, however, strive for there to be more of a "Friendship"or comradeship approach to marriage as opposed to the "Master-servant"relationship that seemed to be the norm in society (Shanley, 1991). Nineteenth century liberal feminists did notactively seek to separate gender from sex. In exchange, a woman was offeredprotection from wild animals as well as from other men who might want to"claim" her, while the man was provided with a home and nest where he wasoffered physical comfort in all its forms. Shanley, M. They believe that expanding women's freedom requireseconomic and social policies that encourage new patterns of male behavior.In other words, for example, since men typically make more, encourage paidfamily leave instead of unpaid leave. Liberal feminists are bestexemplified as those who fought for suffrage in the late nineteenth andearly twentieth century (Creaser & Li, 2 1). Boulder, CO: Westview Press. 12).An example of a nineteenth century liberal feminist would be John StuartMill who wrote The Subjection of Women in 1869. Twentieth century liberal feminism, however, is different in that thefocus is on economic justice versus civil liberties (Tong, 1989). In this case then the separation of gender from sex occurs becausethere is, in a sense, no gender, no race, no class, just the biologicaldifference of sex. Women: the new men. These later becameassociated with cultural norms for the meanings of "masculinity" and"femininity" (Tong, 1989). (1991). As Tong (1989) points out, nineteenth century classicalliberals believed that the "ideal state protects civil liberties" (p. Feminism in all shapes and sizes.Gauntlet Feminism Supplement. Although times changed, thisexchange of labor somehow became set in stone. Incentive to shareresponsibility in the home or at work, without placing blame on anyone,will force gender stereotypes to crumble and so bring about more of asexual equality. Post-modern feminismseeks equal rights among genders by avoiding placing blame or assigning"right" or "wrong," to any one group. June, 7. & Li, B. (2 1). March 15, 2 1. Although Mill appeared todesire that legal barriers to women's right be removed, he did not carrythis need for equality into the division of labor that occurred in amarriage. July, 18. These feminists are also more concerned in thecompetition of women in a man's world. The focus was simply advocatingfor the rights of that class or gender associated with the female sex.Twentieth century liberal feminists, however, have determined that thesingle most important goal is to free women from oppressive gender roles(Tong, 1989). References Creaser, J. Where the liberal faction is currently trying to attain equalitythrough government mandate, however, post-modern feminists are attemptingto provide individual incentives for both sexes to give up genderstereotypes. This paper will discuss how liberalfeminism and post-modern feminism, has sought to break that link. Thesefeminists are more closely centered on assuring that the government is moreinvolved in monitoring that there be equal opportunity for all, regardlessof race, sex, or class (Tong, 1989). (197 ). Marital Slavery and Friendship: John StuartMill's The Subjection of Women in Feminist Interpretations and PoliticalTheory. It is just such a separation that feminism hasundertaken to accomplish both in the liberal camp and post-modern feministcamp. Steinem, G. There are several current examples ofpost-modern feminists, one in particular being Rosalind Coward who pointsout "that feminism for the new millennium should be an inclusive affair.Equality for women must not come at the expense of men" (Veash, 1999, p.23). & Patemen, C., eds. (1989). Post-modern feminists have taken this a step further. There is no one single definition of feminism, especially since thereare some many branches that have developed recently in feminist studies.However, liberal feminism has been defined as a philosophy based on thebelief that inequality of women stems from the denial of equal rights andfrom their learned reluctance to exercise such rights. (1999). Because of this early need of community, and theneeds of those in the community, there was a break down of duties and aseparation of labor early on. This will encourage the father tobecome as involved in child raising (a task associated with the femininegender) as the mother has traditionally been. An example of these types offeminists is Betty Friedan, who suggested that the only way for a woman tohave a healthy happy life was to get a college degree and a full-time joband compete in the male marketplace. Two basic strata of liberals are nineteenth century liberals andtwentieth century liberals. Ever since, genderhas somehow become linked to sex. Liberal feministsfight for the extension to women of those rights and privileges beingoffered to men through social and legal reform. L. 1). For example, early hominids lived incommunities of some sort that offered protection, belonging, food shelter,and a sense of belonging. Veash, N. L. Post-modern feminists place moreresponsibility upon the actions of the individual as opposed to thegovernment (Creaser & Li, 2 1). Tong, R. As Gloria Steinem (197 )puts it, "these are preconceptions imbedded so deeply in our thinking thatwe honestly may not know that they are there" (p. Post-modernfeminism seeks gender equality through social harmony by eliminating theassumption that men and women have fundamental aspects that differentiatemen from women and make one superior to the other. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.