Sunday, September 2, 2012

Are Younger Generations Afraid of Feminism?

A Tsunami in History by Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner defines and explores the history of feminism by breaking it up into 3 generation waves. Most of the key information was similar to what we learned from the film One Woman, One Vote. Rowe-Finkbeiner not only explains the different historical events and significant moments during each wave, but how each wave of feminism evolved from the last, and finally leads up to how society, and even women view feminism now.

Rowe-Finkbeiners Feminist Evolution from Wave to Wave:
WAVE 1: Feminists were "early suffragist" advocates for women's rights; specifically the right to vote.
WAVE 2: Feminists were "activists"  who "took the right to vote, the right to electoral advocacy, and the right to form legislative solutions and ran with them."
WAVE 3: Feminists are women who fight "social and economic inequalities each day"

This link also explains each of the waves more thoroughly
3 Waves of Feminism

Although Rowe-Finkbeiner stated that we are currently in the 3rd wave of Feminism, we no longer refer to it as feminism...
IN FACT Lisa Maria Hogeland explores that idea in her essay Fear of Feminism, in which she states that the younger generation fears feminism due to the old context in which it was first invented; political equality.
BUT there are feminists today, and they are not afraid of it, in fact there are still women for feminism and there are women who are strongly against it.

This CNN clip explains that studies show that over the past three decades women overall have become less happy...but that culture has in fact been shifting positively towards women and feminist ideals.

Why are women increasingly unhappy? Did feminism actually fail?

Feminism began as a fight for political equality, as Rowe-Finkbeiner stated and it slowly became about doing anything and everything that was anti-woman behavior like working and not having children. Are women now unhappy with their roles; tired of work and in need of male companionship?
These three links are WOMEN complaining about feminists and what feminism has done...they are certainly not afraid of feminism.

Feminism is Dead
Anti Feminist
Feminism

IN CLASS Discussion
I think that Hogeland is wrong when she says that women today are afraid of feminism. I think the problem is that women define feminists as being against men or anti men, rather than equal to politically, so they no longer value certain aspects of being a woman and "woman culture". Due to what feminism turned into, in todays culture women have put themselves in a place where they have no respect for themselves or from others. They are fighting against gender roles.
Feminism still exists today, has it turned into a burden rather than a good cause?


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