The Evolution of Feminism
The Evolution of Feminism
Introduction
The feminist movement which encompasses a variety of activities, programs and campaings across the globe to maintain gender equality and mutual understanding (Abeyesekera, 1995, p. 3) began in the mid 19th century and is active now. Since the early times of human society development, women have been oppressed, discarded or underestimated in a number of ways – from mere sexual exploitation and reducing their lives to child-bearing and rearing to devaluing their work at market place and overlooking their needs and aspirations at all. Today, women have battered their inferiority positions and gained control over their lives, but still as Kimberley Reader, a contributor to The Independent puts it, “the battles were never won” (Reader, 2012).
We have come a long way since the initial stages of feminism evolvement, but we have not come to the destination we have been heading yet, i.e. to the equality between men and women and “people-centred sustainable development” (Miranda, 2005, p. 2). In this paper, I am going to address the research question: Has feminism evolved positively or negatively over the years? Looking at the issue of women’s movement from historical, psychological and sociological perspectives, I advance the hypothesis that feminism has evolved positively on the social, economic and political platforms.
Discussion
On the social platform, feminism has evolved from utter female outrage at their subordinate status in society and their men-hate to reconsidering sexuality and gender roles and fighting stereotypes and prejudices in different sections of social life. As David M. Buss & David P. Schmitt argue, the society has always been patriarchal, since men used to provide women with resourses and in early societies women responded agreeably to this setting tending to mate with the man who had “greater control over the resourses” (Buss & Schmitt, 2011, p. 4). Later, male physical strength and endurability transformed into abusing their physical power over women – they established patriarchal society and defined gender roles where women appeared inferior to them. The latter had to fight their discrimination in at least two dimensions: their appearance and their behavour.
When it comes to discussing appearance, the generally accepted truth in our society is that beauty is a social construct (Buss & Schmitt, 2011, p. 9) – a woman is never beautiful per se, the community imposes certain ideas on women determining what is good in their looks and what should be altered. Feminist movement changed the ideal of female beauty drastically and these changes are good and beneficial for society at large. In patriarchal society, men established the rules how women should look and dress. The scope of this problem was not limited only by “dress code” but it was also restricted bodily experiences. While women did won the fight over the right to wear trousers, shorts and other items of clothes previously considered unacceptable, the battle over body image was longer, tougher and it is not over yet.
While women now are free to wear what they want, the ideas concerniting female weight and figure still impinge on them. According to Kendyl Klein, our society “idealizes the sickly thin” women and “shames the overweight” (Klein, 2013, p. 15). The ideal of a skinny body with clear-cut cheekbones and palish face has been advertised by the media and commonly worshipped. It makes women unhappy about their bodies and traumatizes them in their efforts to meet the demands of the society. People look down at obesity and in pursuit of thinness women are ready to go to any lengths and overcome everything. In this vein, I favour the tendency to promote self-respect, acceptance and care, and I assume this problem will be solved in future. One of the troubles here that still drives us back to ancestral barbarity is female body mutilations. We do feel happy that women are less beaten and abused by men now and can protect themselves, but the world is still blind to female genital mutilation, for instance, a set of permanent physical changes to female genitalia which is still performed in some countries (Wade, 2009, p. 2). This testifies to the fact that still some cruelty and ignorance are due to overcome.
As for social roles, no one will deny the feminists’ contribution to redefining gender roles. Today, the social expectations attributed to men and women dictating certain models of femininity and masculinity have changed. No one should now comply with men’s role as a breadwinner and women’s role as a caregiver. Over the past several decades, the images of a man and a woman have successfully gone through numerous makeovers. And these makeovers bring about economic changes as well.
On the economic platform, feminism contributed much to sustainable development. Again, if we remember the origins of patriarchy as being linked to resources acquisition (Buss & Schmitt, 2011, p. 4), the question why women were forbidden to work and earn money is now answered – if males provided females with resourses, they could maintain power and control over them, considering them the part of their own property and resources. In such a way, women could not get education, work and develop their skills and earn money. Feminism did a good job breeding educated, motivated and highflying women, who succeed in their chosen field, take top offices and earn bundles of cash.
In course of history, the role of women in economic development has always been underestimated. All female work was rendered “secondary and unimportant” (Armstrong & Connelly, 1989, p. 12). A woman was left with her daily household duties and child-rearing which let her no time for self-development. Earlier, for example, water supplies, cooking and washing were so time- and effort-consuming, that women could not indulge in anything large scale. Recently, due to feminist careful attention to female abilities and potentials, women have overcome numerous constraints and stepped into the business and economic development. Now they stand rampant in the marketplace understanding clearly their needs, desires and possibilities. Sarah Bradshaw, Joshua Castellino & Bineta Diop, leading a global initiative “Sustainable Development,” proved that society and governments should support investing in women, because they have a great potential in the process of economic development (Bradshaw, Castellino & Diop, 2013, p. 11).
Gender matters much for sustainable economic development. After women equaled men in education and skills, their work force will result in lots of economic gains on the national level. In developing economies, for example, female skilled work is among the first important factors reducing poverty. Besides, when women can reveal their talents in the fullest, there will be good opportunities to close various skill gaps that exist due to male dominance in business and manufacture. When women are supported, it pays off.
On the political platform, feminist movement fostered stepping of women into politics and management, but this process was slow and gradual. The situation in the United Kingdom, for example, shows that women are underrepresented in politics in the UK. The Independent provides the statistics with only 144 women MPs out of 650 (Reader, 2012). It was back in 2012. Now we see positive changes. But these changes are still hampered by racial attitudes and bias against female leaders (Hossein, 2013, p. 52).
Strong tendency to women’s empowerment requires accurate policies and democratic governance. Rosa Linda T. Miranda (2005) recommends two strategies. First, certain measures should be taken “to ensure women’s equal access to power structures” and then full participation in the process. Sometimes, women just lack acces to power structures, she claims. And second, women should have a possibility “to participate in decision-making and leadership” (Miranda, 2005, p. 2). Both strategies should be addressed by all establishments. The problem is that on their way to power women have to cope with numerous challenges. I see at least two kinds of obstacles on the way to power for them: first, it’s their inner barriers, and second, outer restrictions that prevent from self-promotion.
As for the inner barriers, there is still a common belief that for women, politics and management are not the spheres where they are likely to succeed and realize themselves. An ancient archetype of a woman as a caregiver is still alive in many people’s minds and many still question the necessity of women’s participation in politics and management. Since early childhood, girls are taught to avoid those traits of character that are necessary for political and managerial carrerrs – competitiveness, self-assertiveness, boldness and the ability to speak up openly for themselves. In such a way, some women still doubt their own abilities as leaders and governors preferring to embrace less challenging positions. As for the outer restrictions, women have a comparatively limited access to power and meager opportunities to enter the political arena. Not only gender stereotypes, but lack of proper legislation sometimes impedes political ambitions of women. To eliminate or at least to narrow the gender gap in politics is an imperative now.
Feminist movement contributed a lot to changing this situation and amending it. More and more women are now elected. Among them there are really strong leaders, skilled managers and tough negotiatirs who never give way to a male colleague. There are hot tempered and energetic, breathing fire; there are rational, with cold reason, those why rely on logic and manipulate the arguments. They are different, but they are and they should be.
Women are very important in government and management. Being caretakers by nature, they will definitely secure family values on the nationwide – if not global – level, they will support households and promote human rights everywhere they tread. Women in power are more likely to advance social issues and pass family-friendly legislations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, feminism today has become a global cause and gender issues constitute an indispensable part of the social, economic and political life. Women’s movement has progressed positively on the social, economic and political platforms – women have battered their inferiority positions and gained control over their lives. The contribution of women’s movement to gender equality and sustainable development is large and unquestionable, and the question Judith Worell asked back in 2000 – if feminism is “revolution or evolution” (Worell, 2000, p. 183) – can get a more or less clear answer now – it is evolution. Feminist ideas evolved gradually and its move throughout centuries was hard and bumpy. There were hardships, challenges and frustrations. But there is no growth without pain, and the fact that the image of a woman has successfully transformed from the resourse to the personality is our generation’s gift.
References
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