Feminism�

MRS. NITA MALIK

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE

HANS RAJ MAHILA MAHA VIDYALAYA, JALANDHAR

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What is Feminism

• Feminism is a collection of movements and ideologies aimed at defining, establishing and defending equal political, economic and social rights for women.
• This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.

Historical Background

• The history of the modern western feminist movements is divided into three waves.
• Each is described as dealing with different aspects of the same feminist issues.

Different Waves of Feminism

• The first wave refers of the movement of the 19^th through early 20^th centuries, which dealt mainly with suffrage, working conditions and educational rights for women and girls.
• The second wave (1960s-1980s) dealt with the inequality of laws, as well as cultural inequalities and the role of women in society.
• The third wave of feminism (late 1980s-early 2000s (decade)), is seen as both a continuation of the second wave and a response to the perceived failures.

First Movement of Feminism in USA

• The incidents that are included in the history of feminism first movements starts from 1809 married women property law in US till 1928 the right to vote was granted to all UK women equally with men in 1928. There are exactly 69 incidents defined within the first feminism wave movement.

Wave of Feminism in Russia

• Russia : 1n 1913 women observed their first International Women’s Day on the last Sunday in February. Following discussions, International Women’s Day was transferred to 8 March and this day has remained the global date for International Women’s Day ever Since.

Second Wave of Feminism

• The incidents included in the second wave of feminism movements are started from 1963 the report of the American Presidential Commission on the Status of Women which cased the enacting of equal pay act till 1980s feminist sex wars last incident the Japanese Equal Employment Opportunity Law of 1985, prohibits gender discrimination with respect to recruitment, hiring, promotion and job.

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Liberal and Radical Feminism

• Liberal feminism seeks individualistic equality of men and women through political and legal reform without altering the structure of society.
• Radical Feminism considers the mate-controlled capitalist hierarchy as the defining feature of women’s oppression and the totla uprooting the reconstruction of society as necessary.

Conservative Feminism

• Conservative feminism is conservative relative to the society in which it resides.
• Libertarian feminism conceives of people as self-owners and therefore as entitled to freedom from coercive interference.
• Separatist feminism does not support heterosexual relationships.

Views of Ecofeminists and Womanism

• Ecofeminists see men’s control of land as responsible for the oppression of women and destruction of the natural environment , ecofeminism has been criticized for focusing too much on a mystical connection between women and nature.
• Womanism emerged after early feminist movements were largely white and middle class.

Views of Socialist Feminism

• Socialist feminism distinguishes itself from Marxist feminism by arguing that women’s liberation can only be achieved by working to end both the economic and cultural sources pf women’s oppression.
• Different groups of people have responded to feminism and both men and women have been among its supporters and critics.

Pro Feminism

• Among American University students, for both men and women, support for feminist ideas is more common than self-identification as a feminist.
• Pro feminism is the support of feminism without implying that the supporter is a member of the feminist movement.

Anti Feminism

• Anti-feminism is opposition to feminism in some or all of its forms. In the nineteenth century anti-feminism was mainly focused on opposition to women’s suffrage.
• You can’t marginalize more than half of the globe’s population and expect to see any meaningful solutions to the problems that all the world.

Gender difference

• Gender differences in socialization within the family and elsewhere traditionally operated to the disadvantage of female who were dissuaded from opting for meaningful careers.
• Many household tasks provide few opportunities for individual creativity.

Traditional Aspect of Feminism�

• The traditional allocation of roles within the family whereby females take disproportionate responsibility for house work and child care is determined not by biology but by limited female employment opportunities outside the family and by the existence of patriarchal power within the family.

Qualified Professional Women

• Even well qualified professional women will find their career prospects more limited once they take time out from work to care for young children.
• Even when women are employed full-time outside the home this may mean also that they are obliged to undertake the so-called “triple shift”

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Limited opportunities for Women

• Limited educational opportunities and gender discrimination at work mean women’s employment opportunities are worse than men’s.
• Women tend to be horizontally segregated in a range of poorly paid occupation such as secretarial work, shop work, cleaning and hair dressing.

Opinion of the Sex Industry

• Opinions on the sex industry are diverse, Fominsts are generally either critical of it seeing it as exploitative, a result of patriarchal social structures and reinforcing sexual and cultural attitudes that are complicit in rape and sexual harassment or supportive of at least parts of it arguing that some forms of it can be a medium of feminist expression.

Feminism is an interdisciplinary approach

• Feminism is an interdisciplinary approach to issues of equality and equity based on gender, gender expression, gender identity, sex, and sexuality as understood through social theories and political activism. Historically, feminism has evolved from the critical examination of inequality between the sexes to a more nuanced focus on the social and performative constructions of gender and sexuality. 

Feminism and Inequalities

• Feminist theory now aims to interrogate inequalities and inequities along the intersectional lines of ability, class, gender, race, sex, and sexuality, and feminists seek to effect change in areas where these intersectionalities create power inequity.
• Anytime stereotyping, objectification, infringements of human rights, or intersectional oppression occurs, it's a feminist issue. 

Views of Intellectuals

• Intellectual and academic discussion of these inequities allows our students to go into the world aware of injustices and to work toward changing unhealthy dynamics in any scenario.
• Feminist political activists campaign in areas such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, fairness, social justice, and workplace issues such as family medical leave, equal pay, and sexual harassment and discrimination. 

Gender Equality for All

• Feminism means a million things to a million people. We’re not in the business of defining the exact terms of anyone else’s feminism, but we do want to clarify the basics.
• We exist to advance and protect the rights of diverse women and girls. Our vision is gender equality for all, and we’re working towards this through our program partnerships; movement building across Asia Pacific; and research, policy and advocacy, in Australia, the region, and the world.

Contd…

• It’s about respecting diverse women’s experiences, identities, knowledge and strengths, and striving to empower all women to realize their full rights.
• It’s about levelling the playing field between genders, and ensuring that diverse women and girls have the same opportunities in life available to boys and men.

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Intersectional Feminism

• Inclusivity is a core part of our feminism. You may have heard the phrases ‘intersectionality’ or ‘intersectional feminism’ cropping up more and more lately. Intersectionality has recently taken on more space in public discussions about feminism, but it’s not new.

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What is Intersectional Feminism

• Intersectional feminism can seem complicated, but it’s really just about acknowledging the interplay between gender and other forms of discrimination, like race, age, class, socioeconomic status, physical or mental ability, gender or sexual identity, religion, or ethnicity.

Middle Class Woman and their barriers

• The barriers faced by a middle class woman living in Melbourne are not the same as those of a queer woman living in rural Fiji. Women aren’t just exposed to sexism – racism, ableism, ageism, homophobia, transphobia, and religious persecution are intrinsically linked to how they experience inequality.

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What being a Feminist

• Being a feminist simply means believing in equal rights for all genders. It’s not about hating men. It’s not about women being better than men. It’s not about eschewing femininity.

True Equality in Feminism

• it’s about learning and understanding the ways that inequality affect women and men, and remembering that we’re all in this together. True equality leaves no one behind.�

Feminism for Women

• We don’t claim to be authorities on anyone else’s feminism, but to us, acknowledging how different forms of discrimination intersect with and amplify gender-based discrimination is a critical way to ensure all women reap the benefits of women’s rights.

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Importance of Feminism

• There are people who believe that we do not need feminism today, but nothing could be further from the truth. Women have struggled for equality and against oppression for centuries, and although some battles have been partly won - such as the right to vote and equal access to education – women are still disproportionally affected by all forms of violence and by discrimination in every aspect of life.

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THANK YOU