The Interpretation of Feminism and Feminists in Modern Western Society
AP Language
Abstract
Feminism in western pop-culture has become an almost taboo subject among the general population and celebrities alike, but why? A brief history of the origins of types of feminism leads to our modern takes on the original movement, serving to prove that many people have only had exposure to bad examples of what the modern feminist movement seeks to represent. These incongruities include a misunderstanding of the history of the feminist movement, a misrepresentation of feminism in media, and a misinterpretation of core feminist values. Many dissenters of the feminist movement, such as Pat Robertson strongly oppose certain ideas pertaining to feminism based on religious views and beliefs and actively work against the movement, usually by spreading their opinions on social media and television.
The feminist movement, characterised by numerous historical victories in women's rights in the 1970s, has begun to morph into something entirely different than its intended goals and ideals.
The early feminist movement consisted of "Radical Feminists," or the kind of feminist who viewed the oppression of women as the most fundamental form of unwarranted oppression, the kind of oppression that broke all boundaries, from race to socioeconomic status to culture and any other form of oppression ever observed in history. The oppression of women, who comprise roughly half of the world's population, ignored all of these factors and focused solely on gender, making it possibly the most discriminating and psychologically horrific of all forms of oppression. Although women escaped most of the physical horrors brought about by racism and religious persecution, they experienced, and still experience, the same systematic dehumanisation seen in these forms of maltreatment. This form of feminism claims the true instigator of the tyranny exists in the form of the patriarchy, or a system of society or government in which men hold the power, women largely excluded. A televangelist and famously outspoken opposer of both the feminist movement and the gay rights movement, Pat Robertson, claimed "I know this is painful for the ladies to hear, but if you get married, you have accepted the headship of a man, your husband. Christ is the head of the household, and the husband is the head of the wife, and that's the way it is, period," which serves as an excellent example of the patriarchal society that radical feminists fought against. Ideas such as the ones held by radical feminists provide the bulk and basis of other forms of more modern feminism, such as Marxist/Socialist Feminism.
A Marxist Feminist blames the oppression of women on the capitalist property system, and believes that the only effective way of curing the cruelty occurs only upon the overthrowing of the capitalist system. Socialist Feminism, although similar, believes that the patriarchy has less to do with it in comparison to women's financial dependence on their male counterparts due to the infamous wage gap.
Cultural Feminism focuses not on the ending of oppression but rather on the building of a society for women within the flawed system that already exists. Outcomes of this movement, such as rape crisis centers, provide safe havens and other important services to struggling women. Cultural feminists do not believe that "woman equals man" in such a literal sense, but rather emphasize the important ways that they differ. The idea that women are inherently kinder and gentler, or that these ideas, although not biological, persist too ingrained to be tractable, serves as an underlying basis of cultural feminism. In a more current approach, one finds a form of feminism known simply as "Modern Feminism."
Modern Western Feminism provides the hook, story, and punchline for a lot of jokes regarding feminism, and consists of many ideas far from radical feminist origins. Modern feminists still fight for the wage gap to decrease, but also present more unrealistic and, at times, seemingly ludicrous goals (from proportionally few). A common goal shared by modern feminists consists of eliminating rape culture and the hypersexualisation of young women in media and in our society, as well as the improvement of women's health care to provide more opportunities for women's financial independence and improved right to her own body. The battle of "pro-life" versus "pro-choice" stands as a major issue that modern feminists seek to take on.
An adverse example of an otherwise respectable set of people presents itself in the form of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton who, at a recent rally, called former secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, up to the stage. She then proclaimed that "there's a special place in Hell for women who don't help each other." This type of mentality scares potential feminists away from the movement because they do not believe in handing women opportunities merely because of their gender. These people believe in equity for all genders and do not wish association with a group that calls for handouts.
"Feminism" has also become all but synonymous with "man-hating" in some groups as well, although this farce view was identified by those against the movement some 200 years ago, and not an idea that many feminists identify with, but this has another name: Misandrist. Exaggerations in the media influence the mindset that modern feminists believe that "all men rape" and things of the like. Although, truthfully, some self-proclaimed feminists do believe such ideas, they do not represent modern feminists as a whole, and the "silent majority" of feminists do not follow the same way of thought.
Opposers of the movement have actually even said that feminists practice witchcraft. The aforementioned Pat Robertson claimed "The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism, and become lesbians."
Another claim by dissenters remains that feminists don't care about men or men's rights, but one may find that feminists certainly do care, and rather focus on first gaining equity for the people they believe live less fortunately, AKA the women, before focusing their efforts on the reduction of male oppression.
Modern Feminism, although still good to its encompassing core values, continues to devolve in the eyes of the media and modern society due to misinterpretation and misrepresentation within the western public and juxtaposed forms of media like television and the news.
References
Baird, C. (2013, April 23). What Does Modern Day Feminism Mean? Retrieved March 28, 2016, from http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/christina-sweeneybaird/feminism-what-does-it-mean_b_3115358.html
Bentz, L. (2013, July 9). The Top 10: Facebook 'vomit' button for gays and other Pat Robertson quotes. Retrieved March 26, 2016, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/09/us/pat-robertson-facebook-remark/
Killermann, S. (2012). 5 Reasons Why So Many People Believe Feminism Hates Men and Why They're Not True. Retrieved March 24, 2016, from http://itspronouncedmetrosexual.com/2012/12/reasons-people-believe-feminism-hates-men/
McCarthy, T. (2016, February 6). Albright: 'special place in hell' for women who don't support Clinton. Retrieved April 1, 2016, from http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/06/madeleine-albright-campaigns-for-hillary-clinton
Vidal, A. (2014, January 15). 'Intersectional feminism'. What the hell is it? (And why you should care). Retrieved March 30, 2016, from http://www.uah.edu/woolf/feminism_kinds.htm
