Compare And Contrast The Feminist Movement And The Gay Rights Movement

822 Words4 Pages

The feminist movement and the gay rights movement are two communities that have been fighting for their rights for a long time and are similar in many ways, yet different in many others. While they are both social movements, the feminist movement’s main focus is on women’s rights, while the gay rights movement’s main focus is on gay rights. Similar to each other or not, the two movements could (and do) benefit from each other. Both women and gay people have faced discrimination due to being seen as lesser in the eyes of society. However, the reasons for this discrimination they face/have faced are very different. Women were, and arguably still are, oppressed due to misogyny, or the dislike, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. An example of a misogynistic belief is the idea that women are inherently intellectually inferior to men, or that women shouldn’t have authority over their own bodies while men should. This is usually caused by sexist stereotypes and beliefs that are present in the media (“Shocking: What [female celebrity] Looks like with No Makeup On!” “New Covergirl Is a Man!?”) and in children’s upbringing (“boys are strong, girls are weak”, “boys go to …show more content…

If they joined forces, like some parts of both communities are already doing, they could accomplish many things, especially since a lot of the discrimination they’re fighting against is centered in the same locations and its causes are oftentimes related. So even though some feminists dislike gay activism and some gay activists disagree with feminism, wouldn’t it be beneficial for both sides if they looked past those differences and fought together for those who need it

Open Document