Society And Social Institutions From The Point Of View Of Feminism

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Feminism is about considering society and social institutions from the point of view of women. Feminism is part of a much wider social movement about equality for women. Feminism covers a very wide range of ideas, so much so that it is better to talk about “feminisms” than about there being just one feminism. Feminism has come a long way. Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-97) was one of the first writers to argue that men and women should be equal. 'Equality ' was a fashionable idea at the time. connected with the French Revolution. but men tended to assume it meant that men should be equal. not women. From the middle of the nineteenth century, feminists were campaigning for the right to vote and for better education for girls (for example being able …show more content…

Feminists are often shown in very negative ways in the media. The popular stereotype of the feminist is of the man-hating dungaree-wearing, cropped-haired lesbian. Like most stereotypes, there is a core of truth in this. Some feminists did decide that spending a lot of effort making themselves look attractive for men was a waste of time. and stopped using makeup and wearing feminine ' clothes. However, the stereotype owes much more to attempts by men in the media to discredit feminism and its ideas. Feminism was and is a challenge to men 's control of society, so it is not surprising that some men react strongly against it. Ridiculing and making fun of feminism is a way of avoiding taking it seriously. Such has been the strength of this stereotype that many women who agree with many feminist ideas don 't see themselves as feminists. In fact, some feminist ideas have become so widely accepted that we don 't realise how radical they seemed a generation or two ago (for example the idea that women should be paid the same as men for the same work) In Young women who are benefiting from the changes feminism has brought and who see their future in terms of independence and a career often do not realise how much they owe

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