This research is aimed at studying the relationships between modern popular culture and the English language. In particular, I intend to describe the change that feminist movement brought to the lexicon, like for instance, the arrival of gender-neutral language. In addition to that, it is of the crucial importance to explore the underlying causes of this phenomenon.
Expected difficulties
It is necessary to take into consideration that this investigation involves a wide scope of activities. As it has already been mentioned, the research should describe the influence of feminist movement on the English language. The main difficulty is how to describe this phenomenon in oral conversation, especially the frequency of its occurrence. Additionally, it is not easy to combine various forms of data collection, some methods can be disregarded, which may have detrimental effects on the validity of the data.
Methodology
As it has been pointed out this investigation has to cover a great number of aspects. To some extent, it belongs to the field of anthropological linguistics; therefore, it combines research methods of these two disciplines. In this respect, I would like to say that in this case, research techniques can be classified according to two criteria, first, the field of science, and secondly, the relationship between quality and quantity.
Regarding linguistic research methods, I can single out the following, descriptive analysis and observation (probably, it would be better to say recording). Sociological methods will include, interview (structured and unstructured,), statistical survey, using grading scale (or Likert scale, as it is also known).
Now that we have enumerated the research methods, that can be employed, it is of the utmost importance to describe their peculiarities, their advantages, and disadvantages, especially within the context of this investigation. Regarding descriptive analysis, we should mention that it has always been one of the most productive methods in linguistics. However, one should always clearly state the description unit. In this case, we should focus our attention on the vocabulary, especially gender-marked and gender-neutral words, for example, the names of many professions, neologisms, gendered titles, and stereotypical gender-based adjectives. We should analyze the tendencies in the present day usage of these words (approximately. 300 hundred examples). Speaking about the sources, we can mention dictionaries, newspaper, and magazine articles. However, the preference should be given to the specialized dictionaries. We can also use Internet (especially different search engines) in order to ascertain the frequency of gender-marked and gender-neutral vocabulary (Duranti, p. 22).
The subject of descriptive analysis should not only be written communications, we can also analyze oral speech. In what way does feministic movement influence oral communication? It is quite possible to compare and contrast the usage of gender-neutral vocabulary in written and oral speech. If there is any difference what is the reason for such phenomenon.
Moreover, this research should trace the development of this phenomenon for instance within the period of the last two decades. The special attention should be given to the proportion of gender-marked to gender-neutral words, whether this ratio has changed over the last twenty years and to what extent.
Another linguistic research method that I intend to employ is observation. The main purpose is to gather information in everyday speech. It should be mentioned that this method has several disadvantages. First, it is the so-called observer effect . The main problem is that people usually change their behavior (including verbal communication), when they know that they are being watched (or recorded). Moreover, the observer can be biased in his judgment, and therefore he or she may distort the information. As far as the subjects of this experiment are concerned, it is worth mentioning that these people should belong to various age and social groups, because otherwise the validity of the data can be easily questioned.
Another aspect of this research work is to identify the main causes of this phenomenon. For that reason, I intend to employ several sociological research methods, for example, interview (oral and written, structured and unstructured). It is supposed to reflect the views of the public as to the causes of changes in the modern English language. Besides, this research has to answer the question, whether people perceive these changes in the vocabulary as the positive or negative phenomenon. Naturally, interview as a research method has its pros and cons. First, it belongs to qualitative techniques; therefore, it can be biased or prejudiced. The interview can distort the answer of the respondent, or probably misinterpret it. Secondly, the respondent may feel uncomfortable, talking to a stranger. However, this method has certain advantages; for example, an interviewer can ask probing questions and verify some data or facts, which is impossible if we are speaking about questionnaire. The respondents should be representatives of various age and social groups groups. This is the indispensible condition. Another aspect of this issue that we can study by means of the interview is the attitude of men and women to these changes, whether they share common views or not.
Another qualitative method that I would like to employ is the structured interview. It should be mentioned that it is not as time-consuming as the oral interview. Secondly, in this way, we can practically eliminate interviewer effect, which is very important, because respondents can express their thoughts and ideas more freely. Nevertheless, this method has several drawbacks, for instance, the interview cannot put probing questions, and the respondent cannot ask for specifications. Thus, it is necessary to design the questionnaire in such a way that we could avoid any ambiguity. As it is widely known, there are several types of questions, usually used in the structured interview, yes or no questions, multiple-choice questions, and scaling questions.
We should focus our attention on Likert scale. Its main peculiarity is that respondents can fully express their attitude towards the statement. The questions are usually put in the following way A) Strongly Agree; B) Agree; C) Neither Agree not Disagree: D) Disagree; E) Strongly Disagree. Such technique gives opportunity for more objective evaluation. As regards this particular research, this scale can be used to describe the public opinion as to the changes in the English vocabulary. It can be done in the following way.
The arrival of gender-neural vocabulary is a natural process:
Likhert scale usually contains several items, when the procedure is complete; items can be analyzed either separately, or in connection with each other, so they create a group of items.
In this essay, I intend to combine various modes of data collection, such as for instance, telephone, mail online and personal surveys. Certainly, cost-effectiveness of these modes varies. The preference should be given to online surveys, because they are less expensive, and the researcher can easily receive feedback.
If we speak about in-home or personal surveys, it should be mentioned that such method of gathering information is rather time-consuming. However, it allows the researcher to better evaluate the validity of information (Leung, p. 51).
Telephone survey has several advantages for example; we can reduce the interviewer effect to a minimum, but such method requires sufficient financial support, because otherwise the number of respondents can be very limited. In conclusion, I would like to say that, one should successfully integrate various methods in order to carry out such research.
Conclusions
The peculiarities of the research, I intend to conduct, necessitate usage of various research techniques and modes of data collection. This work can throw light on many aspects of modern popular culture, especially the changes in present day English. Its results can be of some importance for linguistics, feminist study, psychology, and sociology. This research can show how new trends in popular culture affect our language and consequently our way of thinking.
Abstract
The research work is aimed at studying the influence of feminist movement on the vocabulary of the English language. It investigates the root causes of this cultural and linguistic phenomenon. Additionally, the research analyzes the public opinion as to this issue.
Bibliography
Duranti, Alessandro. Linguistic Anthropology . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Conrad Phillip Kottak. Cultural Anthropology Random House, 2000.
This research is aimed at studying the relationships between modern popular culture and the English language. In particular, I intend to describe the change that feminist movement brought to the lexicon, like for instance, the arrival of gender-neutral language. In addition to that, it is of the crucial importance to explore the underlying causes of this phenomenon.
Expected difficulties
It is necessary to take into consideration that this investigation involves a wide scope of activities. As it has already been mentioned, the research should describe the influence of feminist movement on the English language. The main difficulty is how to describe this phenomenon in oral conversation, especially the frequency of its occurrence. Additionally, it is not easy to combine various forms of data collection, some methods can be disregarded, which may have detrimental effects on the validity of the data.
Methodology
As it has been pointed out this investigation has to cover a great number of aspects. To some extent, it belongs to the field of anthropological linguistics; therefore, it combines research methods of these two disciplines. In this respect, I would like to say that in this case, research techniques can be classified according to two criteria, first, the field of science, and secondly, the relationship between quality and quantity.
Regarding linguistic research methods, I can single out the following, descriptive analysis and observation (probably, it would be better to say recording). Sociological methods will include, interview (structured and unstructured,), statistical survey, using grading scale (or Likert scale, as it is also known).
Now that we have enumerated the research methods, that can be employed, it is of the utmost importance to describe their peculiarities, their advantages, and disadvantages, especially within the context of this investigation. Regarding descriptive analysis, we should mention that it has always been one of the most productive methods in linguistics. However, one should always clearly state the description unit. In this case, we should focus our attention on the vocabulary, especially gender-marked and gender-neutral words, for example, the names of many professions, neologisms, gendered titles, and stereotypical gender-based adjectives. We should analyze the tendencies in the present day usage of these words (approximately. 300 hundred examples). Speaking about the sources, we can mention dictionaries, newspaper, and magazine articles. However, the preference should be given to the specialized dictionaries. We can also use Internet (especially different search engines) in order to ascertain the frequency of gender-marked and gender-neutral vocabulary (Duranti, p. 22).
The subject of descriptive analysis should not only be written communications, we can also analyze oral speech. In what way does feministic movement influence oral communication? It is quite possible to compare and contrast the usage of gender-neutral vocabulary in written and oral speech. If there is any difference what is the reason for such phenomenon.
Moreover, this research should trace the development of this phenomenon for instance within the period of the last two decades. The special attention should be given to the proportion of gender-marked to gender-neutral words, whether this ratio has changed over the last twenty years and to what extent.
Another linguistic research method that I intend to employ is observation. The main purpose is to gather information in everyday speech. It should be mentioned that this method has several disadvantages. First, it is the so-called observer effect . The main problem is that people usually change their behavior (including verbal communication), when they know that they are being watched (or recorded). Moreover, the observer can be biased in his judgment, and therefore he or she may distort the information. As far as the subjects of this experiment are concerned, it is worth mentioning that these people should belong to various age and social groups, because otherwise the validity of the data can be easily questioned.
Another aspect of this research work is to identify the main causes of this phenomenon. For that reason, I intend to employ several sociological research methods, for example, interview (oral and written, structured and unstructured). It is supposed to reflect the views of the public as to the causes of changes in the modern English language. Besides, this research has to answer the question, whether people perceive these changes in the vocabulary as the positive or negative phenomenon. Naturally, interview as a research method has its pros and cons. First, it belongs to qualitative techniques; therefore, it can be biased or prejudiced. The interview can distort the answer of the respondent, or probably misinterpret it. Secondly, the respondent may feel uncomfortable, talking to a stranger. However, this method has certain advantages; for example, an interviewer can ask probing questions and verify some data or facts, which is impossible if we are speaking about questionnaire. The respondents should be representatives of various age and social groups groups. This is the indispensible condition. Another aspect of this issue that we can study by means of the interview is the attitude of men and women to these changes, whether they share common views or not.
Another qualitative method that I would like to employ is the structured interview. It should be mentioned that it is not as time-consuming as the oral interview. Secondly, in this way, we can practically eliminate interviewer effect, which is very important, because respondents can express their thoughts and ideas more freely. Nevertheless, this method has several drawbacks, for instance, the interview cannot put probing questions, and the respondent cannot ask for specifications. Thus, it is necessary to design the questionnaire in such a way that we could avoid any ambiguity. As it is widely known, there are several types of questions, usually used in the structured interview, yes or no questions, multiple-choice questions, and scaling questions.
We should focus our attention on Likert scale. Its main peculiarity is that respondents can fully express their attitude towards the statement. The questions are usually put in the following way A) Strongly Agree; B) Agree; C) Neither Agree not Disagree: D) Disagree; E) Strongly Disagree. Such technique gives opportunity for more objective evaluation. As regards this particular research, this scale can be used to describe the public opinion as to the changes in the English vocabulary. It can be done in the following way.
The arrival of gender-neural vocabulary is a natural process:
Likhert scale usually contains several items, when the procedure is complete; items can be analyzed either separately, or in connection with each other, so they create a group of items.
In this essay, I intend to combine various modes of data collection, such as for instance, telephone, mail online and personal surveys. Certainly, cost-effectiveness of these modes varies. The preference should be given to online surveys, because they are less expensive, and the researcher can easily receive feedback.
If we speak about in-home or personal surveys, it should be mentioned that such method of gathering information is rather time-consuming. However, it allows the researcher to better evaluate the validity of information (Leung, p. 51).
Telephone survey has several advantages for example; we can reduce the interviewer effect to a minimum, but such method requires sufficient financial support, because otherwise the number of respondents can be very limited. In conclusion, I would like to say that, one should successfully integrate various methods in order to carry out such research.
Conclusions
The peculiarities of the research, I intend to conduct, necessitate usage of various research techniques and modes of data collection. This work can throw light on many aspects of modern popular culture, especially the changes in present day English. Its results can be of some importance for linguistics, feminist study, psychology, and sociology. This research can show how new trends in popular culture affect our language and consequently our way of thinking.
Abstract
The research work is aimed at studying the influence of feminist movement on the vocabulary of the English language. It investigates the root causes of this cultural and linguistic phenomenon. Additionally, the research analyzes the public opinion as to this issue.
Bibliography
Duranti, Alessandro. Linguistic Anthropology . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Conrad Phillip Kottak. Cultural Anthropology Random House, 2000.
There is a number of theoretical perspectives aimed at explaining what stands behind rape, that is, how rape is reinforced by, why it is more widespread in specific concepts, and what a rapists motivations for committing it might be. When it comes to the feminist perspectives, there is not a common particular one in regard to rape, but some views on it are more or less supported extensively among feminists. For one, gender is viewed as a social construct which negatively contributes to the structure of patriarchal social institutions and relations. These, upholding the privileged position of men, are intrinsically related to rape which is considered to be a control mechanism. It is deemed a manifestation of power using sex as an instrument thus, according to feminists, the sexual aspect of rape is subsidiary to the power dynamics that take place.
Feminist perspectives introduce the concept of rape culture, which is essentially a cultural declaration of male aggression being normal and acceptable everywhere, including sexual relations. Regarded feminists such as Catherine MacKinnon and Andrea Dworkin therefore see no distinction between sex and rape under patriarchy as male dominance is foundational in both occurrences. Womens wants and desires are viewed as problematic due to their heterosexuality being compulsory under such circumstances. However, these views are often repelled by others while being called male bashing.
What rape culture also facilitates is the objectification of women. As a result of that, womens identity is only present in the manner defined by men. Pornography, according to the feminist perspectives, plays a major role in that due to both sex and violence being combined there in a way that normalizes that. Robin Morgan in 1974 even claimed that if pornography is the theory, than rape is the practice. Though it is also not supported by everyone, the association of pornography with rape is a frequent phenomenon in many feminist writings.
Political dissension has taken place in Canada throughout history. Various movements, from liberalism to conservatism through socialism, have practiced this dissent. Although politics in Canada have been male-dominated, women have not been left behind.
Radical feminist standardized norms have found their way into state politics under the umbrella of different coalition organizations, including the NAC and the Action Groups that are composed of women (Andrew and Tremblay 22).
However, there have always been arguments opposed to womens movements. Radical, social, and liberal feminists have stood their ground, arguing that if any societal change is to be achieved in Canada then there must be a change in ways of life as well as ways of thought. Historically, Canada was designed to be the country where the first feminist revolution was bound to take place.
The country has regularly witnessed the emergence of feminist movements and feminist ideas. The idea of feminism has been formed here since time immemorial, though it was connected then with issues of liberalism.1 Canadian womens routes through power structures and politics are not smooth at all.
Women in Canada have been marginalized for a long time; thus, it has not been possible to use small groups in the political arena where there has been a need for the considerations of collaborative structures. At the same time, radical feminists in Canada have rejected already-existing authority structures.
The term feminist, as presented in this discussion, means the group of women who view discrimination as the major contributor to the political system. This has been enhanced by inequality, even though in the fight against discrimination, women have found their way into the political system.
The term politics is broad in its definition, based on the fact that it goes beyond political gatherings and parties and the law-making structure. The following discussion is inclusive of the feminist power structure in Canada.
To start with, it is important to look at the historical background with regards to feminism (women) power, structure, and politics in Canada. Current liberal feminism comes from the systematic coercion of women in Canada, as women were regulated to the domestic sphere.
The social patriarch forced women to dominate at home; thus, there was no room for them to go public in power or politics. The liberal theory in which feminist ideology is rooted comprises liberal and feminist ideas. Social feminism aims to offer women social roles that were initially designated exclusively for men. Finally, radical feminism suggests that women play greater role in organizations.
However, at present, social and radical theories have fused into a single entity.2 In the 1960s, feminist activities in Canada gained forward motion in reference to social modification when they emphasized the obliteration of the so-called patriarchal rule structure.
Because of the adoption of feminist doctrine in Canada, the womens movement led to an increase in legislative representation in family dynamics as well as to their reconfigurations.3
There were no such expectations of the re-emergence of the womens movement in the 1960s with regards to political stability in addition to Canadas prosperous post-war economic status. Traditionally, there had been a feeling of security if just one woman was found in the federal legislative body.
Feminist theoriesincluding liberal, socialist, and radicalhave played a significant role in Canadian womens politics. The structure of these three theories is similar, even though their methodologies happen to be different.
All of them have common goals of improving the social status of Canadian women, economic progression, and the political arena of women. Liberal feminist theory is based on the promotion of the freedom that is supposed to be enjoyed by all women, as well as equality, which should be achieved by all autonomously.
In this theory, sexual discrimination is not at all acceptable. It becomes difficult for women to pursue individual self-interest because they are denied equal rights. Even though liberal feminists have put great effort into freedom for women, they are slightly less meticulous by the fact that these feminist still hold the idea on all political decisions being made within the official political process as prescribed by the Canada constitution.
Liberal theory does not see the need for the change or modifications in the decision-making structures affected by womens inclusion or equality. Therefore, there is a room that is created by this theory where men were to have more room in the social structures for any feminist change to occur in the female counterparts.
Decision-making structures and law formation were exclusively in mens hands, which led to the continual governance of women. Socialist theory came into existence to address the inadequacies in liberal feminist theory.
Socialist theory is the second feminist theory with a big part to play in Canadian power, structure, and politics. Socialist theory is based on the argument that women need to attain economic means as well as power, so as to attain the goals of political liberalism. Women in Canada have experienced, and still experience, oppression, even though change has come about as a result of the efforts of feminist movements.
They experience alienation, especially in the work force, have jobs subordinate to those of men, and provide domestic labor as housewives. Socialist feminists argued that there was a need for women to enter the public sphere as much as they carried the greater part of the private sphere.
Domestic labor does not provide monetary compensation; therefore, social changes were needed. The social changes would provide substitutes for the capitalist production and the construct of the family setup. This position led to the manifestation of a third theory, radical feminism, which agreed with socialist feminist analysis of womens socioeconomic status.
Radical feminist theory was spawned as a result of the disillusionment created in politics. Women came to realize that they were being exploited for sexual purposes. According to radical feminists, what was referred as private and individual was not just private; it was also political. This was an attempt to signify the ways in which individual experiences of Canadian patriarchal family structure disadvantaged women.
These experiences included rape, wife abuse, and gender stereotyping. Even though radical feminists put great effort into what is referred as the personal made public, the Canadian regime could not allow any sort of public intervention in the case of rape or even sexual abuse, which happened mostly at the family level.
Socialist theory focuses on the politics of daily life in the same manner as the radical feminist notion of private spheres. This sexual analysis differs altogether from liberal theory.
The daily experiences that Canadian women went through within the family, such as rape and wife abuse, perpetuated more oppression. The argument for maintaining privacy within the family protected the family politically from undergoing any scrutiny.
Radical feminists, however, were determined to bring up domestic violence in politics. Men held the legally supported power to control womens labor, as well as other social powers. Radical feminists felt that there was a need to overturn these powers.
Many similarities can be drawn between feminist theories and the current liberal democracy. What is meant by liberal democracy is a structure that is referred to as representative democracy, where elected representatives hold decisive powers that are moderated constitutionally. In the constitutional setup, there is more emphasis on promoting individual liberties as well as minority rights and equality.
Based on this description of liberal democracy, it holds more of qualities in the state of promoting the minority tyranny which the above three theories emphasized.
The ultimate ideal, common to both liberal democracy and feminist theories, is the desire to achieve all rights of life and freedom with the promotion of dignity and a considerable moral worth to all. This idea is based on the fact that liberalist principles in both theories are not meant to limit specific rights, which should be provided in opposition to the majority.
Just as feminist theories received mixed reviews, current liberal democracy is faced with the same problem. Canadians remain ambivalent when pluralism and diversity accommodations are put into place.
Both feminist theories and the liberal democracy have a greater role to play in reference to autonomy, diversity, the enlightenment of women, and the necessity to accommodate differences in the political setup.
Feminists tried for a long time to fight for equality without fully achieving it and this kind of life seems normal and natural in a Canadian context. Liberal democracy seems be the same with regards to pluralism and diversity. Based on these two systemsliberal democracy and feminist theoryit seems as though Canada has already made accommodation for power and inequality in governing the nation.
When Canada is compared to the rest of the world, evidence shows that over twenty percent of the Canadian enjoy a considerable level of political freedom. Currently, legal equalities are practiced to some extent, and economic opportunities for women are improving. All these advantages have been achieved as a result of womens activism over decades.
This activism is still ongoing among feminists inside the halls of power, together with those who are outside. Feminists achieved essential political freedoms such as voting rights, being able to run for office and the consideration of the Canadian woman as a person under the law by insisting that women were equal to men and had the capability to lead a democratic life in Canada.
Putting into consideration the above factors, it would seem reasonable enough to expect a greater representation of women in polities worldwide. This is not the case; in fact, they are underrepresented. Despite the progress that women have made in education, the workforce, and contribution to public life, their political interests do not exceed those of men.
At the same time, they are less knowledgeable in the official political field compared to men. The fact that men remain the majority in Canadas political arena sends a subtle message that the political world seems closed for women.
Focusing on Canadian politics of today, there has been accommodation lines which have occurred within the women that have led into significant division in the nations as well as the leaving out and subordination by the minority communities. Women in Canada have a very significant role in promoting politics that involve pluralism and the rights of the minority.
According to recent studies on to womens leadership, political representation is subjected to economic circumstance. This decisively affects whether a woman is able to run as a candidate for elected office. In Canada, a politicians responsibility is viewed as carrying more weight in the capacity of a patron rather than an administrator.
This proves to be a challenge for women, and has led to many women not putting forward their names as candidates. It also attests to the fact that not many of the local elite are willing to change, especially when it comes time to recruit nominees. Thus, male competitors always find their way forward. The life of a Canadian woman involved in politics is a series of challenges.
They are supposed to meet the requirements, nearing the same political responsibilities as men do, which creates certain problems. Despite the endless attempts to establish equality in politics, women are still nominated far more seldom than men.4 In addition, Canadian culture is not ready yet to see women as politicians. Mass media is another problem.
Women are still regarded as novelty 5 by most Canadian journalists. Often women are reluctant to continue the struggle, knowing the opposition they will have to face. However, Canadian women do not despair, but resort to numerous political means to fight these challenges.
Further exploration of the challenges faced by Canadian women in politics shows that there is a need for cultural change, which will promote the desire for more women candidates and allow them to win in considerably higher numbers. The cultural role of childrearing, a responsibility that is largely left to women, proves to be a major challenge to womens involvement in politics.
Canadas social and cultural expectations for women demand that they be always with their children. This is itself a hindrance to the involvement of the women in federal politics.
Canadian members of parliament spend at least thirty-two weeks per year without their children, as they must be in Ottawa for five days per week and return to their respective constituencies over the weekend, where they still hold some office hours as well as attend constituency events.
Party nomination, as illustrated earlier in this discussion, proves to be another challenge for the women involvement in politics. Since one must first be nominated before entering party politics, the winnable seats are never open to new candidates. Financial barriers prove to be a challenge to most of the women wanting to get into federal politics.
In Canada, the nature of politics has never been friendly, especially to women. Women are not as confrontational as compared men, who usually find confrontation to be a means of one-upmanship .
Media plays a great role in the many questions that are asked of politicians, leading to a life that is referred to as fishbowl life. Women are always presented in relation to how they dress, their body type and structure, their hairstyles, and their voices. These issues are the first to be covered by the news, which does not happen to men.
Women are still challenged in politics by their unwillingness to run for positions in office. This has led to a small supply of women who come forward in politics, however much of the blame is pushed for Canadian culture on their male counterparts.
Conversely, there are women who profess an interest in running for office, but are not inclined on the need to step forward; rather they wait to be asked to do so. There is a need for political parties to form committees whose sole responsibility would be to encourage well-qualified women candidates. At the same time, many women have little interest in pursuing political careers.
Women have experienced different barriers in Canadian politics, thus calling for the breaking down of these blockades through the implementation of action policies by the government as well as political parties. Political party leaders should at the same time hold political will and improve in their commitment that it is one tool, which is necessary for the promotion of equality.
Political recruitment of women candidates should be provided by their political parties, so as to support them in running winnable positions. All parties must address the historical problem of inequality and identify the relevant processes that are necessary to address them in order for womens political equality to occur.
Promoting changes in the representation of women in politics and their involvements will not only improve the welfare of women in Canada, but will also develop opportunities for others who are underrepresented. This will create the benefit of a healthier political system, in which Canadian democracy will take the lead.
Despite the above challenges that Canadian women face in politics, women have continued to get involved in politics, an act that can be termed as miracles happening. It is also necessary to understand what happens once they find themselves elected to the provincial legislature and other political positions.
The big question is whether these women work to change representative institutions or are forced to incorporate the existing political culture once they attain the political positions. Do they struggle to achieve credibility in hostile environment?
Once women attain these positions, they have reported discrimination from their male counterparts. At the same time, many report being dissatisfied once elected, as they consider political life to be more frustrating. The future progress of women in politics in Canada seems to be uncertain; once one considers that they have not yet achieved a better position in politics.
Total equality is difficult to achieve in Canada, but no one can negate the fact that it is desirable. Women in Canada have made great efforts in the fight for equality despite minimal progress, which needs to be acknowledged. Around twenty percent of women are always elected in the parliament since 1993.
Women account for around fifty-two percent of the total population of Canada, which is approximately twenty-one percent of the municipal councils and legislatures.
Canada has enjoyed economic stability with fewer women who are elected, but on the political representation in the international set-up, Canada ranks 47th on the elections which took place 2007. Polling data shows women place more value on different issues. Women should be given chances to hold the same positions as men.
Moreover, equality is important in decision-making in order to empower women. This will bring about successful development of public policies. A critical mass is needed in which the largest populations in Canada will be women.
For the Canadian democracy to be deemed legitimate, it must represent at least half of the population that is composed of women. There should be a genuine partnership in gender, where to some extent Canada has made efforts to adopt the charter which is composed of rights and freedom for all (Andrew and Tremblay 290).
In conclusion, there is still a long path for womens equality in the political assembly. Feminist efforts have improved Canadian politics, although at a slow rate. Achievements include the creation of women programs meant to improve the lives of Canadian women. These efforts also led to the creation of a position for a minister whose responsibility is to promote womens equality.
These movements have led to womens involvement in politics. They have acquired official positions and put into place some policies such as those dealing with childcare. Evidence clearly shows that gender representation in Canadian politics has been an issue for a long time.
Achievement of gender parity has never taken place in Canada. Women represent the larger population, but they do not hold equal positions to men in politics.
Despite the challenges women face in Canadian politics, some of them are already involved in politics and many more desire to be. What pushes women toward participating in the political assembly is the desire to make changes in party nomination processes, media coverage, and parliament operations, which are in the hands of Canadian cultural change.
There is a great need for Canadian women to get involved in politics, so as to secure as many parliamentary seats as possible in order to demand the necessary changes. In summary, politics have been downgraded far beyond on what was being referred as important profession in Canadians mind in reference to them that make decision to serve more on the few women who find their way in politics.
There is a need for a better regime, represented by dedicated politicians coming from both genders, which can only be achieved if equality is valued.
Bibliography
Andrew, Caroline and Manon Tremblay. Representing women in parliament: a comparative study. New York: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Print.
Andrew, Caroline and Manon Tremblay. Women and political representation in Canada. Mexico: University of Ottawa Press, 1998. Print.
Andrew, Caroline. Electing a Diverse Canada: The Representation of Immigrants, Minorities, and Women. London: UBC Press, 2009. Print.
Jaggar, M. Alison and Young M. Iris. A Companion to Feminist Philosophy (New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000), 519
Bashevkin, Sylvia B. Opening doors wider: womens political engagement in Canada. New York: UBC Press, 2009. Print.
Bickerton, James. Canadian Politics. New York: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Print.
Carstairs, Sharon. The culture of women and politics. 2005. Web.
Cooper, Andrew F. and Rowlands Dane. Canada Among Nations, 2005: Split Images. London: McGill-Queens Press MQUP, 2005. Print.
Crow, Barbara A. and Gotell Lise. Open boundaries: a Canadian womens studies reader. New York: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.
Fierlbeck, Katherine. Political thought in Canada: an intellectual history. London: University of Toronto Press, 2006. Print.
Heather Macvlor. Women and Politics in Canada (Toronto, CA: University of Toronto Press, 1996), 290
Megyery, Kathy. Women in Canada Politics: Towards Equity in Representation (Toronto, CA: Dundurn Press, Ltd. 1991), 33
Kramarae, Cheris and Spender Dale. Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Identity politics to publishing. New York: Routledge, 2000. Print.
Young, Lisa. Feminists and Party Politics (British Columbia, CA: University of British Columbia Press, 2000), 55
OConnor, Karen. Gender and Womens Leadership: A Reference Handbook. London: SAGE, 2010.
Pierson, Ruth and Griffin Marjorie Cohen. Canadian Womens Issues: Bold Visions. (Halifax, CA: James Lorimer & Company, Ltd., 1995), 418
Sacouman, R. James, Sacouman James and Veltmeyer Henry. From the net to the Net: Atlantic Canada and the global economy. London: University of Toronto Press, 2005.
Townshed, Juleles. C.B. Macpherson and the problem of liberal democracy. London: Edinburgh University Press, 2000. Print.
Trimble, Linda and Arscott Jane. Still Counting: Women in Politics Across Canada. London: University of Toronto Press, 2008. Print.
Footnotes
1 Pierson Ruth and Griffin Marjorie Cohen. Canadian Womens Issues: Bold Visions. (Halifax, CA: James Lorimer & Company, Ltd., 1995), 418
2 Young Lisa. Feminists and Party Politics (British Columbia, CA: University of British Columbia Press, 2000), 55
3 Jaggar M. Alison and Young M. Iris. A Companion to Feminist Philosophy (New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell, 2000), 519
4 Megyery Kathy. Women in Canada Politics: Towards Equity in Representation (Toronto, CA: Dundurn Press, Ltd. 1991), 33
5 Heather Macvlor. Women and Politics in Canada (Toronto, CA: University of Toronto Press, 1996), 290
Out of the three types of feminisms namely, social, radical, and liberal feminism, I am of the opinion that social feminism would be the most effective in terms of eliminating gender discrimination, improving womens economic and political position in society and helping to bring equality between men and women.
Social feminism is the perhaps the best approach to ending the struggle of women against economic exploitation, oppression, lack of autonomy or power over ones work, socio-economic marginalization, systematic violence, and cultural imperialism. From a Marxist point of view, domination and power has previously been constantly linked to masculinity.
Since power has always been understood from the point of view of men and the ruling class (in other words, the socially dominant), the task of feminists is therefore to try and reconceptualize power from the point of view of a feminist. In this case, the method of choice should be one that recognizes the life experiences of women and to be precise, the role played by women in reproduction.
Social feminism holds that the liberation of womens life can only be achieved when a concerted effort is made to both the cultural as well as economic sources of womens oppression. Social feminisms endeavor to address head-on the common root of sexism, classism, and racialism.
These issues condemn one to either a privileged life or one of oppression, on the basis of circumstances or on accidents of birth. Accordingly, social feminism can be viewed the creation of social change in an exclusive way. As opposed to competition and conflict, socialist feminist values cooperation and synthesis, and these are noble ways of bringing equality between men and women, and ensuring that the political and economic positions of women in the society improve.
Socialist feminist endeavors to address the issues of class and capitalism. These are two important issues that Marxism failed to address on grounds of being gender blind.
The choice of social feminism is also quite in order since it does not only speak of the oppressions that women have to encounter, but it also attempts to address the issue of capitalism, albeit calmly. This is unlike radical feminists that attempts to overthrown and even challenge patriarchy by opposing womens oppression and gender roles by campaigning for the embracing of a radical social order.
Liberal feminists also fail to recognize man as the enemy that needs to be defeated. The intention of the pioneer liberal feminists was to team up with women, men, the white, blacks, the rich and the poor and unite as one. A divided society cannot be able to overcome gender discrimination.
When we view man as the enemy, we fail to focus on the underlying problem, which is the need to ensure equality in the society. Therefore, we need to first create a cordial relationship between the various members of the society regardless of their gender, social, and economic differences.
Socialists, along with the radical feminists disapproved of the social order that existed at the time. For this reason, they felt the need to initiate a revolution that would incorporate men as potential allies. In this case, the ultimate goal was to completely abolish gender, class, and racial hierarchies. In this regard, social feminists did not approach the issue from the point of view of the woman.
If at all we would want to experience change in the society, the goal should be to ensure that all of us are equal and not just one race or gender. When we approach the issue of race, class and gender with an open mind, this gives women a better chance to assume higher responsibilities in the society. This is because we have managed to break the existing barriers the men are not likely to oppose women in pursuing positions of power. Instead, all have an equal chance of assuming positions of power and responsibility in the society.
Feminism refers to a movement and a set of ideologies aiming at redefining, identifying, and defending the political, economic and social rights of women in society. In particular, the major role of feminists is to advocate for equal chances for women in education and employment.
The theory emerged from the imaginations of various women who sought to comprehend the nature of gender inequality through the understanding of social roles and various positions of individuals in society.
The theory has a different interpretation and definition of gender and sex. Even though there are varieties of feminists, the major aim of all feminism is to fight for the rights of women in society. These aims include the fight for the reproductive and bodily rights of women.
In this regard, women should be given freedom to make decisions touching on their health. Through feminism, there is a new interpretation of gender and sex.
Scholars upholding this view observe that women should be given some reproductive rights, such as using contraceptives and procuring an abortion at will. In the modern society, what entails reproductive health is well documented.
The world agency in charge of health (WHO) notes that couples should be given the freedom to decide on the number of children they should have (Cole, & Sabik, 2010). However, people should be responsible as they make their decisions owing to the sanctity of life.
Human life is special meaning that it should not be terminated at will. Apart from deciding on the number of children, couples should always determine the spacing of their children. In this regard, women should not be discriminated.
Thesis
Women in the United States have always encountered challenges that interfere with their individual fulfillment in society. Some have risen up to fight for their rights, but they hardly identify themselves as feminists due to the stigma associated with the term.
This means that women are willing to challenge the exiting social structure, but they are aware of the resistance.
Through constitutional development, women have managed to advocate for the ratification of laws that protect them from inhumane conditions, such as rape, violence and subjugation to the domain of the home.
Women are currently engaged in socio-political and economic activities in the United States, it is not enough to bring about equality. Much has to be done to ensure that women enjoy their rights, just like men.
Feminism employs the ideas of Marx to challenge the existing social structure since it supports one gender.
Therefore, it is agreed among feminists that a social structure that oppresses a majority of its people should be rejected. In this regard, feminists argue for a gender equality whereby the capability of an individual would be measured based on his or her strength, but not sexual qualities.
Women and feminism
The two concepts are closely related because one facilitates the other. Before the advent of feminism, the living conditions of women were very poor since they were perpetually pushed to the periphery, even on matters touching on their own health.
Women existed to be seen, but not to be heard since they were the properties of men. Just as men owned other properties, such as land, women were also owned in the same way.
Traditional practices could not allow women to participate in some activities, such as policy formulation and wealth accumulation. Feminism shed light on the debate since it advocated for the rights of women, particularly reproductive health.
Before feminism, a woman would simply be used as a sex object since she did not have any right. Currently, sex is considered a love affair whereby two people can only do it through consent.
Feminism advocated for the provision of free abortion, provision of free family planning contraceptives and methods, abolition of female genital mutilation, and forced marriage. Through legal ratifications, a woman in the modern society has full control of her reproductive health.
She can decide when to have a child and when to terminate a pregnancy. This freedom is attributed to the works of feminists, who have achieved a lot regarding reproductive rights of women.
The making of major decisions touching on reproduction was always the role of men, even though they are minor shareholders as far as reproduction is concerned. Women have been subjected to violence and intimidation since they are perceived as weak and helpless.
Others view women as people who should depend on men for major decisions since they do not have the moral authority to participate in societal development.
World Health Organization demands that women should be given specific rights, including the right to procure an abortion, the right to use family planning methods in order to control births, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to access free reproductive education, which would inform their decisions.
Feminists insist that the government should offer free education on contraceptives in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
Any women should be protected from practices that would interfere with reproduction, such as gender-based violence, forced sterilization, and female genital mutilation.
A number of states have already established stricter laws related to gender-based violence. For instance, a man should be jailed for life in case he is found forcing a woman to have sex.
This is considered a violation of the womans reproductive right since she is expected to engage in sex with consent.
Traditional practices that interfered with female reproduction are on the decline. For instance, female inheritance in simple societies is no longer accepted. The government is opposed to the issue of forced marriage.
In the 1960s, there was a new wave of feminism, which was referred to as the second wave of feminism. The demands of feminists were not any different from the previous demands since the works of Mary Wollstonecraft were used as the basis of demands.
Women advocated for equality in terms of social relationships whereby they demanded the existence of free love and the wearing of skirts. In the United States, a number of meetings were held to spearhead talks on the ratification of laws touching on the rights of women.
Apart from previous demands, women needed equal pay in the labor industry, provision of equal education, job opportunities, free childcare services, financial empowerment, prevention of gender-based discrimination, and illegalization of inhumane actions, such as rape and violence against women.
Even though not all women have similar demands, there is a consensus among feminists that male chauvinism and discrimination are the two major problems affecting women in any society. Therefore, all women aim at achieving independence.
In this regard, they seem to agree on the ways in which they can realize their goals. Liberal feminism is concerned with equal rights meaning that women should be subjected to similar conditions as men. It does not seek any favors from members of society.
To achieve this equality, the constitution should be reviewed to reflect the interests of all societal members. In other words, the law should be drafted to protect women from inhuman conditions. Through the law, an individuals sex would not be used to judge his or her performance in society.
From a liberal perspective, the differences between men and women are not natural, but instead they are creations of the society. The differences are the result of socialization process whereby women are brought up knowing that they are inferior to men.
Marxist feminism has a different interpretation of the relationship between men and women. It views the relationship between women and men as characterized by subordination and exploitation, which is a typical feature of the capitalistic society.
Ever since the advent of private property, women have always been viewed as the property of men. In the same way the rich owns the working class, men also own women. Women are against this type of relationship in the modern society.
This means that are compared to the working class (proletariat) while men are the bourgeoisie since they own everything in society.
The argument that femininity results to the unsuitability of women to engage in political activities has its origin in the feminist theory.
Cole and Sabik authored an article that assesses if the attractive and unattractive aspects of femininity, which match the Feminine Interpersonal Relations (interpersonal charm) and Feminine Self-Doubt (submissiveness and passivity), have impacts on the successful involvement of women in politics (Cole, & Sabik, 2010).
Conventionally, Feminine Interpersonal Relations were linked with higher political involvement and effectiveness when compared to Feminine Self-Doubt.
The upshots are conferred with consideration to the midlife advancement of women and the femininity socialization of Black women.
Identification of the function of feminine attributes, such as nurturance and compassion in political endeavors (as found in Feminine Interpersonal Relations), may promote women approving feminist convictions to engage in politics.
Duncan, on the other hand, surveyed the relative significance of feminism generation and the feminist label to a group of 667 women that were marching in demand for Reproductive Rights.
Weak feminists were seen to identify themselves with the feminist label, approving several attitudes and viewpoints of strong feminists with less dedication to equalitarianism.
In his analysis, the feminist label was significant in elucidating the relationship of women to feminism as opposed to the generation. This aspect designates that disclosure to a group ideology could connect persons across generations.
Feminists had a feeling of inferiority when they judged themselves against their male counterparts and possessed similar attitudes, such as strong qualities (Duncan, 2010). Education concerning feminism could make the feminists have a dedication to equality.
Duncan evaluates the manner in which feminism associates itself with the sexual harassment, which is a great challenge facing women. Two pointers of feminism were evaluated in the study, including self-recognition and involvement in feminist activism.
Two kinds of sexual molestation were gauged, which included sexual advances and gender molestation.
Feminist identification signified lesser gender molestation encounters. Nevertheless, feminist-identified women accounted highest reduction in job gratification (Holland, & Cortina, 2013).
It was established that, feminist activism is connected to greater experiences of both types of molestation.
Moreover, irrespective of feminist activism or identification, women that had experienced sexual molestation were highly likely to fix the sexual molestation tag to their encounters than women who had faced gender molestation alone.
Hooks initiated a well-liked theory of feminists, which is anchored in a good sense and the perception of mutual understanding. The vision presented by Hooks is that of a beloved society that pleases everybody and is dedicated to equality (Hooks, 2000).
The author underscores the fact that the most controversial and challenging concerns facing feminists in the contemporary world include encompassing violent behavior, ethnicity, work, and reproductive rights.
With the use of customary awareness and candor, the author calls for feminists that are free from disruptive hindrances, but endowed with thorough discourse to join hands in fighting for their rights.
Hooks reveals that feminism, instead of being perceived as an obsolete impression or one restricted to scholarly leaders, should be perceived as reality for everyone.
In his contribution on the debate touching on feminism, McCabe evaluated the relationship among various variables, including feminist self-identity, political inclinations, socio-demographics and a scope of gender-associated approaches.
The research was supported by information from the General Society Survey of 1996.
The study found out that just 20 percent of American women identify themselves as feminists while 80 per cent of women believe that both men and women ought to be socially, politically and economically equal (McCabe, 2005).
Equalitarianism is the most extensively accredited factor among women. Findings disclose that feminists can be very educated city women who are free to be liberals or Democrats.
The feminist self-identity considerably associates itself with opinions concerning the effect of the movement of women on equality.
The scholar recommends the significance of examining collections of attitudes concerning perfect gender conformities, evaluations, and distinguishing other forms of approach.
It is unfortunate that most women in society approve feminist values, but do not identify themselves as feminists. Moradi, Martin and Brewste analyzed the initiative of women founded on the presumption of personality as a probable feature in feminist non-identification.
The first study conducted by the above scholars introduced the theoretically positioned Feminist Threat Index and assesses its psychometric qualities with statistics from 91 students.
The second study examined a theoretically founded intervention set to decrease the scale of feminist threat and enhance the extent of feminist identification, by permitting students to interrelate with a diverse group of feminists (Moradi, Martin, & Brewster, 2012).
The intervention decreased the scale of threat and raised the extent of feminist identification considerably in the group, but there was no change in the comparison set.
Several groups of individuals have reacted to feminism and both men and women either support or oppose it, with support for feminist perceptions being more common as compared to self-identification as a feminist.
The involvement of male and generally everyone is encouraged by feminists. This is a plan aim at attaining the dedication of the entire society to gender equality.
The findings of the above scholars present researchers and other stakeholders with adequate information that would be used in evaluating and decreasing the threat to feminist identification.
Previous studies have shown that the majority of women in the US support feminist objectives, but they do not consider themselves feminists. Consideration concerning the opinions of people as regards to feminism could foretell rejection of the feminist identity.
Different from this hypothesis, every woman who participated in such studies, irrespective of feminist recognition, had a conviction that other people had a negative perception towards feminists. Feminists were believed to be homosexuals as compared to being heterosexual.
Ramsey, Haines, Hurt, Nelson, Turner, Liss, and Erchull, (2007) talked about connection between the perceptions of feminists and the conviction they possess as to the way other people see them.
The scholars discussed the disagreement between the search for gender equality and the yearning for sexual gratification, which is a great challenge to feminists.
In the second-wave, feminists were on opposite sides of a sequence of controversial discussions concerning issues, such as pornography, prostitution and heterosexuality, with some women supporting gender oppression and others backing sexual satisfaction and empowerment.
The third-wave seeks to join up the principles of gender equality and sexual liberty and respects the decisions of women on the aforementioned principles (2010).
Whereas this perspective is at times seen as insignificantly approving all that a woman decides to do as a feminist, Snyder-Hall affirms that the third-wave does not present an unreflective approval of selection, but a great reverence for pluralism and self-fortitude.
Being a feminist is perceived as a tag, which is related to activism, convictions and other groupings.
With the application of online surveys, where 220 American women took part, an article by Yoder, Tobias and Snell (2011) evaluates the distinctive and combined effect of feminist self-identification on the welfare of women, equality, and activism.
Self-identity was clearly discussed as a dual affirmation of being a feminist or not, which by itself was associated with high feminist activism, as well as the effect of feminist convictions.
Moreover, self-identity, contrary to feminist convictions, was not associated with personal welfare or interpersonal equalitarianism. There is thus the need for self-identity for improved feminist action.
In their analysis, Zucker and BayCheng (2010), focused on chauvinism, which is prevalent in the modern United States. It bears unconstructive impacts on women.
Feminist approaches could safeguard women against the impacts of sexism, though there is an ideological difference between women, which interferes with feminist mindset, but snubs the identity and the self-recognized feminists.
Women bear the mindset and not the identity, which seems to be self-interested and may only engage in less joint efforts in support of the rights of women.
The negative depiction of feminism and feminists has made many women to believe in equality, but do not consider themselves feminists.
Nevertheless, this study reveals that as individuals are exposed to self-identified feminists and discourse regarding different types of feminism, their extent of self-identification as feminists rises.
In this regard, comprehension of whether the refusal of the feminist label is founded on fear of stigma related to the identity, neoliberal convictions, or other elucidations is significant to the people organizing for equality.
The Choice of the Topic
Women and their acceptance of feminism is chosen as the topic of the paper since a number of scholars talk about it. The paper discusses women and their acceptance of the attributes that make them female.
The paper highlights that despite the fact that quite a number of women fight for gender equality, they only support feminist objectives. Surprisingly, these women fail to consider themselves as feminists.
They, however, portray male characteristics of superiority in different aspects of life. Women should not only back feminist activities, but also accept their positions as women.
References
Cole, R., & Sabik, J. (2010). Associations between femininity and womens political behavior during midlife. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34(4), 508-520.
Duncan, E. (2010). Womens relationship to feminism: effects of generation and feminist selflabeling. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34(4), 498-507.
Holland, J., & Cortina, M. (2013). When sexism and feminism collide the sexual harassment of feminist working women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 37(2), 192-208.
Hooks, B. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics. Brooklyn, NY: South End Press.
McCabe, J. (2005). Whats in a label? The relationship between feminist self-identification and feminist attitudes among US women and men. Gender & Society, 19(4), 480-505.
Moradi, B., Martin, A., & Brewster, M. (2012). Disarming the threat to feminist identification: an application of personal construct theory to measurement and intervention. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 36(2), 197-209.
Ramsey, R., Haines, E., Hurt, M., Nelson, A., Turner, L., Liss, M., & Erchull, J. (2007). Thinking of others: Feminist identification and the perception of others beliefs. Sex Roles, 56(10), 611-616.
Snyder-Hall, C. (2010). Third-wave feminism and the defense of choice . Perspectives on Politics, 8(1), 255-261.
Yoder, D., Tobias, A., & Snell, F. (2011). When declaring I am a feminist matters: Labeling is linked to activism. Sex Roles, 64(2), 9-18.
Zucker, N., & BayCheng, Y. (2010). Minding the Gap Between Feminist Identity and Attitudes: The Behavioral and Ideological Divide Between Feminists and NonLabelers. Journal of personality, 78(6), 1895-1924
This article appears on the Public Broadcasting Website (PBS) website. The article talks about the history of the pill in the United States and makes references to the 2011 movie The Pill . According to the article, the pill has had a long history that is dominated by scientific and medical debates.
The article also outlines some subtopics in the debate on the pill including contraception, eugenics, social engineering, population trends, government involvement in legislating social behavior, conflicts between religious values, feminist activism of the 1960s, and twentieth century womens movements 1.
The article also touches on the roles women play in the society and the changing relationship between medical professionals and the public. PBS published this article as part of the organizations informative repertoire. Most of the information that is provided by the article relates to the 2011 film The Pill .
Recently, the debate on the pill has heightened around the country. The debate is particularly focused on the issue of sexuality among teenagers. There are those people who feel that the use of pills among teenage girls is unacceptable. The opponents of this notion feel that the pill provides girls with freedom from several burdens. In addition, this group feels that the era of sexual repression is over.
The history of the pill dates back several centuries ago. However, the modern debate on the pill began in the 1960s when the pill was enshrined in the countrys legislation. During this period, all prior disagreements concerning the pill were put to rest.
The increase in the rate of teenage pregnancies acts as proof of the need to institute the pill into the lives of the American teenagers. Several organizations and television shows have tried to address this issue by trying to depict the effects of unplanned pregnancies. This article offers an informed account of the history and uses of the pill to its readers.
The document in the PBS website provides a rich account of the pills revolution. The film account includes the testimony of some of the very first users of the pill. Most of the women who appear in The Pill concur that the pill was a revolutionary tool when it came to the womens freedom. Some of the women claim that the pill opened new horizons for them during the tumultuous period around the 1950s and 1960s.
The idea of women amounting to anything else other than mothers and homemakers was alien in the 1950s. The women who chose to pursue careers ended up foregoing having families. The pill was the game changer for many women who were provided with an effective means of birth control.
There were major controversies concerning the invention of the pill. The heroes behind its invention sacrificed a lot of their resources to make sure women were provided with a birth control method. This sacrifice passes as one of the most significant sacrifices in the American history.
The pills invention was initially viewed as a feministic campaign. However, this invention included some men and women who had no ties to feminism but were instead looking for an alternative to natural birth control. Years later, it has become clear that the pill has had a more medical than theoretical impact. The input provided in this website is important to the still on-going debates about the pill.
Today, the pill is still being associated to feminism five decades after it was instituted in the US constitution. The truth of the matter is that the debate on the pill will most likely be associated with feminism even in future. This association exists because most chauvinists are always uncomfortable with any tools that liberate women sexually.
The pill is definitely one of the most controversial inventions in the American history. Before the pill was invented, there were other existing methods of birth control that were not as controversial as the pill. However, most of these earlier methods were tedious and inaccurate. None of the existing methods of birth control was at the dispensation of the women.
The pill is a product of strive and defiance among some distinguished citizens. One woman notes that during the 1960s scientists invented hundred of pills but avoided the birth control pill2. The controversies behind the pill proved to be too intimidating even for the most seasoned scientists at the time. Moreover, the field of medical research was at the time dominated by men.
This meant that there was very little personal motivation among the researchers of that time. The controversies around the pill have dragged on from the 1960s to present. Every time a new version of the pill is invented, there is disquiet among the citizens.
The history of the pill has always been associated with feminism. This paper will track the history of the pill and its association with feminism. The paper will show how this association has evolved over the years.
The PBS website offers a historical account of the pill. The website also includes a transcript of the confessions of the women that appeared in the film The Pill . In one of these confessions, one woman talks about how the situation used to be in the 19th century.
A woman would give birth to consecutive children and end up suffering from ill health in the process. For instance, one woman says that her grandmother became pregnant eighteen times in the course of her forty-nine years lifespan3. In another confession, a woman says that before the pill was invented, women were desperate.
However, when the pill was finally invented these health and emotional concerns were overlooked in favor of feminist concerns. The popular view during the 1960s was that the pill gave women sexual freedom and therefore promoted promiscuity. These views mostly belonged to the men folk who were also the majority lawmakers at the time. These voices were also the target of feminists during the 1950s and the 1960s.
The group that is credited with the actual invention of the pill had a feminist at the forefront. The group consisted of Margret Sanger the woman who believed the pill could be realized, Gregory Pincus the scientist behind the invention, and Katherine McCormick the activist and financier of the pill research.
McCormick was the feminist in the group and also the one who donated forty thousand dollars of her money towards this research. Her role was also the most significant one because the pill would not have been realized without her money. According to the PBS article, Margret Sanger used to run a birth control clinic around the time the pill was invented. Her clinics aim was to help women achieve planned births.
This means that her clinic did not necessarily have feminist ties. Although McCormick was the only feminist in this group, her presence was taken to mean that the pill was a feminist drive. In the 1950s, feminists were treated with suspicion by the rest of the population. This treatment was transferred to the new birth control invention. Anti-feminist movements sought to discredit the pill on account of its feminist connection.
However, this argument was largely overlooked by the citizens because the pill became popular with American women within a very short time. From its inception, the pill was associated with feminism on account of Katherine McCormicks input.
Although the pill was constantly discredited by several entities including religious groups, legislation bodies, and some medical organizations, it continued to be popular among American women. This was a sign that the war against the pill was unfounded and probably chauvinistic. Five years after the pill was allowed into the American society, over six million American women were using it.
These statistics made it the most popular form of birth control at the time. The statistics also raise serious questions concerning the anti-pill campaign at the time. If the pill was flawed and immoral as most of the campaigners argued, it would not have found as much support as it did. For instance, there were women demonstrators during the 1970 senate hearing on the pills safety.
The women demanded that the senate considers their voices on the matter. This was ten years after the pill was adopted and issues of feminism were still dominating its debate. The senate never considered the womens voices and instead opted to abandon the proceedings. This move is quite incriminating for the senate because if there were no feminism undertones in the hearings the senate would have considered the womens voices.
In the course of history, the debate on the pill has been featured in several social struggles. The pill debate featured on the Civil Rights Movement where African American leaders claimed that the pill was being used to control the reproduction of minority women. Such claims caught the attention of the feminists who had always advocated for the womens right to plan their parenthood.
The pill was also featured in the proposal for Congress to make it a requirement for the women seeking to acquire government aid. When the pill was eventually replaced by the Norplant, there was a proposal that all women who were beneficiaries of government welfare be forced to use the Norplant instead of the pill.
In addition, women who embraced the new birth control method would receive reduced penalties in the event of their conviction. One of the reasons why these proposals never materialized was because they received stiff opposition from feminist organizations. These proposals were forwarded in the 1990s and they targeted women from low economic backgrounds4. Recently, the pill debate involved adolescent girls right to access the pill.
A US court made it legal for underage girls to obtain emergency pills without a prescription. This issue was still the subject of a feministic debate that addressed teenage girls sexual and reproductive liberties.
The pill continues to elicit major debate especially from feminists. The pill provided women with an important tool of liberation. Over the years, the debate concerning the pill has metamorphosed from the times it used to cover women in their prime to its current focus on teenagers. This debate is likely to continue as the science and technology behind the pill progresses. The feminist aspect of the pill debate is also likely to continue.
Bibliography
Henretta, James. America: A Concise History. Boston: New York Publishers, 2012.
Feminism refers to a movement and a set of ideologies aiming at redefining, identifying, and defending the political, economic and social rights of women in society. In particular, the major role of feminists is to advocate for equal chances for women in education and employment.
The theory emerged from the imaginations of various women who sought to comprehend the nature of gender inequality through the understanding of social roles and various positions of individuals in society.
The theory has a different interpretation and definition of gender and sex. Even though there are varieties of feminists, the major aim of all feminism is to fight for the rights of women in society. These aims include the fight for the reproductive and bodily rights of women.
In this regard, women should be given freedom to make decisions touching on their health. Through feminism, there is a new interpretation of gender and sex.
Scholars upholding this view observe that women should be given some reproductive rights, such as using contraceptives and procuring an abortion at will. In the modern society, what entails reproductive health is well documented.
The world agency in charge of health (WHO) notes that couples should be given the freedom to decide on the number of children they should have (Cole, & Sabik, 2010). However, people should be responsible as they make their decisions owing to the sanctity of life.
Human life is special meaning that it should not be terminated at will. Apart from deciding on the number of children, couples should always determine the spacing of their children. In this regard, women should not be discriminated.
Thesis
Women in the United States have always encountered challenges that interfere with their individual fulfillment in society. Some have risen up to fight for their rights, but they hardly identify themselves as feminists due to the stigma associated with the term.
This means that women are willing to challenge the exiting social structure, but they are aware of the resistance.
Through constitutional development, women have managed to advocate for the ratification of laws that protect them from inhumane conditions, such as rape, violence and subjugation to the domain of the home.
Women are currently engaged in socio-political and economic activities in the United States, it is not enough to bring about equality. Much has to be done to ensure that women enjoy their rights, just like men.
Feminism employs the ideas of Marx to challenge the existing social structure since it supports one gender.
Therefore, it is agreed among feminists that a social structure that oppresses a majority of its people should be rejected. In this regard, feminists argue for a gender equality whereby the capability of an individual would be measured based on his or her strength, but not sexual qualities.
Women and feminism
The two concepts are closely related because one facilitates the other. Before the advent of feminism, the living conditions of women were very poor since they were perpetually pushed to the periphery, even on matters touching on their own health.
Women existed to be seen, but not to be heard since they were the properties of men. Just as men owned other properties, such as land, women were also owned in the same way.
Traditional practices could not allow women to participate in some activities, such as policy formulation and wealth accumulation. Feminism shed light on the debate since it advocated for the rights of women, particularly reproductive health.
Before feminism, a woman would simply be used as a sex object since she did not have any right. Currently, sex is considered a love affair whereby two people can only do it through consent.
Feminism advocated for the provision of free abortion, provision of free family planning contraceptives and methods, abolition of female genital mutilation, and forced marriage. Through legal ratifications, a woman in the modern society has full control of her reproductive health.
She can decide when to have a child and when to terminate a pregnancy. This freedom is attributed to the works of feminists, who have achieved a lot regarding reproductive rights of women.
The making of major decisions touching on reproduction was always the role of men, even though they are minor shareholders as far as reproduction is concerned. Women have been subjected to violence and intimidation since they are perceived as weak and helpless.
Others view women as people who should depend on men for major decisions since they do not have the moral authority to participate in societal development.
World Health Organization demands that women should be given specific rights, including the right to procure an abortion, the right to use family planning methods in order to control births, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to access free reproductive education, which would inform their decisions.
Feminists insist that the government should offer free education on contraceptives in order to prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.
Any women should be protected from practices that would interfere with reproduction, such as gender-based violence, forced sterilization, and female genital mutilation.
A number of states have already established stricter laws related to gender-based violence. For instance, a man should be jailed for life in case he is found forcing a woman to have sex.
This is considered a violation of the womans reproductive right since she is expected to engage in sex with consent.
Traditional practices that interfered with female reproduction are on the decline. For instance, female inheritance in simple societies is no longer accepted. The government is opposed to the issue of forced marriage.
In the 1960s, there was a new wave of feminism, which was referred to as the second wave of feminism. The demands of feminists were not any different from the previous demands since the works of Mary Wollstonecraft were used as the basis of demands.
Women advocated for equality in terms of social relationships whereby they demanded the existence of free love and the wearing of skirts. In the United States, a number of meetings were held to spearhead talks on the ratification of laws touching on the rights of women.
Apart from previous demands, women needed equal pay in the labor industry, provision of equal education, job opportunities, free childcare services, financial empowerment, prevention of gender-based discrimination, and illegalization of inhumane actions, such as rape and violence against women.
Even though not all women have similar demands, there is a consensus among feminists that male chauvinism and discrimination are the two major problems affecting women in any society. Therefore, all women aim at achieving independence.
In this regard, they seem to agree on the ways in which they can realize their goals. Liberal feminism is concerned with equal rights meaning that women should be subjected to similar conditions as men. It does not seek any favors from members of society.
To achieve this equality, the constitution should be reviewed to reflect the interests of all societal members. In other words, the law should be drafted to protect women from inhuman conditions. Through the law, an individuals sex would not be used to judge his or her performance in society.
From a liberal perspective, the differences between men and women are not natural, but instead they are creations of the society. The differences are the result of socialization process whereby women are brought up knowing that they are inferior to men.
Marxist feminism has a different interpretation of the relationship between men and women. It views the relationship between women and men as characterized by subordination and exploitation, which is a typical feature of the capitalistic society.
Ever since the advent of private property, women have always been viewed as the property of men. In the same way the rich owns the working class, men also own women. Women are against this type of relationship in the modern society.
This means that are compared to the working class (proletariat) while men are the bourgeoisie since they own everything in society.
The argument that femininity results to the unsuitability of women to engage in political activities has its origin in the feminist theory.
Cole and Sabik authored an article that assesses if the attractive and unattractive aspects of femininity, which match the Feminine Interpersonal Relations (interpersonal charm) and Feminine Self-Doubt (submissiveness and passivity), have impacts on the successful involvement of women in politics (Cole, & Sabik, 2010).
Conventionally, Feminine Interpersonal Relations were linked with higher political involvement and effectiveness when compared to Feminine Self-Doubt.
The upshots are conferred with consideration to the midlife advancement of women and the femininity socialization of Black women.
Identification of the function of feminine attributes, such as nurturance and compassion in political endeavors (as found in Feminine Interpersonal Relations), may promote women approving feminist convictions to engage in politics.
Duncan, on the other hand, surveyed the relative significance of feminism generation and the feminist label to a group of 667 women that were marching in demand for Reproductive Rights.
Weak feminists were seen to identify themselves with the feminist label, approving several attitudes and viewpoints of strong feminists with less dedication to equalitarianism.
In his analysis, the feminist label was significant in elucidating the relationship of women to feminism as opposed to the generation. This aspect designates that disclosure to a group ideology could connect persons across generations.
Feminists had a feeling of inferiority when they judged themselves against their male counterparts and possessed similar attitudes, such as strong qualities (Duncan, 2010). Education concerning feminism could make the feminists have a dedication to equality.
Duncan evaluates the manner in which feminism associates itself with the sexual harassment, which is a great challenge facing women. Two pointers of feminism were evaluated in the study, including self-recognition and involvement in feminist activism.
Two kinds of sexual molestation were gauged, which included sexual advances and gender molestation.
Feminist identification signified lesser gender molestation encounters. Nevertheless, feminist-identified women accounted highest reduction in job gratification (Holland, & Cortina, 2013).
It was established that, feminist activism is connected to greater experiences of both types of molestation.
Moreover, irrespective of feminist activism or identification, women that had experienced sexual molestation were highly likely to fix the sexual molestation tag to their encounters than women who had faced gender molestation alone.
Hooks initiated a well-liked theory of feminists, which is anchored in a good sense and the perception of mutual understanding. The vision presented by Hooks is that of a beloved society that pleases everybody and is dedicated to equality (Hooks, 2000).
The author underscores the fact that the most controversial and challenging concerns facing feminists in the contemporary world include encompassing violent behavior, ethnicity, work, and reproductive rights.
With the use of customary awareness and candor, the author calls for feminists that are free from disruptive hindrances, but endowed with thorough discourse to join hands in fighting for their rights.
Hooks reveals that feminism, instead of being perceived as an obsolete impression or one restricted to scholarly leaders, should be perceived as reality for everyone.
In his contribution on the debate touching on feminism, McCabe evaluated the relationship among various variables, including feminist self-identity, political inclinations, socio-demographics and a scope of gender-associated approaches.
The research was supported by information from the General Society Survey of 1996.
The study found out that just 20 percent of American women identify themselves as feminists while 80 per cent of women believe that both men and women ought to be socially, politically and economically equal (McCabe, 2005).
Equalitarianism is the most extensively accredited factor among women. Findings disclose that feminists can be very educated city women who are free to be liberals or Democrats.
The feminist self-identity considerably associates itself with opinions concerning the effect of the movement of women on equality.
The scholar recommends the significance of examining collections of attitudes concerning perfect gender conformities, evaluations, and distinguishing other forms of approach.
It is unfortunate that most women in society approve feminist values, but do not identify themselves as feminists. Moradi, Martin and Brewste analyzed the initiative of women founded on the presumption of personality as a probable feature in feminist non-identification.
The first study conducted by the above scholars introduced the theoretically positioned Feminist Threat Index and assesses its psychometric qualities with statistics from 91 students.
The second study examined a theoretically founded intervention set to decrease the scale of feminist threat and enhance the extent of feminist identification, by permitting students to interrelate with a diverse group of feminists (Moradi, Martin, & Brewster, 2012).
The intervention decreased the scale of threat and raised the extent of feminist identification considerably in the group, but there was no change in the comparison set.
Several groups of individuals have reacted to feminism and both men and women either support or oppose it, with support for feminist perceptions being more common as compared to self-identification as a feminist.
The involvement of male and generally everyone is encouraged by feminists. This is a plan aim at attaining the dedication of the entire society to gender equality.
The findings of the above scholars present researchers and other stakeholders with adequate information that would be used in evaluating and decreasing the threat to feminist identification.
Previous studies have shown that the majority of women in the US support feminist objectives, but they do not consider themselves feminists. Consideration concerning the opinions of people as regards to feminism could foretell rejection of the feminist identity.
Different from this hypothesis, every woman who participated in such studies, irrespective of feminist recognition, had a conviction that other people had a negative perception towards feminists. Feminists were believed to be homosexuals as compared to being heterosexual.
Ramsey, Haines, Hurt, Nelson, Turner, Liss, and Erchull, (2007) talked about connection between the perceptions of feminists and the conviction they possess as to the way other people see them.
The scholars discussed the disagreement between the search for gender equality and the yearning for sexual gratification, which is a great challenge to feminists.
In the second-wave, feminists were on opposite sides of a sequence of controversial discussions concerning issues, such as pornography, prostitution and heterosexuality, with some women supporting gender oppression and others backing sexual satisfaction and empowerment.
The third-wave seeks to join up the principles of gender equality and sexual liberty and respects the decisions of women on the aforementioned principles (2010).
Whereas this perspective is at times seen as insignificantly approving all that a woman decides to do as a feminist, Snyder-Hall affirms that the third-wave does not present an unreflective approval of selection, but a great reverence for pluralism and self-fortitude.
Being a feminist is perceived as a tag, which is related to activism, convictions and other groupings.
With the application of online surveys, where 220 American women took part, an article by Yoder, Tobias and Snell (2011) evaluates the distinctive and combined effect of feminist self-identification on the welfare of women, equality, and activism.
Self-identity was clearly discussed as a dual affirmation of being a feminist or not, which by itself was associated with high feminist activism, as well as the effect of feminist convictions.
Moreover, self-identity, contrary to feminist convictions, was not associated with personal welfare or interpersonal equalitarianism. There is thus the need for self-identity for improved feminist action.
In their analysis, Zucker and BayCheng (2010), focused on chauvinism, which is prevalent in the modern United States. It bears unconstructive impacts on women.
Feminist approaches could safeguard women against the impacts of sexism, though there is an ideological difference between women, which interferes with feminist mindset, but snubs the identity and the self-recognized feminists.
Women bear the mindset and not the identity, which seems to be self-interested and may only engage in less joint efforts in support of the rights of women.
The negative depiction of feminism and feminists has made many women to believe in equality, but do not consider themselves feminists.
Nevertheless, this study reveals that as individuals are exposed to self-identified feminists and discourse regarding different types of feminism, their extent of self-identification as feminists rises.
In this regard, comprehension of whether the refusal of the feminist label is founded on fear of stigma related to the identity, neoliberal convictions, or other elucidations is significant to the people organizing for equality.
The Choice of the Topic
Women and their acceptance of feminism is chosen as the topic of the paper since a number of scholars talk about it. The paper discusses women and their acceptance of the attributes that make them female.
The paper highlights that despite the fact that quite a number of women fight for gender equality, they only support feminist objectives. Surprisingly, these women fail to consider themselves as feminists.
They, however, portray male characteristics of superiority in different aspects of life. Women should not only back feminist activities, but also accept their positions as women.
References
Cole, R., & Sabik, J. (2010). Associations between femininity and womens political behavior during midlife. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34(4), 508-520.
Duncan, E. (2010). Womens relationship to feminism: effects of generation and feminist selflabeling. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 34(4), 498-507.
Holland, J., & Cortina, M. (2013). When sexism and feminism collide the sexual harassment of feminist working women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 37(2), 192-208.
Hooks, B. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics. Brooklyn, NY: South End Press.
McCabe, J. (2005). Whats in a label? The relationship between feminist self-identification and feminist attitudes among US women and men. Gender & Society, 19(4), 480-505.
Moradi, B., Martin, A., & Brewster, M. (2012). Disarming the threat to feminist identification: an application of personal construct theory to measurement and intervention. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 36(2), 197-209.
Ramsey, R., Haines, E., Hurt, M., Nelson, A., Turner, L., Liss, M., & Erchull, J. (2007). Thinking of others: Feminist identification and the perception of others beliefs. Sex Roles, 56(10), 611-616.
Snyder-Hall, C. (2010). Third-wave feminism and the defense of choice . Perspectives on Politics, 8(1), 255-261.
Yoder, D., Tobias, A., & Snell, F. (2011). When declaring I am a feminist matters: Labeling is linked to activism. Sex Roles, 64(2), 9-18.
Zucker, N., & BayCheng, Y. (2010). Minding the Gap Between Feminist Identity and Attitudes: The Behavioral and Ideological Divide Between Feminists and NonLabelers. Journal of personality, 78(6), 1895-1924
This article appears on the Public Broadcasting Website (PBS) website. The article talks about the history of the pill in the United States and makes references to the 2011 movie The Pill . According to the article, the pill has had a long history that is dominated by scientific and medical debates.
The article also outlines some subtopics in the debate on the pill including contraception, eugenics, social engineering, population trends, government involvement in legislating social behavior, conflicts between religious values, feminist activism of the 1960s, and twentieth century womens movements 1.
The article also touches on the roles women play in the society and the changing relationship between medical professionals and the public. PBS published this article as part of the organizations informative repertoire. Most of the information that is provided by the article relates to the 2011 film The Pill .
Recently, the debate on the pill has heightened around the country. The debate is particularly focused on the issue of sexuality among teenagers. There are those people who feel that the use of pills among teenage girls is unacceptable. The opponents of this notion feel that the pill provides girls with freedom from several burdens. In addition, this group feels that the era of sexual repression is over.
The history of the pill dates back several centuries ago. However, the modern debate on the pill began in the 1960s when the pill was enshrined in the countrys legislation. During this period, all prior disagreements concerning the pill were put to rest.
The increase in the rate of teenage pregnancies acts as proof of the need to institute the pill into the lives of the American teenagers. Several organizations and television shows have tried to address this issue by trying to depict the effects of unplanned pregnancies. This article offers an informed account of the history and uses of the pill to its readers.
The document in the PBS website provides a rich account of the pills revolution. The film account includes the testimony of some of the very first users of the pill. Most of the women who appear in The Pill concur that the pill was a revolutionary tool when it came to the womens freedom. Some of the women claim that the pill opened new horizons for them during the tumultuous period around the 1950s and 1960s.
The idea of women amounting to anything else other than mothers and homemakers was alien in the 1950s. The women who chose to pursue careers ended up foregoing having families. The pill was the game changer for many women who were provided with an effective means of birth control.
There were major controversies concerning the invention of the pill. The heroes behind its invention sacrificed a lot of their resources to make sure women were provided with a birth control method. This sacrifice passes as one of the most significant sacrifices in the American history.
The pills invention was initially viewed as a feministic campaign. However, this invention included some men and women who had no ties to feminism but were instead looking for an alternative to natural birth control. Years later, it has become clear that the pill has had a more medical than theoretical impact. The input provided in this website is important to the still on-going debates about the pill.
Today, the pill is still being associated to feminism five decades after it was instituted in the US constitution. The truth of the matter is that the debate on the pill will most likely be associated with feminism even in future. This association exists because most chauvinists are always uncomfortable with any tools that liberate women sexually.
The pill is definitely one of the most controversial inventions in the American history. Before the pill was invented, there were other existing methods of birth control that were not as controversial as the pill. However, most of these earlier methods were tedious and inaccurate. None of the existing methods of birth control was at the dispensation of the women.
The pill is a product of strive and defiance among some distinguished citizens. One woman notes that during the 1960s scientists invented hundred of pills but avoided the birth control pill2. The controversies behind the pill proved to be too intimidating even for the most seasoned scientists at the time. Moreover, the field of medical research was at the time dominated by men.
This meant that there was very little personal motivation among the researchers of that time. The controversies around the pill have dragged on from the 1960s to present. Every time a new version of the pill is invented, there is disquiet among the citizens.
The history of the pill has always been associated with feminism. This paper will track the history of the pill and its association with feminism. The paper will show how this association has evolved over the years.
The PBS website offers a historical account of the pill. The website also includes a transcript of the confessions of the women that appeared in the film The Pill . In one of these confessions, one woman talks about how the situation used to be in the 19th century.
A woman would give birth to consecutive children and end up suffering from ill health in the process. For instance, one woman says that her grandmother became pregnant eighteen times in the course of her forty-nine years lifespan3. In another confession, a woman says that before the pill was invented, women were desperate.
However, when the pill was finally invented these health and emotional concerns were overlooked in favor of feminist concerns. The popular view during the 1960s was that the pill gave women sexual freedom and therefore promoted promiscuity. These views mostly belonged to the men folk who were also the majority lawmakers at the time. These voices were also the target of feminists during the 1950s and the 1960s.
The group that is credited with the actual invention of the pill had a feminist at the forefront. The group consisted of Margret Sanger the woman who believed the pill could be realized, Gregory Pincus the scientist behind the invention, and Katherine McCormick the activist and financier of the pill research.
McCormick was the feminist in the group and also the one who donated forty thousand dollars of her money towards this research. Her role was also the most significant one because the pill would not have been realized without her money. According to the PBS article, Margret Sanger used to run a birth control clinic around the time the pill was invented. Her clinics aim was to help women achieve planned births.
This means that her clinic did not necessarily have feminist ties. Although McCormick was the only feminist in this group, her presence was taken to mean that the pill was a feminist drive. In the 1950s, feminists were treated with suspicion by the rest of the population. This treatment was transferred to the new birth control invention. Anti-feminist movements sought to discredit the pill on account of its feminist connection.
However, this argument was largely overlooked by the citizens because the pill became popular with American women within a very short time. From its inception, the pill was associated with feminism on account of Katherine McCormicks input.
Although the pill was constantly discredited by several entities including religious groups, legislation bodies, and some medical organizations, it continued to be popular among American women. This was a sign that the war against the pill was unfounded and probably chauvinistic. Five years after the pill was allowed into the American society, over six million American women were using it.
These statistics made it the most popular form of birth control at the time. The statistics also raise serious questions concerning the anti-pill campaign at the time. If the pill was flawed and immoral as most of the campaigners argued, it would not have found as much support as it did. For instance, there were women demonstrators during the 1970 senate hearing on the pills safety.
The women demanded that the senate considers their voices on the matter. This was ten years after the pill was adopted and issues of feminism were still dominating its debate. The senate never considered the womens voices and instead opted to abandon the proceedings. This move is quite incriminating for the senate because if there were no feminism undertones in the hearings the senate would have considered the womens voices.
In the course of history, the debate on the pill has been featured in several social struggles. The pill debate featured on the Civil Rights Movement where African American leaders claimed that the pill was being used to control the reproduction of minority women. Such claims caught the attention of the feminists who had always advocated for the womens right to plan their parenthood.
The pill was also featured in the proposal for Congress to make it a requirement for the women seeking to acquire government aid. When the pill was eventually replaced by the Norplant, there was a proposal that all women who were beneficiaries of government welfare be forced to use the Norplant instead of the pill.
In addition, women who embraced the new birth control method would receive reduced penalties in the event of their conviction. One of the reasons why these proposals never materialized was because they received stiff opposition from feminist organizations. These proposals were forwarded in the 1990s and they targeted women from low economic backgrounds4. Recently, the pill debate involved adolescent girls right to access the pill.
A US court made it legal for underage girls to obtain emergency pills without a prescription. This issue was still the subject of a feministic debate that addressed teenage girls sexual and reproductive liberties.
The pill continues to elicit major debate especially from feminists. The pill provided women with an important tool of liberation. Over the years, the debate concerning the pill has metamorphosed from the times it used to cover women in their prime to its current focus on teenagers. This debate is likely to continue as the science and technology behind the pill progresses. The feminist aspect of the pill debate is also likely to continue.
Bibliography
Henretta, James. America: A Concise History. Boston: New York Publishers, 2012.
Religion is a powerful tool whose practices, beliefs, and traditions influence the way in which people live and relate with each other.
Part of the reason why religion enjoys greater influence and power than any other practice worldwide derives from such integral components as the rituals, values and beliefs, sacred texts and scriptures, symbols, history, as well as the presence of authority figures, and the continuous participation in collective meetings, among many other components.
The greatest influence of Islam, for instance, among its female believers is the tradition of wearing veils or head scarves. These veils commonly referred to as hijabs have, however, caused many other problems to the Muslim women, particularly in other regions of the world, such as North America, where Islam is relatively a minority religion.
This paper undertakes a research to compare, as well as contrast the traditions and beliefs of three major religions in the world, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. This research focuses on the women believers of the three religions and elaborates on some of the challenges that Muslim women encounter by virtue of their belief and tradition.
Quran Sanctioned Dress Code for Women
The Quran is the official holy book used by Muslims for their respective religious teachings and guidance. The holy book cites numerous guidelines that can be summarised into four basic rules that determine how women are expected to dress.
The First Rule
The first rule identifies the best garment for women. It defines the best garment as one that does not reveal a womans body to the others, but one that is decent.
Muslim women, thus, are expected to cover their bodies completely to avoid any sections from being revealed to other people. This gives the idea of hijab as a perfect dress code that can cover the entire body of a woman (Bigger, 2006). The hijab is freely designed piece of cloth, sometimes adorning special designs, that protects the hair, head, bosom, as well as the neck of the wearer.
On the other hand, the Bible, which is the holy book of teachings among the Christians, also identifies modest dressing as appropriate for women believers (Piper & Grudem, 2012). In particular, the Bible calls on women to dress in a distinctive style that makes it easy to identify them from men. Nevertheless, the Christian traditions and practices on women dress code are not as compelling as those practiced by Muslims are.
The modern-day Christian woman worshipper is allowed to go to church with the dress code of her own choice and worship with others without any restraint. The Christian tradition appears to be an evolution as it has failed to retain the original dress code that was the fashion during the biblical times.
The Christian tradition mostly adopts modernity, with women being allowed the free choice of determining what is effective for them to wear.
Like Islam, the Jewish teachings and laws also stipulate on a special dress code for women believers. Women and girls are required by law to cover their main body, as well as cover up their legs and arms, particularly when they are in public or with individuals who are not their immediate family members (Gurtner, 2006).
The strict law on women dressing does not provide room for women to change their style because of prevailing customs or other changes, such as modernity. This contrasts with the Christian tradition. Despite having a modest dress code during the Biblical times, the trend in Christian tradition has since changed as worshippers cite modernization and changing life conditions.
The Second Rule
Muslim traditions and beliefs consider it mandatory for women to veil their bosom, which is also regarded as the second dress code rule in the religion (Ssenyonjo, 2007). The hijab becomes the most ideal clothing that women can be used by women in the effort to cover their bosoms and protect them from being revealed to the public.
According to the religious teachings of Islam, exposure of a womans body part may turn out to be the origin of sinning, particularly the sin of adultery (Ssenyonjo, 2007). Muslims refer to the fact that the Quran has mentioned about hijab more than five times to emphasise the fact it is Gods wish and demand that women have to use this piece of cloth to cover their bodies as a measure of protection against falling into sin.
In comparison to the Jewish traditions, women believers are required to cover their heads and bosom and protect these parts from being revealed to others. Jewish religious teachers insist on women to cover their heads as a way of perpetuating the traditional practices that were exercised in the past.
This has prompted Jewish women to continue with the practise, particularly while in the synagogues, at religious festivities, or even while attending weddings (Freziger, 2009).
However, unlike Islam, the Jewish culture of women covering their bosoms and head is not one that originated from their religious practise. It was a society practise that existed before the founding of Jewish religion and only adopted later as an acceptable practise among the women.
It, thus, instructs the reasoning that although wearing of hijab among Jewish women is a common practise that continues to date, the practise has no religious ties and has only been integrated as part of the dutiful practices.
Several other Christian denominations and beliefs have their women cover their hair with headgear to protect them from revealing their hair to other people. Among the catholic nuns, for instance, the practise involves covering the head throughout, whether in attendance of a religious function or not.
This tradition among the nuns, however, does not extend to the other women believers who are not nuns. Catholic women can go to church and attend other religious functions without necessarily having their heads covered with a piece of cloth or headgear.
The Third Rule
The Quran mentions a third rule on the manner of dressing that Muslim women are required to observe and adhere. According to the Quran, God has instructed all women to conceal their adornments or beauty spots.
This instruction has in turn influenced the use of hijab among the Muslim women since the piece of cloth is used to conceal a womans beauty, particularly the face, hair, and neck as per the instructions of God (Ssenyonjo, 2007). Like in all instances where women are required to cover their bodies, the main objective is to minimize the chances of men getting sexually attracted to the women, which may in turn lead to adultery.
The greatest adornment in a Jewish woman is her hair. Thus, Jewish women have to equally cover their hair in order to protect it from being revealed to other women (Freziger, 2009). A hijab is perfectly suggested and won among the Jewish women as a way of ensuring that their important adornment remains concealed.
However, as already noted earlier on, the hijab wearing among the Jews is a practise that has only been incorporated into religion. This dress code is traditional among the Jews, and therefore was easily included as part of a religious doctrine. The holy Bible mentions about women veiling their heads during prayers. It also mentions further about their hair and the need to keep it concealed.
According to the Bible, failing to cover the head during prayers is tantamount to dishonouring ones own head. It equates such an act to having ones head shaven. However, the Bible teachings appear to provide women with alternatives about covering their head, where those not willing to do as per the instructions can still have their heads shaven. This account is covered in the first epistle to the Corinthians in Chapter 11, verse 5 and 6.
Although a majority of the Christian denominations do not emphasise on their women members to veil their heads when in church, a section of them follow the teachings to the latter (Piper & Grudem, 2012).
The Christian traditions and belief appear to contrast greatly with the strict Islam doctrines and to an extent even the Jewish teachings on veiling for women. Although the Bible has instructed women to cover their heads when praying or prophesying, these requirements do not seem to be conservatively applied by Christian women.
Equally, the church and its leadership, to a greater extent, do not seem to emphasise on the need for women to follow the dress code rule strictly. It is possible that the Bible account itself introduced this laxity and freedom by giving women the alternative to either cover their heads or shave their hair (Piper & Grudem, 2012).
The Fourth Rule
Another critical verse contained in the Quran instructs Muslim women to lengthen their garments as a way of gaining recognition and evading molestation (Ssenyonjo, 2007). The idea of lengthening womens garments has particularly influenced the use of hijab among Muslims. Religious teachers see it as a way of adhering to Gods teachings and have over the ages emphasised on the need for Muslim women to veil themselves.
The lengthening of garments for female believers has seen women being required to cover all parts of their bodies, including their hands, legs, and feet. Among the Muslims, women find it agreeable to wrap themselves totally in huge clothing as they see it as a religious command that has been issued by God himself.
It is evident from the Quran accounts that there have been numerous attempts towards interpreting the lengthening of garments. However, Ssenyonjo (2007) indicates that the use of hijab as an additional clothing to conceal body parts is acceptable as a Godly practise.
The Islam tradition on wearing hijab, although cited in the holy Quran, also receives greater emphasis from religious leaders. Equally, the greater Muslim community strengthens the adherence of religious traditions through emphasising on particular practices (Ssenyonjo, 2007). Thus, it is not easy to see a Muslim woman attend prayers at the mosque without veiling her head.
The rest of the worshippers will openly rebuke such an act, even before the religious teachers notice. Such strict traditions, however, are not witnessed among Christians. While the religious teachers may be responsible for leading their congregations, their roles do not seem to go beyond offering teachings and rebuking their members for failing to adhere to certain teachings.
This explains why such a practise is not a common occurrence among Christian women, despite the Bible mentioning on the need for women to cover their heads when praying or prophesying in church (Piper & Grudem, 2012).
The Jewish traditions have a closer resemblance to the Muslims and their practise, particularly where emphasis by the religious leaders is concerned. The religious teachers among the Jewish emphasise on the need for women to always use hijabs to cover their head and bosom and to help avoid sinning via adultery.
This emphasis has helped in creating a strong and deeply rooted tradition as women feel as though the practise is part of their responsibility. They do not need to be reminded about wearing hijabs because the tradition has been engrained in them (Freziger, 2009).
Problems and Issues of Hijab
The hijab is the strongest symbol of Islam, particularly in regions such as North America and Europe where other religions, apart from Islam, are practised more (Ameli & Kharazmi, 2013). At a time when global terrorism has become an issue of great concern, the hijab has met great resistance in this region of the world with the Muslim world being considered to be the greatest source of terrorists (Ameli & Kharazmi, 2013).
Terrorists, for instance, have targeted the United States of America in the recent years in what the dissidents say is an effort to punish the country for its anti-Islam crusade.
The Al-Qaeda terror network successfully wrecked havoc in the US in September 11, 2001 when terrorists allied to the group hijacked passenger aircraft and crash-landed them on significant landmarks in the country, including the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon, the USs military headquarters.
As such, most Americans view Islam as an evil practice whose main teachings and traditions are trained on killing and tormenting others, more so Americans (Bell, 2003). Such negative thoughts have had far-reaching consequences on Islam and its traditions, symbols, as well as practices in the country (Haddad & Smith, 2002). Women on hijab in the country continue to face open discrimination and mistreatment.
The hatred that is pegged on stereotype has seen the non-Muslim communities in America utter obscenities and other uncomfortable words at veiled women, and sometimes physically insulting the women.
Instances of religious discrimination against Muslim women have been rife in institutions of learning, with the female staff and students being denied their right to practice their religion. The Muslim communities in these institutions have been agitating for the right to wear hijabs rather than the official dress codes observed in the institutions (Gurbuz & Gulsum, 2009).
However, the common reaction from the administrators of such institutions has been unwavering, with the Muslim students and members of staff required to observe the laid-out dress code rules strictly.
In some instances, as Gurbuz and Gulsum (2009) note in their article, the affected Muslim communities have sought for legal redress in their attempt to compel the administrators of such institutions to give them the leeway to wearing the hijab as their religion demands.
Feminist groups in North America have equally been fighting the hijab, which they see as a form of discrimination against Islams women believers. The hijab is particularly viewed as a conservative garb whose main aim is to deny women the freedom to choose their dress code without such a choice being compelled by such forces as religion (Russo, 2006).
The feminist groups are not in disagreement with the choice of religion that Muslim women have opted to confess their beliefs too. However, the main cause of disagreement is on the strict religious rules and laws, which they say seek to undermine the rights of women.
The feminist groups demand that women have beautiful bodies that they need to show off to others as an appreciation of whom they are rather than covering the bodies in the hijabs throughout their lifetime.
The fact that Islam does not allow for women leadership offers yet another dimension upon which feminists are taking issue with the hijab. The religious laws that condemn women into wearing hijab are particularly fronted and stressed upon by men, something the womens right bodies are taking exceptions over (Russo, 2006).
Racial and religious discrimination has also been cited by hijab wearing women in North America when it comes to seeking public services (American Civil Liberties Union, n.d.). Visitors entering North American countries when wearing hijabs, particularly the USA, are looked at with a lot of suspicions and treated as second-class citizens.
In the US embassies and consular based in foreign countries, women on hijab have reportedly found it difficult to secure visas to the country. Often, the reason for instituting such complex barriers for Muslim women seeking to enter the USA has been supported by the authorities, who consider it as a security measure aimed at curbing the spread of terrorism in the country.
Women and girls who wear hijab are sometimes denied entry in public places such as shopping malls, public buildings, and even swimming pools. According to the American Civil Liberties Union (n.d.), such women are usually sexually harassed by being subjected to search by male guards.
In some other instances, Muslim women wearing hijabs are given the single option of removing their headgear before being allowed access into the facilities.
With the increasing mistreatment and discrimination that women wearing hijabs continue to suffer in Northern America, there has been a growing tendency among Muslim women to stop wearing their veils when in public (Reeves & Azam, 2012).
The suffering that the women endure has prompted quite a majority of them abandon their veils, albeit against their wishes and beliefs, in order to reduce their susceptibility in the hands of a hostile society. However, these decisions go against the Islam teachings and to an extent force the women to sin, which is against their beliefs.
In other words, the hijab, which is a religious outfit, is being forced into oblivion as the Muslims in Northern America attempt to dispose of any physically visible religious symbols in order to stay safe from heinous acts being directed at them (Reeves & Azam, 2012).
Conclusion
Different religious beliefs and practices have varying doctrines, especially on how women are supposed to dress. While these doctrines may appear different in certain aspects, there are several similarities that apply across board. Islam requires that women cover their bosoms and heads with hijab as a way of preventing men from getting attracted to women and ending up sinning through adultery.
The hijab has been mentioned severally in the holy Quran, which highlights Gods strong preference for the garment. A womans body is only supposed to be revealed to her husband and not any other strangers because that is an avenue through which sinning can be condoned. The Jewish religion, on the other hand, equally prefers the use of hijab particularly among the women in order to conceal their heads from strangers.
Unlike in Islam, the Jewish religion does not have any special mention on the hijab, despite the religious leaders and teachers emphasising on its use. The hijab was part of the dressing code which women used to veil women and conceal their bodies from being exposed to strangers in the traditional Jewish culture, prior to the advent of religion.
The practise among Christians is, nonetheless, not pronounced as a majority of the women do not veil themselves when in churches or attending to religious events. However, Catholic nuns strictly cover their hair and heads every time. Hijabs have been the greatest source of attacks and discrimination directed towards Muslim women, particularly in Northern America.
The spread of global terrorism and its perceived association with Islam has seen non-Muslim communities target women on hijab in America. Muslim women also complain of discrimination, especially being perpetrated by institutions of learning. Muslim women accuse these institutions of refusing to grant them the permission to wear hijabs.
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