Feminist Definition Essay

By definition, feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Feminists believe in granting people the freedom to pursue their own ambitions, irrespective of whether they are male or female, and to be rewarded for their effort in a way that is equal to their other co–workers (Wright). One would think that this would be a cause that anyone, man or woman, would be proud to stand behind. Unfortunately, that is not the description society correlates withfeminism. In today's world, "feminist" is a label that many are hesitant to claim, myself included. Before I had researched in depth the history of feminism and its goals I was one of those people who bought into the stereotypes. I...show more content...

This isn't unanticipated, though, because the women's movement is presently fragmented. In the majority of places it is divided into small groups which are hard to locate, hard to join, and hard to comprehend politically. This results in people believing the stereotypes they hear about feminists. They have been falsely associated with being "man–haters" who instead of fighting for equality of the sexes are fighting for women supremacy. Society has been told that feminists hate men for over two–hundred years. This is why men don't want to encourage the cause, because most men aren't bad but they have been conditioned to believe that feminism says they are. There are multiple reasons why the public thinks that feminists hate men, one of them being that that there are individuals who do hate men and claim to be "feminists." However, there is a difference between feminists and misandrists. Another basis for the "feminists hate men" philosophy is that some feminists are not willing to address men's issues (Killerman). The disinclination that many women feel in claiming that they are feminists is not unjustified; they feel estranged from the title because they feel it puts them in some sort of a ghetto, that it characterizes them as an activist or a socialist or a lesbian or somebody who is sullen or dull or celibate (Gorton). Most young women connect the movement with the stereotype of a 60s–era, bra–burning, hairy–legged activist. A woman should be able to say that she is a feminist without feeling associated with any of these other perceptions. Others renounce the label because they think of most feminist activists as middle–aged

Women have always experienced inequality however there has always been a fight for equality. Feminism is the belief, attitude and action that work toward women's rights and the equality between men and women. Dorothy Smith (born July 6, 1926), a Canadian sociologist with research interests, besides in sociology, in many disciplines including women's studies, psychology, and educational studies, coined this term when she studied the patterns of social inequality based on gender (http://schoolworkhelper.net/). Feminist activists have campaigned for women's legal rights (rights of contract, property rights, voting rights); for women's right to bodily integrity and autonomy, for abortion rights, and for reproductive rights (including access to contraception and quality prenatal care); for protection of women and girls from domestic violence, sexual harassment and rape;for workplace rights, including maternity leave and equal pay; against misogyny; and against other forms of gender–specific discrimination against women. During the 1900s, the three waves of feminism occurred, however, the second wave of feminism focused on gaining workplace equality for women. Women are 49.6% of the world's population, they deserve to be equal and have the same rights in the workplace and in life.

The second wave of feminism occurred from the 1960s to the 1990s, it originally focused on dismantling workplace inequality, such as denial of access to better jobs and salary inequity, via

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Pygmalion

(...through a Feminist Lens)

"Pygmalion was written to challenge the class system, traditional stereotypes and the audience's own views."

To begin with, George Bernard Shaw was an early and outspoken advocate for the rights of women, and as a playwright he created some of the most distinctive women characters of his day. He was deeply influenced in this aspect of his writing by Henrik Ibsen. This play deals with a lot many themes. To cite a few: Rewriting the tale of Cinderella and Sleeping beauty, Class, language and phonetics and Independence.

From the very beginning of the play, we can see the unequal relationship between Mr. Higgins (the man) and Eliza (thewoman). This difference can be seen by the parallelism between these two...show more content...

She retorts back by replying, "You want me back only to pick up your slippers and put up with your tempers and fetch and carry for you." Eliza is mere domestic helper for Higgins, a helping hand to Mrs. Pearce even if Eliza can be much more than that. This is the crude reality of the patriarchal setup. Women, how much ever is qualified, is better than the oppositegender when it comes to education, the opposite sex will always take her as a house maid or a person working under him.

Eliza, in the climax scene vulnerably asks Higgins, why he made her a sophisticated Duchess if her never cared for her, and why did not he thought of the trouble it would make for her, on which Higgins shocking reply says:

"Would the world ever have been made if its makes had been afraid of making trouble?" (Act V, 127) Making life means making troubles. He still finds faults with Eliza,' you are an idiot I waste the treasures of my Miltonic mind by spreading them before you." Higgins thus suffers from intellectual snobbery. He belongs to the world of Shakespeare and Milton.

All throughout the play, Higgins behave rude with Eliza. Eliza, in the last act as a representative of all women trapped in patriarchal setup says the below quote to Higgins, who is the representative of all the patriarchal men in the

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