10 Feminism: Evolution of a Revolution

FEMINISM

The Evolution of a Revolution

Traveling as far back as ancient Greece and Rome, feminism has been a topic of conversation. The early feminists who fought for the right to vote by going through what is commonly known as Women’s Suffrage, fought against the stigma of “what being a woman is supposed to be.” After many years of fighting for recognition from the government, and then getting it, a new wave of feminism began.

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan (published in 1963), expressed the severe inequality within American society. The term feminiene mystique came from the stereotype that women naturally “fulfill their duty” of housework, marriage, sex and raising children. The common thought was that women didn’t want to go to school, they weren’t interested in a career nor did they care about politics.

This book ignited the Women’s Liberation movement that fought for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) which was written by Alice Paul in 1923. This amendment would ban descrimination based on sex.

Betty Friedan, Bella Abzug and Gloria Steinem joined forces in 1971 to create the National Women’s Political Caucus. In 1976, Steinem then produced and published the first magazine to talk about feminism, “Ms. Magazine.”

With this came backlash from the rightwing population who helped organize the STOP ERA meetings as a campaign against equal rights for women.

Led by Phyllis Schlagly, the STOP ERA movement was created after Congress passed the proposal of the ERA to be determined by state ratifications; STOP meaning “Stop Taking Our Privileges.”

These women believed the women of America were already living a free life, a housewife life. The people involved in this movement were right-wing republican families who thought Women’s Liberation was detrimental to the “family environment” Americans worked to maintain for so many years.

Along with these claims, they believed the certification of the ERA would lead to “reversal” in gender roles, drafted women and same-sex marriages.

The ERA has been ratified by 37 states. The states who haven’t include Arizona, Utah, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina; in fact, constituents can call these states’ representatives to convince them otherwise.

Today, feminism lives on as a very controversial topic. Many people believe there’s more to it than just equality.

First off, many women are still getting paid less than men and they’re still getting praised in a way that women are yet to be. Along with this, women continue facing unacceptable levels of violence and harassment that both the government and media fail to shine a light on. According to an article by Forbes,

“Female reports show that in 2021 there was an 18% difference in the wage gap between women and men, resulting empowerment in a 2% difference accumulating over the years that leads to a significant prejudiced gap. is global.” This dissimilarity is embedded within this economy and to stress this fact, a prediction by The Telescope states that stability won’t arrive until 2152. The injustices aren’t only in the economy, though. In Mexico, domestic violence against women is on the rise. According to an article by GlobalVoices, femicides, or killings of women, have increased a dramatic 137% between 2015 and 2020. The Mexican government has failed to shine a light on the families of the victims who live in fear because their own country doesn’t care. Even though this problem is immensely affecting all communities, only 27% of homicides are investigated with only 4% actually going to trial. A survey conducted by GlobalVoices concluded people are alarmed by the rising number of murder victims and dissaprove

FEMINISM

The Evolution of a Revolution

of the current president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador or AMLO.

The Guardian reports at least ten women and girls are murdered everyday in Mexico. The Guardian refers back to a “scathing report” made by Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization, documenting the “disturbing lack of interest on the part of Mexican authorities to prevent or solve the murders.”

The unconsciousness of these murders trigger rage in women all around the country, making them take it to the streets.

Women’s marches, which are often organized, fight for attention. AMLO has turned away their claims so, at this point, all they want is to be heard.

Unfortunately, the cry for help sometimes results in violence and damage to public property. This usually leads to the mocking and generalization of the movement. This internalized and embedded ignorance continues to affect Mexico and the whole world, meaning we’ll probably not see the end of it anytime soon.

Topics like the previously mentioned express only a small amount of the normalized inequity women go through, sometimes without realizing it.

“I grew up thinking the women are in the house, they cook, clean and have kids,” Maria Salas, 29, said. “My dad very much expected that from me as well. I remember we were 11/12 years old and he told us to learn from our mom how to do those chores. Then one day saying ‘no’ changed everything.”

Salas explained her daily life was a mix of a conservative Mexican mentality and the fact that she is a woman.

“In my youth it was the norm to go to school then come home,” Salas explained. “‘You want to go out with your friends? You can’t. You have to stay home and do your chores.’ On the weekends it was family time, I never had time to explore anything outside of my household.”

It wasn’t until her adulthood that she realized there is more to being a woman than settling as a housewife and that now Generation Z is breaking the stigma.

“There is going to be a shift from when I was growing up to now,” Salas stated. “You guys [Gen Z] aren’t tied down by the traditional lifestyles of the first generation [Mexican-American]. You all will set the foundation for what being a woman is like and future generations will build on it. The understanding of saying ‘Wait a minute, that is not what I want for myself!’ is much more normalized with people your age [16].”

Although the common treatment of women has changed in the eyes of the people who came before us, the youth of today believes there is still a fair amount of inequity to work on.

“I love clothes, cars and shoes. Sometimes when conversing about such I get told ‘You don’t even know what an engine does.’” Iris Rodriguez, 16, said. “The same occurs when I sell vintage (items), since it is male dominated, I get questioned over everything I do. Sometimes it’s not even worth the conversation.”

Jordyn Rebeles, 17, said that even though she didn’t realize it at the time, her Hispanic-Mexican culture thinks the woman is supposed to do everything.

“I wasn’t taught that’s the way things are supposed to be, but maybe it happened subconsciously because of how normal it was,” Rebeles said.

To illustrate, within the last five years, women have been in local headlines as victims of domestic violence and homicides.

“The machismo that comes with the culture of Laredo will not change,” Rodriguez stated. “It’s really up to our generation to teach the further generations that there is no such thing as an assigned role to any gender, we must collectively work together, though.”

Rebeles said feminism is when you see men and women as equal and that society thinks feminism means women are above men.

Today, female empowerment is global.

“We have made strides in many places of the world,” Chelsea Morgensen, 27, said. “Unfortunately, many steps back at the same time. In Afghanistan women had freedom until recently. Here in Texas, the rights to our bodies and choices have been stripped away.”

Nobody knows if this problem will be collectively solved within years or decades. One can only hope for the best to come.

By Alondra Reyes