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Dila Ekim

Ms. Marshall

English 122

January 9th, 2019

The Emergence of Feminist Movement

Feminism is a movement devoted to the transformation of unequal power relationships. In

today's society, while it is being attached different meanings, the basis of its presence is to make

people accept the importance of women in life. Feminism‟s aim is to eliminate gender inequality

and to observe and solve general female problems; it investigates and analyzes the elements

related to gender. It is a worldview that seeks justice for gender, in contrast of the prevalent belief

of its purpose which generally is known as being single and men-hating. The idea of feminism

emerged as improving women's place in society. It is a theory that arises when women work

together to improve issues related to a woman‟s role in; religion, colour, race, society and class.

The ongoing educational and societal changes that need to be made for the future gender equality

must all be considered when initiating the impact of the feminist movement.

The gender discrimination, which is felt more intensely in the 18th and 19th century, is a

condition that can be seen in all societies, regardless of the level of development. Feminism fights

against the patriarchal order; therefore it is against everything that is involved in this order.

Feminist movements emerge when women's education and work lives are ignored and seen as

„ineffective‟ in society. It was realized in the nineteenth century that women were being treated

unfairly or were thought of as unjust. An additional argument on evaluation of feminism

demonstrates: “As it is understood from the definitions, it is possible to consider feminism as an

approach that opposes the dominant patriarchal order in the society, criticizes this order, and

eliminates the problems faced by women's rights as well as the difficulties for women in the

private or public space” (Taş 166). As this belief increases, feminism has become organized.
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Subsequently, following the outbreak of the First World War in the early 20th century, women

were given the right to vote.

Feminism, especially female movements throughout the twentieth century; has led

gender, legal, social and cultural rights to improve with the equality in USA, Canada, Australia,

parts of Asia, Latin America and Africa. Despite all these developments, the quality of life of

women has been recorded in the USA and the European Union since the 1970s. In other parts of

the world, the place of women has not shown a significant improvement in the last century. Gün

Taş, in her study on general evaluation on feminism points out, “Although women had been

guaranteed their equality with men by law; they differed from men in terms of vital practices”

(169-170). Up to 70 percent of women worldwide encounter violence and one in three will be

beaten, coerced into sex, or otherwise abused in her life. Too often civil and religious authorities

look the other way or blame the victims. Considering women who cannot express violence and

who cannot be included in the statistics, it is seen that one of the two human species in the world

is constantly crushed by the other; they are exposed to violence and killed. Based on the premise

that feminist discourse and rhetoric have become widely accepted and disseminated; it is being

advocated that women have the same basic human rights and responsibilities, to themselves and

to the human family that men do.

Adopting the roles attributed to men as social norms on the basis of gender inequality; and

behaviours such as violence, restraint, and use of force are accepted by the society as male-

specific, normal behaviours. A recent new study published in the journal 'American Journal of

Men's Health' examines the commitment to gender roles attributed to men (supremacy, violence,

anti-feminine behaviour, emotional control, and self-confidence); and addresses that it was

associated with negative affect, depression, aggression, hatred, and psychological problems.

Since the roles attributed to men as socially are taught by dictating a sense of fear and

suppression, it is also inevitable for male individuals to exhibit risky behaviours such as violence,
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aggression and anger. These individuals may tend to harm others physically and spiritually

during their adulthood, as well as harming others. For this reason, these issues are not only

related with women; they are also closely related with men.

Gender-related mental health professionals suggest that the most efficient action that can

be done in order to solve gender inequality is that children should be educated with a gender-free

language and attitude from early ages as it has been suggested; “We define masculinity in a very

narrow way, masculinity becomes this hard, small cage and we put boys inside the cage”

(Adichie). The reduced value of girls against boys is the greatest proof that gender discrimination

starts in the family. Using a non-sexist language and encouraging children to do so may lead to

significant progress in raising awareness of gender equality in the society. This all begins with

the abandonment of the sexist expressions in daily conversations and the family, however;

experts say that awareness-raising studies on gender inequalities in daily language should not

only remain in the family, but should be taken to all educational fields. A recent study by Harvard

researchers showed that people's rigid prejudices support misinformation about women and that

these prejudices can lead to unfair practices in society. For instance; it is a worldwide problem

that men usually have higher wages than wages for women. Nowadays, there are almost equal

numbers of women and men who are educated in areas such as medicine and law that demand a

lot of labour; but women are still making less money than men. According to a study conducted

in the United States, the wage of women is about 77 percent of the wage of men. This is due to

the fact that men appear to be the dominant gender with power in society for many years.

Alexandra Rutherford and Leeat Granek note that "women rarely rose to positions of leadership

or prestige in proportion to their numbers overall, either within professional societies or in

academe" (20). As an illustration of one opinion on this subject, the study of Celia Kitzinger on

the psychology of feminism: “the concept of (male) „power‟ is often used in feminist psychology

as a quality which does not have to be explained, but can be invoked as a dustbin term to
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summarize a state of affairs” (113). Perspectives such as "women are naive creatures to be

protected", which does not seem to be negative, are also defined as direct sexism; and these

perspectives have appeared in almost all educational, social and cultural activities since the

history.

Over the years, gender inequality has been a major part of many cultural events and works

of art, notably literature. The 17th century tragic play Macbeth by the English playwright

Shakespeare is a significant example the writer's use of gender roles throughout the play.

Macbeth is a play in which nothing is as it seems with gender at the forefront. Throughout the

play, Shakespeare assigns masculine idiosyncrasies to the female characters that appear to be

powerful, each male character shown as stronger than any other female by the masculinity they

reveal. An example from the play, the most known quote by Lady Macbeth expresses discomfort

for being naïve as the gender roles bring by saying; “Come, you spirits/That tend on mortal

thoughts, unsex me here,/ And fill me from the crown to the toe topful/Of direst cruelty! (1.7.47-

49). Use of this strategy by Shakespeare demonstrates the understanding of gender roles in this

area which males hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral

authority and social privilege.

Furthermore, the second wave feminism and literature by the seventies, as a field of

struggle, presents a versatile feminist literary criticism. In this period, feminism reached its real

discourse and its radicalism. A specific philosophy, criticism theory and feminist knowledge

began to emerge in this period ”with the rise of the women‟s liberation movement that the

psychology of women as a distinct field of inquiry began to be fully articulated and the explicit

use of the term „feminist psychology‟ gained common currency” (Rutherford and Granek 20).

[Second-wave feminism is a period of feminist activity with an aim to increase equality for

women by gaining more than just enfranchisement.] In reference to second-wave feminism;

“Sexist theories that were developed and promulgated by psychologists and psychiatrists were
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among the first targets of feminist activists in the second wave of the women's movement”

(Chrisler and Smith 272).The first action of the feminist criticism is to be a reader that opposes

instead of being an approved reader, and to initiate the discovery process by removing the male

mentality embedded in society. This approach argues that both the social position and the life of

the women and their psychology are reflected in the text. In history, women have been subjected

to similar kinds of pressure, in which case it is natural for women writers to perceive the world

and life differently from men; but this difference does not originate from a biological difference.

As a result of almost every research, surprising and unchanging gaps occur among women

and men in a variety of fields. Expectations, values, outward appearance, behaviours, belief

systems and social roles are structured in different ways for men and women all over the world.

The definitions and roles of women and men are taught and embraced by the institutions of

society in the process of socialization. Describing a gender as "bad, incomplete, imperfect and

inadequate" enters the boundaries of gender discrimination. The concepts or features in the

context of gender that are affixed to people are not present when they are born; they are the

properties that are affixed to women and men throughout their lives. It is clear that the provision

of social development cannot be realized without resolving the issue of identifying the human

species from the fundamentally superior or inferior sexual identity.

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Work Cited

Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi. “We Should All Be Feminists”. TEDxEuston, 2012.

Chrisler, J. C. and Christine A. Smith . “Feminism and psychology”. In M. A. Paludi (Ed.),

Praeger guide to the psychology of gender, 2004, Praeger Publishers/Greenwood

Publishing Group, pp. 272-291.

Kitzinger, Celia. “Feminism, Psychology and the Paradox of Power”. vol. 1, 1991, pp. 111-129.

Sage, doi: 10.1177/0959353591011016.

Rutherford, Alexander and Leeat Granek. “Emergence and Development of the Psychology of

Women”. In J. C. Chrisler & D. R. McCreary (Eds.), Handbook of gender research in

psychology, vol. 1, 2010, Gender research in general and experimental psychology, pp.

19-41.

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth

Edited by Dam Saliani, Chris

Ferguson, Dr. Tim Scott, Nelson

Education, 1996.

Taş, Gün. “A General Evaluation of Feminism: Its Conceptual Analysis, Historical Process and

Changes”. The Academic Elegance, 2016, pp. 163-175.