In the article entitled “ 4 Myths About Undocumented Immigrants That Are Hurting Feminism” written by Alan Pelaez Lopez, Lopez goes through four myths which surround undocumented immigrants, explains how these myths hurt feminism and how they affect his own life and understanding. Some of the myths which Lopez discusses are the idea that people believe undocumented youth did not migrate of their own free will, during this section he also discusses how the term DREAMer can be a form of oppression. Lopez also explains that not all undocumented people cross the border between the United States and Mexico. He then expands on this topic by reminding readers that not all undocumented immigrants are Latinx, Lopez even explains that he is an immigrant, he is both black and Latinx, and finds it difficult that society sees immigration as only a Latinx issues.…
In Alison Jaggar’s essay “Saving Amina,” she attempts to detail the inadequacies with which Western feminists often approach foreign women’s rights issues. A large portion of her essay is a crusade against essentialism, which she defines as a characteristically Western view of women’s rights which is “crucially incomplete” due to a lack of cultural relativism (Rosenthal 207). The problem is that Jaggar denies this cross cultural accountability to feminist philosophers and then later makes claims of women’s rights violations as if those rights were universal. This subtle hypocrisy underlies many of her arguments. Even more confusingly, Jaggar introduces several additional theses as the paper drags on and ends up dedicating most of her time and…
The category of “women” used in a feminist context is rejected by Butler because it creates ground for over generalization, and thus, would misrepresent individuals of that category that leads to the public’s misinterpretation of them in turn. The language and wording used in which to supposedly unify a group of people with similar characteristics turn out to generate resistance and factionalization. The term “women” could hold certain meanings and be understood as something different at face value. As demonstrated in the early 1980s, the usage of “we” to group all women together created a backlash because women of colour did not identify with the term and did not find it suitable to be used to represent them. Since they believed that the term could only relate to white females, they were in…
Frith’s Feminist Façade Considered an epic feminist text, Melika Burke pierces through the illusion of female freedom underpinning Year of Wonders to reveal its underlying paradox. Geraldine Brooks’s Year of Wonders (2001) is one of the most grievously misinterpreted and misunderstood texts of the twenty first century. Brooks’s (2009), who proudly identities as a “modern western feminists”, intertwines her experience as a Middle Eastern war correspondent where she observed the emancipatory potential of women with the historical scaffold of the 1665 Bubonic Plague to create a feminist utopian heroine: Anna. This rich exploration of the female identity has elevated the novel to an erroneously distinguished position by depicting the text as quintessentially feminist. Cultural Critic Lee (2012) encapsulates this prevailing interpretation by praising the “[s]trong feminist consciousness operating through Year of Wonders”.…
Jessica Valenti is a prominent feminist, she’s written four books on the matter and currently writes for The Guardian about Women’s Issues. I looked into her pieces and found a big problem with what she was talking about. One article was her complaining about catcalling, where she tells women to walk the streets without fear, which is certainly a good thing. But another article a year later, by the same journalist, says that she misses it and wishes society would give more attention to women.…
In the third chapter of her 1990 work, Black Feminist Thought, sociologist Patricia Hills Collins presents a critical response to highlight the inadequacy of both the class conflict and status attainment models in depicting the Black female experience. Specifically, she argues that these models, which have prevailed in sociological theories of stratification, are inapplicable in capturing the role of Black women in either the paid labor force or the unpaid family labor arena. Therefore, Collins (1990) attempts to advance an “Afrocentric feminist analysis of social class and oppression” by identifying four historical periods—slavery, the Great Migration, urbanization, and post-World War II—which she believes are integral to the discussion of…
Bad Feminist Roxane Gay writes a book, “Bad Feminist”, where she breaks the stereotype of feminists to inform the public what it signifies to be a feminist. She explains to the readers that she is a “bad feminist because I never want to be placed on a Feminist Pedestal” (Gay xi). This “Feminist Pedestal” she mentions throughout the book is a figurative symbol that depicts the women who ought to be flawless since they are the face of feminism, yet whenever they do something wrong, “we knock them right off and then say there’s something wrong with feminism” (Gay x).…
In this article “Woman’s Rights Convention” talks about pursue of his own happiness, the right to vote being an African-American male in this society. As well, all the laws that prevent woman from occupying such a position in society as her sense of right and wrong say, which place her in a inferior position to that of a man, are opposing to the teaching of nature and therefore of no authority. Also, it talks about woman and man being equal and woman should be recognized as such. It goes on and says that man as well should have the same amount of virtue, delicacy and enhancement of behavior that is required of a woman in the social state. In addition, the law gives manpower to deprive a woman to her liberty once they married; she is forced…
I read an article few days ago. It's an interested topic but I have some question about it. In the article “‘Gender I’ve been pondering whether you can be a part-feminist’: Young Australian Women’s Studies students disscuss gender,” Kate Hughes interviews a group of 20 undergraduate students taking Women’s Studies in university.…
Feminism is a controversial issue, which the author discusses indepthly, this appeals to the audience because the entire book is very appealing to people with any type of feminism views, the main idea of this selection is fundamental human rights, and the author really understands what a reader wants to try to fully understand, and what is not as important. She adds little encounters she has had in her lifetime to develop the essays even further.…
It begins with me: a female. Occasionally a feminist, but always a female. If you’ve gotten past the word feminist and to this point, I congratulate you, and I enjoin you to continue on. I’ve never been one of those people that wants to leave their metaphorical dint on this world. I’m not the type that enflames the very ground I walk on with my intensity.…
Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s story, “The Yellow Wallpaper” is often herald as an insightful early look into mental illness as it plagued middle and upper class women of the 19th century. In undertaking such a topic, one that Gilman herself suffered from, she discusses the medical treatments available and it’s unique consideration of women. As much as “The Yellow Wallpaper” is a case study of a woman’s decent into madness, it is also a feminist critique of the century’s role of women, the dominance of men, and the time’s medical bias and cruelty towards women. The text’s undertaking of the narrator’s illness—“nervous depression,” and its physician prescribed treatment—the rest cure, is a metaphoric representation of social oppression and marriage…
In My Antonia by Willa Cather, women like Antonia and Lena share similar personality traits. Both of them were not the typical late 1800s women like the Hired Girls, they were more hard working and independent, which led them to having more successful lives. Using the feminist lense in this story shows how women don’t have to confine themselves to have a good life. First off, in the beginning of the novel Antonia showed initiative right when Jim met her. She wanted to learn English and work on the farm even though that was not what was wanted of her, but she did it anyway.…
The Reign of the Feminist “True equality means holding everyone accountable in the same way, regardless of race, gender, faith, ethnicity - or political ideology.” (Monica Crowley). This is especially true for women are beginning to be a true power in this world, with women becoming CEO’S of companies, and running for major offices. People need to realize that times are changing in the twenty-first century for women and today feminism is required to be successful in job fields like politics where women are taking a stand and becoming more assertive, in the home where single mothers who work are still producing children who help society, and in the workplace, where women still need to make a stand to make the same pay and have gender equality.…
The moral philosophy of feminism is a big part of today's world socially. Women feel that they are not treated the same as men on a social level considering that men do not receive the same consequences that women do when they do not accept their traditional gender role. In “Feminist Criticism” an article by Lois Tyson from 2006, Tyson talks about what traditional gender roles are in today's society. She compares the ways in which men and women are seen in society and how women can be seen as “bad girls” meaning they don't accept their gender role. The traditional roles are seen as girls are emotional and weak while men are strong and rational.…