Introduction
The rights of women and men and their position in society are often discussed by the general public. Today, individuals are willing to have equal opportunities regardless of their diversity and their wish is supported by the government but it was not so all the time. Those who did not belong to the privileged population were discriminated against because of their race, religion, age, gender, and other peculiarities. Being unsatisfied, they started expressing their displeasure and changed the world with time. Feminist movements contributed to this greatly.
Feminism occurred as women’s attempt to make society alter its views about females, their lives, rights, and place in the world. Historians and other scientists tend to have different opinions on the effectiveness of feminist movements, but they all agree that today’s life would not be the same without them. Feminism should be supported by society and government because even though it has some negative side-effects, it reduces gender discrimination and cases of assault improve the working environment and the economy.
Feminism and Fight with Gender Discrimination
The main advantage of the feminist movements is that they helped women to fight with gender discrimination. They made reality better for females as they got the opportunity to control their own lives. This process was long-lasting, but women received a right to have their property, which allows them to become more independent and be more sanguine about the future. They can now terminate a pregnancy in a case of rape, for example, and do not have to live under the pressure of adverse memories. Women became able to initiate divorce, which gives them a chance to escape from violence or/and to start a new happy life.
In this way, they can also save their children from physical assaults and psychological traumas. The needs of women and girls are now even considered by the government. As a result, new policies, programs, and legislation support them, trying to improve their lives in different spheres (Maxwell, 2014). New educational opportunities were opened for girls and women, which gave them a chance not only to alter their own lives but also to influence the world they live in with time. From early childhood, girls can go to kindergarten to start learning just like males. Then they can graduate from the school and enter any higher educational facility they wish (Hoare, 2009).
As a result, females can learn how to be a great professional in any sphere they are interested in, which also affects their careers. In this way, women receive a great opportunity to show the world something new that would not be created without them. They can also turn into great politicians whose power over the general public is enormous, and who can hold the world in their hands (Hubler, 2010). Economic, social, and political alterations do not only implemented positive changes in women’s lives but also made them more equal to men. In this way, they became treated in almost the same way by employers, government, financial, and healthcare sectors. Women entered the political life of the country, which allowed them to become as influential as males (Lanning, 2012).
Feminism and Assault
Feminists attracted the attention of society to sexual assaults experienced by women, which resulted in the reduction of rates of females who faced attempted or completed rape. Feminists made women willing to speak up and allowed them not to be scared (Toit, 2012). They struggle even now to protect women and make their lives in the local communities and on campus safer. Activists consider this issue to be extremely critical today that is why they gather in groups even in educational facilities to make sure that females can receive required support (Willis, 2015).
Domestic violence used to be the private problem of a family that should not be reported to anyone, and women had no opportunity to escape from it. Feminists change this situation, as they believe that women should not live under men’s control, and they should not bear the pain their husbands make them experience. They made the government consider cases of domestic violence and enhanced female dignity (Friedman, 2015).
Feminism and Improved Working Environment
The changes brought by the feminist movements improved working environments. The rights of nannies, housekeepers, and home care workers were discussed by the government, as feminists emphasized that their working environments require improvement, and payments should be increased (Maxwell, 2014). Due to the contribution of feminists, a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights was created and established in the USA. The right to work gained by the women made working places more diverse (Williams, 2007).
As a result, the organizations received an opportunity to avoid biases and to consider the issues from various perspectives. Today, it is even considered to be an advantage and human resources managers tend to employ the workers of different genders who represent various nationalities and have a distinct background. As a result, the employees become more creative and innovative, which enhances the competitiveness of the company.
Feminism and Economic State of the Country
Many scientists believe that feminism improves the economic state of the country. As women started working, the workforce expanded greatly, which provided the companies with the opportunity to extend and develop. As a result, numerous organizations can choose the most efficient workers in the sphere and improve their performance. Increased gains have a positive influence on the economy and let it remains vibrant for a long time (Plank, 2014). Except for that, many females proved to be more efficient workers than males in the financial sphere. They can overcome male biases and create effective economic models. Feminists consider the ways, in which they may be able to improve living conditions for both genders. For example, great attention is paid to care providers.
Negative Effects of Feminism
Still, feminism has its negative sides, which cannot be denied. Feminists emphasize violence experienced by their gender, but they rarely consider the interests of other people. Professionals believe that they should also remember that “women need to take responsibility for their own physical and emotional violence against men and children” (Gremillion, 2011, p.44). However, women did not receive the right to hurt men. Just as males, they are punished for the assaults so it cannot be said that feminists made all women violate others.
Some scientists consider the domination of female teachers to be is a disadvantage for boys. Today, the teachers at the school are mainly females, which means that children of both genders have to follow one example of behavior. “The female teachers have a different way of approaching things than male teachers, they are less understanding of what constitutes natural behavior in boys… Another danger is the lack of male role-models and disciplinarians” (Erikson, n.d., para. 16). Still, it cannot be denied that children tend to believe females more, and they are more likely to find a common language with them. Except for that, all teachers regardless of their gender are taught to find an approach to each child and treat one without any biases.
People who consider feminism to be a too radical state that families suffer, as women tend to raise children alone. They believe that feminists make the importance of family less critical than it used to be, which affects children’s lives and their psychological state. Moreover, women are encouraged not to be dependent on men, which means that they do not need to create a family at all. “Men and women have been culturally emancipated from each other in a social engineering effort for them to ‘not need each other’ or very specifically so that women specifically ‘don’t need no man’ and can become ‘a strong independent woman’ …
Single-parent households are almost always headed by women, this is because women tend to unilaterally get custody in the majority of cases due to a biased family court system, another reason for single parenthood is because women can have babies without the consent of the ‘sperm donor’” (Illimitable Men, 2013, par. 5). However, feminist movements gave women a chance to support their families financially. Today, they are free to hire a housekeeper and a nurse so that there would be no issues at home. Except for that, even feminists tend to create families and live with their husbands and children if they are treated equally by their relatives. Feminism is not about living alone, it is about being powerful enough to build something new.
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that even though feminism has a range of negative influences on society, its advantages overweight. Women received an opportunity to control their lives, became protected and supported, and even can now help their countries to become the leaders in various industries. Feminism altered the word beyond recognition but it does not mean that all previous views and beliefs are forgotten. Feminism movements look for improvement, they just develop the current order of things to meet the requirements for the future and make the world better for the next generation.
References
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Gremillion, H. (2011). Feminism and the mythopoetic men’s movement: Some shared concepts of gender. Women’s Studies Journal, 25(2), 43-55.
Hoare, J. (2009). Women’s rights movements and education for all: connections and disconnections. Equals, 23(1), 1-12.
Hubler, A. (2010). Feminism’s Global Contradictions. Against the Current, 25(4), 36-37.
Illimitable Men. (2013). Feminism, family destroyer. Web.
Lanning, T. (2012). Feminism and democratic renewal. Soundings, 52(1), 8-20.
Maxwell, Z. (2014). 23 ways feminists have made the world better for women. Web.
Plank, E. (2014). 23 ways feminism has made the world a better place for men. Web.
Toit, L. (2012). Sexual specificity, rape law reform and the feminist quest for justice. South African Journal of Philosophy, 31(3), 465-483.
Williams, L. (2007). Feminism at work. Against the Current, 22(1), 21-23.
Willis, E. (2015). Villains and victims: “Sexual correctness” and the repression of feminism. Salmagundi, 187(1), 151-160,637.