First Respondent
The first respondent was male aged twenty-eight years. The researcher prepared a structured questionnaire and mailed it to the first respondent. The interviewee was a university graduate working with a non-governmental organization specializing in children affairs.
Since the respondent was a strong advocate of equality, he believed that in the contemporary world, there is gender equality. Feminism according to him could be defined as all sorts of crusades that encourage restructuring of society into a relatively fair place for everyone to live. The campaigns aim at addressing injustices against women such as domestic violence, sexual harassment and violence. The respondent was a social scientist graduate meaning that he knew the definition through research.
The respondent used the word liberal to describe feminists. The respondent was a great supporter of feminism activities. Upon realization that the researcher was taking a feminist course, the respondent supported the study and promised to link up with the researcher in future.
Second Respondent
The Second respondent was female aged sixty-five years, with no university education. The researcher interviewed her orally. She believed that there is no gender equality in society. She viewed feminism as the struggles of women aimed at ending male patriarchy and domination in society.
She knew the definition through the media since she had never encountered such a definition in her life. She viewed all feminists to be Marxists. She considered herself a liberal feminist. This is because she advocated for an open society that could accommodate the views of all. The respondent congratulated the researcher upon realizing that he was taking a feminist course.
Third Respondent
The third respondent was male aged forty-seven years, who happened to be a local leader. He had a post-graduate degree in political science and public administration. He believed that there is no egalitarianism in society. Furthermore, he commented that the society would never experience equality. He defined feminism as an attempt by women to draw the attention of government. He knew the definition through extensive research. He viewed feminism to be related to political liberation.
The respondent never considered himself a feminist. This was because changing the societal structure would bring about formlessness, which could lead to social problems such as suicide and reversed role-playing. Upon noting that the researcher was undertaking a feminist course, the respondent recommended that the researcher continues to conduct research to establish the relevance of feminism in politics.
Analysis and the major aim of feminism
The major aim of feminism is liberation from the house of bondage. As earlier stated, each category of feminism aims at liberating itself from certain injustices.
In this case, Shaw and Lee (11) observe that liberal feminism aims at achieving egalitarianism between men and women in society, Hurst (89) supports this sentiment. From the views of Shaw and Lee, this could be achieved through legal and political reforms. This would not change the societal structure. Radical feminism relates its problems to the capitalistic economy that is controlled by men.
In this regard, such groups aim at revising the social structure. Conservative feminism tries to understand its surrounding. Libertarian feminism asserts that people are owners of their lives meaning that they have the power to determine their own destinies. Separatist feminism argues that women have to concentrate on helping themselves meaning that heterosexual relationships are irrelevant to women.
Furthermore, economic determinism is an issue of concern to women. Women single out capitalism as being an impediment to their achievement in society. Capitalistic ideologies discriminate women from accessing resources in society. This can be seen in the following statement. “It is not in the interests of capitalism that women demand economic rights or comparable worth” (Shaw and Lee 656).
Woode (34) support the claims made by Shaw and Lee by claiming that capitalism is the major impediment to women success. Socialist scholars differentiate themselves from Marxism by arguing that injustices can only be abolished through revising the social structure and having sound economic policies in society.
Cultural feminist movement aims at ensuring that women are self-sufficient and self-reliant. Towards the beginning of 1990s, a new wave of feminism emerged, which advocated for rights and freedoms of adolescent females. The movement wanted the government to come up policies that could protect young women from societal injustices such as rape and sexual harassment. In this case, young women were to be allowed to come up with make-ups of their choices, including clothing and sexual allure.
Scholars underscore the fact that it is imperative to consider time, culture and country when understanding the activities of feminist organizations. Feminist scholars assert that all efforts made by women to achieve their goals and objectives are termed as feminism.
Competing school of thought argue that only modern activities should be termed feminism. Women started fighting for their rights during the 19th century in the US and UK. They were mostly focused on promoting equality, marriage rights, parenting and ownership of property. Hansen (65) is in agreement with the views of Shaw and Lee since he notes that women are always relegated to inferior roles.
Towards the end, the movement shifted its attention to political power and authority. The movement wanted the state to allow all women to participate in elections. This meant that women were allowed to vote for candidates of their choice. Furthermore, women were allowed to contest for various positions during elections, as long as they qualified. Feminist groups advocated for abolition of slavery, which was seen as a road to elimination of male domination.
Works Cited
Hansen, Lene. “Gender, Nation, Rape: Bosnia and the Construction of Security.” International Feminist Journal of Politics, 3.1, (2001): 34-40. Print.
Hurst, Charles. Social Inequality, Boston: Pearson Education, 2007. Print.
Shaw, Susan, and J. Lee. Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions: Classic and Contemporary Readings, New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001. Print.
Woode, Julia. Gendered Lives, Belmont: Thomson Learning, 2005. Print.