Introduction
The exploration of femininity as a concept and as a combination of qualities inherent to a female-identifying individual has always been subjected to heated debates. From the Western perspective, modern feminism has been challenged by the view that there is no place for issues of femininity because women have the right to vote, work, prevent pregnancies, and choose any career in their life. Therefore, feminism has been referred to as unnecessary because there are no real issues against women have to fight.
Nevertheless, there are still some significant barriers that prevent twenty-first-century society from enjoying equality. The current paper will explore the most pressing issues in femininity, with a focus on the racial issue as women of color are still are among the most oppressed population groups.
Domestic Labor
Throughout centuries, the central act of the female role has always been attributed to housewives (Dalla Costa 1). It has been assumed that all women are housewives, including those who work outside their homes. Domestic work is measured not only by the number of hours that one spends at home but also in the quality of life and relationships that a woman creates. This idea was initially generated by the surge of capitalism, which elevated the tole of the family, the increased reliance on male labor due to industrialization, and the increased costs to capital. As men were turned into wage laborers that served their factories, women were given the role of the housewives struggling with the separation from their husbands.
The advent of capitalism also diminished the role of women’s physical integrity in the context of ensuring that they maintain their social roles. A woman was subordinated to a man because she did not participate in social production and thus could not independently present herself on the labor market. From such a diminution of women, capital constructed a female role which was meant to be reduced by a man.
When speaking of the current issues in femininity, women are not reduced to their roles of housewives to the extent to which they used to be. The division of domestic labor still exists today, with eight out of ten women still saying that they do more housework than their husbands or boyfriends (Burkeman). However, at the center of this issue is not the number of tasks one completes around the house but rather the idea that caring for children and keeping a house clean is the work of women. And, since women earn less on an overall scale, they should give up their careers for the sake of becoming full-time housewives.
It goes without mentioning that when a woman decides to stay at home, her decision should be supported. Nevertheless, assuming that housework is everything a woman should do is perpetuating the stereotypes brought by capitalism.
Mass Media
Mass media, with Hollywood movies and fashion magazines, in particular, play a significant role in perpetuating unhelpful stereotypes. A woman in mass media is presented as a character-less persona that is supposed to look fabulous to be considered worthy. This adversely influences the generations of girls who grow up thinking that they must be skinny and beautiful to be accomplished. It must be understood that the care for one’s body and a healthy lifestyle is a positive sentiment. However, thinness and perfection in appearance should not be imperative qualities for women if they do not want them to be. Body anxiety is the direct consequence of the stereotypical portrayal of women in mass media, which is why it is important to establish a nurturing and educational environment instead of pushing the stereotype of women being pretty pictures with no substance.
Black Women in Media
When speaking of the representation of women of color in media, there is still a large gap. According to the WMC report, women of color make up only 7.95% of print newsroom staff, 12.6% of staff at local TV stations, and 6.2% of local radio staff (“The Status of Women of Color in the U.S. News Media”). These low percentages result in the subsequent underrepresentation of black women in films and TV shows.
However, apart from the blatant underrepresentation, black women are stereotyped when depicted in movies or TV shows, and several tropes are pointing to this. For instance, women are often portrayed as the help of white people. Another misconception is that black women are hyper-sexualized and act as prostitutes, thus perpetuating the misconception that they have to be sexually promiscuous to sustain their living. These stereotypes are unfortunate because they have a direct influence on how the rest of society perceives black women who witness greater oppression than white women.
The Racial Issue
The issue of race in the discussion of femininity is especially important to consider. As mentioned by Hooks, most white women, including Americans, think of racism as solely a problem about race hatred (Hooks 119). However, for women of color, racism is experienced from the perspective of the latter being used as an oppressive political tool present in everyday conversations, movies, books, and other means of mass media.
Since throughout most of the US history, white women were taught that women of color should be considered lesser than them, there is a significant issue for feminism. According to Hooks, the issue of black women was not whether white women were less or more racist than men but that they were racist (124). This explains why the first women’s rights movements of the nineteenth century advocated for the rights of white and not black women. Every women’s movement in the US from their earliest origins to this day has been built on the foundation of racism due to the existing social structure of racial apartheid.
In the colonialism context, the prospect of mixed-race progeny was unpalatable for the society, and not only in the United States (Levine 140). As early as in the eighteenth century, the East India Company was filtering through its employees to exclude Eurasians that could have mixed with other races: “while inter-racial sex was considered unfortunate, inter-racial marriage was unimaginable” (Levine 140). This led to the development of institutionalized racial discrimination that transferred to the United States. It must be mentioned that in the movement for women’s liberation and equal rights, the prejudice toward black women was more severe compared to the prejudice against black men (Hooks 130). The latter was accepted to a greater degree due to the racist stereotype that black women were morally impure.
This sentiment can still be found in modern society, which presents some major challenges to feminism as a movement. According to the Harvard Business Review article by Cheeks, black women have fewer opportunities to become successful in the workplace and have to work twice as hard as black men. However, the work they have to do does not compare with the emotional strain and pressure put on them in corporate settings.
Cheeks described a situation of a black woman traveling on a business trip with her colleagues and finding out about a police shooting of a person of color. The woman cried in her hotel room all night and in the morning, when meeting her coworkers for breakfast, everyone discussed celebrity gossip, not even mentioning the shooting. Thus, most black women in American workplace settings are challenged by the fact that “they care deeply about the issues affecting the black community but that feeling isn’t generally supported or acknowledged in the workplace” (Cheeks).
In the context of public services such as healthcare, black women continuously face disparities in access and quality. Racial discrimination in healthcare settings leads to such issues as prenatal deaths, high rates of mortality due to cardiovascular disease, and other complications that get overlooked by healthcare providers (Chatterjee and Davis). The statistics of the Centers for Disease Contol and Prevention show that black infants die in the first year of their lives at the rate of 11.7 deaths per 1,000 live births compared to white babies’ 4.8 deaths per 1,000 live births (Murphy et al.). This issue goes far beyond the prejudice against black women and touches upon the problem of basic human rights – receiving healthcare of that quality that will prevent major health complications.
Violence
Physical and mental abuse of women is still an overlooked issue that has been ‘swept under a rug’ for centuries. In developing countries, rape within marriage is not recognized as a crime, leading to the increased abuse of power by men and the decreased life quality for women. When femininity is attacked by a valance, women inevitably feel as if they are worthless and weak, unable to protect themselves against aggression as well as continuous cases of sexual harassment. So long as women are targeted for violence, the work of feminism cannot be considered done.
When speaking of violence against women, it should be mentioned that at least 35% of women globally have experienced physical and/or sexual abuse either by their partners or strangers at some points in their lives (UN Women). The trend is explained by the fact that men who witnessed their fathers use force violence against their mothers had higher chances of showing the same amount of violence toward their partners.
According to UN Women, the likelihood of perpetrating physical violence against women was three and more times higher in men who had witnessed their mothers being beaten by their fathers. Therefore, the continuous perpetuation of the idea that women are weak and can be physically abused is transferred from one generation to another. This means that as long as the stereotype of women being the weaker sex is not eliminated, the continuous violence against them will persist.
Reproductive Rights
The final issues about modern femininity to be addressed are associated with women’s freedom to choose to have children and end unwanted pregnancies. This problem has been debated for decades due to the abundance of opinions on whether abortion is considered a murder. However, the subject matter of the current paper is rather concerned about whether women have the right to choose abortion. According to the Guardian article by Malik, cases of abortion should never be considered ‘pro-life.’
When women as human beings are not considered. In many countries around the world, women are put in danger due to illegal abortions to which they agree because they do not have any other choice. The abortion laws are very tough in many countries, especially in those heavily reliant on religious doctrines. Women willingly put themselves at risk of being subjected to low-quality healthcare to rid themselves of unwanted pregnancies. Therefore, the problem lies in some abortion laws not being developed to protect women but rather to force them into a legislative framework that puts their health and wellbeing below anything else.
Black Women and Reproductive Rights
In the United States, the reproductive rights of women are championed as basic human rights. However, in countries in South America, Asia, and Africa, access to safe and legal abortion, as well as high-quality healthcare services for pregnant women, is limited. Four critical issues in the discussion of reproductive rights include abortion access, birth control, paid family leave, and eliminating pregnancy discrimination.
All of these issues still exist today despite Roe v. Wade. This is especially true for women of minorities who do not have enough financial and access resources that they need to end their pregnancies safely. An example of women’s manipulation is the toomanyadopted.com billboard stating “Black children are an endangered species” (“Abortion? Trust Black Women”). The author of the article of NARAL Pro-Choice Connecticut mentioned seeing the billboard and perceiving it as a tool to evoke fear and anger in black women, insisting that abortion of black children is black genocide.
The reality of the fact is that the environment of social justice does not treat black women fairly when it comes to getting the appropriate level of healthcare services to address their abortions. Black women’s experiences with poverty, racism, sexism, as well as restrictive cultural norms push them toward the decision to end unplanned pregnancies to relieve the burdens that they already bear. The mentioned barriers not only limit the reproductive health of black women but also the proliferation of the myth that black children are “an endangered species” (“Abortion? Trust Black Women”).
Considering abortion as a ploy for eradicating the black race is an apologetic strategy in order not to provide black women with high-quality healthcare services. To deal with this issue in femininity, there a need to educate the population and provide birth control to underserved communities.
In conclusion, it is essential to mention that issues in femininity are vast and affect women on an everyday basis. Throughout history, women were considered as those meant to serve the purpose of caring for their families as husbands were away earning a living. However, one of the most important issues pertains to racial prejudice toward black women who still experience the adverse effect of disparities in the workplace, healthcare access, the representation in media, and even such issues as abortion. Issues of women of color not getting the level of treatment they deserve are both troubling and challenging since in the beginning, even feminists failed to address the concerns black women had regarding their positions in the society.
Works Cited
“Abortion? Trust Black Women.” Pro Choicest. 2018. Web.
Burkeman, Oliver. “Dirty Secret: Why is There Still a Housework Gender Gap.” The Guardian. 2018. Web.
Chatterjee, Rhitu, and Rebecca Davis. “How Racism May Cause Black Mothers To Suffer The Death Of Their Infants.” NPR. 2017. Web.
Cheeks, Maura. “How Black Women Describe Navigating Race and Gender in the Workplace.” Harvard Business Review. 2018. Web.
Dalla Costa, Mariarosa. “Women and the Subversion of the Community.” LA Utexas. Web.
Hooks, Bell. Ain’t I a Woman. Black Women and Feminism. Pluto Press, 1990.
Levine, Philippa. Gender and Empire. Oxford Scholarship, 2007.
Malik, Kenan. “Abortion Laws are not ‘Pro Life’ When They Ignore Women.” The Guardian. 2015. Web.
Murphy, Sherry, et al. “Deaths: Final Data for 2015.” CDC. 2017. Web.
“The Status of Women of Color in the U.S. News Media.” WMC Reports. 2018. Web.
UN Women. “Facts and Figures: Ending Violence Against Women.” UN Women. 2018. Web.