Women and Law. Feminist Majority Foundation Case Study

Introduction

In recent years, resistance movements, political advocacy groups, and social justice organizations that focus on civil rights and gender equality have significantly influenced modern society. This essay presents the research of the Feminist Majority Foundation, a social justice organization that focuses on women’s rights. The paper describes the group’s history, principles, mission, methods of work, political activities, achievements, and opposition to emphasize the importance of the organization’s activity. This work includes a personal opinion concerning the Feminist Majority as well.

History and Current State

Feminism has a rich history, and it currently strengthens its positions. As the ideology and movement that established the equality of men and women, feminism appeared in the 19th century.¹ In the United States, the woman movement pursued the idea of social and political equality. The priority of motherhood was rejected in favor of “women’s common human identity.”² Feminism has retained its positions until the 1960s; along with political and economic equality, women claimed control over reproduction.³ Over the next decades, the situation has dramatically changed, and the 1980s represented the decline of the feminists activity.⁴

The interest in an independent woman, built by mass media, vanished almost completely, and feminists were frequently forced to mute their implications. Nevertheless, this “backlash” encouraged the reinforcement of the movement against the attempts to stop women’s liberation.⁵ In 1986, Gallup, an analytics and advisory company, and Newsweek conducted a public opinion poll.⁶ According to this survey, 56% of American women identified themselves as feminists.⁷ This majority gave the name to a new organization – the Feminist Majority Foundation.

The Feminist Majority Foundation (FMF) is the largest non-profit and tax-deductible education and research feminist organization. It was established in 1987 with a headquarter in Arlington County, Virginia, and it currently has offices in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles, California.⁸ The FMF was founded by Eleanor Smeal, Peg Yorkin, Katherine Spillar, Judith Meuli, and Toni Carabillo.⁹ This organization is dedicated to non-violence, reproductive health, and women’s equality in all spheres of life. It believes that feminists, regardless of gender, “are the majority, but this majority must be empowered.”¹⁰ The members of the FMF are citizens or US permanent legal residents, and the annual membership costs 15$ as a minimum contribution.¹¹ All contributions are charitable, they fund legislative and electoral work and are used for political interests such as opposing or supporting candidates.

FMF’s Missions and Principles

The principle goal of the FMF’s creation is the development of new innovative strategies to promote women’s equality and non-violence. All programs of the organization aim to empower women worldwide, and they include leadership development activities from a global perspective. The FMF focuses on reproductive rights and women’s empowerment in business, law, sports, medicine, science, and the Internet.¹² The FMF primarily supports all genders’ equality and statutory and constitutional measures to gain this equality locally, nationally, and globally. It categorically opposes discrimination on the basis of gender, race, sexual identity and orientation, religion, socioeconomic and marital status, appearance, or disability.

The organization supports legal, approachable, and safe abortion, sexual and reproductive healthcare, and contraception. It encourages medical funding and access to health care for minorities, lower-income women, and immigrants. The FMF is involved in the development of affirmative action programs that establish and secure full voting and civil rights. It supports the removal of all racial and gender disparities within the criminal justice system.¹³ One of the main missions of the FMF is the elimination of violence against girls and women worldwide. The Feminist Majority Foundation supports LGBTQAI communities and encourages tolerance as well. It promotes the achievement of the right to equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and gender-nonconforming people. The FMF supports the rights of immigrants and refugees in the United States, regardless of legal status and their country of origin.

The FMF upholds multiple programs that address the issues of climate change, air and water pollution, and environmental safety. It opposes gas emission, hazardous waste products, and the spread of nuclear and chemical weapons. The Feminist Majority encourages positive changes in social, political, and economic spheres. It supports the creation of inclusive spaces and the elimination of institutional and social barriers for the socialization of people with disabilities. The FMF advocates pay equity, workers’ collective bargaining, accessible education and health care, public colleges, and the prohibition of sweatshops. The organization encourages participation in voting and declaims the voters’ oppression, pre-election gerrymandering, and other electoral abuse.

FMF’s Methods

To achieve their goals, the Feminist Majority encourages research projects, public policy development, and educational programs. The FMF organizes leadership training and forums concerning women’s empowerment and equality. The organization is engaged in support of bill endorsement, lobbying, and other political activities within the legislative system. The FMF advocates force and promote the participation of the U.S. constituency in the solution of international issues. The organization is public-facing, and it addresses American society and welcomes new members. In 2001, the FMF became the owner of Ms., a women’s magazine founded in 1972.¹⁴ The journal publishes articles concerning women’s condition in the United States and other countries, helping the FMF to promote its platform.

At the same time, the FMF does a highly significant job “behind the scenes.” The organization chooses its candidates for elections to promote the FMF’s agenda in terms of legislation. A substantive number of bills supported by the Feminist Majority were subsequently ratified. Due to the FMF, multiple laws that potentially infringe women’s rights were reviewed by the Supreme Court.

FMF’s Political Activities

Considering that policy areas are divided into internal and external policies, it can be said with confidence that the FMF positively affects them both. With the support of the FMF, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) was ratified in the USA in 2010.¹⁵ CEDAW is a highly significant step in the direction of rights equity. As the international agreement for women’s equality and human rights, CEDAW encourages the governments to change discriminatory policies. With the support of CEDAW, the Feminist Majority got the chance to conduct their activities in Afghanistan more effectively.

Since 1997, the FMF has had a highly significant Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls against gender apartheid.¹⁶ It is the first attempt to engage the U.S. constituency to a foreign policy problem of women’s rights.¹⁷ This campaign has substantively influenced the U.S. and U.N. policies as the FMF’s work stop the “recognition of the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.”¹⁸ The FMF advocated the American army in Afghanistan as an appropriate force to establish justice.¹⁹ The campaign finished in 2019 and resulted in massive funding in the programs that support the equal rights of Afghan women.²⁰ It is the priority for the FMF to provide Afghan women with access to education, health care, and work.

The Feminist Majority Foundation supported a significant number of bills in the United States that were subsequently endorsed. Due to the FMF, the Equal Rights Amendment that prohibits sex discrimination was ratified in the majority of states.²¹ The organization achieved the endorsement of the HALT Campus Sexual Violence Act to prevent students’ sexual abuse.²² Students got the right to take legal actions against negligent institutions and require investigations, sanctions, and compensations. The FMF encouraged the ratification of the Women’s Health Protection Act in 2017.²³ According to the Act, abortion services are available for women on the national level. The Act invalidates inappropriate states’ regulations, such as medically unnecessary tests or in-person visits before an abortion. One of the latest FMF’s achievements is the Keep Families Together Act.²⁴ It outlaws the separation of migrant children from their parents in order to decrease the level of immigration to the United States.

Victories and Failures

Since its foundation, the Feminist Majority has positively changed the situation concerning women’s inequity and human rights. The organization began a National Clinic Defense Project and protected almost 100 clinics in Los Angeles against anti-abortion extremists.²⁵ In 1992, within the FMF’s Campaign to Stop Violence Against Women, an emergency Western Union Hotline was launched.²⁶ As a result, a substantial number of women from India, the Philippines, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka who worked in Kuwait asked for help. Women domestic workers complained that they had been beaten and raped by their employers who kept women’s passports. Due to the Campaign’s pressure, 10.000 women got a chance to return home.²⁷ The FMF currently has multiple achievements in the fields of sex discrimination, women’s health, and abortion rights as well.

Nevertheless, the FMF’s particular initiatives occasionally meet dreadful rejections, especially in the countries with women’s apartheid. In Afghanistan, a large number of girls were poisoned, attacked, burnt down, and killed by the Taliban for attending schools.²⁸ Despite that danger, women and girls refused to reject their long-desired freedom.

Critique of the FMF

The criticism of the FMF’s activity may correspond with the opposite view of feminism in general. In her article “Voices from the post-feminist generation,” Susan Bolotin described her study conducted through interviewing.²⁹According to this research, young women denounced feminism and did not believe in its potential. They considered that feminists were man-hating and embittered women who were making attempts to undermine family, marriage, and heterosexuality. A substantial number of people worldwide currently have the same opinion, especially due to radical feminism. Radical feminists reject the importance of men, and their position is frequently criticized by society. People are certain that radical women are not occupied with women’s rights in general and do not understand their issues as they reject marriage and motherhood.³⁰ They suppose that women are responsible for their state if they are oppressed, discriminated against, beaten, or raped.

Personal Perspective

From a personal perspective, the Feminist Majority Foundation is an outstanding organization that plays a highly essential role in the establishment of justice. Its platform and performed activities promote people’s equality and women’s rights, nationally and globally. The list of the FMF’s victories, achievements, campaigns, and endorsements of bills prove that this organization makes a highly substantial contribution to social equity. The FMF’s methods and tactics differentiate the organization from radical feminism as they are result-oriented and promote non-violence. Although feminism is currently confused with man-hating, such organizations as the FMF show that their work is highly essential. The FMF does not need to declare its principles, as the result of its work speaks louder than any statements.

Footnotes

1. Estelle B. Freedman, No Turning Back: The History of Feminism and the Future of Women (New York: The Random House Publishing Group, 2002), 3.
2. Freedman, No Turning Back, 4.
3. Freedman, No Turning Back, 5.
4. Bonnie J. Dow, Prime-Time Feminism: Television, Media Culture, and the Women’s Movement since 1970 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996), 86.
5. Dow, Prime-Time Feminism, 87.
6. United States, Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law, Women’s Rights are Human Rights: U.S. Ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2012), 338.
7. The United States, Women’s Rights are Human Rights, 338.
8. “Contact,” Feminist Majority, Web.
9. “History of Feminist Majority Foundation. 1987-1989,” Feminist Majority Foundation, Web.
10. “About Us,” Feminist Majority Foundation, Web.
11. “Join the Feminist Majority,” Feminist Majority, Web.
12. “Mission and Principles,” Feminist Majority Foundation, Web.
13. “Mission and Principles,” Feminist Majority Foundation, Web.
14. “About Ms.,” Ms., last modified October 18, 2019, Web.
15. The United States, Women’s Rights are Human Rights, 338.
16. The United States, Women’s Rights are Human Rights, 338.
17. “Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls,” Feminist Majority, Web.
18. “Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls,” Feminist Majority, Web.
19. Tom Hayden, “Pentagon Enlists Feminists for War Aims,” Huffpost, Web.
20. “Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls,” Feminist Majority, Web.
21. “Legislation,” Feminist Majority, Web.
22. “Legislation,” Feminist Majority, Web.
23. “Legislation,” Feminist Majority, Web.
24. “Legislation,” Feminist Majority, Web.
25. “History of Feminist Majority Foundation. 1987-1989,” Feminist Majority Foundation, Web.
26. “History of Feminist Majority Foundation. 1992,” Feminist Majority Foundation, Web.
27. “History of Feminist Majority Foundation. 1992,” Feminist Majority Foundation, Web.
28. “Campaign for Afghan Women and Girls,” Feminist Majority, Web.
29. Vicki Coppock, Deena Haydon, and Ingrid Richter, The Illusions of “Post-Feminism.”New Women, Old Myths (New York: Routledge, 2014), 13.
30. Barbara A. Crow, ed., Radical Feminism: A Documentary Reader (New York: New York University Press, 2000), 28.