tThe Feminist Movement

SLIDE 1:I have chosen to debate over this theme because I

consider that the feminist issue has actuality and determines in a conclusive
way the future evolution of women as individuals in society.Moreover,my
belief is that the feminist struggle was not in vain and their achievements
establish a set of values that today are regarded by the society.This,from
where I stand reveals the importance of the feminist movement,as a social
movement that has helped improve the gender relationship and has offered a
multi-lateral view over the role of female in society.
SLIDE 2:Furthermore,in order to expose the profile of my
paper work I have chosen the following structure,that includes 6 chapters in
which I have presented not only the ascension and the achievements of the
feminism movement,not also its decline.
Therefore I have started by presenting the history of the
feminist movement and the values that have put the basics of the
movement,and I have continuated by illustrating womens metaphysics,the
set of ideologies that animated feminists.In the third chapter I have presented
the involutive process that the feminist movement was supposed at,and its
decline,from a movement to an idea.As every movement,Feminism was also
criticised,and I have chosen to expose the critics of the feminist movement
in the fourth chapter.After that I have illustrated the existence of feminism
today,even if not present at the same intensity as a movement,and also the
attitude of male towars the feminist movement,which has a conclusive role
in the development of feminism.
SLIDE 3:Although being a contemporaneous phenomena that
still presents interest,the feminist movement rejoices a glorious past that
numbers many achievements that have radically changed the development of
women in society.
Historically,feminist thought and activity can be devided into
two waves.
The first wave (1800-1930)concerned equal righth for men and
women:equal standing as citizens in public life,and equal legal status within
the home.The ideologies from the first wave of feminism were influenced by
the writings of Marry Wollestonecraft,who wrote A Vindication of the
Rights of Woman in which she demanded equality and better education for
women and made the first sustained critique of the social system which
relegated women to an inferior position.

The second wave questioned social attitudes towards

women,including cultural and literary representations and social perceptions
for womens behaviour.Its ideology was greatly influenced by writings of
Simone de Beauvoir and Kate Millett,who drew attention to ways in which
women were oppressed by the structure of society.In The second sex
Simone de Beauvoir argued that culture regarded men as normal and women
as an aberration(the others) and she called for the recognition of the special
nature of women.
SLIDE 4:Feminism has effected many changes in
society,including womens sufferage,broad employment for women,the right
to initiate divorce proceedings,the right to keep children from their
fathers,the right to be admitted into any university.Another kind of effects
that the feminist movement produced,concerned religion and is important to
note here that feminism has had an important role in embracing new forms
of religion.Last but not least was the effect that feminism had on moral
education,because feminist have embraced the controversed idea that
education,including moral education,of children,has never been and should
not be considered an exclusive responsibility of women.But it is my opinion
that this concept has left a vacuum in the are of moral training,where women
formerly held sway.
SLIDE 5 The metaphysics of feminism considers what it means
to be a 'woman' / 'man' based on how matter exists in space. The
metaphysics of feminism understands and promotes equality at a
fundamental level. Man and Woman both exist as structures of the
universe/space, as does all life. How we are to live as man and woman is
derived from metaphysical foundations of what actually exists (laws of
nature). The Feminist Movement has complexity and can be seen in different
points of view,having a multi-lateral abordation:
Feminism, as liberation struggle, must exist apart from and as a
part of the larger struggle to eradicate domination in all its forms. We must
understand that patriarchal domination shares an ideological foundation with
racism and other forms of group oppression, and that there is no hope that it
can be eradicated while these systems remain intact
Moreover , Feminism is a social theory, movement and way of
life informed by the rights, experience and interests of women. Feminism
advocates the political, economic and social equality of the sexes.
Furthermore, Feminism is both an intellectual commitment and
a political movement that seeks justice for women and the end of sexism in
all forms.

SLIDE 6:The movement brought about major changes in the

lives of many women, and also in everyday life. It opened to women
professions and blue-collar jobs that previously had been reserved for men.
It transformed the portrayal of women by the media. It introduced the
demand for women's equality into politics, organized religion, sports, and
innumerable other arenas and institutions, and as a result the gender balance
of participation and leadership began to change. By framing inequality and
oppression in family and personal relations as a political question, the
women's movement opened up public discussion of issues previously seen as
private.
On the other hand, many more women work outside the home
but most continue to be concentrated in low-paying jobs; women earn, on
the average, considerably less than men; women are much more likely than
men to be poor. Violence against women is still widespread. Responsibility
for childcare remains largely the responsibility of women. In the 1960s and
1970s feminists protested the imbalance in power between men and women
in family and personal relations. But these continue to exist.
SLIDE 7: Despite the dramatic accomplishments of the
women's movement, and the acceptance of women's equality as a goal in
most sectors of the society, gender equality has not yet been achieved.
Worst of all, there is no longer a mass women's movement. There are many
organizations working for women's equality in the public arena and in
private institutions; But, where there were once women's organizations with
large participatory memberships there are now bureaucratic structures run by
paid staff. Feminist theory, once provocative and freewheeling, has lost
concern with the conditions of women's lives and has become pretentious
and tired.
SLIDE 8: As every social movement,Feminism was also
criticised.Critics suggested that feminists claim that their view point is
multi-lateral;this would imply that a feminist perspective can be applied to
all areas of life.Another complain is that feminist promote misandry,even
male inferiority,and critics claim that,in the name of protecting women,men
are discriminated against.
SLIDE 9: One of the goal that concerns the feminist movement
refers to promoting a positive image of female sexuality and allow women to
take control of their own to live an independent life that can offer them not

only a precise position in society but also access to many fields that for them
have been forbidden.Modern Feminists turned to personal struggles rather
than to organized political ones. This is nothing less than replacing values of
social consciousness with personal upward mobility or benefit. Mediated
encouragement of personal obsession with appearance, weight and
motherhood and this aspect produces a damaging effect on the traditional
family.
SLIDE 10: At the moment, it seems as though feminism has only been
seriously thought about by far too few men. Too often it is stereotyped as a
group or complaining women, seen as unnecessary, as women are thought to
have gained equality.I believe that men have this wrong menthality about the
feminst movement because they feel frightened by the possibility of female
domination. For feminism to carry on successfully, I feel that there needs to
be a far great inclusion of men. Women need to help change the way many
men think, particularly those in power in order that women can gain equality
with men the world over. Even men who do agree with a lot of feminist
ideologies find that they do not regard themselves as feminists, because they
are not fully involved with the movement.
SLIDE 11: From where I stand one of the most controversed issues
nowadays: gender discrimination in a problem that feminism, as a
movement has reached to attenuate by developing a partnership between
men and women in society, by offering them the chance to face their
differences, to understand that their biological makeup has no connection to
social roles and behaviours and to find the way to complete each other, to
form a perfect whole.
SLIDE 12 The Feminist Movement emphasizes the effort that
women have made in order to understand their true self and be eliberated
from the bondage of past customs. All in all, I must say that the feminist
movement had a benefic effect on the society, revealing the essence of the
gender differences and using this differences to bring closer men and
women, so that together can support and influence the development of a
society that has lost its glory.