ANT 206 Final Paper

Shavon Baltimore
Professor Guyot
ANT 206
11/12/2014
Feminism in America What is Feminism? According to the Webster Online Dictionary, feminism is the “belief in social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.” Feminist movements are formed to give these rights to women who have been deprived of their privileges and rights denied by society. In this essay, I will discuss feminism in America as a movement which aims to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression. According to bell hooks “the feminist movement is not about being anti-male, the movement is to clearly address the problem of sexism in society today” (hooks 2000: viii-ix). What Hooks meant by this statement is that the feminist movement is not a male-bashing movement, but a movement for us as Americans and worldwide to end unfair treatment of people because of their sex. For hundreds of years women have strived to gain equality with men. They have been held back and had opportunities taken away from them due to the fact that they are women. Feminism is beneficial to both men and women to have an equal opportunity in life without any discrimination based on their gender. Both men and women should receive the same opportunities and privileges that are being offered in life. Therefore, feminist movements help women to accomplish the task of equality. With the help of feminist movements women will be able to climb the corporate ladder in ways they were never able to before.
The first aim of feminism I will discuss is ending sexism. Sexism is the unfair treatment of others due to their gender. Sexism in America has been an ongoing epidemic for years. What most of us may not know is that just like men, women can be sexist. bell hooks states “females and males, have been socialized from birth to accept sexist thought and action as a consequence, females can be just as sexist as men” (hooks 2000:viii-ix). We as Americans often times dismiss sexism as a problem, but it is a problem in our society that we often overlook. Women in our society today are still considered weaker than men. They are still making less than their male colleagues in the same occupations. Women are still expected to do certain household chores because to most men they are just women and that is their role. “Males as a group have and do benefit the most from sexism, from the assumption that they are superior to females and should rule over us” (hooks 2000: viii-ix). Society needs to become more sociological in its thinking and realize that sexism is indeed a problem that we all should be working to fix. We as females no longer should have to contend with these outdated stereotypes set up decades ago to make us feel inferior.
Feminism in America should work towards ending sexism in our society. The ways in which we can end sexism is to first understand that sexism is real problem. We also need to understand how our attitudes and actions perpetuate sexism and violence, and work towards changing them. For example taunting or whistling at women perpetuates seeing women as sexual figures or as “piece of meat.” We need to recognize homophobia and speak out against gay bashing. Discrimination against lesbians, gays and transgenders is a key way in which we are confined in restrictive gender roles. “To end sexism we need to be clear that we are all participants in perpetuating sexism until we change our minds and hearts, until we let go of sexist thought and action and replace it with feminist thought and action” (hooks 2000: viii-ix). These are the actions we must take as a society in order to start the process in ending sexism. Once we start the process of ending sexism in America we can take the necessary steps going forward to ban it once and for all.
The Oppression of women dates back to when African-Americans were first brought to the United States to work as slaves. “Oppression describes any unjust situation where, systematically and over a long period of time, one group denies another group access to the resources of society” (Collins 1990:6-7). The media, the church, and schools all spread traditionalistic ideas that are meant to oppress women. The Catholic Church tells women that divorce is a sin, even if your husband is a wife beater. Contraception is forbidden and abortion is murder. This means that women are denied any rights over their own fertility. Also a sexually-active woman is often time considered as a slut while a sexually active male is considered to be a player. A nonsexual female is consider to either be a lesbian or a woman who cannot sustain a man. This is one of the double standards that we as women face every day. According to Collins “The large numbers of young black women in inner cities and impoverished rural areas who continue to leave school before attaining full literacy represent the continued efficacy of political dimension of black women’s oppression” (Collins 1990:6-7). What Collins meant by this is that when young black women leave school before being fully educated they often end up working in undesirable conditions for pitiful wages in which their labor is exploited. As long as capitalism exists women will remain oppressed.
The final aim of feminist movement is to end sexual exploitation. Sexual exploitation is widely portrayed by the media today. In music videos, songs and commercials, it is there. Sexual exploitation is used to appeal the media without regard for women. The hip-hop industry is one of the main examples of sexual exploitation. It is also a perfect example of how sexism has affected the way in which women are perceived in society. There is no doubt that female artists have become more sexualized in music videos. For example Nicki Minaj’s hit Anaconda features dozen of women gyrating their bodies to the lyric “My Anaconda don’t want none unless you got bun hun.” Another example is Christina Aguilera’s Dirrty Video where she is wearing crotch less leather pants gyrating in a boxing ring. Unfortunately, in this male-dominant industry, women started degrading themselves to be relevant. Rather to be known as talented lyricist they are recognized as sex symbols, video hoes/vixens. If these lyricist are good at what they do, there is no need for them to exploit themselves. But in today’s society, sex sells. Although it is all for entertainment, album sales, and product sales, these women who are being exploited still represent themselves and women in general. It is the responsibility of the individual female artists to portray themselves as respectable role models rather than sex symbols. Until these women change their mindset, this is how men expect women to be and how other women think they need to be. In conclusion feminism is a movement to help address and end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression. We as a society need to ban together to help end these problems in our society. “Feminism is always and only about women seeking to be equal to men” (hooks 2000:1). Feminism is never about being anti-male, it is bout equality for women. We often dismiss sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression as not being major problems but they are. When we come to the realization that these are major problems in our society we can ban them once and for all.

Works Cited

hooks, bell 2000. Feminism Is For Everybody. Cambridge, MA: South End Press.
Collins, Patricia Hill 1990. Black Feminist Thought. New York: Hyman.