Busting Out Of The Kitchen: The Feminist Movement

Carrie Garrison
October 19, 2013
English II Honors B
Turner

Busting Out of the Kitchen Feminism is a very complex and diverse subject, so therefore defining it is equally complex. In its most basic terms feminism is the belief that women are obligated to the same rights as men (Feminism). Many people who support feminism believe that history was written from male’s point of view and consequently does not express women’s role in history or their place in society (Feminist Jurisprudence). There are many theories as to why women have been treated as inferiors for so long. A very prominent theory is how women are viewed in religious settings. Many blame Eve in the Christian faith to have set the fate for women by condemning mankind and convincing Adam to eat the fruit of knowledge and leading to the imperfection of man (Feminism). However, there is much more tagged along with feminism besides equality. There are many different kinds of feminism. Just a few general types are traditional, cultural, and radical feminism. Traditional (or liberal) feminism argues that women have just as much rationality as men and therefore should have the same opportunity to make their own choices (Feminist Jurisprudence). Cultural feminism focuses on recognizing and celebrating the differences between men and women and to give equal recognition to women’s beliefs (Feminist Jurisprudence). Radical (or dominate) feminism asserts that gender is a question of power and that male-supremacy persecutes against women as a whole (Feminist Jurisprudence). Feminism, rather than lasting over long periods of time, has short but loud outbursts every few generations. The feminist movement has three primary “waves” so to speak. The first, taking place in the early-to-mid 19th century to about the year 1921 (Kryger). The second, occurring mainly in the 60s and 70s (Kryger). Lastly the third wave began in the early 90s (Kryger). Each outbreak was very different and each had differing characteristics, in the reasons it began, in why it ended, their goals, and their achievements. Although, many people think of the 60s as the start of the feminism movement in the U.S. - it actually started long before then. The first wave of the feminist movement began when the abolitionist movement was just taking off. It all began after the Civil War ended and ex-slaves were beginning to receive rights that were still unavailable to women at that time (Kryger). Therefore women’s suffrage was born. Alice Paul was a large leader of the first wave. She participated in the British suffrage movement and brought those tactics back to America (Kryger). She was involved in the first women’s rights convention held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. In this meeting, sixty-eight women and thirty-two men signed the Declaration Of Sentiments, which was essentially the agenda for the women’s rights movement (Imbornoni). Susan B. Anthony was also a large icon for women’s suffrage (The Nineteenth Amendment). She was even put on trial in 1873 for voting when she declared that the fourteenth amendment guaranteed her the right to (Anthony). The fourteenth amendment states, “All persons born and naturalized in the United States... are citizens of the United States.” Anthony argued that women were considered citizens due to this amendment and therefore had the right to vote (Anthony). Eventually in 1878 the constitutional amendment “the right of citizens to vote shall not be abridged by the U.S. or by any state on account of sex” is proposed (Imbornoni). This was an issue, primarily in the south, and when the amendment was set to the states for ratification some opposed it. The amendment came down to one vote in the Tennessee house and Tennessee voted for women’s rights (Imbornoni). Women had finally won. The surge of feminism was quieted, for now. The most influential and raging wave was the second and it started in the 60s (The Feminist Movement). As America came out of its depression in the 30s and entered WWII women were urged to join the labor force, taking the place of men, and support the war effort. “More than six million women worked outside the home for the first time, as wartime propaganda support and for the men of their country” (Kryger). The very iconic image of Rosie the Riveter comes to mind immediately. She stood for women everywhere taking jobs originally only thought to be for men. After the war ended and men returned home women as a whole were expected to return to the kitchen. Many women were fired. Although, many women returned to the title of housewife willingly, others refused (Kryger). It caused a cascade of women’s voices screaming for equality. The 60s and 70s wave’s main goals were equality in the work place, affirmative action, and reproductive rights (Napikoski). “Many anti-feminists criticized women for working, claiming that they lead to the breakdown of their families and furthermore the breakdown of society” (Kryger). Women began creating meeting places for feminists. Most of these meeting places were “women’s only”, creating what is known as separatism, to backlash at men (The Feminist Movement). The second wave died in the 80s due to generalization of feminists and women as a whole (Kryger). The third wave of feminism started back in the early 90s. It focuses on post-feminism, which is the definition of contradictions in the second wave of feminism’s ideas (Kryger). Post feminism is basically the idea that people should find feminism and their beliefs inside of them and not categorize themselves. The third wave is known for its diversity among feminists. Each person participating in the third wave has differing opinions from that of the next person (Napikoski). Many anti-feminists say that women will never get heard this way (Kryger). The rhetoric used in the feminist movement relies mostly on logos and pathos. Feminists focus on the facts to help support their arguments logically. Such as “Women comprise more than half of the world’s population, 70% of the poor, and two-thirds of those who are not taught how to read and write” (Clinton). It braces them by proving that they are knowledgeable and can be as intelligent as men when given the chance. Pathos is also a large contributor of women’s use of rhetoric. Women want to focus on how they have been oppressed and how unfair that really is. The use of pathos shows how unjust it is for women to be persecuted against simply because they are women. Repetition is commonly used in speeches supporting feminism to reiterate the change that needs to occur. This paper focused mainly on feminism in the United States because that is largely where feminism has prevailed. In other nations across the globe women are still victimized. In India, some women are killed brutally, by being burned to death, because their dowries (money given to the husband for taking the women as his wife) are considered insufficient (Clinton). In China, daughters are being orphaned or aborted because of child-restriction laws and male-dominance (Feminism). There’s gender injustice everywhere all over the earth, in every country, in every city, in every village or town and America is just the start towards equality for women.

Bibliography for Enacting Change Project

Anthony, Susan B. "Susan B. Anthony Speech: Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to Susan B. Anthony Speech: Is It a Crime for a Citizen of the United States to Vote? N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Vote?" Oct. 2013.

Clinton, Hillary R. "American Rhetoric: Hillary Rodham Clinton -- United Nations 4th World Conference Speech ("Women's Rights Are Human 4th World Conference Speech ("Women's Rights Are Human Rights"). N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

"Feminism." Find an Accredited Online Sociology Degree. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. .

"Feminist Jurisprudence." LII. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. .

"Feminist Movement - Information HQ of the Feminist Movement." Feminist Movement RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. .

Imbornoni, Ann-Marie. "Women's Rights Movement in the U.S." Infoplease. Infoplease, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013. .

Kryger, Stacy. "And I Found Feminism: The History and Contemporary Theory." N.p., 2004. Web. .

Napikoski, Linda. "Goals of the Feminist Movement." About.com Women's History. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2013. .

"The Nineteenth Amendment." The Nineteenth Amendment. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2013. .

"The Trial of Susan B. Anthony." The Trial of Susan B. Anthony. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2013. .

Zinn, Maxine Baca, Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Michael A. Messner. Gender through the Prism of Difference. New York: Oxford UP, 2005. Print.