Has feminism gone far enough?

Résumé du document

Feminism is a doctrine that advocates social and political equality between men and women. Some people opine that the women's liberation movement has gone "far enough" and even "too far". They argue that feminism is useless because women have already obtained equality in all matters. According to them, this movement is no longer about equal rights for all but about special privileges for women. A study aimed at determining if feminism "has gone far enough" raises the question of the implications of this movement. It must also be studied if the movement now defends useless or inappropriate issues. The feminist revolution of the ?60s and the ?70s enabled women to win the liberty they enjoy today. Considerable accomplishments had been made in the past decades with respect to women's right to vote and their independence from male authority. Feminism is essentially about choices. Whether one chooses to be a housewife and not work, or to be an academic or a lawyer, is personal choice, and must thus be respected.

Extraits

[...] Has feminism gone far enough? Feminism is a doctrine that advocates social and political equality between men and women. Some people pretend that the women's liberation movement has gone enough” and even far”. They argue that feminism is useless because women have already obtained equality. According to them, this movement is no longer about equal rights for all but about special privileges for women. To wonder if feminism gone far enough” brings to mind the question of this movement's implications and if, nowadays, it defends useless or inappropriate issues. [...]

[...] Therefore, they think that their mothers' traditional feminism has gone far enough. Moreover, as we have seen before, when equality between men and women is threatened by some radical groups we may argue that feminism has indeed gone far enough. Some people even think that this movement no longer fights for equality but for some women's privileges. They indeed interpret affirmative action's laws concerning women as being discriminatory towards men. Feminists are for many reasons regarded suspiciously by some people and are subject to numerous negative stereotypes. [...]

[...] Pay gaps between men and women are still considerable: a woman who works full-time and the same number of hours as a man is only paid of a man's wage despite working in the exact same job. Moreover, men are more likely to be given a job than women in certain occupations. Employers are reluctant to give women maternity leave and more time-off if the women want to spend some time with their children. Mothers find it difficult to re-enter the workforce, which is detrimental to their families. [...]

[...] Can we say in our contemporary world that it gone far enough”? Since the a new kind a feminism, which argues that the traditional feminist movement has definitely gone far enough, has emerged. For these feminists, a woman has nowadays the same right a man does, which is in line with the main of the women's liberation movement. More women than men graduate from high school, but also obtain more bachelor's degrees. These new feminists embrace the feminine aspects of fashion, attitudes, relationships and women's role in society. [...]

[...] In the case of most Third World countries, I think that it has certainly not gone far enough. To say it has, would be to ignore other countries' situations and to regard feminism through a westernised model, which is inappropriate and dangerous for women's global condition. We cannot trivialise this matter and we cannot live in a society in which people are judged on their chromosomes and not on their thoughts and actions. However, we must also remember that fighting for women does not mean fighting against men. [...]