Tell it like it is

Consciousness-raising is when you “tell it like it is”. Consciousness-raising was sparked in a New York Radical Women meeting early in 1968 when Anne Forer stated that she had only begun thinking about women as an oppressed group and that we needed to “raise our consciousness.” Anne went on to list a number of things women had to do to make themselves attractive to men, like not wearing our glasses, playing dumb, doing all kinds of painful things to our bodies, wearing uncomfortable clothing and shoes, going on diets—all because “people don’t find the real self of a woman attractive.”
The sad thing is many of us still think like this today. We have to look drop dead gorgeous or else we won’t get a males attention. Don’t you wish a guy would tell you how attractive you are when you are walking across the quad wearing your sweats with your hair up and glasses on, and you are exhausted from the night before because you have been up all night studying? Too bad that rarely happens…

First Wave..

The first wave of feminism began in around 1848. The goal was to gain the right to vote and the right to practice birth control. Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Seneca Convention and her plan was "to discuss the social, civil, and religious condition and rights of woman." At that convention a Declaration of Sentiments was issued, objecting to the following:

1. Women were not allowed to vote.

2. Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation.

3. Married women had no property rights (and 90% of women over 25 were married at that time.)

4. Husbands had legal power over and responsibility for their wives to the extent that they could imprison or beat them with impunity.

5. Divorce and child custody laws favored men, giving no rights to women.

6. Women had to pay property taxes although they had no representation in the levying of these taxes.

7. Most occupations were closed to women and when women did work they were paid only a fraction of what men earned.

8. Women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law.

9. Women had no means to gain an education since no college or university would accept women students.

10. With only a few exceptions, women were not allowed to participate in the affairs of the church.

11. Women were robbed of their self-confidence and self-respect, and were made totally dependent on men.

Source: National Women's History Project. " Living the Legacy: The Women's Rights Movement 1848 - 1998."

The Declaration of Sentiments was ridiculed in most society at the time. Patriots like Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone, and Sojourner Truth traveled the country over the next forty years, convincing people otherwise. These strong women weren’t scared of anything or anyone who stepped in their way. The stood by what they believed in till the end. Many women these days still get pushed around, if only we had women out there that were scared to get knocked down a couple times before succeeding. I know I would have a very hard time standing up for myself in a major issue like this. If I know that people hated me so much, and that my life was treated because of what I was standing up for, I don’t know if I would be able to handle it. These women have shaped history for women all over.

Why Does it Matter?

I don’t think that as fn right now, we can fully achieve equality with our political system. They need to make several changes and realize that low income families are not getting the same treatment as upper-class families. They are not looked at the same in school, because they might not have the most up to date clothing, they have hand-me-downs from their older siblings, or they are still riding the bus in high school because they can’t afford a car. When I was little my neighbor, who I thought was the coolest girl alive at the time because she was two years older than me, would give me all your old clothes that she had out grown. I loved it! I loved that fact that I got so many new shirts and shoes etc. for free! So it shouldn’t matter what you look like or what type of family you come from. All should be treated the same regardless of how you look. Another issue is the schooling. Some parents can afford to send their children to prep schools and get them ready for college, while others are sent to public schools in run down areas hoping to graduate high school with decent enough grades to go to college. Money seems to be the key issue these days. If you don’t have any, you won’t get very far.

Feminist Theory

No, I was not aware that there were so many different kinds of feminism. I find the Liberal Feminist Theory most persuasive because it’s concentrating on women having the ability to maintain their equality through being responsible for their own actions and choices. I think that everyone is responsible for their own actions; you can’t blame someone else for something you did.

Some of the main issues of liberal feminism were sexual harassment, voting rights, education, affordable childcare and affordable health care. All of these I agree with..no one should ever have to deal with any form of harassment- verbal, physical, or sexual. Without voting women would have no say in anything, men would rule the world. We wouldn’t know anything if it weren’t for teachers and our education. All of these are necessities, without them we would be lost.

Ending with a quote I came across stating that liberal feminist believe “All women are capable of asserting their ability to achieve equality; therefore it is possible for change to happen without altering the structure of society.”

What is a Woman?

Sex is Biological. Gender is Sociological. Well by definition sex is the biological characteristic of male and female, while gender is the societal interpretation of this fact. Gender is one of the most important features of a person’s identity.

In the United States I think masculinity is defined by physical strength, uncertainty, economic independence and sometimes authority over women and other men..which varies from culture to culture. Masculinity somehow always defines itself has different from and superior to femininity. Femininity on the other hand, is passive, sensitive, fearful, needy. Women seem to be more emotional.

I learned “do” gender from my parents. My mom would always take me shopping for clothes and shoes, while my dad would take my brother to get a new Nerf gun or something of that sort. I played with Barbies and my brother played with GI Joes. My parents questioned me about everything and anywhere I was going but all my brother had to do was tell them what time he was going to be home. They thought he was more capable of handling himself if something were to happen then I was, since I am a female.

What is Women's Studies??

I would consider myself a feminist. A feminist to me is a woman that doesn’t let others get in her way of achieving her own goals in life. One that believes all women deserve the same rights and respect as men do. Women shouldn’t have to prove that they can do something just as well if not better then a man, but they still do.

I wanted to take this course because I don’t really know much about the history of women and how we become the ladies we are today. I hope to learn about how women fought for all the rights we have today. I want to learn more about the feminist movements and how they played a role in our history.

Negative stereotypes of feminism are that they are loud and obnoxious and they disagree with anything a man has to say. Or just hate men in general.

I do think that some quality has been achieved between the sexes. There are plenty of women out there doing jobs that usual pertain to men. There are women politicians, bosses of major companies. There are women working on cars and shooting guns in the military. Although these are just baby steps…We still have a ways to go.