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Feminism
Introduction.
Feminism is the term used by movements that endorse women to be treated as equals to men. This is what logic should dictate but for many years, women have been treated as juniors to men. It has been evidenced by the differences in employment and educational opportunities, voting rights and seeking elective positions. It is true that women have been treated as second class or last resort solutions. This still continues in countries that consider women as children or do not give support to principles that support women in the society. The question is why are women being treated as second to men? Feminism shows that women are same with men thus the element of equality is brought into play.
Authors View on Feminism.
The author of retro-wife argues that a house wife cannot be a feminist. A number of reasons bring this into light. A house wife will want to stay at home and take care of the children. They will also go on unending shopping sprees financed by their husbands who are busy at work trying to make ends meet for the family. Feminism dictates that there ought to be equality between men and women. This equality involves equal financial contribution towards family expenses. Though it also calls for shared responsibility in taking care of the children, most women are not comfortable with their men looking after children arguing that they are more knowledgeable in this field. They argue that they have been practicing with dolls since childhood and now have perfected the skill.
Research has shown that men today view the ‘ideal’ man as someone who is not only successful … but also involved as a father, husband or partner thus shows how the modern man has embraced the issue of equality up to the household level. This will is normally regressed by the presence of house wives who consider homes to be their offices and portray a picture of a boss who wants to control the home forgetting it’s a union brought about by the man and her. House wives argue that the man should exert his authority at work and when he comes home things change because that is the wives’ space.
Tensions brought about by feminism have trickled down to homes. Women started their campaign for equal treatment at work now it has gone to homes. They brought action against employers seeking for higher pays which equal those of men. If we look at typical house wives, what they do is watch enterprising programs on television but do not adopt that knowledge and make something out of them to help their husband finance family bills. If they come up with something that brings income, most of the money is used for personal use on the assumption that my husband will pay for the bills.
During the recent recession, household incomes reduced significantly. Most housewives never helped their husbands fetch that extra coin though they maintained the same levels of consumption as before. They believe that their work is to sit with the children and dictate what they are going to eat, whom to play with and the husbands’ duty is to deliver the cheque by whatever means to the joint bank account they hold. This only furthers the fact that housewives cannot be termed as feminists.
It is with the above observations by the author that I agree house wives cannot back themselves with feminism unless they change and accept collective responsibility towards the well-being and development of the household. This can be achieved if they accept to change their ways and start working even if it’s on a part time basis and help the man with family finances. The man on the other hand should take charge and direct the wife on the path to follow towards the betterment of their family.
Conversation between authors on feminism.
The following is a conversation between two authors on feminism. They are Nancy and Leila.
Nancy; Feminism has been a contentious topic for a long time. The article has tackled important issues on the same but I feel like it should have considered Muslim ladies who still face a huge challenge in the war on feminism in their part of the world.
Leila; I agree with you on the issue of Islamic ladies, these ladies face the harshest form of inequality due to their customs, traditions and religion. This hampers them from engaging in activities that women across the world do. For example, in sports ladies compete in almost every discipline but you find Muslim ladies participating in one or two disciplines. In the past Olympic games, a lady from the far east had to compete in athletics only after a commission was set from her country to decide whether she could participate or not.
Nancy; I think culture plays the most important role in feminism today. Western culture allows women to air their views and be heard unlike our sisters in the Arab world who have to petition their husbands first before engaging in anything. This makes it impossible to attain equal rights and representation as men thus an impediment to feminism.
Leila; the author should have incorporated the fact that women are their own enemies. Feminism requires that women work together to improve their standards be it in the work place or any other endeavor.
Nancy; that is so right. It is like women make five steps towards feminism and then take six steps back. It is evidenced by the fact that women are competitive by nature. When they see their counter parts succeeding them will also do anything in their power to attain the same or greater success and even at times plot a downfall of the person.
Leila; This shows that unless women accept that they have to be united to realize the full effects of feminism, it will only remain as a dream. Unity will ensure that all women are enlightened with information that is necessary to move them to the next level.
Nancy; One other thing that is disorienting women on feminism is the questioning of whether they should really have been married. House wives perceive themselves as worthless especially if they were working before marriage and left their jobs to take care of their families. This is because they view themselves as not equals to their husbands since they don’t chip in on finances which is a major issue in relationships. Such thoughts make them be over submissive even to things that should be rejected just to please their husbands.
Leila; When we consider that self-questioning, women tend to hault on any project they were doing be it crotetching or gardening and drown in self-pity. They forget marriage is an institution with equal partners irrespective of who brings the money and who takes care of the family. Without either partner the family unit will not stand. Their questioning is totally wrong as it makes feminism harder to achieve.
Feminism Today and its Challenges.
Feminism today has taken a new twist in that it is not only the women who advocate for it but also men. This has led to better understanding of each partner’s role in the family circle. Today feminism incorporates equal contribution to the family including finances, spending time with the children, devoting time to the spouse and schedules for family retreats. With the adoption of feminism to the modern family, great strides are made towards family development.
The feminism issue should be viewed as a different institution where one party asses the performance of the other in accordance to agreed principles. This will ensure that no laxity is experienced in either party and also help in reducing conflicts as each person knows what they should do failure to which a privilege is withdrawn.
Despite the steps taken towards adopting feminism, a number of challenges are faced. These include tight working schedules in places of work thus reducing time to spend with families leaving the weekends as the only time parents can mingle with the children. Increase in general price of commodities has forced housewives to adopt methods that will ensure the family lives on a minimum budget thus wives have adopted the role of managers to husbands finances.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Carpenter, Chloe. feminism campaign. 04 01 2013. 05 05 2013 <http://www.world transformation.com>.
Damon. World Transformation Movement. 04 01 2013. 04 05 2013 <http://www.worldtransformation.com/what-is-feminism/>.
Fraser, Clara. feminism 101. 20 12 2012. 04 05 2013 <http://www.redletterpress.org/feminism101>.
Green, Robert. Feminism as union of ideologyand activism. 19 01 2013. 05 05 2013 <http://www.folk.ulo.com>.
sweeney, christina. modern day feminism. 23 04 2013. 04 05 2013 <http://www.huffingtonblog.com>.
