There happens to be a quite notable problem behind this movement though; after over a hundred years of progress and actual rights being gained by women in which they were genuinely deprived of before, there isn't a whole lot to fight for in the majority (if not all) western societies. Ever since the late 1800s when the feminist movement had began picking up steam, women have been fighting for - and also gaining many critical rights which had made them somewhat second-class citizens compared to men. Simply to put it, women are equal to men under the law and have been for a considerable amount of time. To show just how many rights had been granted over the years, a table of many significant rights will be listed below.
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(Gathered from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/womenstimeline1.html)
| 1890 |
The National Women Suffrage Association and the American Women Suffrage Association merge to form the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). As the movement's mainstream organization, NAWSA wages state-by-state campaigns to obtain voting rights for women.
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| 1903 |
The National Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) is established to advocate for improved wages and working conditions for women.
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| 1920 |
The Women's Bureau of the Department of Labor is formed to collect information about women in the workforce and safeguard good working conditions for women.
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| 1936 |
The federal law prohibiting the dissemination of contraceptive information through the mail is modified and birth control information is no longer classified as obscene. Throughout the 1940s and 50s, birth control advocates are engaged in numerous legal suits.
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| 1955 |
The Daughters of Bilitis (DOB), the first lesbian organization in the United States, is founded. Although DOB originated as a social group, it later developed into a political organization to win basic acceptance for lesbians in the United States.
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| 1961 |
President John Kennedy establishes the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appoints Eleanor Roosevelt as chairwoman. The report issued by the Commission in 1963 documents substantial discrimination against women in the workplace and makes specific recommendations for improvement, including fair hiring practices, paid maternity leave, and affordable child care.
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| 1964 |
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bars discrimination in employment on the basis of race and sex. At the same time it establishes the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate complaints and impose penalties.
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| 1966 |
The National Organization for Women (NOW) is founded by a group of feminists including Betty Friedan. The largest women's rights group in the U.S., NOW seeks to end sexual discrimination, especially in the workplace, by means of legislative lobbying, litigation, and public demonstrations.
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| 1967 |
Executive Order 11375 expands President Lyndon Johnson's affirmative action policy of 1965 to cover discrimination based on gender. As a result, federal agencies and contractors must take active measures to ensure that women as well as minorities enjoy the same educational and employment opportunities as white males.
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| 1968 |
The EEOC rules that sex-segregated help wanted ads in newspapers are illegal. This ruling is upheld in 1973 by the Supreme Court, opening the way for women to apply for higher-paying jobs hitherto open only to men.
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| 1969 |
California becomes the first state to adopt a "no fault" divorce law, which allows couples to divorce by mutual consent. By 1985 every state has adopted a similar law. Laws are also passed regarding the equal division of common property.
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| 1970 |
In Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co., a U.S. Court of Appeals rules that jobs held by men and women need to be "substantially equal" but not "identical" to fall under the protection of the Equal Pay Act. An employer cannot, for example, change the job titles of women workers in order to pay them less than men.
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| 1972 |
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| 1973 |
As a result of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court establishes a woman's right to safe and legal abortion, overriding the anti-abortion laws of many states.
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| 1974 |
The Equal Credit Opportunity Act prohibits discrimination in consumer credit practices on the basis of sex, race, marital status, religion, national origin, age, or receipt of public assistance.
In Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, the U.S. Supreme Court rules that employers cannot justify paying women lower wages because that is what they traditionally received under the "going market rate." A wage differential occurring "simply because men would not work at the low rates paid women" is unacceptable.
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| 1976 |
The first marital rape law is enacted in Nebraska, making it illegal for a husband to rape his wife.
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| 1978 |
The Pregnancy Discrimination Act bans employment discrimination against pregnant women. Under the Act, a woman cannot be fired or denied a job or a promotion because she is or may become pregnant, nor can she be forced to take a pregnancy leave if she is willing and able to work.
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| 1984 |
EMILY's List (Early Money Is Like Yeast) is established as a financial network for pro-choice Democratic women running for national political office. The organization makes a significant impact on the increasing numbers of women elected to Congress.
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| 1986 |
Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson, the Supreme Court finds that sexual harassment is a form of illegal job discrimination.
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| 1994 |
The Violence Against Women Act tightens federal penalties for sex offenders, funds services for victims of rape and domestic violence, and provides for special training of police officers.
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| 1996 |
In United States v. Virginia, the Supreme Court rules that the all-male Virginia Military School has to admit women in order to continue to receive public funding. It holds that creating a separate, all-female school will not suffice.
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| 2005 |
In Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education, the Supreme Court rules that Title IX, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, also inherently prohibits disciplining someone for complaining about sex-based discrimination. It further holds that this is the case even when the person complaining is not among those being discriminated against.
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Of course, what many third wave feminists like to ignore - or simply are too ignorant to pay attention to, is the current day oppression of women in many Islamic countries where the women are both deemed inferior to men (often treated as subhuman) and are legally oppressed. The various links below are good resources to outline what exactly is meant by this.
First of all, many of our current fights are to be treated as equal to men, including in the law. In protecting Roe v Wade (1973), we're trying to ensure our bodily autonomy. This also impacts our economic opportunities. We also find that straight women in the U.S. face a 1/4 chance of being raped at least once during their lifetimes. This only goes up for bi and trans women. Women can't even simply avoid walking alone at night or going to clubs, as the majority of rapes are committed by a friend, acquaintance, or partner.
ReplyDeleteIn many ways, sure, we're not nearly as poorly off as women in Saudi Arabia, but we certainly have our own issues. Saying that other people have it worse is a classic silencing tactic. Women in America are living OUR issues, and it's perfectly reasonable for us to want to improve our own issues. Sure, at least we can't be legally raped by our spouses anymore, but given how bad police are at dealing with rape cases, that unfortunately doesn't say much. And sure, we're not literally the property of our husbands anymore, but most doctors still won't sterilize women without their husbands' consent, especially if they're under 35 or haven't had kids. Vasectomies, on the other hand, only require that one is over 18 and of sound mind. (Note, obviously some women may want to get a vasectomy, but by and large it is men getting this operation done.) Sexism is very much still entrenched in American society, and it's still limiting women's opportunities today.
Also, one of your examples of something "important" was as recent as 2005. That's hardly a long time ago.
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ReplyDeleteOh yikes.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I don’t think it is fair to make the claim that third wave feminists don’t care about oppressed women overseas, especially since you don’t have a source to back that claim. There are many organizations dedicated to helping women in across the globe that proudly wear the “feminist” label: Campaign for Female Education (Camfed), Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA), Women for Women International and Women Thrive Worldwide to name a few. (Kristof, Wu Dunn). If you are passionate about helping oppressed women in other countries, feel free to share what you have done for the cause. Better yet, show me the progress that “anti-feminist” organizations have made in helping oppressed women overseas. I have a feeling there isn’t much to show, but maybe you can prove me wrong.
It is true that women’s rights are steadily improving, but we still have a long way to go. For LGBTQ+ women, immigrants, homeless women and many more, the law is not always on their side. Take transgender women’s rights as an example. As of February 17th, 2017, legislators in 14 different states* have introduced pending dispositions as recent as mid February that would limit or prohibit transgender, gender nonconforming people, etc. from using the restroom of their choice. That means that, in those 14 states, the 1.4 million trans people in the U.S. would not have the freedom to use the restroom that best suits their needs. (Kralik).I’ll use one state in particular to demonstrate how problematic this legislation is. In January, Illinois legislators proposed a bill that requires school boards to limit all restrooms and changing rooms to the use of one sex, where sex is defined as male or female depending on chromosomes and physical genitalia, assigned at birth. (Kralik). This means that even if a female transgender student has fully transitioned, she would still be forced to use the male restroom. This can result in embarrassment or even harassment from other students. This legislation can be even more problematic for intersex people, many of whom are born with reproductive organs that do not fit the typical definition of male or female.
Sure, the legislation is pending, but third wave ideology focuses on preventing problematic legislation from becoming law. It’s about rights for every woman. I think you can argue that any ideology has extremists, but labeling all modern feminists as unreasonable and dismissing their individual struggles is cruel, tasteless and irresponsible.
P.S. One of your sources is from 2001, and your last source has no author, dates, publication or works cited. Just because it says “.org” in the URL doesn’t mean it is credible or relevant.
* States are: Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming
Works Cited
Kralik, Joellen. ""BATHROOM BILL" LEGISLATIVE TRACKING." National Conference of State Legislatures. NCSL, 23 Feb. 2017. Web.
Kristof, Nicholas, and Sheryl Wu Dunn. "Some Organizations Supporting Women in Developing Countries." The New York Times. The New York Times, 22 Aug. 2009. Web. 28 Feb. 2017.
Thank you for providing a cited reply! The comments don't exactly allow links, and I didn't feel like digging through CDC documents at the time.
Deletethank you Sophie for posting this. although women have been getting more rights. there is so much evidence we are not equal in a lot of ways like the wage gap and every other minority of women like those of color having so many stereotypes. I think women all over the world have a lot of work to do as many undeveloped countries still have such a gap of rights.
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