Women’s Liberation
Uploaded by barbardo1 on Nov 16, 2008
Women’s Liberation
Although it could be argued that the source of women’s liberation could be traced back hundreds of years; the start in the in the United States goes all the way back to the drafting of the Constitution with voices like Abigail Adams the wife of President Adams. In a letter to her husband in 1776 Abigail Adams wrote to her husband “remember the ladies and be more generous and favorable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the husbands. Remember, all men would be tyrants if they could. If particular care and attention is not paid to the ladies, we are determined to foment a rebellion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any laws in which we have no voice or representation.” The women’s liberation movement continued to grow in the United States to become the place in the world where women have more rights then anywhere else in the world. We will briefly examine the successes of this movement in the United States and identify the struggles that are still fought.
In the American feminist scenario there developed two types of feminism, liberal and radical. The liberal feminism had the goals of making legal changes to give women equal rights with men. The first liberal feminists were able to fight for and win the right to vote, the right to own property, as well as rights achieved through changes in marriage and divorce laws. In more recent years liberal feminists have worked towards equal pay for women; but this has been a goal with much improvement though not fully realized.
The radical feminist’s cause is more ideological then legal that has focused on being different from men then having the same opportunities. The radical feminists have focused on sexism in society. The have filed suits against pornographers for example to show that is something that is demeaning to women. The focus of the radical feminists is more of a fight against attitudes and so they have achieved some success, but have many issues unfulfilled. Another example they give of male sexism in society the practice of trophy wife marriage, where a successful older man marries a much younger woman. Radical feminists would say a trophy wife is a sexual object and a product of a male dominated society.
In conclusion, I would say that women are liberated today, but a...