Essay #2

Essay #2
The first day of class I remember we were asked to write down what feminism means to us and I remember I had no a clue what to write. Throughout the semester we were continually asked what feminism means and were asked to write things on the board that came to mind when we heard the word, and of course all the stereotypically words were what came to my mind. I believe that I grew a little bit more every day in this class and I know have my own definition of what feminism is and it is the work women do to influence the issues concerning all women in hopes that it will create a better future for all the women of the world in all generations. Every day in this class I was able to build on my definition and make it a word that really means something to me. Though I really do like the quote by Cheris Kramerae from The F-Word which is “Feminism is the radical notion that women are human beings.” I was able to come up with my definition from all the course readings, the history of feminism and all the in class discussions. This class really opened up my mind, as I am sure it opened up many others, to the knowledge of all the struggles women went through in the past to get us to the place we are today as women.
The history of feminism is basically broken down into three different waves. The first wave which occurred between 1790 and 1920 was headed by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The movie Iron Jawed Angles which we watched in class really helped me understand what exactly women had to go through to get us the right to vote. Those women were put under so much ridicule and oppression but they continued to fight of what they believed in and were able to get us that right. The second wave took place between 1950 and 980 this wave addressed the social divisions among women based on race and gender. The second wave was the wave that gave feminism its negative reputation. This wave was directed at giving women equality in the workforce and in politics. The third wave began in 1980 and is still continuing today has not really as much progress as the other two waves. Many people would argue that women in the third wave do not care about women’s rights and that they are just taking the rights that the past waves gave them for granted. I think though personally that women in the third wave are still practicing the rights that the past women got for us through going and still voting. Also in this wave was had two ladies make history by being the first woman to run for President and Vice President. This just shows that women in our wave are still trying to make progress not only in our third wave but they are continuing the rights that were given to us in the second wave. Through this wave many articles have been written in response to what most people think about this wave such as Lisa Belkin’s book called The Opt-Out Revolution and many other numerous articles that are still trying to define the word feminism. Everyone in this wave has a different opinion of what the word really means, and I think that is ok because I do not think there is just one set definition.
This class I think was connected to feminism in numerous ways. Every day we had a new topic that made me think a little differently about what feminism really is every time. Some of the topics that really intersected with what feminism is were the topics of work, politics and activism. The topic of work I found to be really interesting because for me my major is going to take more than the normal four years to get. Being a pharmacy major it will take around seven years for me to get my doctorate in pharmacy. Before this class I did not know that women were not paid as much as men for the exact same job. This issue is something that I find should be taken care of as soon as it can. Also before this class I did not realize how much I would be giving up to purse my career. Though pharmacy once you get your degree you get paid very well and you only have to work about three days a week, getting to that point is going to be very time consuming. I just always thought that it’s just seven years that will not be any time at all but after this class I realized how much I really am giving up such as; being able to start a family when most people my age will be and then being able to find a husband and get married at a decent time in my life. I am actually very scared and nervous now that I will not have time for all the things I want to do in my life, even thought I am just nineteen and I should not be worried yet about this stuff this class has really made me start thinking even more about my future.
This class has also put into perspective something really big that I got to be a part of this year. This election was the first election I have had the opportunity to vote in and when I went to vote in November I honestly just thought “ok I went to vote no big deal” and I continued to think that until I got into this class. Then on the third day of class we watch the movie Iron Jawed Angles and honestly I got chill bumps from this movie because I finally realized that something I thought of as not a big deal was a huge deal. I had never really thought about what the women in the first wave had to go through to give me the right to vote. After we finished the movie I was saddened as to how foolish I was to not think that voting was a big deal. I am very glad that we were able to watch this movie because it really changed my perspective of the privileges that I have today as a women. It also made me very aware of what all the women in the first wave had to go through to get the women today to the point that we are. I am very thankful for the women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton who was not afraid to stand up for what she believed in for women for all generations. I think the third wave could get a lot more accomplished if we had women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton. There are many things that women in the third wave can get accomplished if we just had to motivation and will power that Elizabeth had.
This class has also changed the way that I think about women in politics. Before this class I had not really thought about what all women in politics go through to get where they are today but this class has really changed my mind set about that. In the book The F-Word in chapter ten, which is titled Women in Political Power, the chapter talks about what all women have to go through and how hard it is for them to get the positions that they want to get. Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner used a statistic in the chapter that states “according to the Center for American Women and Politics Rutgers, as of January 2003, less than 2 percent of the 11,699 people who have ever served in the House or Senate have been women.” I find this just insane and if it had not been for this class I would have never really thought anything of it. This year has been the most influential presidential election in quite some time and it was a huge progression for the women in our country. Even though throughout the campaigning and early voting I really did not take into account what these women that were running for office were sacrificing. One day in class we discussed what all Sarah Plain had to give up to run for Vice-President and that day really made me think about that she was having to leave her kids and not getting to spend time with her family. I had realized that she was a woman and that her being picked was a huge deal but I have never really thought about what was going on behind the scenes with her and her family. From another discussion we had in class over this topic was how the media put Sarah Plain as a mother down and said that she was not a good mother because she left her family when they never said anything about Barack O’bama not being there for his two daughters. One quote I really liked from The F-Word in chapter ten was said by State Representative Cathy McMorris “one of the country commissioners in my district said, it will be a cold day in hell if that woman becomes a state legislator. After I won, my dad said, well I guess you are going to have to go buy him a coat.” I thought that this quote summed up what women are becoming in our nation due to women in the third wave that are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in.
Another way that this class has tied into feminism is before this class I never knew about the three waves much less knew that I was a part of a wave. I really thought that chapter six from The F-Word really helped me understand want I am really a part of. Chapter six is titled Signs of Times: Defining the Third Wave and it talks about all the issues that the third wave has to deal with. I really liked how Rowe-Finkbeiner described the third wave as any group of women can be a part of this wave and that there is no “party line”. I do agree on her though that third wave has to deal with more sexuality issues than the other two waves had to deal with. After this class I have now realized that I am a part of something that has the potential to be a huge wave.
Before taking this class I did not have the slightest idea as to what a feminist was and what their purpose was. From just after one semester of a Women’s Studies class I can honestly say that I am a lot more educated on this subject than I ever have been before. Though I am still very unsure on some of the issues that feminists are trying to accomplish and even though I do not agree on some of the issues I can say that I am becoming more of a feminist. I will say though that I am a very strong Christian and that some of the issues that we discussed in class I did not agree with at all and I thought were a little inappropriate. The majority though of the topics I did agree with and would love to see the outcome of if they ever do get fixed. This class has taught me a lot about all these topics and it has also taught me a lot of life lessons; like no everyone is just like me, everyone has their own opinion and that we should all respect what everyone has to say because at the end of the day we are all people and we all have feelings. I would have to say though that yes I am far more knowledgeable on the topic on feminism than I was the first day of class. I can also say that because of this class I now view things a lot differently than I did before and it has all changed for the better. It has just taken a total of four months for me see a wide variety of topics differently than I had before and because of that I would say yes I am a feminist.



Works Cited
Belkins, Lisa. "The Opt-Out Revolution." New York Times [New York] 26 Oct. 2003: 1-11.
Rowe-Finkbeiner, Kristin. The F-WORD Feminism in Jeopardy. Emeryville: Seal P, 2004.