Feminism

Feminism is a social and political movement. Feminism is about changing the way that people see men and women. Feminism said that women were poorly treated in the past and that this must stop. Somebody who follows feminism is called a feminist.

There are many different types of feminism:

• Some feminists believe that men and women should always be treated in exactly the same way. They think that people should not think that a person's gender (whether they are a man or a woman) is important. Often these feminists believe that the traditional idea that women stay at home and look after children is wrong and that men and women should share this job.
• Some feminists believe that there are important differences between men and women. However, they believe that these differences should not lead to any unfair treatment of women by men. For example, they might say that most women do want to stay at home and look after children; however, they must not be forced to do this and must be paid to do this, either by a husband or by the government.
• Some feminists believe that society must be changed a lot. They say that because society has normally been run only by men it is bad and should be changed by a revolution. These are called radical feminists. Some radical feminists believe that there is no significant difference between men and women and some radical feminists believe that men and women are completely different.

There are also many other types of feminism.

History of feminism

There have been strong women who have been involved in politics throughout history. See Esther, Lady Godiva, Queen Elizabeth, Catherine the Great, and Joan of Arc.

Mary Wollstonecraft

Feminism started with the idea that human rights should be given to women. This idea was put forward by some philosophers in the 18th and 19th centuries such as Mary Wollstonecraft and John Stuart Mill. Later feminists in the early 20th century also said that women should be allowed to vote in a democracy. Many women felt very strongly that they should be allowed to vote and there were many protests. These women were called Suffragettes. This is because they were fighting for Universal suffrage which means everybody is able to vote. The Suffragettes staged many protests for their rights. Some women even committed suicide to show how wrong it was that they could not take part in politics. After women received the vote, feminism worked to make all of society more equal for women.

Not all female politicians have been welcomed by feminists, with Margaret Thatcher, Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann being clear examples.

Critics

There are many reasons why some people do not like feminism:

• Some people do not like feminism because they think that women are already equal or more important in the law. Anti-feminists often say that society is also not equal for men and that women have more rights in child custody and divorce.

• Some say that feminism wants women to be more important than men.

• Some argue that women and men have simple biological differences, and thus cannot be treated in the same way. ie. Treatment and role in the military, pregnancy, etc.

• Some people do not like feminism because it wants to change society and it could make men have less power.

• There are people who do not like feminism because they think it gives people rights that hurt other people or their rights. Also, they have made a social group on the outside of society that does not like men and wants to take over men's power.

• Some religious people say that feminism is not what God wanted. For example, in Genesis chapter 2 it says that God made Eve (the first woman) as a companion for Adam (the first man) and some think this means he made women to serve men. But some feel that God created men and women to be equal (see Ephesians 5:21). This leads to Christian and Jewish denominations differing on the ordination of women(whether women can be official leaders in a church. See also Women in Islam.

There are also many other types of anti-feminism.

Writers such as Camille Paglia, Christina Hoff Sommers, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese and Daphne Patai oppose some forms of feminism, though they identify as feminists. They argue, for example, that feminism often promotes misandry and the elevation of women's interests above men's, and criticize radical feminist positions as harmful to both men and women.Daphne Patai and Noretta Koertge argue that the term "anti-feminist" is used to silence academic debate about feminism.

Related pages

• Marie Stopes
• Sexism
• A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
• Rape
• Abortion
• Sexual harassment
• Pornography
• Prostitution