Blog Post #2

This week, I have come to realize the importance of history relating to the woman’s movement. Many people know and understand what the woman’s movement was (the vote, property rights, reproductive rights, educational rights etc) but I believe that many people don’t know the first women who fought for this movement. The article, “The Struggle for the Right to Speak,” included key women to the movement such as Maria Miller Stewart, Sojourner Truth, and the Grimke sisters. When reading this article, I was shocked to realize the limited amount of rights women really did have back in the day. These women didn’t even have the right to speak publically! The women focused on different aspects and goals, but they relied heavily on biblical material. I also find it amazing that Sojourner Truth was illiterate, yet was able to become a well renowned public speaker and activist. Through dedication and determination, these women paved the way for the fight for equality and propelled the start to the woman’s movement. Without these women and this movement, our lives would be extremely impacted today. Even though some issues relating to women are still floating around in today’s society, we have many more opportunities than they did back then. I am so grateful to be able to receive a college education, get a job, own a home, speak publically etc. Learning the foundation of the movement is so important to really understanding the significance of the movement and its ever-lasting impacts.

Last week, we discussed the standard of beauty in our society. When reading an expert from the “Feminine Mystique” I was very surprised to see the similarities between beauty in the past and beauty in present day society. After viewing the film, Still Killing us Softly 4, we discussed the idea that women believe they need to be perfect in order to be considered beautiful. They strive to be a size 0 and focus on looking like the photo-shopped women displayed in advertisements. In the 1900’s, women ate a chalk instead of food in order to become as slim as the models in advertisements. The article even states, “department store buyers reported that American women, since 1939, had become three and four sizes smaller.” Despite progressive change relating to women’s rights, it is evident that our standard of beauty has not changed much over time. Beauty was an issue in the past and it is still an extreme issue in our society today. We need to focus on improving this issue in order to create a better society.

The excerpt from the “Feminine Mystique” focuses on the “problem that has no name.” As a typical housewife’s life progressed, she seemed to continually question, “Is this all?” She might also express emptiness and a feeling as if she doesn’t exist. Because women were born and raised to become housewives, they believed that this problem related to something wrong with her marriage or herself. This problem was dismissed and Newsweek mentioned, “this is what being a woman means and what is wrong with American women that they can’t accept their role gratefully?” I think the past represents ignorance. Just because someone is a woman doesn’t mean she’s born to become a housewife. Everyone is different and different things in life will make different people happy. While some may be happy staying at home raising their children, others may want to go to work and provide for their family. My mom has never been a stay at home mom. She’s a full time lawyer and works 5 a week. Despite this, she still found the time to raise my sister and I while she and my dad provided for our family. I am grateful that women in today’s society are able to pick a career that’s right for them.

Despite all of the progression made during this era, white heterosexual concerns predominated. The article, "Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory” focuses on the idea that Fredian only described white women in the “Feminine Mystique.” Even though this time period was marked by change, there was a lot that still needed to be changed. It surprised me that even though all women were fighting for the same rights, that they excluded others due to one's race. Racism was an extreme problem in the past and it's still a problem (though not as extreme) in our society today. We have progressed but not fully.