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Jasmine Macklin

Dr. Wynne

Written Communications II

17 March 2017

Literature Review

Society's View of Women

For over a century women have been fighting for the right to be seen as equal to men. In

the Merriam- Webster dictionary feminism is defined as :the theory of the political, economic,

and social equality of the sexes; organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests. In

our modern society feminism is thought of women wanting more power than men, but in reality,

women just want to be equal. For a very long time women stayed in their place and chose to stay

quiet about their role in life until a spark let off and they decided they wanted change. To the

answer as to what steps took place for women to be in the position they are in today, four

questions need to be considered:

1. What role did women play prior to WW2, and how did the war spark a movement?

2. What started the women's liberation movement?

3. Did black women feel accepted in the liberation movement?

4. Is modern day feminism still relevant?

The following review of literature will discuss the history of women creating change,

how feminism was not beneficial to everyone, and why feminism is still a problem today.

What role did women play prior to WW2, and how did the war spark a movement?

The goal for women before the 1950s was solely to marry and have children. During this

time, without a spouse in society women were nothing. If a woman was privileged enough to
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afford post secondary education, her degree was likely in education and she was married before

she was graduated. In the documentary Awakening: Part of the Series: Makers: Women Who

Make America, it was said that the only occupations available for white women were teachers,

wives and childbearers. Women had to always appear upbeat and happy, and to not show

emotion or look upset. During this time many commercials and magazine covers, women were

presented as helpless beings, not able to equate to anything without their husbands. That women

should be content with their lives: a husband, three kids, a white picket fence, to society, that was

a perfect life so women should not want more.

But white women were presented with an opportunity to be something more than

housewives during World War II. Roughly twenty four percent of the male population in the

United States had to go overseas to fight for the country , so that left many women behind to take

care of the family. With so many men overseas, that also left many occupations open in dire need

to be filled. Women stepped up for the occasion and were everything men said they wouldnt and

couldnt be. Women worked in factories, farms, the red cross and thousands even served in the

Army. As the white women were showing small progression, black women were not progressing

at all. The only profession available to black women were maid services. This was the only

career made available for black women since they were dragged to this country centuries ago.

They had to leave their children at home for someone else to watch over them and go to a white

person's house to raise children that were not their own. This lifestyle is seen in books and

movies like The Color Purple by Alice Walker and The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Many white

women were itching to find something to do because they were bored, but black women had to

work so they can help provide for their families.

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As the men came back from war, life resumed. The progression that women thought they

were making, quickly disappeared. White women were back in the house with the kids, waiting

for their husbands to come back from work like any other day. But many women started to push

back, in the documentary Awakening, women started demanding their jobs back, because they

proved themselves capable of working during the war. But the words "career women" almost

became dirty words when put together (Goldin). The feminine mystique made it seem that it was

unfeminine to want to work and want equality. Many women were educated but had no place to

show their talents. In the documentary Awakening men thought they were protecting women

from "real" jobs because they did not want them lifting heavy objects (more than 30lbs) because

it was "beyond a woman's capability."Women slowly but surely proved them wrong, and began

to enter the workforce as secretaries and telephone operators. But the dismal jobs made available

for white women were high paid jobs for black women.

What started the women's liberation movement?

The 1960s was a decade of change in the United States, for the rights of women and

colored people. In an article, "People became more vocal and strived for equality among all

people" (Sink). Women began taking a stand for their reproductive rights,which birthed the start

of the liberation movement. Women flooded courthouses and meetings advocating for their rights

and as a result, The Food and Drug Administration approved the first oral contraceptive for

women. This was just one major breakthrough of many, from then on women saw that with

numbers and a voice they could make change. President Kennedy instituted the Commission on

the Status of Women to examine issues related to women and to make plans on topics such as

employment, Social Security, education and tax laws. Around this time there was a growing

interest in women's rights on college campuses. In 1963, the Federal Government modified the
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Equal Rights Act. This Act made certain gender wage discrimination between men and women in

the same work establishment was prohibited. The next year the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was

signed by President Johnson, this safeguarded women from the inequality in the work

environment. In the following year, 1965, The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity

Commissioners) was designated to enforce the Civil Rights Act, because many businesses were

not practicing the new policy. The 60s were liberating years that brought forth monumental

changes for women.

Did black women feel accepted in the Liberation movement?

Black women were initially perplexed about how they should respond to the Women's

Liberation movement. During the feminist movement many black women saw it as something

they needed to stay away from. They thought about what they had in common with the women

that are involved with this movement. The women who were associated with the movement were

white, middle class women who had leisure time to just sit at home and knit while their husbands

provided. Most black women had little to no leisure time to go and advocate for something,

especially that may not be even beneficial to them (Awakening). The face of women's rights were

white women, and to the colored, white women were associated to white men, so they did not

feel like they belonged. Black women wanted the face of women's rights to be someone who

looked similar to the person when they looked in the mirror. "Black women were forced to

choose between pledging membership to a movement against racism or chauvinism" ( Taylor).

Black women wanted to fight for a side that will be more of an advantage for them. At the time,

the color of their skin was something that was seen first, then being black and a women was

more of an disadvantage.
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Many black women did not want to be involved in the Women's Liberation movement

simply because they were not welcomed, their lifestyles were not addressed as a problem and

they were not seen as equal themselves because of racism. In The Colour of Feminism: White

Feminists and Race in the Women's Liberation Movement it was stated, "Unable to look beyond

the concerns of their own white, middle-class constituency, white feminists from the era are

charged with an ignorance and apathy towards the needs of Black women and a complete failure

to engage with the racism of the state in which they lived and were a part" (Homlinson). Many

women were fighting for women's rights, but not all women were included. The black women

who decided to include themselves in the movement were subliminally used as platforms to

stand on, "This logic of capture or desire toward enclosure renders Black women as buried

subjectivity, producing the ground upon which all other subjects stand" (Bliss). That with

numbers and large masses, the attention to the problem will attract more viewers. But the

problems of black women were never brought to the attention of the world.

In 1960s many black women did not have the opportunity to live life as a scholar because

they had to work to help provide for their families. For those who were in school, the political

movements of Black Consciousness and the Black Panthers came about. Many black women felt

more accepted in these movements because they could relate more to what the cause was. That

being conscious of who one is, no one can tell them what they are not, it was empowerment from

within, "Black Consciousness was so-called for a reason: student activists such as Biko posed

questions similar to those posed by their peers in the global 1960s about identity, existence,

consciousness and authenticity" (Magaziner). Many identified more with this movement

because it was with people who looked just like them, and was fighting for rights that also

applied to them.
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In modern-day, is feminism still relevant?

Feminism is still a very prominent movement in our society. Women have progressed,

now have women business owners, female presidents, women high in office and etc for example

Hillary Clinton being the first woman on any primary democrat ticket. But women still are

fighting for many rights that they have been fighting for in the last century. The wage gap is still

a subject of concern. White women make seventy seven cents to every dollar that a man makes,

and women of color earnings are even lower. The rape culture is still in effect today, that our

society normalizes or excuses sexual violence, the life of a women is not valued the way it

should. Dress codes are still a topic of discussion, the way women dress are still up to the

standard of what a man feel is appropriate or not. That if something is seen as sexual, women are

told to take it off because a man might take it upon himself and sexually harass her. Reproductive

justice is a very recent issue that women are currently fighting for. January of 2017, president

Donald Trump signed an executive order to defund Planned Parenthood. Now a man is making

the decision of what women should do with their bodies. And with social media playing a huge

part in our society, "menism" came about. Menism is a group of men who miss the concept of

what a feminist is and they consider themselves men activist and their cause is to complain about

problems that women put them through (Charleswell).

I took a survey while I was home for spring break. The survey consisted of asking

random people in the food court of a mall if feminism is still an issue today. I asked

approximately about 30 people if they felt like feminism was still relevant in today's society.

Feminism, for some reason is a touchy topic, so when the question was presented to many people

they looked as if I asked them the secret to a recipe. It seemed as if they thought how dare I ask

such a thing. Many people walked away without responding. The data for the responses are
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shown in figure 1. About sixty percent said feminism is still an issue, those participants consisted

of college students. The thirty percent that said no were middle aged adults. And the people who

said they did not care looked like they were about 15-18 of age, high school students. This was

an eyeopener for me because, women's rights is still a problem, and there are a lot of people who

still do not identify it as an issue.

Conclusion

Women's rights influence all aspects of life, society hindering the progression of women,

that will also slow down any progression that the community will make also. Women have

continuously proven that we are capable of anything. Mulan is a great story that displays how a

female can do what males do, and in some instances, do it better. Women will be fighting for

their rights until they are taken into full consideration. Women as a whole are minorities in

society. Women of color are double minority. They will face obstacles because the society we

live in is man based. But women are resilient to any barriers and will prevail.
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Bibliography

Awakening: Part of the Series: Makers: Women Who Make America. Dir. Dyllan McGee and

Rachel Dretzin. Kanopy. PBS, n.d. Web. 3 Mar. 2017.

Bliss, James. "Black Feminism out of Place." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture & Society, vol.

41, no. 4, Summer2016, pp. 727-749. EBSCOhosts.

Charleswell, Cherise. "Feminism Is Not Just for Academics: Overcoming Disconnect and

Division I The Hampton Institute." Feminism Is Not Just for Academics:

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Overcoming Disconnect and Division I The Hampton Institute. The Hampton Institute,

14 Jan. 2014. Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

"Feminism." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 5 Mar. 2017.

Goldin, Claudia. "The Role of World War II in the Rise of Women's Work." The American

Economic Revieww 81.4 (1989): n. pag. Harvard Library. Web.

HOMLINSON, NATALIE. "The Colour of Feminism: White Feminists and Race in the Women's

Liberation Movement." History, vol. 97, no. 327, July 2012, pp. 453-475. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.2012.00559.x.

Magaziner, Daniel R. "Pieces of a (Wo)Man: Feminism, Gender and Adulthood in Black

Consciousness, 1968-1977." Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 37, no. 1,

Mar. 2011, pp. 45-61. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/03057070.2011.552542.

Sink, Nancy. "Women's Liberation Movement." Women's Liberation Movement. N.p., Dec. 2008.

Web. 6 Mar. 2017.

Taylor, Ula. The Historical Evolution of Black Feminist Theory and Praxis. Journal of Black

Studies, vol. 29, no. 2, 1998, pp. 234253., www.jstor.org/stable/2668091.

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