Feminism, Essay Example

I pride myself on being a critical and an objective thinker and even before I entered college life, I always believed women do not have equal rights as compared to men and more should be done to close the gap. I support greater rights for women because I consider it an essential requirement to further advance our society in economic and social areas. Greater rights for women are especially beneficial to the society because not only it increases the economic prosperity of the nations but also increases the probability that children will grow up to be more productive members of the society. Mothers usually spend more time with their children than fathers and in my opinion it is the case even when both parents have careers. Thus, women have more opportunities to positively influence the children and inspire them to realize their true potential. I am always excited to hear or read about the progress being made by women in America and other countries and believe the real progress towards greater rights for women will be made by the women themselves just as it has in the past. I have had the opportunity to read about early feminist leaders such as Betty Friedan.

I am glad that we are seeing more and more women leaders in different areas including business and politics but believe that the overall feminist movement has adopted certain inappropriate beliefs and values which may harm the progress towards gender equality. One of my reservations is that the feminist movement has been adopting some confrontational attitude due to victim mentality. This attitude is shaped by the belief that greater rights for women will only come at costs to men and the gender war is a zero-sum game. Such an attitude will do more harm than good because it will not attract cooperation from many members of the opposite sex who are genuinely interested in and working towards improving women rights. Women rights can be improved without imposing any costs on men and it is understandable if feminists are frustrated but moving forward is the key to progress rather than being stuck in the past and constantly reminding oneself of the injustices done to women. Gender equality will only become a dream when members of both sexes will work together just as African Americans won greater rights during the civil rights era by adopting cooperative rather than confrontational attitude towards White Americans.

I read articles on business, politics, and other subject matters from time to time and my opinion is that the type of business leaders that will succeed in today’s and tomorrow’s world will be those who possess many of the qualities usually associated with women. These qualities include communication skills, empathy, people skills, and democratic leadership style. But I also get the impression that some business and political women leaders have adopted masculine traits under the impression that they are the key to career advancements. Feminist movement should not try to imitate the characteristics and qualities of opposite sex to advance their economic and social interests but instead focus on their own strengths to advance economically and socially.

Overall, I have positive hopes regarding greater rights for women because more and more women are going to college. As women make progress in their respective professional fields, they will gain greater visibility. This will help the society better understand the positive contributions women can make to the society and will give new spirit to the feminist movement. But at the same time, feminists also need to focus on their weaknesses and ineffective strategies they may have adopted and take steps to overcome them.