He feminism It is a set of movements and ideological positions, both at the individual and social level, that seek to gender equity for women women about rights that have been historically denied themin the political, cultural, social, sexual and economic spheres.
He sexism It is a set of socially constructed and shared attitudes in which the man and what is associated with the masculine are considered superior to the woman and the feminine.
Since feminism has among its goals that there be gender equality, this is not an inverse machismo. Machismo proclaims a hierarchy in which the man is the norm and the dominator, while the woman is subordinate to him.
Feminism Machismo It is a set of movements and ideological positions, both individually and socially, that seek equal rights for women in the political, cultural, social, sexual and economic spheres. It is a set of socially constructed and shared attitudes in which the value of men and the attributes considered masculine are taken as superior to the value of women and the attributes associated with the feminine. Characteristics Search for equality between men and women. Challenge all forms of injustice, social, historical, cultural, political, sexual and economic suffered by women. He is active: he proposes changes to improve the situation of women. It is made up of various movements and ideological positions, so there is no single feminism. Even if the majority of feminists are women, men can also be part of the feminist movement. It confronts machismo, violence against women and the culture of patriarchy. He considers that men and women are unequal (men are subjects and women are objects). The “macho” man is the head of the group (head of the family, among other men, at work, etc.). It exalts the heterosexuality of men as the only valid form of expression of (male) sexuality. It exalts the demonstration of macho behaviors. It is a violent way of acting. Promotes gender violence, particularly against women. It is a form of behavior that is tolerated and even promoted within the patriarchal culture. Consequences Obtaining political, civil, economic, sexual and labor rights for women. The implementation of laws that protect women from different forms of discrimination and gender violence. Physical, sexual, psychological, economic and political violence against women. Health problems for both men and women. Promotion of a culture of aggression. sexual exploitation. Family problems.
What is feminism?
Feminism is a set of movements and ideological positionsboth at the individual and social levels, seeking equal rights for women, in the political, cultural, social, sexual and economic spheres. These rights have historically been limited to men.
It also implies the fight against various forms of discrimination against a person, due to their sexual orientation, ethnic and regional origin, physical and mental characteristics, among many others.
The word feminism was adopted from French feminismecoming from the Latin female, and which means ‘female’ and is also translated as ‘she who gives suck’; as well as the suffix –ismwhich means ‘doctrine’ or ‘practice’.
This word was originally used in 1871 by a medical student, Ferdinand-Valérie Fanneau de la Cour, to refer to the problems suffered by men suffering from tuberculosis, which “feminized” them. A short time later, Alexandre Dumas Jr. would use it to make fun of men who were activists in social struggles.
Later, the word feminism would be taken up again, in 1882, by Hubertine Auclert (1848-1914), a French suffragette, who would use it to name the type of social movement that sought equal rights for women.
feminism has a heterogeneous character (there is no single feminism) and it is not defined from a single historical or theoretical perspective, nor from a particular locality.
The objective of feminism is that women get out of the unfavorable condition and devoid of many basic rights that they have historically occupied.
Characteristics of feminism
Challenge all forms of injustice suffered by women. It seeks gender equality, recognizing that women have found themselves in a situation of historical subordination with respect to men. It is made up of various movements, ideologies and initiatives, both individual and group that may differ from each other. It gives validity to the interpretation that women make of their own realities, identity, sexuality, corporeality and the social system in which they live. It fights against all kinds of violence directed towards women for the fact of being a woman. It challenges traditional conceptions of gender roles. Both women and men can be feminists. Fight machismo and the culture of patriarchy.
Feminism and gender equality
Equity refers to the search for a fair share between people who are not equal. In this way, if there is a differential treatment, it is equivalent as long as it allows all people to have the same benefits, opportunities and obligations.
Feminism fights for both equality and gender equity. Throughout history, men have been in a dominant position, while women have been in a subordinate position. Feminism seeks to eliminate this imbalance.
In other words, gender equality does not simply mean that women have access to the rights that men already have, but that the conditions are met so that all people can exercise the same rights, taking into account their differences and needs.
Goals pursued by feminism
At a general level, some of the main objectives that feminism pursues are:
Gender equality. Representation and participation in political life for women. Access to education and that it does not promote gender roles that are unfavorable to any gender. Right to work and professionalization. Fair legislation in relation to marriage, property, economic rights, etc. Right to individual independence, control over one’s own body, sexuality and reproductive life. Make visible the contributions of women in society. The elimination of all types of gender violence, which is mostly directed against women. That women have the right to health and safety. The elimination of the derogatory representation of women in the media and in society in general.
waves of feminism
The different stages through which feminism has passed are known as waves (waves in English). The denomination of each one of these waves comes, mainly, from feminist movements in Europe and the Anglo-Saxon world (particularly the United States).
Wave of enlightened feminism or first European wave (18th century and part of the 19th century)
Enlightenment humanism and the French Revolution proclaimed universal rights for all men. However, in the case of women, they continued to be subordinate to men in the political, social and economic fields.
This is why several authors and thinkers, among them Olympe de Gouges (1748-1793) and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797), published documents in which it was sought that women obtain the same recognition and rights that the Enlightenment had assured to women. the men.
At that time, women began to organize themselves in groups or clubs, debating for themselves the necessary points to be able to participate in political life.
Anglo-Saxon first wave and European second wave (19th century and first part of the 20th century)
This wave is marked by the search for civil rights and the suffrage struggle. Its context ran parallel to the abolitionism of slavery in the United States.
In 1848, during the Seneca Falls (New York) Convention, the Seneca Falls Declaration was prepared. Among its resolutions the statute of natural equality between men and women was declared; and the right of women to be educated about politics and to be able to vote.
Most of the activists in this movement were white women, in a context of racial segregation, so there was limited participation by black women.
Thanks to this movement, in 1920 the right of women to vote was finally ratified with the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Anglo-Saxon second wave (between 1960 and 1990) and European third wave (from 1960 to the present)
It is after World War II and occurred in parallel to the social struggles for civil rights (in the United States).
Feminist movements challenged forms of women’s subordination within private life, gender roles in the family, and violence against women. In addition, reproductive rights and economic rights are demanded.
This wave achieved that women gained access to political positions, that divorce was a real option, the legalization of abortion, and the regularization of work outside the home for women.
Anglo-Saxon Third Wave (1990s to present)
In this wave, a critical analysis of the reality of women is made and it is much more diverse than previous waves. Involves academic work, gender studies and theory queer.
She studies gender roles and includes gender and sexual diversity explicitly within the feminist movement.
It challenges the vision of sexuality and the sexual from the perspective of the heterosexual man, in which women were objects of desire and not subjects with agency.
It questions “woman” as an absolute, and observes how belonging to an ethnic group, culture and/or class can determine the forms of domination and violence suffered by a woman or group of women.
Fourth wave (21st century)
This wave is marked by the emergence of social networks through the Internet.
In addition to questioning the objectification of the female body, from a public discourse that is less academic than that of the third wave.
It is marked by movements such as the #metoo and other similar ones, in which the sexual violence suffered by women in the workplace, street harassment and other sexist practices that have been historically normalized are denounced.
Feminism and patriarchy
Patriarchy is a system in which authority and dominance are exercised by man, both physically, socially and structurally.
That it is structural or systemic implies that there is an educational, cultural and political order that feeds the idea that men are the standard or the social norm.
Feminism challenges the patriarchal system by making visible the contributions that women have made in different areas of scientific, social knowledge…