The treatment of women in the contemporary society reflects the low position and power that the female gender has in the society (Segal, 2015). This treatment is a significant example that portrays the relevance of feminism, as its objectives have not yet been met. Feminism dates back to the 1800s where women demanded equal rights to property, work and voting. The concept further developed to include equal rights with men in the workplace, in the family, in sexuality and also in reproductive rights. In the current century, women are still fighting for the same rights introduced in the 1800s. This shows that feminism continues to play a vital role in society.
Feminism: Places and Power
Different places that are significant for the success of feminism include the parliament and other authoritative structures, work places, schools and in the family. These places have relegated the role of the woman to the second place. Moreover, in some areas such as government, women are hardly given chances to represent the nation. At work, men are given more demanding and well-paying roles in comparison to women counterparts. In the family, wives are supposed to follow the lead after husbands in becoming homemakers, and take lesser roles in the provision of education for their children.
Feminists have however have fought these prejudices through advocating for equal rights such as equal education, better roles in the work places, the choice to bear children and freedom to express their sexuality (Segal, 2015). There have been significant improvements based on these efforts. However, larger part of the feminine gender suffers under the context of being the weaker sex. Little power is given to women on the pretext that it is great responsibility that requires masculinity. The ultimate fight of feminist is power. Feminist hold that women should be given the control that they want, so that they can be able to attain equal reign to men in the society.
Relevance of Feminism
Powerful women including Angela Merkel and Theresa May, show how far women have come from being regarded as housewives to leading countries. Angela Merkel is the Vice Chancellor of Germany since the year 2005 (Mushaben, 2017). This period of time that the Chancellor has held power imperatively shows how far the wants of feminism have come to play. Merkel is equally well educated with a doctorate in quantum chemistry, a field that was earlier unexpected to be studied by women. Theresa May, on the other hand, claims the title of being the first woman to chair the Conservative Party in Britain. She is also the second female prime minister of Britain and has co-founded an organization dedicated to increase the number of women in the Conservative Party. The women, in this context, are a testament that feminism has certainly achieved its relevance.
An exposure of Hollywood on the other hand shows the inequality of the treatment of actors and actresses where men are paid so much higher than women despite the importance of their roles. In a graph showing the highest paid actors and actresses, the highest paid actress is at number fifteen after fourteen actors. Furthermore, a number of workplaces such as the Georgetown University’s Center on Education require that women have a degree higher than that of a man in order to get equal pay (Zillman, 2018). Education is expected to provide equal opportunity for jobs but this example of unequal pay reflects a deliberate disregard of the power that women have.
Conclusion
In conclusion I believe that women are an important part of the society and that feminism activities still need to continue for relevance on women to be truly gained.
- Mushaben, J.M., 2017. Becoming Madam Chancellor: Angela Merkel and the Berlin Republic. Cambridge University Press.
- Segal, L., 2015. Why feminism?: gender, psychology, politics. John Wiley & Sons.
- Zillman, C. (2018). Is That All? Women Need An Extra Academic Degree to Achieve Equal Pay With Men. Fortune. [online] Available at: http://fortune.com/2018/02/27/equal-pay-for-women-degree-education/ [Accessed 18 Mar. 2018].
