Introduction
Feminism seeks to create equity in the social and cultural constructs that perceive the female gender as being inferior to their male counterparts. In the 21st Century, feminists have involved in the fight for equality, not only in the family setup but also in society. A strive for gender equality, hence, exists, with constant improvements being made to eradicate the usurpation of women by men. Intervention by the feminist movements, therefore, seeks to fight for the right of women in social aspects such as work since the women seek equal rights for them to validate their productiveness. Feminists also sensitize women on their attitudes towards work, and this is because women are supposed to strike a balance between professional work and taking care of the family. The feminists seek to enact laws that protect them against sexual harassment, under-representation in political scenes, and also the freedom of choices in issues such as abortion and pregnancy. This paper seeks to evaluate the role of feminism in the 21st Century and highlight the achievements of feminists in the 21st Century as they change the construction of society to accommodate women and take care of the equality of the rights of women in different contexts.
Literature review
Various scholars are involved in the study of the concept of feminism concerning its role in the 21st Century. According to (Millner, Moore & Cole,144), the feminist definition should get interrogated to ascertain whether it is of a broader aspect touching on the issue of validation of women's individualism, which is mistaken for the fight for equal rights. The scholar justifies this claim by mentioning that the last 40 years of the 21st Century have witnessed many ideological
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positions that get analyzed for their effectiveness, and this involves distinguishing between the feminist beliefs and separating them from notions of feminism as a cultural movement. Feminists are driven into activism by the conditions in the society, such as the current trends, which include the women under-representation in positions of power. According to (Hatef,2), feminism gets politicized, and such takes the form of media coverage of female politicians. Media influences the perceptions of the public based on the concepts covered. The media representations of feminist icons and role models create a politicization of the issue. This aspect is such that the public description of feminism makes the underrepresented of women in political roles evident and hence creates a political turmoil resulting from the revolt by feminists. Such media includes TV shows which portray controversial messages about feminism and the opposition of male dominance.
A study of the representation of various concepts from the media results in the challenge of the existing power structures in the society by the feminists in pursuit of their fight for equality. The history of feminism is one that is achievable through the study of the cultural beliefs on the construction of the society such that the community was an oppressive one. Hence, according to (McCarver, 22), the repression of the women made them pursue individual efforts to eliminate the barrier of oppression that faced them. Another scholar (Hirshman,27) provides a different account of feminism such that the scholar mentions that feminism is a result of feminist liberalization, which seeks to reduce the isolation of mothers and to create a strong base for women. The scholar, (Ferguson, 250) provides a different version of feminism by mentioning that feminism originates from a passion for making feminism appeal accessible to as many women as possible. This appeal is intended to attract women who view the political and social practices as one that includes them from participation and one that is judgmental based on gender. The attraction of many women into the feminism affiliation is possible since many aspects of the society are judgmental towards women, depicted by such attributes as under-representation of women in the political docket, and hence this claim is justifiable.
Role of feminism on abortion and pregnancy in the 21st Century
Feminism largely influences the issue of pregnancy and abortion in the 21st Century since women are involved in both. The women in the 21st Century take advantage of feminism such that they use the feminist approach to validate their decision-making when it comes to issues such as abortion and pregnancy. Women have found freedom in the choice of deciding on these aspects in the 21st Century with or without the involvement of men. The feminist perspective of equal rights guarantees that women enjoy the benefit of individual decision-making since women have a significant contribution to decisions involving pregnancy, abortion, and family matters involving motherhood. The abortion debate hence raises a controversy as to whether the legalization of abortion is dependent upon a choice by an individual's right or whether the abortion is one that depends upon the decision made by an individual.
Feminism, hence, arises several issues that extend beyond the aspect of abortion. Such problems include the preference of formula over breastfeeding, screening of the women in the post-natal state, and also childcare. Women hence have the liberty to choose the best techniques that they prefer based on their experiences on the use of these techniques or even on the experiences of the other women. This freedom of choice results from the feminist perspective of the right of autonomous decision-making capability. Feminism, therefore, plays a significant role in ensuring that women celebrate and take pride in their freedom of decision-making in issues regarding children and family in the 21st Century.
Role of feminism on women working professionally in the 21st Century
Women in the 21st Century are no longer get perceived as caretakers of the families. Still, they are also entrusted with the economic value of the generation of money to propel the family forward. This success of women in the working environment is guaranteed by feminism, which ensures the rights of the women to work are respected. According to (Greenfield, 36), women's rights and freedom of choice get based on gender equality, and feminism seeks to protect these factors. Women are allowed to make a choice on their job and career aspirations as they try to find an income to sustain their families based on the feminist option of equal rights of employment and job pursuing. The demands of both the job environment and the family hence act as a stumbling block to the coordination of the two by the women, and therefore this is taken care of by the women's balance of the two concepts. The women face a situation where the family could easily break due to the limited capacity of the woman to satisfy both the job and family matters and also on being labeled by society as being a bad mother.
The exclusion of women from the working environment seeks to justify the low probability of taking care of work and the family as well. Still, feminists in the 21st Century have changed this perception by the advocacy of rights of women to equal employment opportunities as their male counterparts. Hence, equality guarantees that the women make their choices based on their individual preferences of work, and they make this decision based on their capability to handle both the family matters and the work matters as well. Feminism also has advocated for non-discrimination in the job sector in the 21st Century by lifting the labels of gender-specific work and allowing the work to be pursued based on choice and passion.
Role of feminism in sexuality in the 21st Century
Feminists fight for the rights of women on matters regarding the sexuality of women in the 21st Century. The women face discrimination in their places of work. Hence, this calls for the intervention by lawmakers for the enactment of laws that protect women against harassment based on gender and also on other aspects such as race and religious affiliation. Feminists define sexual harassment as any practice that degrades women, from derogatory speech to sexual assault in the form of rape. Feminists fight for the rights of women from sexual harassment, especially in places of work since, in the 21st Century, workplaces have an almost equal representation of men and women. The women face sexual abuse from the men at the places of work, which threaten them with firing, and this intimidates the women into bowing to pressure and accepting the sexual advances. According to (Mousli & Roustang-Stoller, 108), the abuse that women face in their places of work results in self-doubt in the victim on how the society shall perceive them after they blow the whistle. Several questions get mentioned that the victims ask themselves, such as the desire for the victim to get the job driving them into sexual exploitation, the question as to whether the society shall view the victim negatively after that. Another problematic issue to the victim is if the victim allowed for the victimizer to perform the vice unto them, and the question is if the society shall perceive the victim as the one who agreed to the abuse. This fact makes the majority of the victims silent over mistreatment issues for decades. Feminists, therefore, play a pivotal role in eradicating sexual harassment in the workplace and also in society through setting up civil rights to sexual harassment and informing the women on due legal procedures to undertake in case of sexual abuse.
Conclusion
Feminism has played a significant role in the 21st Century by shaping up society's perceptions of women regarding their ability to access equal rights with their male counterparts. The feminist movements of the 21st Century seek to enact policies that protect women's rights since feminists expose discrimination and find solutions for the affected people. Feminists in the 21st Century have been successful in their quest for equality in the workplace such that men and women work in coordination with each other. Hence, both genders have equal rights in issues of work based on flexibility, which takes care of the interests of these people. In the 21st Century, the equal representation of women in the positions of political powers is also part of the success since society is now allowing women to assume positions of leadership and allowing them to come up with policies that pertain to social issues. The women, therefore, can enjoy rights such as individual decision-making on sensitive matters that relate to their involvement, such as abortion and family issues. Thus, the feminist's advocacy for the right to make these choices ensures that the women make a decision that best satisfies them. This advocacy ensures that the oppression that they initially faced is lifted off, and hence the women can enjoy these benefits such as freedom from employment discrimination. Thus, the involvement of women in the issues that improve the situation of the families ensures that feminism is a decisive factor in society. However, toxic feminism should get condemned since it tries to revert the situation and inflict torment on the men.
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