Feminism is a very controversial topic these days, and has been ever since women's rights movements started back in the mid 1800s. Feminism is described as “the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” (““Feminism”). But just like anything else, it has changed over the years. But has it changed for the better or the worst? Let us see what the experts have to say when reviewing post vs modern feminism. 

Feminism when it first started was a huge movement, and the first conversion of women came in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention in New York. Women were fighting against the “cult of womanhood,” which was defined as being a housewife, raising the kids, educating the kids, and that’s about it. Women in the 1800s for the most part were there to be subservient to men, and take care of the house, and come the 1830s, they were sick of it. The women started forming opinions on political issues, and coming together as a gender to talk about it. However, just as women were about to make their demands for change, the Civil War broke out, so those demands had to be put on hold (“The”). The Civil War was fought, and after a bit of recovery, the women’s rights movement poured on again. 

Heading into the 1900s, women started fighting again, and in 1920, they got their goal. Amendment number 19 gives women the right to vote. They immediately started working on their next goals, but World War II as well as the Red Scare, the communist hunt after World War II, halted these progressions.  However, as the 1960s proved to be the start of a prosperous time, women’s rights movements as well as other things started moving forward. Soon thereafter, the feminists found their next goal. A “normalcy of body, gender, and sexuality” (He). It was during this time period that feminism was coined by a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and Colombia University (He). So the women of the 1900s carried on the goals of the women in the 1800s, but let us see if the current day feminists carry on the goals of the amazing feminists in the past.

Feminists have been arguing for even wages since the beginning of time, and will probably never stop fighting for it. However in a study conducted by google to see if they were underpaying women,  “it found, to the surprise of just about everyone, that men were paid less money than women for doing similar work” (Wakabayashi). This led to a pay raise for men, which of course, angered the feminists of today. The women were getting paid more, and were mad that their pay was being equalized. Which by doing that would be closing the wage gap, hence gender equality. Another example of feminist craze is during in Michigan when men tried to meet for a men’s rights conference, the feminists called it “an evil empire” (Serwer). The meeting was to discuss men’s rights in court over custody of children, and how boys are falling behind in education now. Serwer writes, “They worry about high unemployment among men and the fact that men are more likely to commit suicide. They argue that domestic and sexual violence against men is underplayed by the media, and that men are unfairly stereotyped as violent sexual predators. These are all fruits of a society where women are valued and protected, while men are not” (Serwer).  These are all issues that are very true, and the media does play a massive role in it. One thing that may not be known about rape cases is that 1 out of every 10 cases is a man (Victims). But no one ever worries about the men, only the women. Another example of the media underplaying certain things is when it comes to cases dealing with domestic abuse. Domestic abuse is not limited to physical abuse, it can be mental abuse as well. Out of 3 cases, one of those is a man being abused. But this is looked over, as it’s only about the true victims, the women. And feminists aren’t shy about sharing that fact either. According to Lawrence Robinson and Jeanne Segal, “men are often reluctant to report abuse because they feel embarrassed, fear they won’t be believed, or are scared that their partner will take revenge” (“Help”). Cases against men in most cases do not go their way. And these days, women can actually rape a man, then sue him for child support (“State”). That is a legitimate case. It just so happens that this time, the court ruled against what the state was trying to do, which was protecting these men from this outcome. My final example is going all the way back to the core of feminist belief, that genders should be treated equally. If someone was going to attack you, you should obviously defend yourself from such attacks, even if it means hitting back. From a young age, men are taught that you don’t hit girls, later on as the grow, that becomes women. But if a woman was to attack a man, that would mean I can not hit back, and that would nullify gender equality. In an article written by Alexx Dupri, he says “Most women take a zero tolerance stance on men hitting women. Though there might be an allowance for self-defense, ‘no matter what she did, he should have kept his hands to himself’ seems to be the prevailing motto” (Dupri). It is believed that women would find this to be true, as I’m sure most would readily verify. However, Dupri goes on to talk about a story he read. He writes, “Fox news reports that police arrived to the scene to find the boyfriend semi-conscious and bleeding on the ground. He required stitches. She alleges her violence came after she was choked, though there was no evidence of that claim. Witnesses say the result of their fight looked like a ‘murder [scene].’ Another reports, ‘He wasn’t moving. He had two shoes on top of him like she kicked him out of the apartment and threw the shoes’” (Dupri). She played as the victim and tried to put it on him, even though this was found void. According to a Penn State professor, every man has a 28% chance of being hit by a woman in his life. “Maybe it’s because men, generally speaking, are bigger and stronger, and we assume there’s a real limit to the physical damage women could actually inflict. We don’t picture these scuffles resulting in bloody noses and black eyes or a trip to the police station,” (Dupri) says this professor. It seems to me that these days, feminists are wanting equality with given rights, and they play the victims of most cases. Post era feminists would not be happy with modern feminism. What feminists fight for now is practically the opposite of what feminists fought for in the past. They have become a group of hypocrites, crying out for equality and complaining for special treatment.

Feminists these days has a negative connotation to it, but if this was an older time, this wouldn’t be the case. However feminists these days do not follow the same goal that they originally set out for themselves. Now they play that they are the ones being violated constantly, and the media has a constant play in that. But however, the feminist movement has and is a very powerful movement throughout any time period, and there have been many victories for women as time goes on.

Works Cited

Dupri, Alexx. “REAL TALK: Should Women Who Hit Men Be Prosecuted? And Should Men Hit Them Back?” 99.3-105.7 Kiss FM, 1 July 2019, kissrichmond.com/1776082/real-talk-should-women-who-hit-men-be-prosecuted-and-should-men-hit-them-back-video/.

“Feminism.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/feminism.

He, Jocy. “Feminism from the 1900s to the Modern Day.” The Epic, lhsepic.com/2622/in-depth/feminism-from-the-1900s-to-the-modern-day/.

“Help for Men Who Are Being Abused.” HelpGuide.org, 22 Oct. 2019, www.helpguide.org/articles/abuse/help-for-men-who-are-being-abused.htm.

Serwer, Adam. “Men's Rights Conference Takes Aim at Feminism.” MSNBC, NBCUniversal News Group, 28 June 2014, www.msnbc.com/msnbc/mens-rights-conference-feminism.

“State EX Rel. Hermesmann v. Seyer.” Justia Law, law.justia.com/cases/kansas/supreme-court/1993/67-978-3.html./

“The Women's Rights Movement, 1848–1920: US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives.” The Women's Rights Movement, 1848-1920 | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives, history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/WIC/Historical-Essays/No-Lady/Womens-Rights/.

“Victims of Sexual Violence: Statistics.” RAINN, www.rainn.org/statistics/victims-sexual-violence.

Wakabayashi, Daisuke. “Google Finds It's Underpaying Many Men as It Addresses Wage Equity.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/04/technology/google-gender-pay-gap.html.