Why being a feminist is so important these days?

Question

Why being a housewife and rearing children becomes so unpopular and resented by today's women? What is wrong with it, actually? Do feminists feel really fulfilled emotionally by choosing careers over children and dominating the household? Would a muscular, handsome, yet subservient male give you a lasting happiness?

Feminism movement has embetter the way women are treated compared to, say, 50 years ago. Yet feminists demands and complains are louder than ever these days. What are really the feminists objective? Or do feminists really know what are they doing? is the pursuit of happiness in their agenda? Or just some political dogmas devoid of purpose?

Answer 1

You question is one example of why feminism is important.

There are still a LOT of people who just don't get the concept: women are human beings; they have the right to decide what they want to do with their lives; they are not properly seen or treated as slaves.

Most women work because they have to; many would love to be at home with their children, but not if their kids would starve.

Women who want to work outside the home should have the right to do so; what's it to you?

Many women find being at home, and not having work too limited to them.

Let me ask you, why is being a house-husband and rearing children so unpopular and resented by men? What is wrong with it, actually?

Do men really feel fulfilled emotionally by choosing careers over children the household?

Dunno what you're babbling about with the "dominating the household" bit. Which is it; should women have jobs, or should they run the household?

Subservient male?

Some women prefer subservient men, but most don't.

As I say, the misconceptions in your question prove the need for feminism.

If more people had a clue, feminists wouldn't have to keep harping on it, and we could move on.

Answer 2

Why is this all about the power struggle? 1) Being a housewife and rearing children is so unpopular because out culture doesn't give it the value it deserves. My mother was a housewife and she was the most profound influence on my life. Does being a housewife make a person devoid of ambition, personality or autonomy? Absolutely not. Does being a housewife make a feminist any less feminist? Nope. Does being a housewife make a woman subservient to her husband? No. (I must add, though, that my mother often said how much she despised asking my father for money and that she dreamed of owning her own buisiness) The only thing that's 'wrong' with being a housewife/mother is that a person will get absolutely no credit for it. 2) Yes, many feminists do feel emotionally fulfilled by choosing career over children. Many more feminists feel fulfilled because their ideologies don't force them to make the choice between family and career. And again, this is not about domination. Feminist women want utmost equality - if a man sees a woman who holds herself to equal standards and puts herself on equal footing with him as domineering, perhaps he has some personal issues that he needs to work out before getting into a relationship ... 3) No - a muscular, handsome and yet subservient male would not give me lasting happiness ( although passing happiness, perhaps ... -winkwink-), but neither would becoming subservient myself. I would abhor a life of domesticity (but that's just my personality. I'm in college right now, pursuing a scientific career, and I love it. I do plan to adopt a little girl once I've fully grounded myself in my career - and she can come on research trips with me ...) .... especially if forced into 'submission' to my husband(most women would hate being thrown into a marraige with a domineering husband).


Anyways, in conclusion - being a feminist is so incredibly important these days because women are still asked to choose between career and family!!

Answer 3

Well first off -- I consider myself a feminist and I never thought there was anything wrong with being a housewife and rearing children, if that is what a women chooses to do. Being a feminist is about having choices and deciding what will fulfill you emotionally. It doesn't matter to me what it is, raising children, advancing in a career or balancing both. But a women should not be expected to conform to any one persons definition of female.
Secondly, I would not want a subservient male (muscular and handsome or not) I want a partner, a lover and a friend.

I think if you look past the negative propaganda of what makes a feminist you will see the majority are just normal people who want equality and a world free of stereotyping.

Answer 4

Being a feminist doesn't mean you have to have a career instead of staying home with the kids. It means you want it to be your choice. It doesn't matter what the job is, if you're forced into it instead of choosing it, it becomes a burden. For most of history, the only "appropriate" role for a woman was housewife and child-rearer. There's no shame in those roles; for society to function, they have to be filled by somebody. But when that's the only role available to you, it starts to feel like, well... a trap. Is it any wonder, then, that once other options opened up, many women fled that trap for the perceived "freedom" that men seemed to have in the world of careers and choice?

Now, we're starting to see the situation settle some from that early backlash. Some women have found that yes, they're quite happy with careers. Others are finding that, really, they prefer being homemakers. The difference is in who chooses: the woman herself, or the society around her?

Another change that has to occur, but hasn't yet, is eliminating the concept of "women's work." For (again) most of history, it made perfectly good biological sense for the woman to stay home and the man to bring home the bacon. That's no longer the case. Thanks to a technological society that relies more on machines than physical strength, there are very few jobs that couldn't be done just as well by women as by men. Also, thanks to a society that is much healthier and safer than ever before (it really is. Don't believe me? Read history.), there's no longer the need to worry about protecting the (biologically) less-expendable sex. So the rational reasons behind "women's work" have been eliminated. What's left are unproven, speculative theories about who's better "suited" for certain roles, theories which even if they were proven true would resolve nothing because they deal with generalizations, not individuals. For instance: women, as a whole, may be more nurturing than men. Sure, ok, for the sake of argument I'll allow it. That doesn't mean that *I* am more nurturing than *you.* Generalizations only track trends; you cannot use them to assess a real person.

Am I getting off-topic? Yeah, a little, but I'm bringing it back now. My point is that it's necessary to make it appropriate for either men or women to perform any type of work, and here's why. Part of the answer to your question is that there is a stigma associated with "women's work" that, yes, many women resent. It is considered (to use your word) a subservient role, a weaker role. People acknowledge its importance, but don't respect it. For proof of this: what would you think of a man if he told you he had no job, just stayed home with the kids all day and cleaned the house, while expecting his wife to earn a living? Your immediate reaction would probably be pretty harsh. So then ask yourself: if it's not ok for a man to be in that position... why is it ok for a woman to be? What makes you think she wants to do a job that gains her no respect, no prestige? Why would she want to be economically helpless, dependent on someone else's efforts for her livelihood?

There is nothing wrong with domesticity. But when there is that kind of stigma attached - that you're doing a job that would be "below" a man's dignity, but it's ok for you because you're "just a woman" - yeah, it's going to be unpopular and resented. Even if the reality doesn't match the stigma, the stigma is still there.

(As for the muscular, handsome, subservient male giving lasting happiness... I don't know. Would a trim, attractive, subservient female give *you* lasting happiness? It would probably on whether or not you yourself are a dominant personality type (and, hopefully, on some factors other than appearance.) If the person you're asking is a dominant woman, and she likes muscular men... sure, why not?)

Answer 5

Feminism is a description of an ideology about women & life choices. So there are plenty of stay-at-home moms who are feminists just like there are women who work outside the home who are not.

While there are people who have issues of control & domination, most people want to share their home & professional lives with others. I have never had the desire to be a stay at home mom & I have friends who never imagined being anything else and there is no resentment over the choices made, only towards the social structure that makes it difficult to do either. There is a lack of support of parenthood as well as towards healthy work generally in this culture & both genders are affected.

For instance, there may be men who want to stay at home and be the "dominant" force in the lives of their children... however ironically, the voices of anti-feminist individuals never seem to speak to them. Why are men forced to work if they wish to show their sons how to be men on a full time basis? Do all men feel emotionally fulfilled by their jobs? Wouldn't they feel rewarded when their spouses return home knowing that they have taken care of all the household needs? Or would they rather be a cog in the wheel of big business?

It has been my experience that many talk about the rewards of being a homemaker, while only making it appropriate for half of the population. How do you know about the sacrifices that it may take to be a full time homemaker if you have never done it?

So in answer to your question: it is important to be a feminist these days to continue to strive for a society that does not limit or punish the life choices of the individual based on their biological identities. So that all can choose to be what they feel fits their needs for fulfillment & happiness.

Answer 6

Feminism is and always has been about creating choices for women nothing more, nothing less. Our society makes it extremely difficult to be all the things a woman might have as her potential. I am a wife, a mother, a search editor, and a person always working on a creative project; the balancing act of these things is quite challenging. This is the position that this "family values" society puts us women in today when you are a "stay at home mom" you help in creating the wage gap and the hiring gap that women who like and choose careers over children are forced to endure. When you are a mom that works full time you long to be with you children while someone else is raising them and no one really has children to have someone else raise them. I have stayed home for almost four years with my children, but now we need the extra income, and I am lucky enough to have a flexible schedule and can work from home any day I want or need to...this is still very rare though. There is a new and growing feminist movement and within it an organization called MomsRising that is working toward more part-time flexible hours for families; now this is feminism in action. Feminism is important today because we need to address the both the family and career needs of women in our "family values society"

Answer 7

i'm a pupil in feminist discourse and easily cutting-edge feminists believe that being a SAHM is artwork. Feminists are frightened that the artwork and contributions of mothers staying at homestead isn't purely grossly under favored yet underpaid and in many circumstances mischaracterized as lazy or insignificant by using society as an entire. Feminists believe that raising a infant is a shared duty and if a guy comes to a decision to be a SAHD then he could be regarded upon the comparable as a woman who made the comparable decision. Feminists have fought for women human beings to be waiting to have a decision of no count if or no longer they like to artwork outdoors or in the homestead, no longer approximately which option is better.

Answer 8

I think a mix of domestic and work life is good for men and women. Its healthy, productive and no one misses out on either of the two worlds. I want a career and to have a home and raise a family. For now establishing a good career comes first, then, when my partner and I can afford it, we'll consider bringing the family in.
I was very pro fem, still hold some views, but to be honest I really believe in sharing certain decisions with my partner. We also share housework, which is nice!

Answer 9

Women today do not resent being homemakers or housewives. They only resented not having a choice with what to do with their lives in decades past.

Do men who work choose careers over children, like you say women do?

I think a better question is "Why is being a househusband and rearing children so unpopular and resented by today's men?" If there is inherent value in something, both sexes should be fighting over it.

Answer 10

Feminists are not against traditional roles however they believe that women should have a choice of whether they want to do this or pursue another avenue with their lives. There are feminists who are homemakers and mothers and member of the PTA. You question is just a broad sweeping generalization of what you think feminism is and that is incorrect. You are stereotyping the idea of feminist. Femism is about equality for everyone.
Third-wave feminism seeks to challenge or avoid what it deems the second wave's "essentialist" definitions of femininity, which (according to the third wave) often assumed a universal female identity and over-emphasized the experiences of upper middle class white women. A post-structuralist interpretation of gender and sexuality is also central to much of the third wave and helps to account for its heightened emphasis on the discursive power and fundamental ambiguity inherent in all gender terms and categories. Third wave theory usually encompasses queer theory, women-of-color consciousness, post-colonial theory, critical theory, transnationalism, ecofeminism, and new feminist theory.

Third wave feminists often focus on "micropolitics," writing about forms of gender expression and representation that are less explicitly political than their predecessors. They also challenged the second wave's paradigm as to what is, or is not, good for females.