Are women happier today post feminism?

Question

So women are finally finding equality. Well.. in some countries at least.. but has it made a positive difference or are we still somewhere along the line towards "redemption and equality"?

It was reported just today that in 5 major citys in America, women junior recruits are being paid on average 17% salary than their male counterparts. This includes New York, Chicago and a few other major cities. A good thing??

Socially, women are enjoying much greater freedoms, owning property having independent lives, travelling and choosing their direction in life... but is that the case for all women or just the lucky "rich kid" types..

Socially, the ills.. highest divorce rates in history, highest levels of sexually transmitted diseases in history, record levels of youth suicide and teen pregnancy.. not to mention bastardry (children raised without fathers- 70% likley to have unstable lives)..

So are things better???

please don't answer with the sexist stereotype that "A MAN" is dominant and expects you to cook and clean.. not one of my ex gf have EVER cooked or cleaned.. not ONCE!! EVER!!!! So please feminists don't even mention that as a defence.. AND most men dont pick girls up in bars either.. its usually the female's choice since most bars make sure the odds are that way.. AND my ex gf of 5 years got rich with my help then simply dumped me coz she could finally meet a hunky boy that she always dreamt of.. HOW PATHETIC.. and this is actually common of women behaviour these days.. it is typical for a woman to "upgrade" as her life improves.. I think die hard feminists and lesbians need to realise MOST men.. are lovely hardworking and very caring individuals with hearts of gold.. without whom you wouldn't have roads & dams built, trains to ride and the list of male acheivments goes on and on.. why women would want to perform the jobs men died doing instead of raising a family is beyond me!

FURTHERMORE.. note how every time a feminist responds.. it is with anger.. as though they speak for all women.. pfft.. for starters lesbians and bi-sexual women rate beneath pure straight women as far as judging what's best for women.. this is because lesbians and bi-sexual women are A MINORITY WITH EXTREME LIFESTYLES.. you do not represent the good silent majority at ALL. Yet you always speak the loudest on issues of feminism.. why is it the respondants here who seem absolutely lovely.. one made my heart melt to read her.. and yet.. THEY AGREE WITH ME!! And they are 100% women females.. not lesbians living drug fueled alternative lifestyles .. if everyone lived like that we'd be extinct within two generations! Sure it's fine to have minorities.. but lesbians speak far to loudly on women rights issues.. and yet they mostly live alternate lifestyles deemed unproductive and unpopular by the majority..

I'm sure lesbians are VERY happy with feminism.. my question is are WOMEN happy!!

TERA you raise one of the GREATEST misconceptions of all times.. that MAN is responsible..

Yeah.. yet the most powerful nation on the planet is run by a woman.. THE QUEEN... who totally supported the Iraq war.. balls and all!!!

We also forget that women actually do demand expensive diamond rings.. which some poor african died to cut out the ground while wars are raging in Sierra Leone.. yet I have now dumped two girls for demanding I buy them very expensive diamond rings.. which I've refused to do!

Woman love luxury and comfort more than man.. most males do not care if they sit on a pile of rocks or a lounge.. woman however do care.. that's why they "upgrade" (see above) personally.. I think your point is a total misconception that males are alone responsible..woman when they do have power like now.. have done NOTHING to the point that since feminism the planet has deteriorated completely and now we have consumer based oil wars.. so women can have their vibrators & makeup!

Lioness.. I respect your point strongly.. I am definatly NOT in favor of strong Islamic and muslim customs.. sorry if i offend.. but I do agree with a woman ever being harmed for starters.. and I think woman should have the same freedoms as men, but maybe different priorities.. coz we need each other..

Peacefulfruit.. u made my heart melt :-)

I think the point u raised about women becoming domineering is a result of past experiences.. my view is the more failed relationships u have, the more likley u are to become agressive, demanding and a poor partner.. this is why i believe it is better not to sleep around and to respect marriage one day.. if u want kids and a family that is.. i dated girls with no prior partners.. they were all sweet as pie, innocent and lovely.. i dated girls with 20,30,50 past lovers.. and the more they had.. the more agro and nasty they seemed to be.. high maintenance the more past failed partners i've found..

many now fill internet dating sites

important corrention.. I do NOT agree with women ever being harmed... phew..

Rovale.. you might be right that woman are generally happier.. BUT does that mean it is right?

Men are definately miserable.. that's guaranteed.. children are less cared for.. and we're yet to see what the future will bring..

BUt having said that.. you are right.. women in the past did face dreadful existances.. where many would have made little more than sex servants and houskeepers to their male partner.. this is very true.. BUT inspite of this.. have women now taken it a bit too far the other way.. where it is now becoming worse than before.. I guess this is more my question.. but excellent well based point.. u can't beat info from the oldies..

Mafiagirl.. you are a jetsetting model.. you hardly represent the lifestyle of the average woman.. so I'm SURE you are happy with your freedom..

being born beautiful and being willing to exploit that is a wonderful thing isn't it.. it's girls like YOU who make the worst role models for all woman and thus your response reflects what is furthest from the truth! your own skewed reality based on your own highly immoral lifestyle.. and job.. yeah.. i'm very sure you like your freedom.. how many hearts did you break this week??

Rio.. I think you're right.. the 70's were te haydays for women.. globally the western world was thriving and technology and the pace of life was at a stage where you left work early unquestioned and could get away with a lot more fun.. the feminist era had begun and was in full swing by the 70's and in a way the stereotype image of the male stud was fermented in those days.. as i recall women throwing themselves at men enjoying their first true taste of freedom and the ambitions at the time were sky high.. the gay movement was gaining momentum.. and most modern issues had not yet been raised.. the controceptive pill had also gained widespread daily adoption and women were living it up like never before..

now.. 30 years on.. many of those women are filling up singles dating sites.. still single at 40.. many have married and divorced.. and formed the horrendous social statistics we've had throughout the past 15 years.. including abnormaly low birthrates..

Answer 1

Things are not better, but are getting worse. Many, not all, women are having problems letting their husband take the lead in their household because they feel that they don't want to take a chance with being dominated. The problem with that is many of these husband and getting fed up with THEIR domineering wives and are leaving.

Also, while I definitely am not against women working especially since I work, myself, women are spending more time at work which means less time at home. Many of us are guilty of doing to our husbands and children what we have been accusing them of doing to us for centuries - neglecting them. No doubt all of these along with other social ills are why many families are not making it today.

Answer 2

I think feminism in itself won't make staunch feminists happy, one needs to look deeper and find out why feminism first came to be. What caused some women to turn to feminism? In the 1950's the war was over, the boys were home, the restrictions were lifted, and the economy was reviving. Women were given another purpose in life; to find a husband. The terrible loss of male lives during the war left a population disparity between the sexes that was all too real. Good Housekeeping (magazine) frantically warned women that 1 in 7 of them would be forced to live alone all her life. There was a flood of women's magazines that doled out advice on how good ol' Rosie could "reinvent" herself in order to attract a husband. They set impossibly high standards, with advertisements spotlighting the ironic combination of glamour in an everyday household setting. The ultimate example of this newly found, and strongly forced, image of femininity is in the Mrs. America pageant. Mrs. America was intended to represent the pinnacle of domestic life and married bliss. The contest included activities such as mopping the floor and making a perfectly taut bed. All of this was done, of course, in a full New Look skirt atop stiletto heels. This was the decade of the fashionable, glamorous homemaker. Women began baking apple pies and vacuuming the house in heels, dress and fully made up faces. Fortunately women woke up and realised that there is more to life than being the maid who sleeps with the boss (man of the house), so women evolved yet again into the strong and independent women you see today. Women are constantly evolving. God bless women!

Answer 3

I don't really think you have a handle on this at all hon. I've always enjoyed greater freedom because no man pushed me around ever. And that is available to poor women and rich ones.....I don't think feminism is really about sleeping around for most of us. So, the effects of those doing that are the ones contributing to social ills, as you put it. Young girls have a misconception that acting like a man is freeing, however they learn differently after they get hurt by doing that. Feminism is very freeing, because it does not define a woman as property(chattel) not because we can hang out in bars and pick up men.

I think it's interesting that the two answers below me speak of higher depression rates in women, divorce rates etc. Actually depression is equal sex-wise and more reported since we have defined it as a "disease" . While divorce may seem distasteful to men of a certain age, there is a certain attitude that accompanies women today which was not present in the 1950's, and that is....I won't put up with a man's >?"+ anymore! It was an illusion that every little Maxwell housewife was happy with her new vacuum cleaner and spatula. There was a whole generation of women that were asleep and at a loss for contributing to society. Without women like Amelia Earhart and Marie Currie, we would have no examples of women who had a mission and excelled. Cleaning house for 60 years is not all that rewarding guys......

you sound pretty angry yourself and certainly accusatory. If you got dumped, join the human race, we've all been there. It's a risk everyone takes. And calling everyone derogatory names or assuming that we are all "lesbians" is pretty pathetic. I am not a lesbian and I still don't take crap from men because I am equal and I don't need a father figure to rule my world. I took care of my kids for many years and my house and worked and mowed the lawn too, as most women do, so your information is pure nonsense!

Answer 4

Both my mother and mother-in-law lived through the 1950s and have said that women on average were NOT happier than they are today. Ever hear the jokes about the drunk housewife? That was a common problem. I know people who used to find their mothers totally sloshed by the time they came home from school. This "traditional family" as portrayed in TV shows like "Leave It To Beaver" and "Ozzie And Harriet" were not the least bit realistic. I think many people will tell you that when their fathers came home from work, they were not nearly as cheerful as Ward Cleaver. Many men hated their jobs but had to work long hours because their families depended on their incomes. Because they were gone so much, a lot of children grew up barely knowing their fathers. Many companies wouldn't hire women, especially if they were married. A lot of those jobs did have age restrictions. Women had to quit once they got married or when they reached their early 30s, whichever came first. My mother had to give up a job when she got married because the company didn't want married women.

Answer 5

This forum is FULL of whingeing men blaming feminists for every uninspiring detail of their misery. It's not OUR fault they can't get laid.

The 70s were the heady days of feminism. We've had 30 good years of breaking out of the rigid conformity that today's happy housewives will be spared. A lot of the now-divorced feminists were married to men who turned into perpetually irritable, tightfisted husbands like their fathers. The blokes we get, posting their bile in this category, are the dregs nobody seems to have bothered to house-train and as nobody wants them, everybody here endures their bitterness. Many of the women here are amazingly understanding and kind, so I wouldn't blame anybody who came here looking for a little affection. Otherwise it would be back to the pornographic films, misogyny and despair.

Answer 6

Having lived through the beginning of the current form of feminism, I can assure you that women in the 50's and 60's were very much happier than today's women, especially feminist women.

Even today, non-feminist women are much happier than feminist women. For proof, check out the answers here from self-described feminists against those of self-described non-feminists. Which seems happier, not to forget, saner?

Answer 7

Women were happier in the 1950's than they are today.

That statement I just made can also be backed up with studies and statistics. I recall reading in a psychology textbook that women are less happier than they were 50-60 years ago due to enduring more stress of being out in the workforce. More women are in the workforce right alongside men, as you already know. Rates for the diagnoses of depression and anxiety for women has increased dramatically since 50-60 years ago.

Women and feminists have also made it routine to whine, complain, and blame men more than they did 50-60 years ago. Hence, women are less "satisfied" than they were back then.

Feminists often claim that women in the 1950's were "oppressed"... look at shows and documentaries from the 1950's -- did housewives really look "oppressed"? Most women enjoyed their motherly duties and enjoyed taking care of the children and their husbands, as their husbands took care of them. Women had the right to vote, and women had the right to pursue careers outside of the home. Many women took up jobs as operators, nurses, teachers, and even built tanks and bomber planes while the men were off to war. The notion that women didn't have the choice to pursue careers outside of the home is a feminist lie.

The following social problems have increased since the 1960's, after 2nd-wave feminism arrived and all but destroyed the traditional nuclear family structure:

Single-parent families
Divorce rates
Crime & Gang activity
High School Drop-out rates
Teenage pregnancies
Drug-use amongst minors

This can all be traced to the dissolution of the traditional family structure, which can be linked directly to 2nd-wave feminism.

Answer 8

I believe women were at their very happiest in the 70's, when second-wave feminism was just kicking off and was respected by politicians in the media. Then the backlash started and resentment built up.

Answer 9

Absolutely. . .I am so glad to have been born in the United States and have the freedoms that I have. I don't think you've looked into the lives of females just less than 100 years ago. The treatment of women has improved so much more than you mention. I'm so glad that some man does not have the right to stone me, throw gasoline on me and light me on fire, beat me or anything else. I don't have to get married, have countless children, cook and clean, and do it all without a word. I have the right to say NO. I have the right to be who I want to be and I can do it with dignity and without the consent of a man. You have got to be kidding. . .Look how women are treated all over the world today. How does one human being treat another like that? How can we expect the world to be a better place when that thinking is tolerated?
I was always just glad that I didn't have to be the Beaver's mother. . .but it's so much more. . .

Answer 10

I don't see how they could be. This feminism, equal rights, womens lib crap, has been the ruination of our country. Look at the divorce rate, look at all the kids that have grown up to be drug addicts and criminals in prison in large part because mommy wants to wear the pants and make money so she can have her precious new cars and high dollar houses, and all sorts of garbage women want these days. With no regards for Gods word and his perfect example of how we are suppose to live, how can anyone be happy? Moving forward with all that fem. lib. crap? more like falling backwards, way backwards.