Where has feminism helped?

Question

According to Amnesty International violence against women and girls is today's "most pervasive human rights challenge".

General Kofi Annan said: "violence against women is global in reach, and takes place in all societies and cultures."

Statistics show that in some South American countries 23 percent or 1 in 4 women suffer from domestic violence.

The Council of Europe estimates that 1 in 4 European women suffers domestic violence in her lifetime.
In England and Wales an average of two women a week die at the hands of a current or former partner.

In India fear is a constant companion and rape may be faced around any corner day or night.

Where has feminism helped?
Is it time to see this stratagy falls short?

Answer 1

If you want to see where feminism has helped, contrast the lives of women in the U.S. versus women in the middle east. In the U.S. females have the right to vote, property rights, power over her own body and health, the right to her children, etc....basically women in the U.S. have complete autonomy over themselves. In the middle east, women are not treated like people, they generally have no rights. If a woman there is abused she cannot get help, she can lose her children, she is legally not allowed to own property, she IS property (of her husband). Also, she can be thrown in prison for something that a male in her family did.

Because the rights earned for women in the U.S. aren't blatantly obvious, many feel that feminism hasn't helped. Looking at what women around the world don't have demonstrates how feminism HAS helped.

Global feminism is growing greatly (especially with third-wavers), hopefully in 100 years women around the world will have the rights women in the U.S. have.

Answer 2

I can only speak of how it's helped in THIS country which is basically to give women CHOICES, something some other countries seriously lack; it's also created a law making domestic violence a punishable crime (up until the '70's, there was no law); women are less discriminated against in the workplace and in the judicial system.

When's the last time you actually picked up a book?

Women in THIS country have fought for the privilege of being treated as an equal human being - something some other countries seriously lack.

Change is slow and progress is a process, not an event.

Answer 3

Let's plug in "AIDS" instead of violence against women:

According to The WHO, AIDS is today's most pervasive health care epidemic.

General Kofi Annan said: "AIDS is global in reach and takes place in all societies and cultures".

The Council of Europe estimates that 1 in 10 Europeans have the HIV virus.
In England and Wales, an average of 40,000 women a year AND their unborns, will become infected with the HIV virus secondary to sexual activities with heterosexual male partners.

In India, fear is a constant companion of all sexually active people and infection may occur any day or night.

Where has efforts to fight the AIDS epidemic helped?
Is it time to see that efforts to fight AIDS fall short?



Yes, efforts have definately fallen short. We need to fund and fight both battles with more guts, brains, courage and conviction. Both the struggle to fight AIDS and the struggle for women's rights have been hampered by ignorance, superstition, inhuman concepts that some people's lives are not as valuable as are other people's lives, religious disrespect for the dignity and rights of all humans, and Conservative based movements fighting to protect their self-serving agendas that they viciously strive to impose on all others.
http://www.who.int/gender/violence/who_multicountry_study/en/

Answer 4

The answer to that depends on what you think feminism is. Just because something sounds fair and morally supporting doesn't mean it is. Many interest groups and political movements have been blackmail, extortion, deceptive, etc.

In my opinion any word that ends with -ism often has the same result. You get a subjective action that is used to describe extremist idiocy whose purpose is to manipulate ideology into society.

I feel sorry for people who suffer because of criminals, but I wont give up freedom for security. Society will have to work together for that one. I support "an eye for an eye" approach to prosecution as long as there is a solid system of checks and balances for those making judgments. Collaboration is the key to resolving conflict.

Answer 5

It used to be worse. Every woman suffered from domestic violence.At the turn of the last century, there were laws that basically said it is OK to hit your wife as long as it wasn't more than once a week.
Feminism has help in many more ways than just violent acts against them. They are allowed to own property, go to college and have careers. They can leave abusive situations and file for protection with the law.
I find it interesting that today women who do not know how far women have come in just a short time can say feminism hasn't had a large affect not only on their own lives, but women around the world.

Answer 6

Before feminism, in the US:
Women could not vote
women could not own property independent of their husband
In cases of divorce, men got the kids automatically and could prevent the mother from seeing them ever again
there was blatant discrimination in education, so women were not permitted to go to medical school, and all the top colleges barred women
Women were blatantly paid less than men for the same work
Men could commit their wives to insane asylums on their say-so only
Murder of wives by husbands was far more common than it is today--it's one crime that has dramatically fallen since feminism arrived. (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/intimates.htm)
Women could not get bank loans
women could not own credit cards
Birth control was illegal in most areas
Abortion was illegal
Marital rape was legal
Acquaintance rape was de facto legal
Women could not serve on juries so there could be no judgment of peers
Rape is still not treated as seriously as it should be, and there are still a lot of sexist stereotypes that prevent rapists from being punished as they should be, but it is getting better.
Pre-feminism, there was a widespread belief that father-daughter incest was due to female temptresses rather than abusive fathers
There were far fewer opportunities for women to work in high status jobs
It was hard for women to get their own passports--instead, they were part of their husband's passport, so they couldn't travel on their own.
etc.

Answer 7

Women in the US can vote, work, own homes, own cars, and own guns to defend these rights. One of the biggest enemies to feminism is the attitude that doesn't want to see us fight wars in places that oppress women and children (Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam). Until brave men and women put their necks on the line and fight for the freedom of these people, they will remain oppressed. It is truly a blight on the UN that it allows the atrocities to continue in these places, while politicians sit in comfy office chairs and speak of safety, security, and continued sanctions. Sanctions only work to hurt the weak. Warriors (male and female) are needed to further the cause of feminism into the developing nations.

In the developed world, the problem of abuse has continued due to family situations that perpetuate the beliefs of abusers. To be frank, responsible people are breeding at an increasingly lower level. Irresponsible folks are breeding at high levels. Over time the number of irresponsible people is increasing exponentially over the responsible ones. These irresponsible homes are ones where abuse is most prevelant. The battle lies in teaching girls to value themselves at an early age. Showing them that no one has the right to touch them violently is the important thing.

As for rape, in all countries it should not be acceptable for any reason. I believe that execution is the only sure treatment for rapists and molesters. There will be no recidivism.

Answer 8

The feminist strategy falls short in more ways than one. In the beginning there was man; after man came women. Years to come women felt sad and dismayed at her plight; she had only one recourse and that was to go to man and to plead his understanding. After a lengthy battle man understood and gave them basic rights such as the right to vote, own property and be more than just a SAHM/HW. Now feminists have forgotten who gave them those rights; they didn't come from themselves that's for sure. Worse yet, about all of this, is that in their pride/spite they refuse to see the truth. Even worse yet they refuse to accept it. That's how it all came to be; without men they would be nothing more than a bug squished under the toe of a boot.

Answer 9

Feminism brought to the attention of the world the plight of women's suffering internationally. Our voices and political activism tell our elected officials to instigate sanctions against countries that continue to allow this violent treatment of their female polulations. Many of us buy products made by women in third world countries, products which allow them to raise their families' standards of living. We invest in women-owned businesses. We're doctors and nurses and missionaries, taking care of those who would have no care otherwise.

Feminism hasn't failed, sweetie. It's just getting started. You cannot change cultures overnight, or even in one lifetime. Now *you* tell *me* how being submissive helps women internationally. C'mon, I'm dying to hear this.

Answer 10

Obviously, feminism has helped women in the West by allowing them to live as they please. Elsewhere, sadly, it isn't nearly as pervasive as it ought to be. A feminist magazine in Iran has had to hide its office because of bomb threats.