Has the feminist movement gone too far?

Has the feminist movement gone too far?

Or are we stuck between two extremely harsh extremes?
There are two extremes facing the feminist movement, the extremes being at both ends of the scale, has it gone too far or not far enough? Feminism is advocating social, political and all other rights of women to be equal to those of men. History fought for women to be able to obtain equal job opportunities and pay as men. But it has ended in everyone being confused about society's gender roles?

If a woman is doing the same job equal to a man they should be getting paid the same amount, which in some cases has been fulfilled. However on average a woman earns approximately two thirds less than a male. Women are also being overlooked for top positions due to them being female. One department where it is fair is the Education Department, as approximately 70% of the employees are female, teachers have the strength to enforce that there is equal pay for all in the occupation.

One example of feminism not going far enough is the fact that many social clubs may not be playing it fairly. For example many golf-clubs have both women and men paying members but only the men have the right to vote for decisions made within the club. Is it because men believe women's opinions don't count? Or is it to deter women from joining or still being the dominating sex? All members of any club should have the same voting right, regardless of race, age sex or religious persuasion.

Where are the rules defined? Is there a hidden guideline we all should be following? Can feminism go too far? Apparently so. If a group of business women decide to hold a luncheon it can be titled "Women's Lunch" but if a group of business men decided to hold the same, they cannot call it a "Men's Lunch".
Health clubs and gyms also show discrimination on the same level, there are many "Women Only" gyms popping up all over the place, but there isn't "Men Only" gyms, mostly because they are not allowed, and if one were to open they would be scrutinised. Many clubs have to accept both sexes, but increasingly more health clubs are developing and they are female only! At mixed gyms women are allowed to use both the men's gym and the woman's but men can only use the men's gym.
Shouldn't men have the same rights as women? In rebuttal it seems that woman have their own personal gyms as they are intimidated by men, and feel uncomfortable exercising in a man's environment. Don't men feel like this? Seems to me that there are double standards, in the sense that the treatment of one race is different to another in terms of health clubs and what they can and can't title as men or women's only. Has this become hypocritical, only females can have single gender clubs. We don't want men to have their men's groups, but we can have a girls one!

Women in politics have been tough and harshly scrutinised, far more severely than men. America Hillary Clinton took a rather large step for females when she decided to run for President of the United States of America. Equality is not shown with the recent uproar over what *Therese Rein, Kevin Rudd's wife wears! What has that got to do with anything? The scrutiny should be directed at Rudd only and I'm sure what colour and type of suit his wife wears doesn't affect how he runs our country. *

Many men now refer to their mother or wife as the "boss", a massive change to when the eldest man was the "boss" of the household, regardless of whether he was younger than his mother. It seems that the woman, as mothers, now make the majority of the decisions in the households. As females we know what we want, but what about men? Where do they fit now? Many of us don't know, how will our daughters know? Many men don't know where they stand. They are too scared to exclude females in their activities, and most think they have to ask their wife or girlfriend first before participating. Is the power equal now or have the scales tipped too far in many areas?

It is confusing! I'm sure that as a woman if I am women confused, men are overly confused. What are they to think? Is this an issue of sexism? How can a woman's only lunch be called "Women's Lunch" but a men's can't? Is this sexism towards the male race?

As tradition and to show respect it was seen that men were to open the door for women, now that has gone out the window, it is the tradition not the respect. Most woman feel honored if a door is opened for them, but some feel completely the opposite. The feminist movement has produced some dispute where women called 'feminists' have said they don't wish for doors to be opened for them anymore. Men said that they have been verbally abused when they held the door for a woman. This makes it hard for men to know when to offer help and when not to.
Another tradition which we have overcome is that once men only shook hands with other men, now it is acceptable for women to shake hands with both sexes. Why can some traditions become okay for both men and woman but it is a struggle to define others.

If there is a normal behaviour for both sexes needs to be defined. The world of unknown is confusing all. It doesn't seem as if we are equal especially when boys and girls are always compared, whether it is at school, work or in sporting events. Positive action needs to be set up to overcome the history and behaviour or discrimination will continue to be necessary until that is, of course, equality has been achieved, and we are quite a long way from that. Women have definitely been handed greater opportunities; which has been taken too far or not far enough. When will equal be achieved?


 

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