A Feminist Nation

Wednesday, February 9, 2011
A Feminist Nation
Our discussion about feminism in class today got me thinking about how the lives of women have changed over the years. The woman's right movement clashed with the liberal movement. This lead to women acting out in ways never accepted before. They were labeled "sexual deviants" by their elders even got pills to prevent pregnancy. This was an outrage because not only was sex supposed to take place only in marriage, but the purpose of it was to procreate. Woman have become liberated.
Previously we had to obey our husbands no matter how badly they treated us, because without them we would have been old maids with 20 cats working as a secretary if we were lucky. The husbands were out in the public sphere working and interacting with others. Woman were stuck in the private sphere bored to tears. I should not speak for all of them because I am sure many felt very fulfilled cooking, cleaning and providing comfort for their families. I assume that I would be jealous of my husbands adventures outside the home. Yes, being a lady of leisure would be very stress free, very different from the world of woman today, who work full time and continue to do the work a housewife in the 50s did. However when a person is in a state of "idle" for a long period of time, depression is likely to occur.
A lot has changed in the lives of woman, but the double standard still exists. Yesterday at work I learned about the "red lobster whore". A girl I work with apparently sleeps around. Everyone, including myself were gossiping about her lack of virtue. Why is it that we did not bring up the guys she was sleeping with? What about one guy I work with who slept with two people we work with that I know of..why doesn't anyone call him a whore? I do not think the double standard will ever change because it would have already.