jasmina22
24.10.03, 21:02
oto mniej więcej rezultat końcowy lekcji , w której niebagatelną rolę
odegrało forum GW Feminizm . Po przeczytaniu wielu wątków wspomnianego forum
ze szczególną rekomendacją z mojej strony dla wyróżniających się
dyskutantów ,młodzi przeprowadzili b.burzliwa dyskusję , i podpierając sie
dodatkowymi źródłami zaprezentowali co następuje :
A w przyszłym tygodniu odpytuję na oceny z feminizmu po ang , jak myślicie
kto ma szanse na bdb ? :)
Feminism is relatively difficult to define, both because of the breadth of
the movement, which includes a wide diversity of views and some vigorous
internal debate, and because it is so frequently caricatured by its
opponents. A fair description might be that it is a movement committed to the
pursuit of equality, notably but not exclusively sexual equality, based on an
analysis of inequality which roots it in the social transformation of sex
(the real, biological differences between men and women) into gender (the
various ways in which men and women are perceived as having different
abilities and social roles), and the ways in which gender is implicated in
unequal power relationships between men and women in many areas of life. The
pursuit of equality is central to feminism; to put it another way, one can be
anti-racist without being feminist, but one cannot be feminist without being
anti-racist. Both the forms of ‘equality’ which feminists have pursued and
the analysis of ‘inequality’ which it offers have come in for sustained
criticism.
pros
cons
Feminism has no more battles left to fight. Victories such as gaining the
vote, the right to an abortion and the right to equal pay were important and
worth winning. But given that sexual equality is now - rightly - enshrined
and protected in law, there is nothing left for the feminist movement to do
in most western countries, although of course it may still be useful in parts
of the world where women still lack basic democratic and other rights.
pro
Feminism has plenty more to achieve. In the UK, on average women earn 82%
of men’s hourly wage; female graduates earn 19% less than their male
counterparts; female pensioners live on 53% of the income of male pensioners.
Also in the UK, one in four women suffers domestic violence, and an increase
in the reporting of rape in the last thirty years has gone alongside a
threefold drop in conviction rates. Worldwide, women do two-thirds of all
work, earn one-tenth of all income and own one-hundredth of all property. Two-
thirds of the world’s illiterate people are women. 300 million women have no
access to contraception. More than 80% of the world’s 50 million refugees and
displaced people are women and children. Every year, 2 million girls under 16
are coerced, abducted or trafficked into the sex industry. These are all real
problems, on which feminists continue to campaign - as they should.
con
Feminism promotes an unnatural equality between the sexes. There is nothing
wrong with sex-role differentiation. Men and women are biologically
different, and these differences are what have led to women’s dominance of
the private sphere, home life and childrearing, and men’s dominance of public
life, the workplace and political authority. All of these are essential to a
functional society, and the division of labour on the basis of sex is an
entirely sensible principle of social order. There is a distinction between
enshrining equality of pay, democratic representation and opportunity in law,
and actively encouraging women to reject their traditional, and in many cases
preferred, gender roles. Women are, in general, more fulfilled by motherhood
than by career success.
pro
Women have shown that they are just as capable as men of playing a central
role in public life; men have shown that they are just as capable as women of
looking after the house and bringing up children. Given this, the suggestion
that the male/female public/private divide is biological, natural and right
looks somewhat suspect. Feminists point out that the roles traditionally
accorded to men are those which - by virtue of being public - involve the
widest exercise of political power and influence, and argue that claiming
that this is natural and inevitable is an effective way of naturalising male
power over women. Claims that motherhood is more fulfilling for women than
career success operate as criticisms of women who choose not to have
children, and are therefore self-fulfilling prophecies; they tell us nothing
about what women are really best at.
con
Many feminist campaigns, on issues such as positive discrimination in
employment, actually damage the women they claim to help. Feminists should
recognise that in many professions the unequal representation of women
reflects the fact that relatively few women want to work there in the first
place, rather than the fact that women are discriminated against by
employers. If employers feel pressured to accept women over better-qualified
men this can cause resentment both among male competitors and among women who
do not want to feel they have an unfair advantage. Campaigning for women in
particular undermines the principle that women can compete on equal terms
with men.
pro
Campaigns on behalf of women in particular reflect the feminist contention
that women have been unfairly discriminated against for years, and that this
is likely to continue without positive action. There are various reasons why
many more men than women choose certain professions, one of which is that
male-dominated professions can be unpleasant ones for women to work in
irrespective of their ability, a problem which is likely to be self-
perpetuating without intervention. Men who resent losing out to women (given
the way employment law works, they are likely to be equally well qualified
rather than better-qualified women) should reflect on the fact that women
have been losing out to men for years.
con
Men have big problems too. By focusing on women and their problems,
feminism fails to recognise that there are inequality issues in which men are
the victims. For example: boys are falling behind girls in academic
achievement; far less money is spent on combating ‘male’ than ‘female’
diseases (the difference between the amount of research into breast cancer
and prostate cancer is a striking example); single fathers are discriminated
against over child custody and child support; fear of being accused of sexism
is so widespread that it often leads to unfair discrimination against men.
These can only be tackled by recognising that feminism has gone too far.
pro
There are two responses to this. First, many of the ways in which men suffer
inequality are relatively minor when compared to the ongoing subordination of
women in many areas of private and public life such as pay, childcare and
sexuality. Second, where such inequality does exist, feminism possesses the
resources to offer a distinctive and useful critique of the causes and
consequences of sexual inequality, whether it is men or women who suffer as a
result - men and women should be joining forces to offer feminist responses
to discrimination, not blaming feminism where men suffer.
con
Feminism represents a small, privileged constituency of middle-class white
women, who can afford to worry about relatively insignificant issues like
executive pay and body image; meanwhile the problems suffered by women across
the world, such as poverty, hunger and racism (none of which are exclusively
female problems) are ignored.
pro
This critical strategy first emerged within the feminist movement itself,
and was immediately recognised within the mo