Question

Consider the role of first wave feminists and the lack of opportunity available to women. How has life changed for women today?

Answer 1

Answer:

First-wave feminism was focused on the legal rights and political rights of women. While women have gained those rights on paper, some of them are still not practiced. Women are often the target of domestic and sexual abuse, they are less paid than men, they have less social and political power. There is also a huge social gap between sexes and genders, and women are not treated the same as men on an every-day basis.

Explanation:

First-wave feminism was a movement that was active at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The focus was on giving women legal rights which they did not have at all at the time. Its main victory was winning women the right to vote. Women were finally able to participate in politics and have a role in public life. Before the first wave of feminism, women didn’t have many rights under the law – they usually could not even own property, let alone have their voice. Suffragettes won over many rights in that regard.

However, the fight for women continues, especially in the social sphere. While women legally have almost all the same rights as men, in practice, those rights are sometimes altered – like the right to be equally paid or not to get fired for maternity leave. Women are still frequent targets of domestic and sexual abuse, and the law does not practice hard enough in those regards. Medicine that is focused on women’s bodies is also put in the shadow and not researched enough. While on paper the rights for women in the West are equal, it is often not the case in their everyday lives.

Women are often seen to be “less” than men – less able, less capable, less worthy, etc. This is why feminism today focuses on the social view of women and reaching their rights in practice, and not just on paper. Women should not be tied exclusively to the domestic sphere, they should be seen as mentally capable as men, and they should be able to reach positions of power. There should also be many more rights for women worldwide, as many countries still deny women the right to autonomy and do not have laws about abuse.

Compared to the time of first-wave feminism, women do have many legal rights and their fight was highly successful. But there are still inequalities that have to be referred to for women to live absolutely equal lives as men.