Feminism Essay

The idea of giving women the legal protection of a minority group is a very
controversial subject, with different opinions all around the spectrum, even from women
themselves. The idea of being classified as a minority group is a key reason on why there is
much resistance from women. The misinterpreted objective of feminism is that of women
being classified as victims and about telling women that you can't succeed because society is
unfair to you, as Phyllis Schlafly claims (Sachs). By first giving women the legal protection
of a minority group, this will then help reshape the inferior culture that exists, bringing back
the idea of equal rights for both genders. Although many believe that labeling women as a
minority will reinforce the idea of them being inferior but, Few people question the need to
eliminate racial and sexist barriers that exclude minorities' and women from full participation
in society. Preferential treatment programs may be one means toward this goal (Andre,
Velasquez, Mazur). In order for women to achieve equal rights, it must first become
established that there is a difference between the genders, and they are indeed a minority, and
begin to address the problems that have caused the existing inferior view.
Feminism was and is often seen as the disregard of the other gender and simply
putting women on top, giving it a bad reputation among the public. Schlafly, an anti-feminist,
says that, women can do whatever they want to(Sachs), then critiques women that do not
follow the ideal housewife role. The choice of staying at home, working and raising a family,
being a single working mother, or simply a working woman are what the feminist movement
and the ERA called for; the availability of these opportunities for women. The feminist
movement does not shun women that decide to be a housewife, it shuns those who don't
allow women to choose what they would like to do.

Schlaflys affiliation in the Stop ERA campaign was successful in completing their
objective of preventing the ratification of ERA by appealing to not only men but women as
well, and giving feminism a bad name. Schlafly not only addressed her misinterpretations of
the feminist goal to her followers, but also strategically connected other controversial
movements to the ERA. The feminists that had been pushing for the ratification of the ERA
had also begun to become involved in lesbian rights, something which may have cost them
the ratification. Schlafly took advantage of this involvement, and created the assumption in
the publics eye that feminism and the ERA was equivalent to gay rights, something which
wasnt as accepted then. By doing this, conservatives that were against gay and lesbian rights
began to go against the ERA, gaining more resistance, and ultimately stopping the
ratification. Brownmiller, on the other hand, fully supported ERA, believing that it would be
another step in correcting the male dominance culture that exists.
Pornography and its portrayal of women should be considered a form of hate speech,
despite of its large acceptance throughout the country. Today, most see pornography as
something that isnt degrading or oppressive towards women, after all, the women involved
have chosen to become involved in the industry. The reality is that pornograhpy has
continued to reinforce the idea of male superiority. The theory of aggressive male
domination over women is a natural right is so deeply embedded in our cultural value
system (Brownmiller). Asking men if they believe these things, many will say they dont,
but with the acceptance of pornography, these ideals are underlined in our country, whether
one believes it is correct or not.
I believe that womens rights have certainly evolved and changed through the years,
and have improved drastically, but still have a ways to go, and a step closer the goal of equal
rights would be to slowly change the social outlook on women regarding their inferiority.

Achieving equal rights and reshaping womens stance in the world will be a slow change, but
through the admittance of the clear problem that exists, and steps to fix it such as legal
protection as a minority group, both genders will be able to celebrate equal rights.

Works Cited
Andre, Claire, Manuel Velasquez, and Tim Mazur. "Affirmative Action: Twenty-Five Years of
Controversy." Santa Clara University. Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, n.d. Web. 3 May
2015. <https://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v5n2/affirmative.html>.
Sachs, Andrea. "Phyllis Schlafly at 84." Time. Time, 7 Apr. 2009. Web. 3 May 2015.
<http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1889757,00.html>.