Opening up “Woman’s World” magazine, one can see how women are constantly told to look good, eat right and have a bunch of tips on how to impress their husbands. Back in the 60s when feminism was growing strong, feminists such as Gloria Steinem and Jean Kilbourne would have scoffed at “Woman’s World”. Kilbourne claims to this day that women’s magazines contradict themselves because on one side of the front page they are telling women to lose weight, but on the other they are giving them the next best cake recipe.
Today’s feminism is not your mother’s feminism. This generation has changed in terms of gender roles, reproductive rights and women in the work place.
Let’s begin with gender roles. Back in the 1950s, women would stay home while the man went off and made the big bucks. Mothers everywhere were furious at the notion of just being a stay at home mother and told their husbands to take that idea and shove it because women must work just as much, if not more, to support their family.
And let’s look at how many stay-at-home dads there are today. According to a study done by the University of Minneapolis, 3.2 percent of fathers are stay-at-home dads compared to the 1.2 percent stay-at-home dads there were in 1968.
Despite the fact that women can work alongside men, according to payscale.com, women make 23 percent less than men do in the workplace. We are supposed to be a feministic society, yet women still make 23 percent less than men do. When will this change? What do women have to do to be heard? Yes, this generation is not as passionate about feminism as the 1960s feminists were, but women still should be paid the same amount as a man.
Last but not least, reproductive rights for women have changed drastically. Gloria Steinem believed anything safe and legal should do, such as available contraceptives for women. Steinem shed light on pro-choice for my generation today by advocating sex education in schools so that women have more choices.
“The idea of pro-choice people is both to allow the individual to make this decision rather than having the government force their decision on the individual,” says Steinem. “The point is to reduce the necessity of abortion by having sex education in the schools and easily available contraception.”
Women have the right to choose. We don’t need a male-dominated system telling us what we can and can’t do with our bodies. It’s a two-way street when pregnancy happens, but only one person has to have to the baby. It’s a woman’s choice on whether or not she can handle the responsibility.
Feminism may not be as upfront as it used to be, but it certainly is not lost. Women will forever stand up for their rights and certain things such as pro-choice, gender roles and salary will get better. I am woman, hear me roar!
