Gay Marriage Essay, Research Paper

THE OPPRESSED GENDER

It has been said that women are a universally oppressed gender. Unfortunately, I feel that this statement is totally true. The view that women are oppressed simply because men and most women too, have the wrong ideas about women can be too optimistic. Liberating women is seen as just a matter of persuasion and education, of explaining to men that they have got it wrong and that they really should share the housework and the top jobs because it would be more fair. History shows that all ideas can change. For example, the idea that black people are inferior belongs to societies that exploit black people. They see black people as no more than slaves or as cheap labor. To get rid of this idea, we have to get rid of the system that started this sad idea. Anarchists believe that the core problem facing women is class society. Overlying that core problem is a problem of sexist ideas. The idea that women are inferior comes from societies that are divided into classes.

When girls answered out of turn, they were more likely to be told off, while boys were likely to be praised for showing intelligence or initiative. Given this it was not surprising that in later classes girls rarely spoke unless specifically asked a question while boys often spoke out or chatted with the teacher. Women feel unsure as to what their rights are. Also unsure as to how many hassles they are expected by society to put up with. Women are constantly given cues that they are in some way inferior. This conditioning is a symptom of the position of women in society, not the cause but a symptom with far reaching effects.

Women are constantly conditioned to believe that we do not have a right to an opinion, to be politically active, or to speak out. That is why the first step against this conditioning is to organize separately from men. Some women felt that men being more confident and more self-assured tend to dominate discussions. Even some women feel that when men are present they are more likely to take a silent role and leave the arguing up to them. Women??s organizing together is an exercise in empowerment. It is a positive response to the conditioning of society. Its role should be to make it possible for women to participate as equals with men.

However, problems rise when this exercise is taken into play along with campaign. This identifies men as the root problem, when they are not the problem. It also isolates men from the struggle, when it is obvious that in order to change society we must work alongside them. Within many Unions and the British Labor Party there exist women only conferences, A problem with this is that women??s issues are often referred to these conferences as a way of avoiding the issues and forgetting about them. Rape is an example of women??s issue and its is referred to as a women??s conference.

In conclusion, I feel that women are starting to progress. For example, our New York Senator Hilary Clinton is a woman. This is just the start; soon maybe we will have a women president.