Social movements and the public sphere

Social Movements and the Public Sphere

The Women's Movement and the Public Sphere

Today is the era of the new social movement. Though many labeled the 1960s and 1970s the era of social movement, many of the seeds planted by the peace, women's, and equality activists of that era have bloomed in the modern world. Today more than ever, social movements are pursuing social justice for people around the world, for animals, and for environment. While other social movements have targeted this issue, a social movement that is vitally important to our world today is the continuation of that inspired by Betty Friedan in the 1960s. The author of The Feminine Mystique, encouraged women to tackle their unnamed problem. Women were tired of being simply wives and mothers; they wanted something else to define their lives. They wanted a career. Today, many women have careers. Women are not represented at the top of all fields yet, but they are getting there. Efforts by public and private institutions have helped women be able to achieve both a career and a family through day cares, flexible work schedules, and other methods. This movement, however, must continue if women and men are to be completely equal throughout the world. This movement must hit with greater force in Asia and the Middle East. In the West, especially in the United States, campaigns must be launched to better educate men on the concepts of feminism, to encourage them to do at least half of the house work, and to eliminate feminine stereotypes.

Started in the 1800s with activists for women's suffrage, the women's movement had a great impact on the United States and the world. Women were grated the right to vote, and in the 1960s and 1970s, many of them began to vote independently from their husbands. Women's issues were created as a political platform based on the women's movement. The women's movement impacted the number of women in the career force, opening up the corporate, non-profit, educational, and other professional worlds to the minds of women and their unique ideas. Women's health, sexuality, motherhood, and other issues became of real importance. They were talked about instead of just hushed. Both men and women benefited from the women's movement. Society, however, was the major benefactor, as women's perspectives were able to influence everything from government to entertainment.

The continuation of the women's movement would have a similarly strong impact. This movement would encourage the complete equality of men and women in the home, instead of just in the workplace. The impact of this would be great on the American family. For the first time, many American children would be raised to understand that supporting a family, maintaining a house, and caring for a family is the job of both men and women. This would lead to the eradication of stereotypes. Furthermore, the continuation of the women's movement must address the inequality in contributions from women to many disciplines before the women's movement, so students can understand how these disciplines would have been different if women were invited to make their opinions known.