Introduction
Feminism is a globally recognised social movement, which has gained enormous momentum in the recent decades. Feminsim is a growing social issue that has been recognised globally. It has been increasingly noticeable since the late 18th century and then since then, there has been multiple historical movements made in support of gender equality. Flow on effects of these movements saw policies implemented that were made by the government to show their support for feminism and to encourage equality within a civil society.
Outlining the Social issue;
Feminism is defined in the English Oxford Dictionary (2018) as ‘Advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of equality of the sexes.’ The central focus of feminism is to provide a gendered focused analysis of society by uncovering the differences and inequalities between men and women that result in women’s disadvantage. They believe that the structure and nature of the paid workforce gives priority to men for roles and positions and also pays more in comparison to women. Feminists argue that men preserve male dominance by maintaining their position as unpaid carers in the home, as these positions would not be profitable to staff from within the paid market place. Women’s dependency is therefore vital to successful operation of the market and results in men being awarded with privileges within the public sphere. The unpaid work of women either goes unrewarded, as is the case with the caring work of women as mothers, or leaves a greater proportion of women to occupy part-time, lower-paid jobs that typically have less security, poorer conditions and fewer chances of promotion. There are many strands of feminism including liberal, socialist, patriarchy and radical feminism. The unifying concept across all forms of feminism is the approach to social policy (Stanley-Clarke, 2016).
Feminism has been stirring since the late 18th Century during the French and American revolutions. During these revolutions, women had no political rights, they were considered as “passive citizens” who were forced to rely on men to determine what was best for them. But this has a dramatic change in theory resulting due to the great advances in feminism. Because of this stir there was a need for social and political reform where women demanded equality to men which then lead to a demand for the end of male domination. (Wikipedia, Women in the French Revolution, 2018)
It was in the mid 19th century when there was a significant political change lead by Kate Shepard of New Zealand, which resulted with New Zealand being the first country allowing women the right to vote. This saw the first wave of white middle-class feminists in the 19th century to early 20th century. This included the suffragist leaders Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, who primarily focused on women’s suffrage, striking down coverture laws, and gaining access to education and employment (Kang, Lessard, Heston, Nordmarket, 2017).
A ‘second wave’ of feminism arose in the 1960’s lead by many white and middle
class women to create their own organized movement for greater rights. They challenged
women’s exclusion from the public world of politics and economics, while reintroducing the
personal experiences of being female into the political discourse of the day (Mack-Canty,
2004). Many of these women were older, married women who found the traditional roles of
housewife and mother unfulfilling. During this movement, there was an emphasis on the unity and sisterhood where seminal figures were noticed. Writer and feminist Betty Friedan published ‘The Feminie
Mystique’ which was a best-seller and began to raise the consciousness of many women who
agreed that homemaking in the suburbs sapped them of their individualism and left them
unsatisfied. The purpose (of this was … this was) written by Frieden proclaimed the National Organization for Women (or if the book was called the purpose explain why its relevant) . The agenda of this movement was to make it possible for women’s participation in all aspects of American life and to again for them all the rights enjoyed by men. (Mack-Canty, 2004)
A ‘third wave’ was identified in the late 1980s and 1990s, as a reaction against the perceived
lack of focus on class and race issues in earlier movements. The third-wave embraced
individualism and diversity and sought to redefine what it meant to be a feminist. Feminism found its mark online in the late 1990s and early 2000s and reached a global audience. Feminists broadened their goals, focusing on abolishing gender-role stereotypes and expanding feminism to include women with diverse racial and cultural identifies. It saw the emergence of new feminist theories, such as intersectionality, womanism, sex positivity and postmodern feminism (ref). The third-wave feminism was not just a reaction, but a movement in itself because the feminists cause had more work ahead (Wikipedia, Third-wave Feminism, 2018).
The policy response;
New Zealand was the first country in the world to introduce universal suffrage as it was one of the first welfare states, and New Zealand has a tradition of protest against anti-egalitarian regimes. In New Zealand, there are two major political parties, the Labour party (the major liberal party) and the National party (the major conservative party) (Wilson, 2007). The ‘Third Way’ response from the Labour Government, attempted to resolve the tensions around women and social policy. It wants to see women as a social group move more fully into employment and at the same time see further transformations of the welfare state (McRobbie, A 2000). There was also an emphasize on commitment to balanced budgets, providing equal opportunity, further cuts in spending and privatisation of social insurance were made to allow this?. The Labour party focused and placed emphasis on personal responsibility the decentralisation of government power to the lowest level possible, encouragement and promotion of public-private partnerships, improving labour supply, investment in human development, preserving of social capital and protection of the environment (Wikipedia, Third Way, 2018). The party also supported egalitarian values, social justice and community involvement in policy development. It includes notions of a ‘moral economy’ and accepts neoliberal economics. The policy had an emphasis on the new government state with a commitment to a more open and dialogic conception of international politics. Associated with this emphasis is a more active and engaged civil society that has taken greater responsibility for its own governance (Hay, 2017). Therefore allowing a full and equal participation in work and in society for women (McRobbie, A 2000).
Critical appraisal of the policy;
The Third Way movement was at its peak in the 1990s and 2000s but since then has been on the decline and by 2017, it becomes clear that the ideology is not as popular as it use to be. These defining features of the Third Way were from a combination of commitments that were noticed from the political parties that they recognised was a social issue. Feminism was noticed from the post-war period and grew as the years went on until now.
An interesting point about the Third Way policy response was that it was seemingly rather underdeveloped (Wilson, 2007). If the social and ecological policy innovation of the third way could trace a direct linage from traditional social democracy, the economic policy content seemed decidedly neoliberal in tone. These factors suggest that the Third Way was underpinned centrally by an understanding of the constraints imposed on centre-left administrations by globalisation (Wilson, 2007). This policy is very pragmatism and realism in the face of, external and economic constraints was prominent. It was held by its advocates to provide a guiding ethic and a universal conception of social justice to inform policy choices in a programmatic way (Wilson, 2007).
Another limitation of this policy was that it was updating of traditional social democracy. The policy sought to retain those elements of a social democratic thus that are still held to be combatable with economic growth in the era of globalisation. However, the third was political economy comes prior to its ethics. The third rests upon a set of economic assumptions about the extent of nature of globalisation and the degree to which it is incompatible with social democracy.
Despite the Third Way’s reliance upon the conception of economic constraint associated with globalization, what it sanctions or embraces is far from clear; it is far clearer about what it rejects. With the importance that the Third Way emphasis on with the economic side to the policy to show its importance with the change being made to have an equal income and the further costs that come with this, it is very important.
The issues discussed have serious implications for the conception of feminism. The whole idea of this policy is focusing on social justice, but it actually fails to deliver social justice. From its principles, a particular conception of social justice, the Third Way must choose its conception of social justice pragmatically, having first eliminated all those deemed incompatible with the harsh economic realties of the global era. Where issues of equality and economic efficiency are seen to clash, the overriding imperative is economic growth.
There is a huge lack of clarity with what this policy actually stands for.
Conclusion
Feminism is a social movement, that has gained momentum from the 18th century to the more recent years. There has been multiple movements made in support of gender equality across the world that over the years has attracted a lot of increasing interest. There has been many flow on effects with the government showing their support with polices to support feminism and to encourage equality within civil society. From these policy’s, there are implications that include social justice, the conception of feminism and the economy. Feminism has had a massive impact on our society and it will continue to be a prevailing theme until there is complete gender equality. This is on of the many social issues that we as a national and human race will be challenged with and therefore there will always be differing opinions.