Feminist Theory

There is no one feminist theory that I agreed with one hundred percent, however, there were parts of several of the theories that I agreed with. Liberal feminist theory had a few points that I agreed with strongly. The idea that women are unequal in the public sphere, the problem is rooted in legal issues and change needs to come through law making. I have experienced unequal treatment in the public sphere due to my gender. My husband and I had both told our employers about my pregnancy at the same time. While my announcement was viewed as a liability, my husband was rewarded. I also agree with the liberal feminist vision of gender and sexual equality. The vision of the Marxist feminist, increasing social consciousness to change defeatist concept of women, is appealing. The radical feminist theory of society devaluing women’s experience is a very important idea. I also agree with the idea that pornography is degrading and oppressing but I feel it is degrading and oppressing to everyone involved not just the women. However, the rest of the radical feminist theory is rather alarming and I feel is responsible for a lot of the negative connotations associated with the word feminism. I agree strongly with the multi-cultural feminist idea that of oppression being based on social construction. This idea seems to fit in nicely with the Marxist feminist theory of raising social consciousness. I feel that each of these ideas is important to feminist theory and no one feminist theory covers them all.

Gender socialization is the process by which society shapes our ideas about appropriate behaviors for men and women. The term brings to mind ideas about societal control over actions.
The process of gender socialization has many agents. The first thing I remember in the process of gender socialization is the idea that boys get blue things and like rough and tumble play whereas girls get pink things and like quiet play. These ideas are ingrained from birth and are supported by most young children. Any action by a person outside of these expectations results in quick and brutal sanction of peers.
Another experience that shaped my ideas about gender was watching the TV show “I Love Lucy.” This TV show portrayed men and women in very stereotypical ways. The women were homemakers and the men were bread winners. The women were portrayed as needing male guidance, less intelligent and mischievous. The men were portrayed as in control, smart and sophisticated. While this show is somewhat outdated many of these ideas about men and women are still underlying our concepts of appropriate gender roles.
The greatest factor shaping my ideas about gender roles is the household I grew up in. In our home we were taught that each person was equal and should be treated in the same way. This meant we were allowed to wear what we wanted and play with whatever interested us regardless of the attached gender ideas. We were also taught that we could have any job we wanted if we worked hard enough. These experiences led me to believe that gender roles as portrayed by our society are unimportant. Any person should be allowed to do what makes them happy regardless of the gender ideas attached to the actions.