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The new role of women

 

The urban world has been building two well differentiated social spheres: the world of production and work vs. the world of home and family . This difference marks daily rhythms, spaces and times that are expressed in “going out to work” and the domestic environment; It is clearly differentiated who spends most of the time at home and who does not. Sex and age are the basic principles for this difference from everyday work.

The role of women throughout history

Before, the man was expected to go out to work and with his monetary income cover the basic needs of the family and also act as the main authority in the discipline of children. The woman , on the other hand, was the main person in  charge of the domestic and reproductive tasks (reproduction; biological, daily and social).

The difference between home and work has not existed forever and everywhere , but it is a form of organization that is generalized in Modernity as the differentiation of institutional spheres deepens, especially economic and productive institutions.

Increasingly, the production unit (before a family, now a factory or office) does not coincide with the consumption unit. In the West, home and work began to separate after the Industrial Revolution, giving rise to the appearance of the factory as a different place of production.

Thus, the family loses its productive role to deal mainly with reproductive tasks. As we mentioned before, home and work did not coincide spatially, they overlapped, but then there was an extreme separation where in the vast majority of cases work and home are many kilometers apart.

In the ideal nuclear family model there is a clear differentiation of work between genders; adult men work while women should not work outside the home. But the ideal of a domestic group supported by a single salary only worked in the middle class; because in lower classes the salary of the head of the family had to be complemented with that of his children.

The feminine world was domestic, private; and if by necessity he had to work in a factory it was an undesirable situation. The education of women was based on the preparation to be a good housewife, mother and hostess. But from then to today society has changed a lot. Urban women have now increased their insertion in the labor market and not only in activities that were extensions of domestic work such as: domestic service, nurses or teachers.

The education in both sexes, but more in women increased the degree of autonomy, external evaluation, self – worth and self – confidence . Seeking its realization, in the case of women also in the world of work. And with the increase in the divorce  and  separation rate,   more women must support themselves. However, there is still a strong occupational segmentation between genders.

At present, the most common thing is that the change in the  economic participation of women does not imply in the majority of households a redistribution of tasks and responsibilities towards the male members; women housewives / mothers are overloaded with their work and resort to the help of other women in the family nucleus or domestic servants. But the possible restructuring of the genders in domestic work will depend on the intra-domestic negotiation in each household.

A shift towards feminism

Feminism is a set of social theories, moral philosophies and political and social movements that try to defend women’s rights and achieve social, political and economic equality between genders .

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Over the years there have been different waves of feminists, but the majority have been exclusive to people of color, gay and trans women, and women in low-income households.

We must recognize that when the original feminist movement was made, women of color and low-income women were excluded from the movement because of their gender. So… is feminism only directed at the male gender? A certain part of feminism aims to demonstrate equality between men and women, but on the other hand, it is also intended to defend the rights of women, in this sense it is understood that they should be valued and respected by both men and women. its same gender.

In 1792, the English philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft, was the first woman to draft the demand for women’s rights , which argued that women should have the same rights as men, including the right to education, income and property. .

The first wave of the feminist movement was mainly related to fundamental political rights, such as the right to vote, own property rights, economic rights, employment, education and obtaining more just marriage laws.

The second wave of the feminist movement focused on the right to employment and the reproductive rights of women. In the course of this new feminist wave, some laws such as the Equal Pay Law and the Law that prohibits gender discrimination in employment were passed.

The third wave of feminists used the movement to focus on middle-class white women and the recognition of feminine worth. The movement in the third wave was more pluralistic and divergent than in the others and ranged from a national movement to the grassroots level.

Types of feminism

Within the feminist movement there are many different and specific types of feminism. The most common types of feminism are: socialist feminism, cultural feminism, radical feminism, and liberal feminism.

Socialist feminism

Socialist feminism focuses on economics and politics. This movement tries to achieve the end of capitalism through a socialist reform of the economy and, argues that capitalism strengthens and supports a sexist society, because men are the ones who currently have power and money.

Cultural feminism

Cultural feminism is the part of the feminist movement that shows how modern society is harmed by promoting male behavior and the loss of the benefit of not encouraging female behavior.

Radical feminism

Radical feminism is considered the most extreme type of feminism. This movement believes that sexism is so deeply embedded in society that the only cure is to root out the conception of gender.

For radical feminists the world is a completely sexist place. The radical feminist movement suggests changes, such as: finding ways through technology for babies to grow outside of a woman’s body, in this way trying to promote greater equality between men and women.

Liberal feminism

Liberal feminism focuses on issues such as equality in the workplace, in education, and political rights.

Liberal feminists want marriage to be an equal society, with greater male involvement in childcare. They also fight for their reproductive rights, such as abortion, to be asserted. They want to end the inequality of forces and stop being victims of  domestic violence and sexual harassment.

 

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Hello Readers, I am Nikki Bella a Psychology student. I have always been concerned about human behavior and the mental processes that lead us to act and think the way we do. My collaboration as an editor in the psychology area of ​​Well Being Pole has allowed me to investigate further and expand my knowledge in the field of mental health; I have also acquired great knowledge about physical health and well-being, two fundamental bases that are directly related and are part of all mental health.

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