Searcy, Ark., (LP) — “Women are very slow to rouse, but once they are aroused, once they are determined, nothing on earth and nothing in heaven will make women give way; it is impossible.”- Emmeline Pankhurst. Women have always participated in various liberation process of the world. Women are strong, enduring childbirth and other strenuous hardships and responsibilities. Despite the endless struggles and stereotypes, the girl power disclosure is silent about the strengths of women. Power is a quality, a tool, and a weapon utilized for a variety of reasons.
Cleopatra sought to defend Egypt from the expanding Roman Empire, Sojourner Truth was an African american abolitionist who wrote a famous speech called “Ain’t I a Woman?”, Emmeline Pankhurst devoted her life to show the world that men and women should have equal rights and died just three weeks before women were given the right to vote. There are many astonishing, legacy leaving women who have impacted the world since the beginning of time.
There are still numerous issues in the world concerning equal rights between the sexes, most are in the work force. Over 42% of females get harassed. Most male dominant work environments have almost no women involved. Women are looked at as “too weak to do the job” physically or even mentally. Some of these job fields include police force, law, medical, coaches, and even politics. Traditionally, women are supposed to be home with the kids waiting on their husband to get home from work. Some think that women were only created to provide children, cook, clean, and satisfy their husbands.
A detective in the Crime Against Women Unit on the Searcy Police force, Kara Drennan, gave a little insight on how her gender affects her work. “Being a woman at the Searcy Police Department means nothing,” says Drennan, “I get treated as equal and the men here know not to mess with a women.” Although the force does not treat her any differently, the criminals do. Drennan have experienced multiple encounters where a person speaks their mind about being arrested by a girl. “I’ve been cussed out up and down and even spat at.” said Drennan. Drennan knows to not let any of the negativity get to her. She helps the stereotype by “kicking butt” on and off the field. Her male co workers know not to get on her bad side. “Of course my job represents the strength of women and that we can do anything a man can. Equality is a huge issue and with my field of work you can see just how much of a problem it is.”
There are over 1.1 million firefighters in the United States. Only 7% are women, according to the National Fire Protection Association. At the Searcy Fire Department, there are zero records of a woman firefighter. Administrator Lisa Coleman commented on this statement. “Being a woman is not an issue at this department. I feel comfortable in this environment and I am treated with respect. What I see at other departments, though, are shocking. I would never tolerate such vulgar behavior. Men should be taught to respect their co workers, female or male.” Lisa Coleman has strong beliefs in equality. Race, religion and especially gender.
Only 19.8% of politicians are female. Over 75% of the world believe that women should not be in charge. This percentage includes all races and genders. Hillary Clinton is well known for her achievements in office. She was the very first female to run for presidency. Auditor of the State of Arkansas, Andrea Lea has went through her struggles due to her gender and field of work. “I was always told by peers that I should not go into politics and to find a man to settle down with. However, I feel that there is a special time for that and that I needed to focus on my career rather than a man.” Lea wants to set an example for little girls who want to go into office but get told they would not be successful due to the simple fact that they are female. She wants to spread the word that gender does not define your ability to live or affects your living in any way and to stand up for yourself.
Feminism is a range of political movements, ideologies, and social movements that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve political, economic, personal, and social equality of sexes. Some famous feminist are Beyoncé and Taylor Swift. They spread the word via social media. Feminist theory extends feminism into the fields of philosophy and theoretical ideology. The theory of feminism encompasses the fields of sociology, economics, anthropology, and philosophy. The theory focuses on the study of gender inequality and the understanding of power relations, sexuality and gender politics. The origin of feminism could be traced to France when in 1837, Charles Fourier, a French philosopher coined the word and by 1910, feminism has appeared in most of the countries in Europe and in the US., although feminist movements were triggered by different causes and were aimed at different goals in many of these countries. At the early stage in the US and the UK, feminist movements started with a focus on the campaign for the rights of women to entre contractual agreements, agitation for equality within marriage union, parenting rights, and the rights to own property. The next stage centered on the campaign for the rights of women to gain political power and at the moments, feminism movements will stop at nothing short of complete freedom for the womenfolk in all ramifications.
“I, with a deeper instinct, choose a man who compels my strength, who makes enormous demands on me, who does not doubt my courage or my toughness, who does not believe me naïve or innocent, who has the courage to treat me like a woman.” – Anais Nin. Equality is the number one issue in the world right now. The world must come together to realize and fix the issues women face today. With the help, everyone will be equal in this world no matter what race, religion, or gender.
