Feminist: Feminism and Birth Control Essay

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We've Come Along Way "The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, 'It's a girl " (Shirley Chisholm ).The word “feminism” has the power to bring women togehter , and terify men, and gather those people who blame the feminist movement for every problem in the world. Since its inception, feminism has been linked to numerous social problems such as outrageous divorce rates, domestic violence, and being a single parent . Some fear and hated concept believed by many to be the beginning of the end of morals. I hate to say it, but for the majority of my life I also agreed with that way of thinking until you, Eleanor, opened my eyes to a whole new way of thinking. You made me realize how that even today women are still being taking advantage of and not truly scene as an equal to men. Feminists have come along way in the past century, but the struggle for equal rights is far from over. Unfortunately, there are still many issues relevant to women today such as society view on a woman's appearance, unequal wages, and violence against women.

Feminism in America started to make headlines in the late 1800's when feminists such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and many others formed the National Women Suffrage Association with a focus on women's voting rights. After years of protesting there hard work and dedication paid off in the early 1900s when nearly 17 states granted women the right to vote, followed by many others. The National Women's Trade Union was also established in the early 1900 to address working conditions for women and to advocate for better wages. In the early 1930 feminists made headlines again this time regarding birth control. A feminist by the name of Margret Sanger decided to shed a light on birth control, which was considered a very obscene subject at the time, and formed the American Birth Control League. Sanger's work on spreading awareness in regards to birth control eventually paid of decades later when the FDA, finally approved birth control after years of controversy. Eleanor Roosevelt, another famous feminist, contributed a lot to the women's rights movement when President John Kennedy established the President's Commission on the Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt to be the chairwoman. During that time she focused her efforts on women who were discriminated against in the workplace and made specific recommendations for improvement, including fair hiring practices, paid maternity leave, and affordable child care. As a result the Equal Pay Act. These famous feminists paved way for the upcoming and much needed feminists like you, Eleanor. The media has done a wonderful job of portraying Women as nothing more than sex objects. Respectable women have been subject to "Who's Hot and Who's Not" list among other things that only scrutinize a women's body all the while disregarding there intellect. Even in todays society where women are educated and hardworking, they are still expected to do the same work a man would do, and to look good doing it. Women still have to cater to the belief that what a woman looks like is more important than what she believes in . At a young age, women are taught to judge their own value by comparing themselves to supermodels promoted by the multi-million-dollar cosmetics and fashion industries. These industries have been making large profits from feeding off the confidence and self-esteem of women. Now more than ever companies are using women's bodies to advertise and sell their products. There has been a wave of anorexia and bulimia in recent years. According to the South Carolina Department of Health "50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight and Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents" (Eating Disorder). This is mainly societies and the medias fault for
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