Why Feminism is Necessary: Understanding Women's Rights

Throughout this essay “Why We Need Feminism Essay” I will be looking at feminism as a critical framework, exploring the feminist movement as it has passed through time there have been three waves of feminism so far each of which has striven to achieve equal rights between men and women, gradually evolving to include women of all colours, then using the technology and resources we have to reach people all across the world and spread the message of equality. I will be looking at how feminism has changed and what could still needs improvement. I will then move on to reviewing Shakespeare ‘a midsummer night’s dream’, using feminism as a critical framework, whilst also considering how the theatre was in Shakespearian times. I will review two specific moments in the play that I feel are important in showing why we need feminism if we are to ever achieve equality.

Feminism was a movement that was brought about after the second world war, during which women took on the roles of men, and began to feel and realise that they deserved the same rights as men also. Over the years there have been three waves of feminism, each increasingly more powerful and more inclusive of all kinds of women. Feminism didn't happen overnight it gradually came be starting with upper-class white women ‘Living with confining and preconceived notions of femininity throughout the nineteenth century, middle- and upper-class white women looking to pursue art past its accepted facility as a feminine leisure activity were intrinsically required to breach the boundaries of respectable Victorian womanhood.’ Wave one was primarily white women, who already had a high status in society, they started protests fighting for women to be able to vote in politics, which at the time was completely male-dominated, meaning that women had no say in any big events that affected their life’s which should have been a basic right that women had, being able to have a say in how their life should be, they finally achieved the right to vote in 1920 ‘In the second decade of the twenty-first century, feminism is seen as having achieved its goals of gender equality and as something that can now be repudiated’, the 1920s were a big time for women many things changed such as fashion, girls where enticed into wearing clothes that gave a more boyish figure, which enforced the idea that curves and the natural female body shape was not ideal and attractive but a man’s shape is the goal. After earning the right to vote they started pushing for more equality between men and women, however women of colour and low status had no representation within feminism and therefore felt they had no part in it. Then came the second wave which began to introduce people of colour representing women in the fight for equality, they had women of colour leading protests and speaking out on behalf of women everywhere, which was also helping break down the barriers of racism within society, racism was very prominent during the second wave of feminism, society repressed women of colour so much, however when women of colour came into light talking about feminism, they were strong, bold and confident and gave women of colour everywhere someone to look up to, these women were proof that women of colour do have a voice. Most recently we have experienced the third wave, which very much includes Generation Z, it’s all about spreading the message of equality across social media platforms, reaching more people than ever before, with the majority of the population owning a mobile phone, a message can be sent around the world and reach a lot of people within seconds, meaning the messages that feminists have can be sent around the world within seconds, hopefully getting more people to fight for their cause and become more aware of inequality between genders. ‘third wave feminists frequently use the slogan the personal is political to emphasise the political value of such practices.’ Everything that happens that is political will personally affect everyone in some way. No one can predict the way politics will go, can only hope they do in the right direction with the intention to make a better world for everyone, and that within the UK politics will become more equal between men and women, and there will be more women in parliament, women of all colours able to represent women everywhere in their country. In some countries, women have more rights than others, however, if feminism continues to build and women continue to fight one day women across the globe may be equal to men, could it be the 4th wave of feminism that helps achieve this?

Shakespeare was not a feminist; the feminist movement didn’t start until after Shakespeare’s time. His plays were reflective of the time he was alive and how women were viewed and treated by society. His plays however may have inspired some of the feminist movement, with it depicting the awful treatment of women, it showed women that they were not equal in society and may have fuelled them to do something about that. I am going to analyse ‘A midsummer night’s dream’, which shows heavily the rebellion of women against male repression with the different relationships between men and women being explored, it is unclear whether Shakespeare used his work to shine a light on the absurdity of society and the cruelty of men towards women, or whether he used his work to reinforce the fact that women need men’s guidance as they don’t know what they are doing, giving an almost damsel in distress, dependant on men image of women. Helena says to Demetrius during the play, ‘I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius, The more you beat me, I will fawn on you: Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me, Neglect me, lose me; only give me leave, Unworthy as I am, to follow you’, this is Helena reinforcing the idea that women need men and will follow men like lost puppies, no matter how much he uses and abuses her she will follow him despite her feeling unworthy. She is not able to see her self-worth after years of being brought down by men, women will have had their place in society thrust upon them at a young age before they even understand what they are capable of, so much so they don’t realise they are capable of so much. The toxic relationships between fathers and daughters are also brought to light as much as the relationship between to lovers. Hermia is in conversation with Theseus, he says ‘What say you, Hermia? be advised, fair maid: To you, your father should be as a god; One that composed your beauties: yea, and one To whom you are but as a form in wax, By him, imprinted, and within his power To leave the figure, or disfigure it’, Firstly he refers to her as ‘maid’ which is very often how women were referred to in those days, with the meaning of maid now me meaning someone who cleans and cooks and does domestic work maybe indicating her status in society. Hermia is being told to obey her father despite his unreasonable demands, she decides however to still rebel and go against her father’s wishes for which he threatened her with death or to send her to be a nun, this may be Shakespeare's warning to men that women are rebellious and need to be kept in line, or it could be him showing how men have acted out when their ego is hurt or they feel disrespected and want to reinforce their status. We must also consider the fact that this performance would have been performed by all men, the women being played by young boys, insinuating that women are on a level that is similar to young boys, in need of guidance and taking care of and not yet mentally developed enough to make their own decisions. Also, the fact that it was only men performing, gave men the opportunity the make a mockery of women, playing them in a way that makes them feel more powerful as a man, with the women having no power, say or any involvement whatsoever, just having to sit there and watch their gender with ridiculed and mocked, even the Queen herself would watch these productions not realising or not speaking up about the inequality being depicted on stage and being experienced in real life.

Feminism is a big part of our life these days no matter who you are and it's continuously spreading and evolving to be the best version of itself, to be more inclusive and it will continue to exist until the gaps between men and women and the inequality no longer exist. Theatre has become a big part of feminism and helping to spread their message and convey how women have been and still are treated in society, many companies when producing work take into account feminism and think carefully about how they want their performance to come across. People also use other forms of art to portray their views on feminism such as spoken word poetry and dance etc.

Bibliography

1. Aune k, Holyoak R, (2018), Navigating the third wave: Contemporary UK feminist activists and ‘third-wave feminism, Feminst theory
2. McGuirk H, (2019), The Rebel: A Visual Representation of FirstWave Feminism in the Work of Frances Benjamin Johnston, Womens studies
3. Schuster J, (2017), Why the personal remained political: comparing second and third wave perspectives on everyday feminism, social movement studies
4. Shakespeare, W 2009, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Lerner Publishing Group, Minneapolis. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central. [5 January 2020].