Feminism has been debated in earnest since the beginning of the French Revolution. In fact, throughout history, women have been oppressed in all aspects of life, including politics, the family, occupations, and so on. This oppression has not yet been completely removed. The women’s suffrage movement began in the late 19th century. According to liberal feminism, the reason for the restriction on women’s participation in public affairs is in order to subordinate them to men. Therefore, women’s subordination will disappear once they have equal opportunities, according to the Doosan Encyclopedia. The following contexts will discuss what real feminism is, and what issues continue to be debated.
Ancient, Medieval, and Modern: Oppression to Liberation
Although the feminist movement began in the 19th century, its causes can be traced back to ancient times. Women in ancient times were completely ignored in the community. The reason for this is that differences between men and women originated in biological differences between males and females. Men always subordinated women in patriarchal societies. In other words, the then ruling class consisted solely of men, and this form of social structure was reflected in all parts of the community. These kinds of social structures limited women’s ability to manage their own lives. Such structures lasted until before the 19th century. Oppression remained strong at the beginning of the Middle Ages. These social structures, and the limitations they imposed on women, can be seen in the literature of the time. However, King Lear (1605), one of Shakespeare’s four great tragedies, shows women’s oppression and changes in women’s roles simultaneously. It is clear that Shakespeare takes an interest in good and evil. However, the purpose of the play is not to distinguish between good and evil, but to illuminate masculine attributes through women characters. The characters of Goneril and Regan in King Lear are known as typical image of women. For instance, Lear encourages his daughters to express their love for him, in order to gain the crown. Lear does not need to hear these expressions of love in order to make his decision, because he has already decided on Cordelia. Nevertheless, he held a conscious contest to induce his daughters to express their love. There are reasons that he wants to confirm Cordelia’s affection. However, Cordelia said “Nothing, my Lord.” Her answer rejects his oppression and discloses his misuse of patriarchy. In this manner, questions about the roles of women were being asked in the literature.
Men’s oppression was challenged directly from the 19th century. In addition, the construction of the concept of feminism began in earnest at this time. The decisive point was the French Revolution. As noted above, feminism is about women’s emancipation from men and the women’s suffrage movement, which was based on liberalism. Women can demonstrate their ability if they are given the same opportunities as men. Therefore, feminism means treating men and women precisely the same. Generally, the French Revolution and the birth of the Civil Code rationalized the exclusion of women from civic life. However, the French revolution was different from other revolutions. French women realized that they were no longer inferior to anyone. At that time, women insisted that femininity was not derived from biological sexual differences. Men, who were the ruling class, created it to maintain their authority. Although the French Revolution improved the situation compared with what existed before, it cannot be said that women were absolutely emancipated. In fact, during the 19th century, the progress of industrialization meant that women had difficulty combining the roles of worker and housewife. Eventually, it also attributes to irrational structure.
Feminism at present