Short Response 1/27

Patrick Campbell

Following Tuesday’s class I was truly interested to see actual documentation regarding he transition of feminism throughout the three waves. What I found to be truly interesting in these reading assignments was the fact that these female abolitionists in some way depended on men to aid their cause. As I could of predicted, this was not the and effective way to carry out their proceedings’ because the common theme derived from this method was the falling short of these male abolitionists’ when it came to fully supporting these feminist’s political campaign.

As shown in Ellen DuBois piece, “Feminism Old Wave and New Wave,” women were rendered the “shitwork while men made decisions and got the recognition.” What I found interesting was the scenario regarding war. When men shipped out to war, women were left to seek out jobs and following this transition of women into the job market was a feeling of fulfillment. However, once the men returned from war, the women were expected to leave their jobs to open up these opportunity for men. DuBois states that, “when the war began, women dropped all their activities as feminists and throw themselves into patriotic work.” DuBois goes on to inform the reader that following this patriotic work, women were expecting to receive some type of recognition for their actions. However, they received the latter. I personally feel that this type of activity really shows the world just how some men take advantage of women. All in all, Professor Simonson explained to the class that these waves would come and then would eventually die off for a period of time. That being said, I feel that these feminist groups need to be more persistent and understand that it is not a race but a marathon.