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Gender Hierarchy In The United States

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In the United States, one of the major goals of feminist theorists has been to come up with ways to destroy the gender hierarchy that exists. There have been a lot of various means to do so, but a vast majority of these thinkers do acknowledge that this hierarchy is a problem that needs to be solved in order for women to fully advance in society and live up to their full capacity, both in society and personally. Different solutions may arise, but many U.S. feminist scholars can trace their beliefs, rooted in a woman’s innate capacity and the ability for society to progress, to Western liberal thought.
In order for feminism to become an effective theory and empower as many women as possible, its principles must be employed outside of the borders …show more content…

There are still a lot of problems that arise in the Muslim community that feminist theory could help to address, which might be able to cross borders. There are still mass atrocities that are committed against women and restrictions placed upon them that prevent them from exercising individual choice and self-determination, all of which are largely reinforced by the male-dominated society that they live in. The practice of honor killings, rape, forced veilings, and home and workplace restrictions on women exist, but not all of these problems can necessarily be fixed by the application of U.S. thought patterns to the region. Instead, as Abu-Lughod so pointedly states, Western feminist thought can only really make an impact when it realizes that it needs to take into account and “be aware of differences, respectful of other paths toward social change that might give women better lives, and recognize that such options are set by different historical experiences.” (45) Therefore, feminist thought should not try to find ways to impose blanket solutions to all areas of the world. Some of the recommendations that have been made in the Western world to provide for the advancement of women should be implemented, or at least explored, like workplace protections and recourse for domestic abuse victims, as …show more content…

In fact, one of the most important reasons why feminism should focus on issues outside of countries like the U.S. is so it can improve the lives of women who it has already hurt through the implementation of its principles. One of the most important goals of feminist policy in the West has been the inclusion of women in the workplace. John Stuart Mill even addresses this benchmark, stating that in order to fulfill the liberal premises of individuality and self-determination, everyone should be able to enter into the workplace and discover their potential through their work. As he says, “It is not that all processes are supposed to be equally good, or all persons to be equally qualified for everything; but that freedom of individual choice is now known to be the only thing which procures the adoption of the best processes, and throws each operation into the hands of those who are best qualified it.” (135) This drive, however, for all people to able to enter into the workplace, has left some unintended international consequences that Western feminists have to acknowledge and work towards

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