I was just reading this:
So let's take one important period in British history and see how historians might tell the story in different ways without, of course, getting the facts wrong. See if you can guess what the viewpoints are in each version.
THE RISE AND FALL OF THE EMPIRE
The golden age of the Tudors brought unity to a divided England and peace with Scotland. The arts flourished - Shakespeare, Holbein, Purcell - and reflected the vigour and pride of a bold and brave people.
Henry VIII stood up to Rome and his glorious daughter Elizabeth saw off the might of the Spanish empire. English seafarers roamed the world, discovering new routes and laying the foundations for the British Empire.
While the 17th Century brought civil war, peace came again with Charles II who wisely decided to compromise with Parliament. In the 18th and 19th Centuries Britain, safe behind its navy, grew powerful and prosperous.
Its manufactures flooded the world, its money built railways and ports across the globe, and its empire brought peace and prosperity to millions of Asians and Africans.
In the 20th Century, though, Britain exhausted itself standing up to the threats from the Continent, first from the Kaiser in the 1914-1918 war and then in the even more deadly struggle against the dictators.
Its empire crumbled and by the end of the century Britain was again a small power. Yet its institutions, even its fashions, remain models for much of the world.
That was the standard viewpoint, seeing history as a glorious story.
AND then:
Women's voices from the past are sometimes hard to hear because they were part of a patriarchal society in which power and property and authority were the preserve of men. We know something about elite women in the Tudor period. It was possible, as it had always been, for such women to gain power and influence through men.
The Renaissance also brought with it the idea that education, at least some education, was desirable in a woman. Elizabeth I or Lady Jane Grey knew the Latin and Greek classics that had been rediscovered.
For women lower down the social ladder, we must read between the lines, in wills for example or by looking at illustrations, to discover that women often shared in the work of their husbands in the small crafts or in the fields.
It was not until the Enlightenment of the 18th Century that women started to claim their share of the human rights that were being talked about. The great changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution opened up new jobs for lower-class women as they did for men but women of the middle and upper classes largely remained confined to their roles as wives and mothers.
A few pioneering women such as Florence Nightingale forced their way into the professions and the universities. By the 20th Century, women were organizing themselves to demand their independence from social and legal restrictions.
The two World Wars, when women's contributions to the struggle were essential, helped to bring change to a male-dominated society.
After 1945, the development of new methods of contraception, most notably the pill, finally gave women control over their own bodies and liberated them from the fear of unwanted pregnancies.
That was the feminist view.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8097607.stm
So there you have two versions of the same time era.
The feminist view seemed a bit narrow.
What are your opinions on Feminism?
Lebbbbziyuns. + some straight people xD
#Before you look at the thorns of the rose , look at it's beauty. Before you complain about the heat of the sun , enjoy it's light. Before you complain about the blackness of the night, think of it's peace and quiet... #
Looking at specific aspects of something is not always wrong. I presume a lot happened over those centuries, and broad strokes on their own will not do it justice (neither will only focussing on one aspect).
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
What one must bear in mind is that history was always told form a Great Man's point of view
then historians became more interested in bottom up history, studying the 'little' man
n then there was feminist history
once
in a lecture
the professor was telling us about the domestic make up of households
n he was saying women did all the cokoing and cleanin
and some women were tutting n going "ugh"
n I thought wtf!
women have ALWAYS done that
n secondly
they STILL do that
you'd think the roles had COMPLETELY reversed
n those particular women were mature students who had children themselves n frequently went on about how they look after their children n do the housework, then they come to a lecture n tut when they heard about life in the 19th century
it was soo irritating
Elizabeth being the first female queen, did manage to do a lot for the country (or so we're told), but the reality was that the male advisers around her actively tried to stop her from becoming too involved in foreign affairs and wanted her to just focus on the 'easy' decisions.
There was SO much anxiety about having a woman as a Queen that she had to justify herself by saying she was divine and her blood was royal, and then she used her virginity as another tactic to show how devoted she was to her country. You would think she would have done something for the women, but in reality the social position of the average woman did not change at ALL under her rule. And although she was such an accomplished poet and writer, this didnt reflect the rest of the women in england. You have the small group of female poets like Aemelia Lanyer (very early feminist and the only one I can remember right now) but they were not recognised at all.
In fact women were not allowed to actually study to uni level until summat crazy like just 100 years ago! It was funny when we presented Inchbald's A simply story and the non-muslim girls working with me, they were shocked. I just thought, SubhanAllah this is the society youre so proud of which only a century ago did not even allow you to gain a basic education.It makes me laugh that they're not even aware of this and are so quick to malign Islam.
The Enlightenment was I think, a period where women jumped on a bang-wagon that was already critical of the governing system. The liberal thinkers of this time enjoyed the company of women, its simple, William Godwin, Shelley and Byron they're infamous for their relationships with women. Now this made women 'intellectuals' because they were surrounded by all this 'enlightened thought'. But looking at the reality the closest women got to social recognition and to work was either prostitution, slavery and really badly paid, manual labour jobs.
Hahaha women controlled their bodies by taking the pill? Yeh by suppressing her nature and striving to be more like a man, she is definitely in control now! I find it hard to understand the whole feminism argument, they're critical of the men who have oppressed them for so long....yet they wear trousers, work themselves into a grave, sleep around, deny their bodies the right to reproduction,and live JUST LIKE A MAN....does this now make you free? This makes you EQUAL??
Its the one thing (amongst many) that i love about Islam, I dont have to be like a man to be recognised, ALLAH swt has catered to my every natural instinct and intellectual needs.
Ok see now YOU should write for the magazine! 0_0
(do you already?) That was great, Passionate and an interesting read even though at first it looks so like a daunting essay xD
But why does taking contraceptive pills make you like a man? Why can't it make you a woman who's not ready to have babies? And even if that's not a valid reason in Islam to use contraceptives, there ARE some reasons why partners contraceptions, and in those situations, the woman is still very much a woman.
#Before you look at the thorns of the rose , look at it's beauty. Before you complain about the heat of the sun , enjoy it's light. Before you complain about the blackness of the night, think of it's peace and quiet... #
John Stuart Mill was a feminist
I thought that was pretty awesome when i found out tbh.
#Before you look at the thorns of the rose , look at it's beauty. Before you complain about the heat of the sun , enjoy it's light. Before you complain about the blackness of the night, think of it's peace and quiet... #
I find the concept of "male feminists" slightly puzzling. I'm all for female empowerment etc, but it has limits and if a man has to stand up and give that power, does that not defeat the objective of feminism?
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
Why? There will never be enough male feminists for such a problem to arise where there are so many men 'giving in' women don't need to fight for power
BESIDES, it's not about women being HIGHER than men.... it's about women being EQUAL to men.
#Before you look at the thorns of the rose , look at it's beauty. Before you complain about the heat of the sun , enjoy it's light. Before you complain about the blackness of the night, think of it's peace and quiet... #
There are places where men have more rights than women, and there are places where women have more rights than men.
Equality is IMO inherently unfair because it expects the same thing from all people - and that is rarely an honest assessment.
I was reading an article on wages a few weeks ago and it mentioned that a major reason why women in positions of power get paid less than men is simply because they ask for less. This is especially true where the jobs are not off a job spec and a person was hunted for a role - asked what they wanted to be given in exchange for doing job X. Men generally thought they were "worth more", so they asked for more. That there is not an inequality, but getting what you ask for.
"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'as long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone'" - David Cameron, UK Prime Minister. 13 May 2015.
LOL that is because I study English Literature and I knoOw these crazy things.
Now lets just hope this rambling paid off in my exams.
Yeh I just recently joined the team just before the final paper issue came out. InshaAllah.
The pills thing as with the other things I mentioned. The problem is, the man is what is being used as the yard stick to measure herself to, so if he's the one who can sleep around and not be impregnated then the pill allows the woman to also do that.
I agree with you about the woman not being ready to have children, but initially I think the use of the pill was seen as something to give 'independence' to the woman so that she can be JUST like the man in all aspects.
I was listening to something today which really made me think, this woman who had founded some institution for abused women was saying how she thinks what Feminism began as, and what it is today is very different. Those women were fighting for rights as citizens and as human beings, but today there is increased gender inequality. And she said it had changed her entire view from what she began as to what she thinks now
Some women take the pill because of iron deficiency.
Hope that helps.
Don't just do something! Stand there.
Pfft. So do i and i don't xD But then again, my English lit is slightly diluted so it can be slushed together with English language a little easier.
Hmm but does it necessarily have to be about being equal to men in every aspect in the sense that women are jealous of men and so want to have the same luxuries? Could it not just be that women just want to be liberated from the 'burden' (as they must have seen it) anyway, regardless of men?
Either way, there's a huge difference between a man who cannot be impregnated and give birth even if he wanted to and a woman who could and doesn't want to.
(But that's just my opinion, and i don't know bucketloads about this
)
#Before you look at the thorns of the rose , look at it's beauty. Before you complain about the heat of the sun , enjoy it's light. Before you complain about the blackness of the night, think of it's peace and quiet... #
I guess so, maybe in the sense that women don't necessarily take the pill to be equal to men, there are other reasons to but i think here we're talking about contraception in general (:
#Before you look at the thorns of the rose , look at it's beauty. Before you complain about the heat of the sun , enjoy it's light. Before you complain about the blackness of the night, think of it's peace and quiet... #