This paper will show how gender forms perpetuate the stereotype that the existence of women is legitimised by men, and this leads to hierarchy which inevitably undermines the feminist movement. It will also critique the law of South Africa and show that equality in the country has been prima facie achieved, and that the real fundamentals of equality between men and women are perhaps a constant striving towards an ideal. …show more content…
The feminist movement is increasingly facing antifeminist counterattacks, as the movement goes forth to try achieve its mandate. Media is progressively working to portray men as competing victims to women, to counter the feminist argument due to misunderstandings of what the movement aims to achieve.
Feminism, in my understanding, is about the recognition of all as human. It is not an ideology that aims for women to be more powerful than their male counterparts- it is a movement that advocates that all be seen as being equally valuable. The term ‘women’ is seen as all-encompassing, open-minded and open to change. It is a constant strive towards social, political and economic equality.
Gender forms present an uncontested hierarchy with men as dominant while women are understood to be submissive. This is easily a tool of oppression and in the past has been shown to have been used to marginalise women and offer them minimal to no resources, in comparison to their male …show more content…
It wishes rather, to deconstruct societal norms that advocate for patriarchal themes by working towards creating an equal society for all who live in it- male, female and transgender without discrimination. The absence of unfair discrimination is a provision that is protected by the law of South Africa.
The inequality that is birthed by the existence of gender is a largely contested issue in feminism. This is not a notion that is new to most societies, and countries such as South Africa.
South Africa’s past of injustice caused a large divide economically affecting mostly women, people of colour and disabled people. The constitution aims to recognise and heal the injustices of the past. The constitution of South Africa also proclaims to be concerned with the equality of all- inclusive of the full and equal enjoyment of all rights and freedoms.
Gender forms provide an access for inequality to skulk in, because they successfully portray gender in their stereotypical ways, and in ways that further the dominant and submissive binary between masculine and