Feminism belongs in social work because they both stand for equality and justice. This week in class we discussed the type of feminist and the chapters 1 – 3 in the text. Each author made valid points about feminism in a different tone. In my opinion, the authors presented feminism in a positive light and demonstrated the positives of feminism. Feminism should be a part of social work because it is flexible, gives justice and represents women. 





 (2017, Adichi)
                   


As we talked about in class, there are many different types of feminists. This makes the term feminist very flexible. “For the record, let me say that all women who identify as feminists are not the same” (Valenti, 2013). All the different types of feminists have different perspectives or ideas about feminism. Social work deals with all kind of people with different perspectives; feminism is flexible enough to fit into every social worker’s mind. In Social Work 100 I learnt about the feminist perspective as one of the theories of social work. This proves that feminism belongs in Social Work practice. 
                       


Image result for feminism
   https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/when-feminism-meets-music-great-songs-that-sample-radical-speech/ (2017, Pitchfork).

Bell hooks describes feminism as “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression” (hooks, 2013).  Based on this definition feminism is used to stop oppression of women. This made me think of an anti – oppressive social work chapter in Social Work 100. Any group of people who is oppressed or marginalized needs support to overcome certain obstacles. Social workers play a part in that support. Social Workers are also required to be an advocate for people that are being oppressed as well. In this context feminism equals justice.
Image result for feminism
http://www.thenutgraph.com/winning-over-women/ (Loh, 2010)
         


Feminism represents women. Often what a feminist is interpreted as and what a feminist is can be confused. Some stereotypes that we explore in class are: Feminists hate men, feminists are masculine, feminists are whiny, feminists are all pro – choice and feminist are ugly. These stereotypes make a negative image of the feminist for some people.  “All [females] are not the same. We do not have the same interests. We do not speak in the same way” (Valenti, 2013). Feminism protects and represents the individuality of women. 

 
In conclusion, feminism belongs in social work. This became clear to me in this week’s class. The three chapters we went over highlighted what feminism is, the misconceptions of feminism and how flexible feminism is. These things are all important when discussing the role of feminism in social work.


Bibliography

Adichie, C. N. (2017, March 7th). Beware of Feminism Lite. Retrieved from TedTalks: https://ideas.ted.com/beware-of-feminism-lite/
Dictionary. (2018). Definiton Feminism. Retrieved from Dictionary.com: http://www.dictionary.com/
hooks, b. (2013). Excerpts from Feminism is For Everybody. In M. H. Rice, Gender and Women's Studies in Canada (pp. 11 - 15). Toronto: Women's Press Toronto.
Loh, D. (2010, March 31). Winning Over Women. Retrieved from The Nut Graph: http://www.thenutgraph.com/winning-over-women/
PitchFork. (2017, October 18). The Pitch. Retrieved from PitchFork: https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/when-feminism-meets-music-great-songs-that-sample-radical-speech/
Valenti, J. (2013). You're A Hardcore Feminist. I Swear. In M. H. Rice, Gender and Women's Studies in Canada (pp. 2 - 10). Toronto: Women's Press Toronto.







 

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