Counter-productive New Age Feminism

Luis Miguel G. Foronda
English 23: Writing Across the Disciplines
Melissa Anne Penaflor
September 3, 2015

Feminism has played a vital role in improving the quality of life of women and its significance can be seen in the classic waves of feminism. The first wave of feminism was successful in establishing political equality among males and females with women’s suffrage being one of the milestones of that movement. It was through this movement that women and men were seen as political equals. The second wave deals more on establishing the sexual rights of women; its aim was to de-sexualize and de-objectify women and treat them as more than domesticated human beings (DuBois, 1971). But with the rise of the modern age comes the age of New Feminism, a feminism where a woman’s point of view is being emphasized (Sommers, 1994). Since the New Feminism puts an emphasis on the woman, modern feminists often disregard the standpoint of men, putting to naught the objective of Old Feminism, which is equality. Modern feminists have even reached a point of quarreling with women who don’t share their own viewpoint of feminism.
The problem presents itself here because the rise of New Wave feminism is cultivating a culture of counter-productivity due to its sexist, ironic nature and its nature of anti-equality. But this idea of counter-productivity is not shared among these feminists, which is why it is important that we hear their side as well.
Modern feminism, or gender feminism, purports a new sex/gender system wherein their perspective of oppression claims that gender struggles are more evident when seen through this lens. New wave feminists claim that all men have a personal and collective vendetta against them and modern feminism has this role to satisfy and protect women against this more radical form of oppression whereas the old wave