Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 6

Essay Example Christina Hoff Sommers, in â€Å"Philosophers Against the Family† discusses that there is a false dichotomy as there is the great divide which distinguishes the radical feminist from the simply feminine and the mutual exclusivity of the two concepts which completely overlooks the reality that both can co-exist. Sommers (2005) offers that there is a middle ground, though this has not been widely recognized by both views, especially radical feminism in the United States. Liberal feminism gives focus on reforms which touches base on the very root of feminism. The oppression and the discrimination that necessarily entails sexism as commonly seen in the workplace and in society is the very nature that belittles women and that affects them on a regular basis. This is the fight of feminism on a daily basis that is in the heart of the average woman and her understanding of what feminism is. This, however, is far removed from the philosophical feminist’s view. â€Å"But to be a ntisexist in the technical, radical philosophical sense is not merely to be opposed to discrimination against women; it is to be for what Wasserstrom calls the assimilationalist ideal† (Sommers, 2005, p.313). The truly antisexist in this sense would neither fight nor agree for laws that give preference to women such as maternity leave. Equality is achieved by overlooking and consequently extinguishing gender and all notions that come with it. The wider perspective that transcends the philosophical feminist movement is best understood by first appreciating the average woman. â€Å"The average woman enjoys her femininity† (Sommers, 2005, p.314). She has goals which include being with a man, having children and maintaining a career with the same opportunities that her male counterpart has. â€Å"These are the goals that women actually have, and they are not easily attainable. But they will never be furthered by an elitist radical movement that views the actual aspirations of women as the product of a false consciousness† (Sommers, 2005, p.314). The goals and aspirations of the average woman must first be understood in order to make a correlation with these and how they are achieved. The characterization of a woman in the realistic sense juxtaposed to the ideal woman of the radical feminist movement made by the author brings forth a wider understanding on why the two concepts cannot meet. The illustration made by the radical feminist movement of the woman is arguably deductive and brings it to a realm that makes it incomprehensible most especially to the average woman herself. The false consciousness that is attributed her makes her very existence appear to be a pretense together with all of her life’s worth along with all her hopes and dreams. Sommers is correct in concluding that goals for marriage, family, career, and more logically, equal opportunity for all of the foregoing are the main points that calls for what is deemed as the av erage woman’s feminist ideals as oppose to the scholarly feminism written of extensively. Radical feminism, at the heart of it, attacks societal pressures to conform to gender roles which has been proliferated for ages and has been inculcated in every person from the moment of conception. The idea of an assimilationist society is the very purpose of many feminist movements which has often been likened to Marxism in many regards. Citing the famous feminist Simone de Beauvoir, Sommers