My Opinion on Succombe Ch.1- "Critical and Feminist Frameworks"

I agree with Succombe's point of view on pretty much everything she discussed in this section of the chapter. All the issues that feminism brings to light, can not go ignored and there needs to be more of a worldwide understanding of what feminism and the feminist movement really stands for. Gender plays a big part in one's life experiences which should not be the case; however, our society continues to play into and reproduce the social structure in which males are the advantaged population. Many people do not realize this due to a lack of education on this issue, and I feel it is of great importance for all the people who do understand this problem to start spreading their knowledge. The more people who understand the underlying issues associated with gender, the more they will be able to be conscious of it in their own lives, which will hopefully increase their awareness on just how controversial this issue really is.

I also now understand and agree with Succombe when she says welfare is a women's issue. There are obviously also men who are on welfare, but the majority are women, and the reasons she gave makes complete sense. The first reason supporting this is that the vast majority of people who are on welfare live in a single parent household. The mothers are the one's who primarily have custody and raise their children; therefore, women are the one's who make up the vast majority of single parent households. The next reason was that many women are simply one man away or one crisis away from welfare. Many women who are on welfare were at one point in their lives well-off, or at least comfortable; however, for example, if a marriage ends up in a divorce, and the woman did not work during the time she was married, she would now be in a very tough financial situation leaving no other option but to go on welfare to support herself.

The bottom line is that we live in a patriarchal society where male dominance is supported by the way our society is structured. The lives of men compared to the lives of women are two completely different experiences that work to advantage males while disadvantaging females. The truth is that gender really does shape our life experiences which it shouldn't. Succombe's contentions in this section of the chapter discussed these extremely unfortunate situations, which should not exist. But it is books and information like this that needs to be spread-out to others in order for any change in regards to the life experiences of women compared to that of men, to change.