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In the 1960s and 1970s, the women’s movement started the momentum that led to the formation of the Feminist Theory. One of the publications that caused this movement was Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. This book described how women were expected to be fulfilled throughout their housework. ^[1] This book immediately resonated with many women as it became a bestseller, and a movement was ignited. During this movement, also known as the Women’s rights movement or women’s liberation movement, women fought for equal rights, and more personal freedom in all aspects of life such as politics, work, family and sexuality. In June 1966 the National Organization for Women (NOW) was born in order to create political change. Although the organization did not succeed right initially, by 1969 NOW was more comfortable with lobbying for women’s reform in Washington. In 1972 Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). Despite it being a victory for feminism, the passage of the ERA led to criticisms from anti-feminist, who argued that the ratification of the ERA would result in the invalidation of sodomy laws, and would lead to the legalization of same sex marriage. The ERA needed to be ratified by 38 states in ten years, and feel short by three resulting in to ratification.  This was the second wave of feminism, after the first wave in the 19th for women's suffrage, and the foundation of early feminist theory. ^[1]

The Feminist Theory is a broad term for a variety of theories which all emphasize women’s experiences and the belief that society is subordinate to women. Early feminist theory targeted sex and gender and the injustices bases on these gender categories. However, the early feminist movement was geared towards the equality for white middle-class women only. It excluded other minority women, especially black women. Minority women face different experiences and struggles from white middle-class women, but this was largely overlooked in early feminist theory. However, this theory allowed for the birth of feminism, which focuses on women’s empowerment, freedom, and the enhancement of a woman's sense of self. ^[2] As time progressed, feminism can be broken into 4 distinct waves: first-wave from the 19th to early 20th century, second-wave feminism from the 1960s to 1970s, to the third and fourth waves of feminism from the 1990s to now. ^[1] Each wave of feminism has its own goal that focused on the importance of equality among men and women in regards to social, political, and economic equality. ^[3] In the first wave, feminists focused on women’s suffrage, or giving women the right to vote. It was a movement that pushed for political equality, so that women could participate in politics. ^[4] But in this movement, it mainly advocated for the right to vote for white women, while excluding minority women. The exclusion of minority women in first movement sparked the acknowledgement of minority groups in the second movement. However, the main goal of the second movement dealt with sexuality and reproductive rights. ^[4] The movement’s efforts worked toward the passing of the Equal Rights Amendment, which was designed to guarantee equal rights for everyone regardless of their sex. ^[4] By the end of this wave, society began to realize that gender, the idea of what it means to be a “woman,” and society’s expectations of what a woman is is socially constructed. This realization led to the rise of the third feminist movement. It focused on debunking the predominant idea society held for women and their position in society. In this movement, the notion of being “girly” or “feminine” is being broken down to redefine society’s definition of a women. The boundaries of gender are being reconstructed to allow people to experiment with the fluidity of gender. ^[4] However, this movement also combats the sexism and patriarchy, or the system in which men hold all the power. This is shown through the domination of sexist culture, where women are looked down upon for the same actions or experiences men partake in. ^[4]  

The fourth wave of feminism began in 2013 and centers around sexual harassment, rape culture, and body shaming. One of the major distinctions in this wave is the use of social media and the internet to spread its messages. This wave erupted after a young woman in India died after being brutally gang raped. Another catalyst to this wave of feminism was the election of president Donald Trump in 2016 after his remarks about women. One day after President Trump’s inauguration, in 2017, about 4.6 million people took to the streets of Washington DC to the Women’s March to protest gender equality. Also in 2017, the Me Too movement gained popularity, in which women came forward to share their experiences of sexual assault after it became known that Harvey Weinstein sexually assaulted women for years in the film industry. This movement grew in only a couple of months to condemn powerful men in business, politics, news, and entertainment for their assaults against women. ^[5]

Media is often criticized for holding women to unrealistic beauty standards: perfect skin, slim figure, and great hair. Some argue that the media’s standards of beauty led to young girls having a lower self esteem, and blame the media for contributing to eating disorders. ^[1] The US media is also criticized for displaying images which depict violence against women. Studies have revealed ways in which reveals the ways women are maimed, sliced, and raped in advertising images. ^[1] However the media is a product of different cultural values. Western culture creates cultural gender roles based on the meanings of gender and cultural practices. Western culture has clear distinctions among sex and gender, where sex is the biological differences, and gender is the social construction, however sex still influences how society perceives a certain gender. ^[2] Since culture is created though the communication among society, communication is essential to the formation of gender roles in culture and in the media. The attitudes and mentalities found in culture and in the media are generated and passed on through communication. ^[2] Therefore communication, often through the media, is what teaches a person in society how to act male or act female. ^[2]

Socialization is the process where individuals learn the norms, values, and rules of a society in order to become a functioning member in it. For children, the primary agent of socialization for them is their parents. At a young age, children are taught societal rules and norms for specific genders. These norms, also known as gender roles, outline what is expected from males and females. From the moment of birth and on wards, parental expectations for their child are set by their gender. Parents influence the way children behave and think at home, which is then carried out into the real world where the child is exposed to an environment that reinforces such ideas and beliefs. ^[6]

The divisions of labor ensures people with specific skill sets end up in certain jobs in order to benefit society. Where women fit into the workforce and how women benefit society were impacted by differences between the gender stereotypes of men and women. Based on stereotypes, males are perceived to be more suitable for the highest positions while women are not. Women are believed to lack the qualities needed to obtain male dominated occupations like management and CEO positions. ^[7] Despite the greater number of women entering the workforce in recent years, men continue to dominate the workforce and women are still viewed as inferior. ^[3] With the constant negative perceptions of women in traditionally male occupations, research has shown that women approach tasks that are assumed to be for males with low confidence and self-esteem. ^[7] This is due to the belief that they aren’t competent enough to complete such tasks.

Title VII and the 1964 Civil Rights Act were passed to attempt to ensure the equal treatment of the growing number of women entering the workforce. ^[3] However women are still subjected to forms of sexual harassment, which ranges form jokes to treats. ^[3] The most common form of sexual harassment is “hostile environments” which aims to make women feel unsafe and uncomfortable. ^[3] This sexual harassment serves as a means of men enforcing their superiority over women, and it is one of the most prominent forms of gender inequality in the workplace.