Feminist Consciousness

While I have taken many philosophy courses, and women's studies courses, I have yet to fully understand the meaning of either until reading Bartky's piece about the Feminist Consciousness. Until reading this piece, I would not have been able to define or explain what being a feminist is made up of. This article allowed me to better understand the meaning of feminism, and the ways in which it is necessary to interpret one's own meaning as a woman in American society, through their feminist consciousness. It was important to understand the ways in which feminist consciousness came about in our culture, due to some of the very important historical and social aspects that our society has faced. I think that Bartky was correct in stating that one of the most immediate causes of the emergence of feminist consciousness was the Civil Rights Era. This was an era of striving to achieve equal rights for humans, although it was primarily focused on racial discrimination. This article allowed me to understand the ways in which women were left out of this era, and although it was an issue of human rights as well as civil rights, women, being human, were overlooked. 

I enjoyed the ways in which Bartky wrote her article, although I have a problem with the ways in which it is focused directly at men. I think that it would be wrong to say that ALL men oppress women, although this is the case in many situations, I do not think it encompasses all men in this country. She makes it apparent that it would be very difficult for men to become feminists and develop a feminist consciousness. This would imply that in addition for men not being able to take notice of women's oppression, that the white majority would not be able to take note of the oppression of the minority of human's in our country. While Bartky did make some excellent arguments in her piece, I think that it could have been written towards a more broad audience, to better help let the rest of society understand that they can help in developing a feminist consciousness, and raise awareness for the oppression of women everywhere.