Discussion #9 – Rossibel Gomez

The liberated woman from the two contexts refers to women who have accepted the myth that men are better than women. The two authors attribute this to situations where males have convinced women that they are fewer beings and that men are superior and are right all the time. Liberated women refer to those that are submissive to the existing ideologies about male dominance. In the article The politics of Housework, Pat Mainardi attributes the position and condition of women to liberate women. Liberated women do not question sharing duties with their husbands because of the notion that it is their duty as women to do house chores. These women are available sexually without question despite the long work done during the day; they cook, wash, and clean the floors out of the notion that it is their responsibility or that they do it better than men anyway. Likewise, in The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm by Anne, the liberated woman refers to women who have accepted that frigidity is a woman’s problem. Psychologists have blamed women for lack of orgasm rather than on facts about the vagina and clitoris as the center of pleasure in women (Koedt, p.7)

The liberated woman is important in women’s liberation because a woman’s role is to change their situation at home rather than in the political sphere. Women who are oppressed and looked down upon for believing in male-dominant ideologies should stand up and change that for their well-being. Based on the article by Ann, the author suggests that women should champion sharing housework with their male partners because women are not to be fewer beings; they should also enjoy a career, a day off, and much more (Mainardi, p.3). In The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm, the author suggests that women should champion their rights by challenging the myths existing in society through facts. Women should also stand their ground and prioritize themselves just as men do to achieve women’s liberation.

 The two articles show that the personal is political because of male dominance in submitting to all-male ideologies even when the facts state otherwise. The gender inequality in women arises from the political setup in the society where the woman has been pushed to the corner by male ideologies and myths that are not factual. Women’s situations result from their submission to passive and old ways that a man is somehow superior to a woman and should enjoy certain privileges.

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