The liberated women is different from women’s liberation because liberated women bring “sex without marriage” and has a career. They have much more freedom and don’t follow traditional roles. Women’s liberation calls for housework. The issue is why is women’s liberation a thing to begin with? Why are there gender roles on who does the housework? It begins with men and their entitlement. Mainardi uses her husband as an example. He agreed that they should equally be doing house chores at first, but he changes this mentality over time. Naturally, she was left to do the chores herself because he turned his head away from them. Throughout the text, she translates what a man really means when he communicates with his partner about housework. For example, “I hate it more than you. You don’t mind it so much” really means those chores are below me, but are perfect for your standards. Being a liberated women isn’t only being equal to a man, but breaking the misogynistic behavior that is rooted in our history. The reason behind why men feel entitled to say these things to a women is because they are accustomed to being above us in society. It breaks a man with fragile masculinity to perform a task that is “meant” to be done by a women. Liberated women can be significant for women’s liberation because they are pushing towards liberation in our personal lives also. Doing everything in the house by yourself because a man has limitless excuses (such as the ones translated In the text) is misogny in our own lives. “The personal is political” is true because even debates can arise in your relationship with a man over household roles. “The myth of the vaginal orgasm” connects to men brainwashing women, even in sex. Men have made women believe that a vagina is soley meant to please a man and because of this, an orgasm comes from the inside of a vagina, which is false. They have trouble viewing us as human beings and only look at how we benefit them. This results into women being confused on their own anatomy, being labelled as frigid and lying to please a mans ego that they received an orgasm. Our personal sex lives have become political because men don’t understand a women’s anatomy and instead care more about their ego. Liberated women are great for women’s liberation because they don’t allow a mans ego to control their relationship. They are more open about how they feel and shy away from the traditional roles that are here because of what men decided was “appropriate” and “correct”.

From my own personal understanding I believe that a liberated women is someone who does not only push for equality and to break social norms but as well as in their own personal life break traditional norms. Liberated women would mean not conforming to written and ‘unwritten’ norms in their own personal life for example being in a marriage where all the responsibilities are weighed heavier on your shoulders rather than the man.A liberated women is important for women’s liberation because the entirety of women’s liberation is a movement to combat sexual discrimination. Also to gain full legal, economic, vocational, educational, and social rights and opportunities for women that are on equal levels with those of a man. A liberated women is one who would do what she deems fit for herself regardless of what others might think because it is what she wants. She does acts, think , and speaks in ways that go against the restrictions society has placed on her.This goes hand in hand and are important for each other because the entire movement of fighting for equal rights and go against discrimination also means empowering and respecting those women who don’t want to follow those norms. What’s the point of fighting for liberation if in your own home you’re still treated as less than a man because of different perspectives?

Both pieces show a political side and how the personal can be political by giving multiple examples that we can all relate to. Society programs men through different media forms and personal (home) forms to think they are greater than women. I agree with the perspective that Pat Mainardi gives in ” The Politics of Housework “. Men are often programed like I said before to believe that certain things are meant for only women to do and this programming can happen from a very young age in their very own home. Mothers are often seen as the only one who takes care of the household responsibilities and meals after coming back from work while the father just plops on the couch. This feeds into the idea of how women are in a way forced to shape and care for men like children. This idea can go hand in hand of how house responsibilities are deemed as not important so the wife should do it while I just only have to work and thats it.

I also found the reading “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm” by Anne Koedt political too because of the notion that many men till this day believe ‘that the vagina was made to only please men’. I believe this ties into being a liberated women because many spaces specifically for women and sex are being opened up. Sex in general is not taught correctly to anyone so can be easily influenced by different perspectives and molded. Men are in a way taught that their end goal is just to reach their climax and that’s it without really caring about their partner. Women are never taught how they should feel good during the time but instead how to make THEIR partner feel good. Back then it was very taboo for women to speak about their sexual experiences and if they did were deemed ‘needs psychiatric assistance’. So it makes me very proud for women taking their pleasure into their own hands and making a space and talking about it.

While stemming from the same literary origin, a liberated woman is different from Women’s liberation. A liberated woman is a woman who has managed to free herself from the restrictions society puts on women. She is in control of her body, her sexuality, her life and her ideologies. On the other hand, women’s liberation is the movement that strives to free women from societal gender norms and expectations. In simple terms, a liberated woman has liberated herself despite society, and women’s liberation is society working to liberate women.

Men, and society as a whole, are more accepting of a liberated woman since it is something a woman does on an individual level. She overcomes the barriers society puts on her by her own means. Furthermore, men also get to reap the benefits of her sexual liberation and economic and marital independence. In contrast, women’s liberation would require men, and society, to check their attitudes towards women. They would actively need to make changes in their daily lives, and be inconvenienced by doing things they expect women to happily oblige to. Like Pat Mainardi says in The Politics of Housework, “Liberated women-very different from Women’s Liberation! The first signals all kinds of goodies, to warm the hearts (not to mention other parts) of the most radical men. The other signals-HOUSEWORK.” Women’s liberation presents as a chore to men, they’d have to give up their privileges. No wonder most men do not make efforts for women’s liberation despite advocating for it. This is where the liberated woman comes into play. A liberated woman has broken free from the sexist conditioning society enforced on her, she is aware of her worth as equal to that of men, and will hold men accountable for their sexist notions. A liberated woman is also a symbol, the evidence, that women don’t have to depend on men for a fulfilling life and hence, help change the ideas that have bound us to archaic notions of gender roles. The more the number of liberated woman, the more the pressure on society to revisit their treatment of women. In this way, a liberated women is important for women’s liberation: by pushing the society to do the liberating.

At first glance, Mainradi’s The Politics of Housework and Anne Koedt’s The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm both look like personal matters relating to one’s household or sexual lives, and hence nothing of political pertinence. However, on a closer look, we can see that both these pieces show “personal IS political”. They highlight how people in power (men) enforce narratives in order to keep women ignorant and unaware, so that they can better subjugate them for their benefits. Whether it’s by perpetuating the idea that women love household chores or women are not biologically built to enjoy sex, they make women fault themselves when they finally recognize the unfairness. The only reason women’s liberation isn’t considered political is because men in power say they’re not political. However, these issues don’t just shape a household or community. It is on the basis of these assumptions and narratives that legal policies and health guidelines are made. “But the severest damage was not in the area of surgery, where Freudians ran around absurdly trying to change female anatomy to fit their basic assumptions.” None of the experiences, traditions, norms and roles an individual encounters exist in a vacuum, they are an amalgamation of the collective narratives society enforces to “not disturb” the existing system that “works”. Of course the personal is political.

A feminist who advocates  for  greater gender equality leaning towards women. A wave of liberated women opposed sexism in culture and politics in the 1960s, attempting to modify perceptions of what women should be inside and outside the house. Now the true definition of liberation is the act of setting someone free from imprisonment, slavery, or oppression; release. When you say someone is liberated, you’re referring to their refusal to follow their society’s traditional norms or behavioral constraints. A little bit of background on the reading “The Politics of Housework” is Pat Mainardi discusses her personal experience of attempting to equalize the work of daily living with her husband in one of the most well-known early feminist works, published in 1969, and offers guidance to women who desire to share duties with their male spouses.Liberationists effectively changed how women were regarded in their cultures, defined the cultural and political roles of women in society, and reshaped mainstream society throughout the decades when the rise of feminism flourished. There has been a huge impact on women’s liberation movement that has happened throughout the years.Women have achieved huge societal advancements since 1960. Job growth has been especially impressive. During the 1970s, the number of working women increased, with much of this growth occurring in traditionally “manly” and professional occupations.The fundamental goal of the movement was women’s liberation so the name “women’s liberation movement”. It shattered long-held societal norms and ushered in significant changes to the American political and legal systems.Personal is also referred to as political. The private is political is a political statement that was popularized in the late 1960s as a rallying cry for the student movement and second-wave feminism. It was a challenge to the nuclear family and traditional family ideals during the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s and both of these pieces show that. Now to explain a little bit of what the meaning of the slogan “the personal is political” means is the feminist notion that women’s personal experiences are founded in their political circumstances and gender injustice is expressed in this political slogan.Pat Mainardi contrasts in between Liberated Woman and Women’s Liberation in her book “The Politics of Housework.” Anne Koedt’s book “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm” asks for a rethinking of women’s sexual enjoyment.  

In The Politics of Housework by Pat Mainardi and The Myth of The Vaginal Orgasm by Anne Koedt, both writers discuss the many expectations and assumptions that have been put on women, such as the expectations of women completing all the housework, to the assumption that female orgasms are vaginal. Although both readings discuss different topics, they are alike in many ways. In “The Politics of Housework”, Mainardi discusses the difference between a liberated woman and women’s liberation. I understand the liberated woman to live as freely and shamelessly as possible. She is not phased by the expectations, or traditions, of sex before marriage, she discards the idea of staying home with the kids while dad has his fun and has her career going for herself. 

Women’s liberation, as she explains, is the opposite. It’s about the many gender roles that were put into place giving men the opportunity to be put on a pedestal, while women were at home making sure that by the time he gets home, the house is spotless and there is dinner served on the table. Although some women were fine with the idea at first or brainwashed into thinking that this kind of marital setup was fair, their thoughts and views on the sexist behavior going on in their own home were beginning to get to them, in other words, can be understood as the “personal is political”. The liberated woman might be important for women’s liberation because it can, slowly, but surely, open doors for other women who want to be free of these gender roles, but may be too afraid or ashamed to. Simply seeing women working passionately towards a career or having sexual freedom, can ignite another woman to go and want to do the same without feeling guilt or judgment. My understanding of the liberated woman is that she’s not trying to say that she’s against men or doesn’t take their hard work into consideration, but rather she sees herself as an equal who has the same wants, desires, and isn’t afraid to let it be known.

These two pieces show that the “personal is political” because both writers express their personal feelings and attitudes in regards to what they have seen in their own homes or have experienced as women. In “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm”, for example, Anne discusses the false idea that men have about a woman’s orgasm. The assumption that female orgasms are vaginal is a perfect example of how men have defined something so personal to women, as theirs, for their sexual enjoyment. Mainardi also experienced similar feelings in her household where she felt the need to have a conversation with her husband about sharing the housework. Both articles inspired me to be both confident and unapologetic when asking for equality/shared housework in my own home and outside of it.