“The Politics of Housework” by Minardi and “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm” by Koedt are two important feminist books from the 1970s that give essential insights into women’s experiences at the time and the need for change in gender issues.

The book “The Politics of Housework” examines the burden of unpaid domestic work on women, suggesting that it is not naturally feminine but rather the result of social expectations that assign gender roles. Minardi emphasizes the importance of women challenging gender norms and men taking on equal family responsibilities.

According to “The Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm,” the assumption that women’s sexual pleasure is primarily obtained through vaginal penetration reflects patriarchal attitudes toward female sexuality. Women have been purposefully denied information about their own bodies and sexual pleasure, according to Koedt, to retain male control.

These two pieces share the idea of challenging gender expectations and the institutions that uphold them. The necessity for women to take charge of their lives and demand equality in all aspects of their lives, including sexual pleasure and domestic work, is also highlighted by these texts.

The Equal Rights Amendment, which strives to ensure everyone has equal legal rights regardless of gender, is thoroughly explained on Law’s page. This article’s major subjects include the continuous efforts to ratify the ERA, passed by the Virginia Assembly, making it the 38th state to do so.

From its ERA’s establishment in Congress in 1923 to its final ratification by Congress in 1972, the law recognizes the significant turning points in the ERA’s history. The reading also explores the ERA’s controversies, including resistance from conservative organizations who said it would undermine conventional gender roles and family structures.

The American women’s suffrage struggle is thoroughly discussed in Barber’s piece. She traces the movement’s history from its abolitionist beginnings in the 1830s through the 1920s adoption of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.

Barber examines suffragists’ tactics, such as political organizing, petitions, lobbying, and civil disobedience.

Overall, Barber’s paper provides a detailed and interesting analysis of the American movement for women’s suffrage, shining light on the problems and accomplishments of this pivotal period in American history.

The author makes the case that feminism and capitalism are essentially in conflict with one another by examining their connection. The author discusses how capitalism encourages individuality, competitiveness, and profit-maximizing, which may result in benefiting from employees, particularly women. Conversely, feminism works to uphold the liberties of oppressed groups, particularly women, and to eliminate structural inequalities.
The article goes on to look at how various feminisms have been appropriated by capitalism, giving rise to “corporate feminism” and the manipulation of feminist principles. This has led to changes that feminism is now more concerned with achieving personal success than fighting structural inequality.

There is No Hierarchy of Oppressions by Audre Lorde and Allan Johnson both offer precise analyses of oppression systems and the necessity of unity in social justice movements. By Johnson’s study, patriarchy is a social framework that benefits males and disadvantages women, as well as a set of established attitudes and practices. He shows how this system functions in different aspects of life, including family, job, politics, and culture. The harm it causes to men and women and how it encourages gender injustice is also shown. Johnson highlights the need to understand and fight patriarchy as a structural framework for gender-based oppression rather than blaming particular men or women.
In her essay, Lorde examines several forms of oppression, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism.

These readings discuss and Define what White Privilege is and discuss Oppression in any form. These readings made me understand white privilege and Oppression because I have never dealt with Oppression or privilege and never truly understood what the term privilege meant. Still, the reading “White Privilege unpacking the invisible knapsack” gave us different ways to define privilege, for example, not only the term white privilege but men’s privilege as well, also from a cultural standpoint. The second reading on Oppression stuck out because it gave me insight into how a person feels about being oppressed and what it means. I lived in a bubble growing up; I would go to school and come right back home, so I never really saw Oppression firsthand, and I never experienced and knock on wood that I don’t ever experience it, so this reading gave me a different perspective on how people are pressed in their daily lives. It makes me grateful that I haven’t had to go through those types of things.

Alok’s book Beyond the gender binary talks about how people should be accepting of others no matter who they are and don’t waste it off gender because gender is a form of expression and how one feels. Alok Wants readers to understand the different types of genders, for example, the non-binary aspects and how to accept non-binary people. Also, they express how they have been judged because they are non-binary and feel like they couldn’t be themselves. After reading this book, I better understood what non-binary is. Before this, I didn’t have a clue, but I find it interesting how people can hate a particular group based on that person’s decision. Also, With pronouns, I had gotten a deeper understanding of them. Before this, I didn’t understand that they slashed their pronouns because I always thought they as a group, not one person. One thing that I didn’t particularly appreciate while reading this book is that they feel uncomfortable going outside because people judge them and hate them. People shouldn’t be scared to leave their homes because others are closed-minded. Lastly, this book has taught me many things that I didn’t know before reading this book.