'Equality for Undocumented Immigrants Essay\r'

'The wo subject field force founders of sociological hypothesis do it possible for wo custody and members of new(prenominal)(a) marginalized comm unit of measure workforceties to cumulate entrance to the rights and privileges their white male counter dies enjoyed for centuries. In particular, the un wishly lives of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Ida B. rise up-Barnett tout ensembleowed new avenues of academia and hearty reassign that had non previously been conceiv equal to(p). Although they expend disparate approaches and their theories thinked on divergent aspects of the club in which they lived, a common medal ties them to pull outher in the history of feminist thinkers: their lovemaking for affable and frugal substitute for women. Their contri preciselyions laid the groundwork for the modern sidereal day struggles for civil rights, in particular the promote for fair treatment and equality of unregistered immigrants.\r\nGilman and Wells-Barnett did non gai n admiration for maintaining the status-quo, which is just now why it is important to apply their methods of search and analysis to the action for the equality of unregistered immigrants. This paper foc offices on the r phylogenyary theories Gilman and Wells-Barnett ar most cognize for, and discusses the potential implications the practical application of these theories might use up when use to unregistered immigrants. Charlotte Perkins Gilman was born on July 3, 1860 and died by felo-de-se in August of 1935. Despite her luckless death, the contri onlyions Gilman make to the feminist movement be still considered to be unparalleled, so such(prenominal) so that has been judged â€Å"the most original and challenge mind which the woman movement generated” 1.\r\nIn her most famous work, Women and Economics, Gilman separated herself from other feminists of the time by rashly stating that the integral cause for sex-distinction and the inequality facing women is t he colony on the husband in the family unit for all m acey making activities. Her bold and unapologetic prose exaltedlighted the â€Å"sexuo-economic relationship” between marital men and women, dating back to prehistorical times 2. fit to Gilman, women moldiness swan solely on their sexuality to nominate yet their most basic needs.\r\n irrelevant men, who nonplus endless opportunities to gain their desires, preteen women argon left with hardly their bodies as a means for material and cordial well cosmos, because â€Å"all that she may like to have, all that she may wish to do, must mother through a wholeness channel and a single choice. Wealth, mightiness, social distinction, fame- not only these, but radical and happiness, reputation, ease and pleasure, her bread and butter-all, must come to her through a small bills ring” 3.\r\nWoman’s dependency on men economically not only hurts women financially, socially, mentally, and noeticly. This d ependence of married women on their husbands for virtually all aspects of their well macrocosm in any case has a negative deplete on the rescue. Gilman blames the â€Å"androcentric culture” for societies ills, using the edge specifically to refer to the institutions and social norms be by the capitalist patriarchy men and women argon taught to live in commencement exercise at a very youngish age. This phenomenon, coupled with the inability for women to compete with men in gild, is causing great intellectual waste as well as economic ramifications. Until women could have the same granting immunitys as men to pursue economic independence, they would sojourn subjugated and forced to live their lives without freedom and confined by social norms carry ond by the capitalist patriarchy of male command.\r\nIda B. Wells-Barnett made her mark in feminist sociology not only for her work in the sector of sociology but in any case as a social activist who challenged the status-quo of American participation. She use a unique blend of query and social activism to challenge the racialism she and her fellow traveler African Americans position every day in the linked States, particularly in the mho. Wells-Barnett collected information from newspapers, journals, and other media outlets to display the slipway African Americans were represented in the media and the negative effect this had on the lives of state of color and the poor crosswise the country. For example, in her autobiography, Wells-Barnett describes one incident which resulted in a lawsuit against the Chesapeake, Ohio and Southwestern Railroad.\r\nWhen she refused to leave the â€Å"ladies” car, two conductors had to physically remove her, during which she bit one conductor on the arm and refused to let go. She explains â€Å"”the white ladies and gentlemen in the car even s similarlyd on the seats so that they could get a good view and continue applauding the conduc tor for his brave stand.”4Together with other theorists like Julia Cooper, Wells-Barnett developed a scheme of domination that explained why white men of power continued to dominate American institutions and perpetuate the cycles of racial discrimination and poverty. Specifically, Wells-Barnett pore on the tough behaviors, such as lynching, that dominant members of society used when they felt their position of liberty was being threatened by person or well-nigh group they deemed overcome in society.\r\nHistorian Ula Taylor explains the many ways Barnett used these tools: â€Å"She challenged the myth that all ovalbumin women were chaste, all ghastly women were without virtue, and all dumb men were rapists by unleashing a monumental international campaign against lynching. She documented the economic realities of lynching victims, the possibility that a duster woman could be attracted to a Black man, and finally the fact that Black women were violate and abused at alarming rates. Barnett advocated self-help activities, but she overly fought against Jim Crow facilities with economic boycotts and was not above armed resistance”.\r\nThe focus of Wells-Barnett on the subordination of women was unique in that it looked at the problem not only through the lens of sex, but of race, course of instruction and geographic location. undocumented immigration, commonly known as â€Å"il profound immigration”, is a hot button topic in American politics straight off. In the stick out ten years candidates for governmental office, political parties and inte sleeps groups have used this issue to gain support for their cause, resulting in a alter ongoing debate that affects the estimated 20 one thousand thousand unregistered immigrants that live and work in the United States like a shot.\r\nWhat has become lost in the majority of these discussions is the diminished quality of emotional state these immigrants argon forced to endure repay able to failed social policy of US lawmakers, as well as the many overconfident contributions immigrants from all countries have on the economy and culture of the United States. Advocates for undocumented immigrants are faced with similar challenges faced by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Both women fought for equality for those who did not have equal status in society and in the institutions that make up American government. The application of their theories to the plight of undocumented workers provides a unique lens in which to turn over these women and to test whether their theories can still be successfully applied to modern-day issues.\r\nThe fight for the rights of undocumented immigrants in the United States today is being fought with many of the same tools used by Wells-Barnett during her fight for civil rights. These tools complicate economic boycotts, marches, policy advocacy and media coverage that highlight the injustices being endured by millio ns of men, women and children across the country. For example, in 2004 a documentary authorise â€Å"Farmingville: POV” told the story of two murders in the suburban town of Farmington, New York6.\r\nTwo undocumented workers from Mexico were brutally murdered by the workforce of white men because of their ethnicity and intelligent status. According to Wells-Barnett, these vicious murders occurred because of the pathology of the white men. The ferocity was a reaction to the dominant members of the society note their status in their community was being threatened by those they considered beneath them. The similarities in legal status of African Americans during the living of Wells-Barnett and present-day undocumented immigrants is strikingly similar.\r\nundocumented workers, like African Americans of that time, have different legal rights than their â€Å"American” counterparts, and legally they are not afforded the same rights and liberties as those considered â⠂¬Å"legal”. As she did in her studies of lynching of African-Americans, Wells-Barnett would also look at media representation and instances of racism within the police force and other law enforcement agencies as proof of her theory of domination.\r\nFor example, she could cite an article recently print in Los Angeles, California in which Ernesto Cienfuegos boldly stated: â€Å"murderous ogres are today getting away with the horrific killings of undocumented Mexican immigrants due in part to uncaring and often racist regular army law enforcement agencies. Anti-immigrant hysteria, once the purview of beautify vigilante groups, has now afflicted some in the mainstream media and this has fanned the flames of anti-Mexican bigotry passim the nation resulting in a serial publication of heinous murders of undocumented immigrants that have include women and children”7.\r\nThe language in this article reflects the beliefs held by Wells-Barnett concerning the rape, murder an d other brutality faced by African Americans before and during her lifetime. The theories of Charlotte Perkins Gilman could also be applied to undocumented immigrants in the United States. Specifically, her assertions concerning unspecialized labor in the workforce. In â€Å"The Waste of Private housekeeping”, Gilman explains her belief that because women are forced to be housewives and then cannot pursue their intellectual potential:\r\nâ€Å"Neither the labor of the overworked mother, nor the labor of the regular lowgrade apprentice, can ever reach high efficiency. This element of waste is inherent in domestic persistence and cannot be overcome. No special training can be applied to every girl and produce good results in all; no psychological gymnastics can gain ground housework when housework, in economic status, is at the very bottom of industrial evolution”.\r\nGilman argued that because women were kept to working inside the dental plate they were not able t o develop intellectually at the same level or rate as men. Because undocumented workers face deportation and other punishments because of their legal status, they also are often forced to hang in in jobs in the service industry and as maids cleaning up and face after the children of other families. They depend on the companies that hire them and the families that pay them for their income, and therefore have no choice but to work in deplorable working conditions with earnings often lower than the federal lower limit wage. The argument can also be made that many undocumented women are kept economically dependent on men because they are brought into the United States for use in the sex industry, and often kept as slaves.\r\nWithout the necessary skills, education, or legal status these women cannot escape their terrible situation, and therefore remain dependent on men for their basic needs in lapse for work around the house and sex. Without Gilman and Wells Barnett it is hard to know what these women would think rough the plight of undocumented immigrants. It is important to take into account the different time periods these women lived and worked in.\r\nFor example, Wells-Barnett focused on African Americans because they were legally enslaved by slaveowners for centuries in the United States, and there were laws in place that protected these slaveowners from being held responsible for inflicting harm on any of their slaves. Undocumented immigrants, however, are afforded some basic rights that African Americans were not even after the abolishment of slavery, which Wells-Barnett might be quick to forefront out. While it can probably be proven that the media gives less attention to the murders and violence towards undocumented immigrants, the severity and social filth involving lynching of African Americans in the South was certainly much different.\r\nGilman’s theories are often criticized for their racist and xenophobic undertones, as she believ ed America was the best country in the World and Americans were morally superior to citizens of all other countries9. Might she then castigate undocumented workers and treat them with the same racism she afforded African Americans? In conclusion, the work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Ida B. Wells-Barnett is anything but limited to sociological theory. Both their lives wedged women around the world, and without their vision, intellect and passion for social change the status of women could not be where it is today.\r\nThe lasting impression these women made on society is proven when their theories are applied to the plight of undocumented immigrants in the United States today. These women are responsible for the tools marginalized members of society use to gain access to the freedoms we as Americans arrive at to achieve. Although criticisms can and have been made against the theories of both(prenominal) women, their positive contributions to critical social theory far outweigh the negative. Because of these women’s passion for social justice and equality they too would join the fight for immigrant rights if they were alive today. I am honored to have been able to study and analyze their works and go away carry the knowledge gained from this experience for the rest of my life.\r\n'