Norah Vincent`s Self-Made Man and Feminism / Men`s movement

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,7, University of Potsdam, 11 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: In this paper I will deal with the book 'Self-Made Man: My year disguised as a man' by Norah Vincent. I will try to expose Vincent`s view on men during her experiment and integrate it in the ideas of feminism as well as men`s movement. Therefore a very short summary of feminist and men`s movement opinions is given in the first part of the paper. This outline will not be complete, but should afford to have the most important points about the theories in mind, while discussing the book in the second part of the paper. Feminism is the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. It is an organized activity in support of women´s rights as well as common interests. Feminism can be subdivided into three waves: first-wave which spans from the nine-teenth century to the early twentieth century, second-wave which spans from the early 1960s through the late 1980s, and third wave which has spanned from the early 1990s. First-wave feminism in the United States focused officially mandated (de jure) ine-qualities. The major aim was gaining the women´s right to vote. Some (prominent) leaders of the movement like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony also campaigned for the abolition of slavery prior to gaining women´s right to vote. The end of this first wave is often linked with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. constitution (1920), granting women the right to vote. This major victory of the movement also included reforms in education, in the workplace and profes-sions, and in healthcare.