Personal Reflection Essay Sample on the Article: Commodified Agents and Empowered Girl

I realized that the article written by Ellen Riordan is fascinating and informative. Most of the information about an empowered girl and producing feminism she presented are true and correct although there are some of her arguments that I do not accept. My first action is to elaborate the title of this article, "Commodified Agents and Empowered Girl: consuming and producing feminism." Based on my understanding, this article is meant to examine the idea of empowerment in association with the feminist agency (Baumgardner and Richard, 2000). The title also reflects how commodification has been used to study pro-girl rhetoric as it is revealed in feminist discourse. Commodification is also used as part of the title to show how not all the pro-girl rhetoric could not provide opportunities for other young ladies to transcend personal consumption to implement universal change in their social associations. I believe it is not sole responsibility for pro-girl rhetoric to provide an opportunity for other girls to transcend individual consumption to implement change in social relation but it is a role that every responsible person can do to ensure that girls are empowered and encouraged to apply social changes affecting girls. Senior members of the society and leaders should take a leading role in enabling girls and ensure that they are not left behind.

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I agree with the author of this article that women can also participate actively in athletics as recognized by USA women. They should be encouraged and advised to involve in such activities actively. Furthermore, I do not oppose the idea of the author that women should also be allowed to participate in masculine sports like soccer, basketball, and Hockey. I also like the way this author addresses the issue of feminism (Baumgardner and Richard, 2000). She wants women to start talking about a shift in feminist consciousness especially the academy. They must struggle with issues of differences in male and female without forgetting diversity issues. I cannot oppose her idea of the intellectual infusion of poststructural theories which is an essential wave that pushes feminism into a new generation.

Although I am not sure on the date when the third wave of pro-girl rhetoric took place, I think it could have started way back before the 1990s without the knowledge of the public. I can only agree that it came to light in the 1990s when feminists began to fight for reproductive rights and equal pay for any work done among white women. I disagree with her the way she classified feminism as the first wave, second wave, and third wave. I believe that these changes might have happened concurrently and therefore, in my opinion, it is not easy to group them as the first wave, second and third. I only concur with her when she says that in 1990s women started to understand that they are equal as men and should be regarded equally in the society (Baumgardner and Richard, 2000). This benefited young women greatly because they could now receive fair treatment from men and their employers. The changes which have been brought by Feminists have transformed the lives of young women, and currently, they view the World differently.

After going through the article, I accept the definition of empowerment regarding feminism. Marion defines it as a way of improving the ability of women to control themselves or to establish a sense of collective influence over social status of an individual's life. I also support her argument that empowerment occurs at different levels as an individual, organization level, and public level. A person can be empowered through encouragement to participate in public events such as sports. For women to engage in the roles of men and develop a belief that they are not below or inferior, they need to be encouraged and given the opportunity to compete with men in other activities. Women should also be allowed to be in leadership to show that they also have the potential and ability to lead.

Although this article is fascinating and carries weighty matters that women should advocate for, it is challenging to understand. The author used lengthy sentences with words that someone with low command in English cannot understand. It uses different scholarly theories and models which require someone refer from other books to understand them better. I believe that this article could have been better when the author could have used straightforward language and quotes to illustrate the opinion of the author.

I enjoyed reading this article. Although it is not easy to understand, it carries essential information that women should know about their lives. I believe that this article is of great importance as it empowers women and gives them the zeal to participate in the community activities with men. It educates women that they are also capable and have equal rights and opportunities as their counterparts. I believe that women can, and there are some women with more ability than some men, but the culture of most people regard women as a weaker sex. From this article, I understand that women only need empowerment and they develop the strength of becoming active members of the society.

References

Baumgardner, Jennifer, and Amy Richard, (2000). Manifesta: Young women, feminism and thefuture. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.