by saying, ?the work of feminism is selfish and one sided at times,? that feminism is only one side of a coin. The point is simply this; women living in privilege are acting selfishly by challenging roles that are functional for the survival of the masses and that by seeing women as victims of an unfair society without also acknowledging men is only covering one side of an issue.There is no such thing as sexism if sexism is to be defined as oppression of one sex by another. There are, however, sex roles and both men and women suffer and benefit from them. Woolf wrote during a unique period in time when sex roles that had been functional at one point were beginning to be an impediment for members of the female sex. Women that were well provided for were in the unusual position of being able to challenge tradition and redefine their part in society. For thousands of years most marriages focused on survival. Survival dictated that there be a division of labor in which women raised the children and men provided for the children. Children were obligatory and both sexes were subservient to the needs of the family. Marriage was for life and the love in these relationships emanated from mutual dependence. However, as traditional society collapsed into the free market and the industrial revolution overtook the western world, a new type of situation emerged. The female role became less necessary for survival, due to a rising standard of living, allowing women more time to pursue aspects of life that had been considered exclusive to the male role. For the women that were fortunate enough to be in this position, the need for survival evolved into the need for fulfillment. Woolf is riding on the crest of this wave in ?A Room of One?s Own? and her whole essay shows she has her heart set on the distant shore of fulfillment. She feels that she knows what is needed to be complete and yearns for her ideal to become a reality. This yearning, however, is s...
