Philosophy

The author has done a commendable job trying to explain the origin of the Feminist movements in the United States coined within the political context. There is a lot of agreement on many issues as the author has tried to provide for a chronology of the events that were taking place in the US from the mid 20th century until the formation of feminists organizations that emerged to champion for the womens rights.

The emergence of the US feminist philosophy
The activities of Rosa Parks in 1955 though aimed at resisting racism can be argued out from the feminist point of view. Women held a very low position in the society as depicted in the infamous 1955 Adlai Stevenson address to Smith college graduates urging them not to define themselves as professionals but rather politically participate as mothers and wives. Coupled with the political activities of the time, the women who had realized the level of injustices that they were exposed to went on to form organizations to champion for their rights and were also engaged in protests fighting for equality. It is actually right to argue that the social and political events that were experienced in the United States formed the basis upon which feminist movements would emerge (Tuana, 2004).

Radical Feminism
Radical feminist philosophy views the males as privileged in the society at the expense of women based on patriarchy. The proponents are opposed to the existing social and political arrangement since they view them as tied to patriarchy. Radical feminism has been criticized for focusing on the societal arrangement which is patriarchy instead of addressing specific issues affecting the unequal relationship between the men and women. This perspective looks at patriarchy as the source of all evils bedeviling the women which is not the case (Lewis, 2010).

Feminism and War
    The war in Iraq has led to the increasing number of death among the military. It is not surprising that many of the military death are reportedly males when compared to the female cases. To feminists, this is a reflection of the imbalance in the military in which case more males are employed as compared to women. There could be another perspective to the issue for instance women are sidelined from taking part in combative action as this is thought to be a male domain. Going by the first argument, more males are encouraged to take military as a career option whereas the females are encouraged to influence the males to join the military. This is well depicted by Cynthia Enloe who established that military recruiters have engaged the advertising agencies services with the aim of encouraging young men to take military careers. Influencers are mothers and girlfriends and there are general militarized ideas about the heroic veteran, the sacrificing mother, and the loyal girlfriend (Mehr, 2009).

    To radical feminists, the military is a reflection of the patriarchic social dominance of the male gender (Lewis, 2010). To the equity feminists, the military composition in terms of gender is skewed in favor of the males. It is therefore logical to point out that military death in war countries like Iraq will always be skewed in favor of the domineering gender. Women military officials were not officially recognized as history depicts. During the Vietnam wars, those who served in the military action were referred to as volunteers whether they participated in the civilian capacity or military (Illyria.com, 2009).

It can therefore be argued by feminists that imbalances in the military have continued despite the efforts seeking equality of both genders in all spheres of life. Feminism movements have no time to rest and take count of their achievements as there is a lot remaining and waiting to be done.