Radical feminism

• Millet – men originally acquired power over women because of biological factors but she suggests that modern technology has provided developments, e.g the contraceptive pill and modern machinery that have meant that men can no longer legitimate their power.
• Johnson’s – Patriarchal terrorism – men are prepared to defend their power at all costs and will use violence against women to control them and maintain their domination.
• Atkinson – The nuclear family is also viewed as a means to ensure male dominance through female subordination to men in their unpaid domestic labour as housewives and mothers, forcing them to be dependent upon men.

  Women need to be separate from men and get into relationships with each other and tackle the patriarchy.
• Delphy and Leonard: Women are being exploited and oppressed through marriage. The key to this exploitation is that women work for the male head of the household and in this relationship he holds the economic power. Men benefit more from marriage because he no longer has to think for himself anymore, as the wife now looks after him. They accept that women can attempt to resist the domination of their husbands, but economic and social factors make it difficult for women to leave these relationships.