1.3 Feminism & Families

• What are the strengths of the feminist perspectives on family?

  -Highlights the role of women

  -Highlights gender inequalities

  -Expose the dark side
• What are proposed solutions to stop women being oppressed in families?

  Revolutionary change

  Overturn the patriarchal system

  Separatism

  Abolish the family

  Political Lesbianism
• How does the family oppress women?

  -Feminists like Oakley agree with functionalists & Marxists and say the family is essentially a conservative institution that preserves the social order

  -They disagree with functionalists and agree with Marxists that in doing so it benefits only a powerful group within society, for feminists, that group is men

  -Families preserve, support and embed the patriarchy
• Radical feminism

  Men are enemies of women- all men oppress & all men benefit from patriarchy Women should be living apart from men and create a culture of female independence
• Marxist feminism

  They analyse the ways women are exploited through capitalism and how the system benefits from women being the unpaid house maker that's dependant on their male partners. They believe the problem is capitalism and to replace it with a communist society where men and women will be equal
• Difference feminism

  Rather than focusing on women as a homogenous group and experience the same situations and oppression, they look at the differences between groups of women
• Liberal feminism

  Concerned with the human and civil rights of the individual- all humans should have freedom and equal rights. They are optimistic and believe we're seeing changes
• When were the first & second waves of feminism?

  1900s & 1960s
• Feminism

  The belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power and opportunities as men and be treated the same way
• Subservience

  Willingness to obey other unquestionably
• Triple shift

  Women doing paid, unpaid & emotional work within families
• Dual Burden

  The workload of people who work but are also responsible for large amounts of unpaid domestic work
• Glass Ceiling

  An unacknowledged barrier to advancement in a profession, especially affecting women & minorities
• What do Post-Modern feminists believe?

  Gender identities aren't fixed, but fluid

  Women have choice in creating family & relationships

  Family diversity reflects choice

  Women may be aware of their oppression but opt to play out this role
• Ansley - "women are the takers of shit" who soak up male frustration
• Sommerville (Liberal Feminist) argues that radical feminists fail to recognise that women's positions have changed considerably