liberal or reformist feminists

• Concerned with the human and civil rights and freedoms of the individual. They believe all human beings should have equal rights.
• Reformism:


  The idea that progress towards equal rights can be achieved by gradual reforms or piecemeal changes in society, without the need for revolution.
• Laws and policies:

  Believe women can achieve gender equality by laws and procedures. They argue that laws and policies against sex discrimination in employment and education can secure equal opportunities for women
• Cultural change:

  Traditional prejudices and stereotypes about gender differences are a barrier to equality. e.g. beliefs that women were less rational and more dominated by emotion and instinct are used to legitimate their exclusion from decision-making roles and their confinement to childbearing and housework. Liberal feminists reject the idea that biological differences make women less competent or rational than men, or that men are biologically less emotional or nurturing.
• sex and gender - Oakley:

  Sex - refers to the biological differences between males and females, such as their reproductive role, hormonal and physical differences.
• sex and gender - Oakley:

  Gender - refers to culturally constructed differences between the 'masculine' and 'feminine' roles and identities assigned to males and females. It includes the ideas that cultures hold about the abilities of males and females, such as whether they are capable of rationality. These ideas are transmitted through socialisation.
• sex and gender:


  Gender differences vary between cultures over time. What is considered a proper role for women in one society or at one time may be disproved or forbidden in another.
• sex and gender:

  Sexist attitudes and stereotypical beliefs about gender are culturally constructed and transmitted through socialisation. To achieve gender equality, we must change society's socialisation patterns. Liberal feminists seek to promote appropriate role models in education and the family. They challenge gender stereotyping in the media. They believe such actions will produce cultural change and gender equality.
• sex and gender:

  • changes in socialisation and culture are gradually leading to more rational attitudes to gender and overcoming ignorance and prejudice.
  • political actions to introduce anti-discriminatory laws and policies is steadily bringing about progress to a fairer society in which a person's gender is no longer important.
• sex and gender:

  Can be seen as a criticism of the functionalist view of gender roles. e.g. Parsons instrumental and expressive roles. Argue men and women are equally capable of performing roles in both private and public spheres, and that traditional gender roles prevent both men and women from leading fulfilling lives. Aim to break down the barrier between both spheres.
• sex and gender:

  Liberal feminism is the feminist theory closest to a consensus view of society. Although it recognises conflict between men and women, there are not seen as inevitable but a product of outdates attitudes. Women's emancipation is a 'win-win' situation from which men will too gain.
• Evaluation of liberal feminism:

  Their work has produced evidence documenting the extent of gender inequality and discrimination, and legitimising the demand for reform in areas such as equal pay and employment practices, media representation of gender etc. Their work has helped demonstrate that gender differences are not inborn but the result of different treatment and socialisation patterns.
• Evaluation of liberal feminism:

  Criticised for over-optimism. They see the obstacles to emancipation as simply the prejudices of individuals or irrational laws that can be gradually reformed away by the onward 'march of progress'. Ignore the possibility that there are deep- seated structures causing women's oppression, such as capitalism or patriarchy.

  Walby: they offer no explanation for the overall structure of gender inequality.
• Evaluation of liberal feminism:

  Marxist feminists and radical feminists argue that liberal feminism fails to recognise the underlying causes of women's subordination and that it is naïve to believe that changes in the law or attitudes will be enough to bring equality. They believe far-reaching, revolutionary changes are needed.