feminism

• Feminists' views on patriarchy


  • AGREE
  • DISAGREE
• Feminists who agree on patriarchy

  • All believe a patriarchal society exists whereby women are disadvantaged against men and that this needs to be removed
• Feminists who disagree on patriarchy


  • Disagree over the location of the patriarchal society
  • Lib fems - public society patriarchal
  • Rad fems - patriarchy exists in both the public and private spheres
  • Soc fems - patriarchy exists in both private sphere (domestic work) and public sphere (reserve army of labour)
  • P-M fems - patriarchy exists in public and private society but for particular groups of women e.g. female racial minorities
  • Some (more extreme difference feminists) seek to replace patriarchal society with matriarchal society
• Feminists who agree on state role

  • All believe a state role is necessary to remove the patriarchy - to legislate to change the perceived basis of the patriarchy e.g. anti-discrimination laws
  • Shared belief that the state has also been a cause of patriarchal disadvantage I.e. Has been dominated by men
• Feminists who disagree on state role

  • Disagree over what the state needs to do to remove the patriarchy
  • Lib fems - least intervention (patriarchy to be removed in the public sphere e.g. via equal rights laws like pay)
  • All other fems - state needs to intervene in the private sphere too e.g. family unit seen as patriarchal by rads, socialist (domesticity to feed capitalism), P-Ms (intersected with race e.g. FGM)
  • Revolutionary socialist fems - seek the overthrow of the state
  • Radical fems would also not put everything down to the state but a more general cultural revolution to revolutionise attitudes and practices in peoples' family and personal lives
• Feminists who agree on economic dimension of patriarchy

  • All feminists see the patriarchy as having an economic dimension e.g. lib fems (female access to job opps), rad and soc fems (female confinement to domesticity), P-M fems (women of lower social classes and minorities face most significant economic disadvantages)
• Feminists who disagree on economic dimension of patriarchy

  • Socialist feminists emphasise the economic dimension of the patriarchy far more than all others – see that it is inherently bound up with capitalism
  • P-M fems – significant emphasis on social class as a factor that exacerbates patriarchy
  • Others focus on societal factors more e.g. work place, family
• Feminists' views on the personal being political

  • AGREE
  • DISAGREE
• Feminists who agree the personal is political

  • Most feminists believe that the patriarchy in the private sphere is political because politics can be defined as a power-structured relationship (e.g. State / citizen) and the relationship between men and women is seen by many feminists as power-structured
  • Radical feminists – talk of the 'politics of everyday life' I.e. the process of conditioning the family by gender roles, distribution of housework / domestic responsibilities and personal and sexual conduct
  • Socialist feminists – the role assigned to women domestically within conventional family is linked to the maintenance of the male dominated capitalist system
• Feminists who disagree the personal is political

  • Liberal feminists only see the public realm of society as political (I.e. education, work, politics) and believe the private sphere remains the realm of personal choice and individual freedom
• Feminists who agree on state role in reducing patriarchy

  • All believe a state role can reduce the scale of patriarchy in both the public and private sphere
• Feminists who disagree on state role in reducing patriarchy

  • Disagree over the location of state intervention i.e. whether or not to directly intervene in the private sphere too
  • Lib fems – state will target public sphere directly only (e.g. equal rights legislation) – leave private sphere alone (belief in freedom)
  • Rad fems – state intervention in both the public and private sphere e.g. reforming traditional family unit, communal child-rearing
  • Soc fems – state will mainly focus on public intervention of bringing about socialism instead of capitalism
  • P-M fems – will also intervene in private sphere (esp to remove personal disadvantage within the family e.g. FGM, honour killings, rape etc.)
• Feminists who agree on economic intervention in private sphere

  • Most feminists seek intervention within the private sphere on the grounds of redressing economic disadvantage e.g. both socialist and radical fems see the traditional patriarchal family structure as intrinsically linked to female economic disadvantage i.e. it reinforces gender stereotypical roles that keep women confined to domesticity
• Feminists who disagree on economic intervention in private sphere

  • Lib fems believe economic disadvantages can be addressed via public intervention only (e.g. equal pay legislation) whereas radicals particularly do not believe this is possible
• Feminists' views on equality

  • AGREE
  • DISAGREE
• Feminists who agree on equality


  • Vast majority of feminists seek a society in which men and women are equal at least in the public sphere
• Feminists who disagree on equality

  • Disagree over the extent of equality within society
  • Lib fems – public society equal
  • Other fems – equality to extend to the private sphere too e.g. personal and family life
  • Difference feminists advocate a society that is unequal and promotes women towards different roles in society
• Feminists who agree on state role in creating equality

  • All believe the state can facilitate equality between men and women e.g. via legislation such as anti-discrimination laws
• Feminists who disagree on state role in creating equality

  • Disagree over how the state should try to create equality between the sexes e.g. Lib fems (legislation only in the public sphere and within a capitalist economy e.g. equal pay laws), soc fems (state to transform economy via socialism – revolutionary soc fems see no long-term state like Marx), rad fems (state intervention to reconstruct society both in public and PRIVATE sphere e.g. the family, child-rearing etc.), P-M fems (laws to reduce intersectional discrimination both in public an private sphere)
  • Difference feminists – believe the state should facilitate women being fulfilled as women and even for some elevating women into positions of power based on their superior traits to men e.g. nurturing, caring
• Feminists who agree on human nature

  • Most feminists believe in androgynous personhood I.e. biological differences inconsequential and gender has been socially constructed that has created an inequality between men and women – this artificial inequality should therefore be removed so as to reflect the equality of human nature
• Feminists who disagree on human nature

  • Difference feminists believe in essentialism (biological sex differences are consequential I.e. give men and women very different characteristics and lead to different interpretations of the world) - this inequality is therefore natural and should be embraced by allowing women to be liberated from men and perhaps to the point of creating a matriarchy given the perceived superiority of women traits e.g. female leaders may lessen conflict and better protect the environment (eco-feminism)
• Law of Inertia


  Inertia is the force required to change the state of motion. Unless acted upon by an external force, an object at rest remains at rest, or if in motion, it continues to move in a straight line with constant speed.
• First Law - The Law of Inertia


  1. Inertia is the force required to change the state of motion

  2. Unless acted upon by an external force, an object at rest remains at rest

  3. If in motion, it continues to move in a straight line with constant speed
• Position of line of gravity

  • Area of base of support
• Force (N)


  Mass (Kg) x Acceleration (m/s/s)
• BIOMECHANICAL PRINCIPLES


  • Law of Inertia
  • Law of Acceleration
  • Law of Action/Reaction
• Second Law - The Law of Acceleration


  A force upon an object causes it to accelerate according to the formula: Force = Mass x Acceleration
• Third Law - The Law of Action/Reaction


  For every action (force), there is an equal and opposite reaction
• units for the equation distance = speed x time


  • Distance (Metres)
  • Time (Seconds)
  • Speed (Metres per second)
  • Distance (Kilometres)
  • Time (Hours)
  • Speed (Kilometres per hour)
  • Distance (Miles)
  • Time (Minutes)
  • Speed (Miles per minute)
• Scalar quantity


  A measurement in size or magnitude without taking into account direction
• Height of COM


  • Factors affecting stability
  • Mass of performer
  • Centre of Mass (COM)
  • Where an objects mass is considered to be concentrated, also known as the "point of balance"
  • Depends on: 1. height 2. muscle mass 3. body shape 4. body position