Feminism

• 4 types of feminism

  Liberal - public sphere reformist Simone debervouir Betty friedan

  Socialist - Economy Sheila rowbotham revolutionary

  Radical - Private sphere Radical feminism Kate millet

  Post feminists - Criticise feminism say women should move on and focus on other factors e.g race

  bell hooks
• All agree that the biological differences are inconsequential apart from difference feminists

  Liberal and radical disagree over which sphere to focus on and liberal favour reform whilst some Social favour revolutions, Post feminist say patriarchy has been defeated

  Social and radical argue the state is patriarchal and needs to go whilst Labour think it can be reformed

  Feminist agree that they face economic discrimination Socialist think a revolutionary is needed
• Sheila Rowbotham believed that women had been excluded from the economy and politics throughout history. In the past women worked alongside men in agriculture and industry but when industrialisation happened women became confined to domestic labour. Men took control of the economy and politics and created an ideological system whereby women were seen as inferior and dependent upon men. To overcome this women must take part in revolution and create new forms of social organisation based around cooperation rather than competition.
• Betty Friedan argued that women were unhappy housewives and wanted more than just being wives and mothers. They want careers and independence but society does not allow them to do this. Women's unhappiness was caused by the 'feminine mystique'. The only way to solve this problem was through education and training for women to get into work and become independent.
• Kate Millet argued that women have been oppressed by men since ancient times. She saw women's subordination as being rooted in biology and therefore thought that women could never truly escape it unless they rejected motherhood altogether. She believed that women should reject marriage and children and instead pursue careers outside the home. However, she did not believe that women could ever fully escape gender inequality until there was a complete breakdown of all existing institutions including the nuclear family and the capitalist system.
• Bell Hooks argues that feminism has failed to address issues such as class, race and ethnicity. Many white middle-class women have benefited from feminism but black working-class women have not. Black women experience double jeopardy due to both gender and race. Therefore, feminism needs to be redefined to include all women regardless of their background.
• Rowbotham argues that women have been oppressed by men since ancient times. Women's role was defined by their relationship with men and she believes that women need to reject these traditional roles if they want equality. The family unit is central to her argument because she sees it as the basis of male power. She also thinks that women will only achieve true freedom once they have taken control of the means of production (economics) and political power (politics). This would mean creating a society based on cooperation not competition.
• Feminism differences?


  Disagreements between equality feminists and difference feminists.

  Liberal feminist want reform the rest want radical change

  Social focus on only capitalist radical focus on public and private sphere liberal focus on public sphere

  difference between different waves
• For example on the issue of pornography some

  feminists believe it is degrading to women and should be banned whilst others believe it can be a

  form of female empowerment. At first glance such divisive issues would seem to be extremely

  significant to feminism as an ideology, making it contradictory and incoherent. However on closer

  examination it can be seen that the issues on which feminists agree, such as patriarchy, are of

  greater significance as they are what define feminist beliefs.
• liberal feminists such as Betty Friedan

  attack legal and cultural patriarchy, for example the campaigns during the sixties and seventies for

  legalised abortion, the fact that abortion was illegal can be seen as male domination over women’s

  bodies. Meanwhile socialist feminists emphasise the economic exploitation of women, for example

  the fact that in the U.K. today they are paid 18% less than men for the same work.
• Radical feminists focus on sexual and psychological exploitation, for example Millett identifies

  patriarchy in the family, where the father is dominant, seeing this as both connected to society,

  and mirroring it. However these differences are merely differences in terms of focus on where

  patriarchy exists. Ultimately where feminists choose to place their emphasis regarding patriarchy

  is less significant than the fact that they are all unified in fighting against it because all feminists do

  accept that patriarchy is evident in a variety of spheres.
• For example radical feminists do

  not believe that patriarchy can be eliminated through legal reforms alone but in the 1960s and

  1970s they still participated in protests against patriarchal laws.
• Another central area of unity for feminists is a view that sex and gender are two different concepts,

  rather than one and the same. Sex refers to the biological distinctions between men and women,

  for example women have the ability to give birth. Gender indicates socially conditioned male and

  female traits that are not inevitable and can vary between cultures, for example that women are

  concerned with caring for others rather than accelerating their own position.
• Simone de Beauvoir’s famous

  quote ‘women are made, they are not born’.
• Liberal feminsm?

  Focus on public sphere rather than private sphere, heavily influenced by liberal values of individualism foundational equality and equality of opportunity.

  First wave feminists like mary wollstonecraft argued for political equality

  First wave feminists like Charlotte Gilman were the first to argue that biological differences were irrelevant. Simone de beauvoir argued that gender differences are not natural. Betty Friedan argued that society confined women to the narrow roles of housewife.
• Liberal feminsm?

  Third wave feminists argue that patriarchy is constantly changing that oppresses women, they disagree with radical feminsts over the omnipresence of patriarchy , they believe it is possible for discrimination and oppression to be reformed in both state and society.
• Socialist feminsm?

  They argue that economic leads to gender inequality and capitalism causes patriarchy. Thinkers like Friedrich Engels was the first to argue that economics caused gender inequality. Engels argued that capitalism created patriarchy. He claimed women were complicit in both reproducing the workforce and socialising their children.

  Sheila Robotham adopted a Marxist theory of history concluding women have always been oppressed. She argues that men do not fully understand the nature of oppression of women. She argued that there needed to be revolution within a revolution to destroy both capitalism and patriarchy.
• Radical Feminism?

  Focuses on private sphere argue that society is purely patriarchal. They argue that by ignoring the private aspect of womens lives the oppression of womens domestic circumstances is ignored. Difference feminists argue that a women dominated by feminine essence would be more peacefully and environmentally friendly. Difference feminists would influenced ecofeminists who see both the oppression of women and oppression of nature as aspects of male need to dominate, women are better suited to protect the environment.