feminism

• Sex

  Biological differences between men and women
• Gender

  Different roles that society ascribes to men and women
• Patriarchy

  Systematic, institutionalised and pervasive gender oppression
• The personal is political


  All relationships between men and women are based on power and dominance
• Types of feminism

  • Equality feminism
  • Difference feminism
• Equality feminism


  Seeks equality for men and women in society
• Difference feminism

  Argues that men and women have a fundamentally different nature from one another
• Intersectionality

  Black and working-class women’s experiences of patriarchy differ from white, middle-class women
• Different types of feminism

  • Liberal Feminism
  • Socialist Feminism
  • Radical Feminism
  • Post-modern Feminism
• Liberal Feminism


  Sees individualism as the basis of gender equality
• Socialist Feminism


  Believes that gender inequality stems from economics and that capitalism creates patriarchy
• Radical Feminism


  Believes that the biggest problem facing society is gender inequality
• Post-modern Feminism


  Argues that patriarchy manifests in different ways depending on a woman’s race, class, etc.
• What’s happening in the world?
• Sex

  Refers to biological differences between men and women
• Gender

  Refers to the different roles that society ascribes to men and women
• Patriarchy

  Society, state and the economy are characterised by systematic, institutionalised and pervasive gender oppression
• The personal is political

  The idea that all relationships between men and women are based on power and dominance
• Types of feminism

  • Equality feminism
  • Difference feminism
• Equality feminism

  Seeks equality for men and women in society
• Difference feminism

  Argues that men and women have a fundamentally different nature from one another
• Intersectionality

  Argues that black and working-class women’s experiences of patriarchy are different from white, middle-class women
• Mary Wollstonecraft is a key figure in feminism
• Liberal Feminism

  • Sees individualism as the basis of gender equality
• Socialist Feminism

  • Believes that gender inequality stems from economics and that capitalism creates patriarchy
• Radical Feminism

  • Believes that the biggest problem facing society is gender inequality
• Post-modern Feminism

  • Argues that patriarchy manifests in different ways depending on a woman’s race, class, etc.
• Women who held property were required to give up all rights to it to their husbands on marriage
• The Married Women's Property Act was passed in 1870
• The Married Women's Property Act allowed any money earned by a woman to be treated as her own property
• The law was extended in 1882 to allow married women to have complete personal control over all of their property
• The Law of Property Act in 1922 enabled a husband and wife to inherit each other's property
• Under legislation passed in 1926, women were allowed to hold and dispose of property on the same terms as men
• Charlotte Perkins Gilman is a key figure in feminism
• Gender stereotypes

  Beliefs about characteristics and behaviours associated with being male or female
• Feminists believe gender is learnt behaviour
• Biological differences should not affect women’s general status according to most feminists
• Some feminists believe biological differences help understand the inferior status of women
• Betty Friedan


  Author of The Feminine Mystique
• Betty Friedan: '“Over and over again, stories in women's magazines insist that women can know fulfillment only at the moment of giving birth to a child...”'