Sociology-theory and methods-Feminism

Question 1

What is liberal feminism?

Answer 1

Liberals are concerned with the human and civil rights and freedoms of the individual. In keeping with the Enlightenment tradition, they believe all human beings should have equal rights. Since both men and women are human beings, they should both have the same inalienable rights and freedoms

Question 2

What is reformism?

Answer 2

It is the idea that progress towards equal rights can be achieved by gradual reforms or piecemeal changes in society, without the need for revolution

Question 3

What are the two ways liberal/reformist feminists believe equality can be achieved?

Answer 3

Through laws and policies, and through cultural change

Question 4

What do liberal/reformist feminists say about laws and policies?

Answer 4

Believe women can achieve gender equality in this way. Eg they argue that laws and policies against sex discrimination in employment and education can secure equal opportunities for women

Question 5

What do liberal/reformist feminists say about cultural change?

Answer 5

They call for cultural change, because in their view, traditional prejudices and stereotypes about gender differences are a barrier to equality. Eg beliefs that women are 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. Liber feminists reject the idea that biological differences make women less competent/rational to men, or that men are biologically less emotional/nurturing

Question 6

What do liberal feminists, like Oakley, distinguish between?

Answer 6

Sex and gender

Question 7

What is sex?

Answer 7

It refers to biological differences between males and females, such as reproductive role, hormonal and physical differences

Question 8

What is gender?

Answer 8

It 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

Question 9

Can sex/gender issues vary?

Answer 9

Sex differences are seen as fixed, but gender differences vary between cultures and over time. What is considered a proper role for women in one society or at one time may be disapproved or forbidden in another. Eg, until fairly recently it was rare to see women bus drivers in Britain, but it is now quite common, while in Saudi Arabia, women are forbidden to drive any vehicle (changing 2018)

Question 10

What do liberal feminists say about the sex and gender differences, and how they can be changed?

Answer 10

Sexist attitudes and stereotypical beliefs about gender are culturally constructed and transmitted through socialisation. Therefore to achieve gender equality, we must change society’s socialisation patterns. Liberal feminists seek to promote appropriate role models in education and the family, eg female teachers in traditional male subjects, or fathers taking responsibility for domestic tasks. Similarly they challenge gender stereotyping in the media. Over time, they believe such actions will produce cultural change and gender equality will become the norm

Question 11

Is liberal feminism optimistic or pessimistic?

Answer 11

It is an optimistic theory, very much in keeping with the Enlightenment project and its faith in progress

Question 12

Overall what do liberal feminists believe

Answer 12

Changes in socialisation and culture are gradually leading to more rational attitudes to gender and overcoming ignorance and prejudice. Political action 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

Question 13

How can liberal feminism be seen as a critique of the functionalist view of gender roles?

Answer 13

Functionalists such as Parson’s distinguish between instrumental roles and expressive roles. In his view, instrumental roles are the domain of men, while expressive roles are the domain of women. Liberal feminism challenges this division. It argues men and women are equally capable of performing roles in both spheres, and that traditional gender roles prevent men and women from leading fulfilling lives. liberal feminism aims to break down the barrier between the two spheres

Question 14

Despite liberal feminisms critique of the functionalist view of gender divisions, what type of theory is liberal feminism?

Answer 14

It is the feminist theory closest to a consensus view of society. Although it recognises conflicts between men and women, these are not seen as inevitable, but merely a product of outdated attitudes. Moreover, women’s emancipation is a ‘win win’ situation from which men too will gain. Eg, ending the gender division of labour would allow men to express their ‘feminine’ nurturing side, which current gender stereotypes force them to suppress

Question 15

What are the evaluation points for liberal feminism?

Answer 15

Positive impact, over-optimism, and other feminists

Question 16

How has liberal feminism had a positive impact?

Answer 16

In sociology, studies conduct by liberal feminists have 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 representations of gender etc. Their work has also helped to demonstrate that gender differences are not inborn but the result different treatment socialisation patterns

Question 17

How has liberal feminism been criticised for over-optimism?

Answer 17

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’. They ignore the possibility that there are deep-seated structures causing women’s oppression, such as capitalism/patriarchy. As Walby argues, they offer no explanation for the overall structure of gender inequality

Question 18

How has liberal feminism been criticised by other feminists?

Answer 18

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. Instead, they believe that far-reaching revolutionary changes are needed

Question 19

What is radical feminism?

Answer 19

It emerged in the early 1970s. Its key concept is patriarchy (‘rule by fathers’ but has come to mean a society in which men dominate women)

Question 20

What are the key claims made by radical feminists?

Answer 20

Patriarchy is universal (male domination of women exists in all known societies. According to Firestone, the origins of patriarchy lie in women’s biological capacity to bear/care for infants as performing this role means they become dependent on males). Patriarchy is the primary and most fundamental form of inequality and conflict (key division is between men and women, and men are women’s main enemy). All men oppress all women (all men benefit from patriarchy-especially from women’s unpaid domestic labour and from their sexual services)

Question 21

How do radical feminists view patriarchal oppression?

Answer 21

As direct and personal. It occurs not only in the public sphere of work and politics, but also in the private sphere of the family, domestic labour and sexual relationships. Radical feminists see the personal as political. All relationships involve power and they are political when one person dominates another. Personal relationships are therefore political because men dominate women through them. Radical feminists refer to these relationships as sexual politics

Question 22

What do radical feminists focus on?

Answer 22

Ways in which patriarchal power is exercised through personal relationships, often through sexual/physical violence or threat of it. This has the effect of controlling all women, not just those against whom it is exercised. Eg, as Brownmiller notes, fear of rape is a powerful deterrent against women going out alone at night

Question 23

What do radical feminists say about sexuality?

Answer 23

They shed new light on nature of sexuality. In general, malestream sociology regards sexuality as natural biological urge and so outside the scope of sociology. By contrast, radical feminists argue patriarchy constructs sexuality so as to satisfy men’s desires, eg Rich argues that men continue to force women into a narrow and unsatisfying ‘compulsory heterosexuality’

Question 24

What solutions do radical feminists propose to make change?

Answer 24

Separatism, consciousness-raising and political lesbianism

Question 25

What is separatism?

Answer 25

Giving that men’s oppression of women is exercised through intimate domestic/sexual relationships, some radical feminists advocate separatism-living apart from men and thereby creating a new culture of female independence, free from patriarchy. Eg Greer argues for the creation of all female (‘matrilocal’) households as an alternative to the heterosexual family

Question 26

What is consciousness-raising?

Answer 26

Through sharing their experiences in women-only consciousness-raising groups, women come to see that other women face the same problems. This may lead to collective action, such as ‘SlutWalk’ marches

Question 27

What is political lesbianism?

Answer 27

Many radical feminists argue that heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive because they involve ‘sleeping with the enemy’ and that lesbianism is the only non-oppressive form of sexuality

Question 28

What are the evaluation points for radical feminism?

Answer 28

Strength of the theory, marxist perspective, lack of explanation, Pollet’s view, inadequate/incomplete theory, liberal feminist view, neglect the opposite side of the story

Question 29

What is a strength of radical feminism?

Answer 29

Radical feminists’ idea that the personal is political reveals how intimate relationships can involve domination. They draw attention to the political dimension of areas such as marriage, domestic labour, domestic violence and rape.

Question 30

Why do marxists criticise radical feminism?

Answer 30

Marxists assert that class, not patriarchy, is the primary form of inequality. They also argue that capitalism is the main cause and beneficiary of women’s oppression, and not men, as radical feminism claims

Question 31

How can radical feminism be criticised for a lack of explanation?

Answer 31

They offer no explanation of why female subordination takes different forms in different societies. Similarly, it assumes all women are in the same position and ignores class, ethnic etc differences between women. A middle class woman may have more in common with a middle class man than with a woking class woman

Question 32

What does Pollert argue about radical feminism?

Answer 32

She argues that the concept of patriarchy is of little value because it involves a circular argument, eg male violence is explained as patriarchy, while patriarchy is seen as being maintained by male violence-so patriarchy is maintaining itself

Question 33

How can radical feminism be seen as an inadequate/incomplete theory?

Answer 33

It has an inadequate theory of how patriarchy will be abolished. Critics argue that vague utopian notions of separatism are unlikely to be achievable. Somerville argues that heterosexual attraction makes it unlikely that the nuclear family will be replaced by single-sex households

Question 34

How do liberal feminists view radical feminism?

Answer 34

Patriarchy may already be in decline. Liberal feminists argue that women’s position has improved greatly in recent years as a result of social reforms and changing attitudes. Better education, job opportunities etc mean that gender equality is beginning to become a reality

Question 35

How does radical feminism ignore the other side of the story?

Answer 35

While drawing attention to male violence against women, radical feminism neglects women’s violence against men and violence within lesbian relationships

Question 36

How do marxist feminists view liberal and radical feminism

Answer 36

They dismiss the liberal feminist view that women’s subordination is merely the product of stereotyping or outdated attitudes. They also reject the radical feminist view that it is the result of patriarchal oppression by men

Question 37

What do marxist feminists believe?

Answer 37

They see women’s subordination as rooted in capitalism. Although individual men may benefit from women’s subordination, the main beneficiary is capitalism . For marxist feminists, women’s subordination in capitalist society results from their primary role as unpaid homemaker, which places them in a dependent economic position in the family

Question 38

What important functions for capitalism does women’s subordination perform?

Answer 38

Women are a source of cheap, exploitable labour, women are a reserve army of labour, women reproduce the labour force, and women absorb anger

Question 39

How are women a source of cheap, exploitable labour?

Answer 39

They can be paid less because it is assumed they will be partially dependent on their husbands’ earnings

Question 40

How are women a reserve army of labour?

Answer 40

They are a reserve army of labour that can be moved into the labour force during economic booms and out again at times of recession. They can be treated as marginal workers in this way because it is assumed their primary role is in the home

Question 41

How do women reproduce the labour force?

Answer 41

Through their unpaid domestic labour, both by nurturing and socialising children to become the next generation of workers and by maintaining and servicing the current generation of workers-their husbands. They do this at no cost to capitalism

Question 42

How do women absorb anger?

Answer 42

They absorb anger that would otherwise be directed at capitalism. Ansley describes wives as ‘takers of shit’ who soak up the frustration their husbands feel because of the alienation and exploitation they suffer at work. For marxist feminists, this explains male domestic violence against women

Question 43

What do marxists see as a solution to end women’s subordination?

Answer 43

They argue that women’s interest lie in the overthrow of capitalism

Question 44

What does Barrett argue?

Answer 44

All marxist feminists agree women’s subordination within the family performs important economic functions for capitalism, however some ague that non-economic factors must also be taken into account if we are to understand and change women’s position, eg Barrett agues we must give more emphasis to women’s consciousness and motivations, and to the role of ideology in maintaining their oppression

Question 45

What does Barrett believe about the question, why do women marry and live in the conventional nuclear family when this is precisely what oppresses them?

Answer 45

According to Barrett, the answer lies in the ideology of ‘familism’. This ideology presents the nuclear family and its sexual division of labour (where women perform unpaid domestic work) as natural and normal. The family is portrayed as the only place where women can attain fulfilment, through motherhood, intimacy and sexual satisfaction. This ideology helps to keep women subordinated

Question 46

What does Barrett believe about the overthrow of capitalism?

Answer 46

While she believes the overthrow of capitalism is necessary to secure women’s liberation, she argues that it is not sufficient. We must also overthrow the ideology of familism that underpins the conventional family and its unequal division of labour. This would free the sexes from restrictive stereotypes and ensure domestic labour was shared equally

Question 47

How do some feminists take the analysis of ideology of familism further?

Answer 47

To explain why women seem to freely accept oppressive family and marital relationships. These writers often draw on non-marxist and even non-sociological ideas, eg Mitchell uses Freud’s psychoanalytic theory to argue that ideas about femininity are so deeply implanted in women’s unconscious minds that they are very difficult to dislodge. The implication is that even after the overthrow of capitalism, it would still be hard to overcome patriarchal ideology because it is so deep rooted

Question 48

What are the evaluation points for marxist feminism?

Answer 48

Strength of the theory, fails to explain women’s subordination in non-capitalist societies, Hartmann’s view, over-emphasises capitalism and lack of proof

Question 49

What is a strength of marxist feminism?

Answer 49

Given the importance of economic production to most other areas of social life, marxist feminists are correct to give weight to the relationship between capitalism and women’s subordination. They show a greater understanding of the importance of structural factors than liberal feminism

Question 50

How does marxist feminism fail to explain women’s subordination in non-capitalist societies?

Answer 50

As women’s subordination is also found in non-capitalist societies, it cannot be explained solely in terms of the needs of capitalism, however, in their defence, marxist feminists are only seeking to explain the position of women in contemporary capitalist society

Question 51

What is Hartmann’s view of marxist feminism?

Answer 51

She argues marxism is ‘sex-blind’. Unpaid domestic labour may benefit capitalism, as marxist feminists claim, but this doesn’t explain why it is women and not men who perform it

Question 52

How do marxist feminists over-emphasise capitalism?

Answer 52

They place insufficient emphasis on the ways in which men (including working class men) and not just capitalism, oppress women and benefit from their unpaid labour

Question 53

What does it mean that there is a lack of proof to support marxist feminism?

Answer 53

It is not proven that unpaid domestic labour is in fact the cheapest way of reproducing labour power. Eg it may be done more cheaply through the market or through state provision such as publicly funded nurseries

Question 54

What is dual systems feminism?

Answer 54

Dual systems feminists have sought to combine the key features of marxist and radical feminism in a single theory. The two systems referred to are: an economic system (capitalism) and a sex-gender system (patriarchy)

Question 55

What is patriarchal capitalism?

Answer 55

Radical feminism regards patriarchy as the cause of women’s oppression, while marxist feminism sees capitalism as responsible. Dual systems theorists such as Hartmann see capitalism and patriarchy as two intertwined systems that form a single entity, ‘patriarchal capitalism’. Like radical feminism, these theorists accept that patriarchy is universal, but they argue that patriarchy takes a specific form in capitalist societies

Question 56

From a dual systems feminist view, how can women’s subordination be understood?

Answer 56

From this viewpoint, to understand women’s subordination, we must look at the relationship between their position both in the domestic division of labour (patriarchy) and in paid work (capitalism. Eg domestic work limits women’s availability for paid work-but lack of work opportunities drives many women into marriage and economic dependence on a man, thus, the two systems reinforce each other

Question 57

What does Walby argue?

Answer 57

Capitalism and patriarchy are inter-related. However, she argues that the interests of the two are not always the same. In particular they collide over the exploitation of female labour. While capitalism demands cheap female labour for workforce, patriarchy resists this, wanting to keep women subordinated to men within private, domestic sphere. However, in the long run, capitalism is usually more powerful and s patriarchy adopts a strategy of segregation instead: women are allowed into the capitalist sphere of paid work, but only in low status ‘women’s’ jobs, subordinated to men

Question 58

How is Walby’s approach useful?

Answer 58

Because it shows how the two systems interact and structure one another, without assuming that their interests always coincide

Question 59

What does Pollert argue, unlike Walby?

Answer 59

Argues that patriarchy is not actually a system in the same sense as capitalism, which is driven by its own internal dynamic of profit making. By contrast, ‘patriarchy’ is merely a descriptive term for a range of practices such as male violence and control of women’s labour

Question 60

How do difference feminists differ from other feminists

Answer 60

By contrast to other feminist perspectives, difference feminists do not see women as a single homogenous group. They argue that middle class and working class women, white and black women, lesbian and heterosexual women have very different experiences of patriarchy, capitalism, racism, homophobia etc

Question 61

What does difference feminism argue?

Answer 61

Argues that feminist theory has claimed a ‘false universality’ for itself-it claimed to be about all women but in reality was only about the experiences of white, western, heterosexual, middle class women. Eg by seeing the family only as a source of oppression, white feminists have neglected black women’s experience of racial oppression. By contrast, many black feminists view the black family positively as a source of resistance against racism

Question 62

What two issues does difference feminisms’ criticism of feminist theory raise?

Answer 62

The problem of essentialism, and the relationship of feminism to the Enlightenment problem

Question 63

What is the problem of essentialism?

Answer 63

As applied to gender, essentialism is idea all women share same fundamental ‘essence’-all women are essentially the same/share the same experiences of oppression. Difference feminists argue liberal/marxist/radical feminists are essentialist-see all women as the same. As a result, they fail to reflect diversity of women’s experiences and exclude other women and their problems. Eg some difference feminists argue the preoccupation of wester feminism with sexuality is irrelevant to women in poorer countries, where access to clean water/primary healthcare are far more pressing problems

Question 64

What is poststructuralist feminism?

Answer 64

Poststructuralist feminists, such as Butler, offer an alternative approach. Poststructuralism is concerned with discourses and power/knowledge

Question 65

What are discourses?

Answer 65

Discourses are ways of seeing, thinking or speaking about something. The world is made up of many, often competing, discourses, eg religious, scientific, medical and artistic

Question 66

What effect do discourses have?

Answer 66

By enabling its users to define others in certain ways, a discourse gives power over those it defines. Eg, by defining childbirth as a medical condition and healthy women as patients, medical discourse empowers doctors and disempowers women. Knowledge is power-the power to define of ‘constitute’ the identities of others

Question 67

What do poststructuralists argue about the Enlightenment project?

Answer 67

They argue the Enlightenment project, with its talk of reason, humanity and progress, is one such discourse-a form of power/knowledge. Butler uses this idea in her critique of existing feminist theories

Question 68

What does Butler argue about the Enlightenment project?

Answer 68

The Enlightenment ideas were simply a form of power/knowledge that legitimated domination by western, white, middle class males. These supposedly were universal ideals that claimed to apply to all humanity in reality exclude women/other oppressed groups. Similarly Butler agues the white, western, middle class women who dominate the feminist movement have falsely claimed to represent ‘universal womanhood’. She concludes that feminists are wrong to believe they can adapt the Enlightenment project so that it somehow includes all women-because women are not a single entity who all share the same ‘essence’

Question 69

What do poststructuralists ague about women?

Answer 69

There is no fixed essence of what it is to be a woman. Because our identities are constituted through discourses, and because there are many different discourses in different times and cultures, there can be no fixed entity called ‘womanhood’ that is the same everywhere. Eg womanhood in Saudi Arabia is constituted partly by Islamic discourse. By contrast, womanhood in the West is constituted to a greater extent by the discourses of advertising and the media

Question 70

What does Butler argue about poststructuralism?

Answer 70

It offers advantages for feminism. It enables feminists to ‘de-construct’ different discourses to reveal how they subordinate women-as in the medicalisation of childbirth, for example. Thus, we can examine the discourses of medicine, sexuality, advertising, art, religion, science, etc to uncover the power/knowledge by which they define and oppress women

Question 71

What do different discourses allow?

Answer 71

Different discourses give rise to different forms of oppression, and thus to different identities and experiences for women. Likewise, each discourse provokes its own distinct form of resistance and struggle, with its own aims and demands

Question 72

Overall, how does Butler see poststructuralism as legitimating the diversity of women’s experiences?

Answer 72

By rejecting essentialism and by stressing the diversity of discourses, poststructuralism recognises and legitimates the diversity of women’s lives and struggles, rather than prioritising some and excluding others

Question 73

What are the evaluation points for poststructuralist feminism?

Answer 73

Strength of the theory, Walby’s view, effect on feminism, segal’s view

Question 74

What is a strength of poststructuralist feminism?

Answer 74

Seems to offer a theoretical basis for recognising the diversity of women’s experiences and struggles, however critics argue that it has weaknesses

Question 75

What is Walby’s view of poststructuralist feminism?

Answer 75

She agrees there are differences among women, but argues that there are also important similarities-they are all faced with patriarchy. Eg compared with men, women face a greater risk of low pay, domestic violence and sexual assault

Question 76

What effect does poststructuralist feminism have on feminism as a whole?

Answer 76

Celebrating difference may have the effect of dividing women into an infinite number of sub-groups weakens feminism as a movement for change

Question 77

What is Segal’s view of poststructuralist feminism?

Answer 77

Criticises poststructuralist feminism for abandoning any notion of real, objective social structures. Oppression is not just the result of discourses-it is about real inequality. Feminists should therefore continue to focus on the struggle for equality of wealth and income