C2 - Non-core Political Ideas: Feminism

Question 1

what were the four different waves of feminism focused on?

Answer 1

• first wave (1850s-1940s): legal and political rights of women; suffragette movement which lead to equal suffrage in 1928
• second wave (1960s-1980s): gender roles expected by society; patriarchy, sex and gender, and ‘the personal is political’
• third wave (1990s): suggested that feminism marginalised women of different backgrounds and focused on white middle-class women
• fourth wave (2008-): focused on issues against women’s right with the rise of social media e.g. online misogyny and stereotypes in the media

Question 2

what is the key belief of feminism?

Answer 2

that society and related institutes as they currently stand, do not always work equally in the interests of men and women

Question 3

what do feminists argue about sex and gender?

Answer 3

• feminists argue that, whereas biological differences are clear, they don’t serve as justification for the gender roles ascribed to people
• biological differences do not change but gender roles are hugely varied culturally, suggesting that gender is learned behaviour imposed by society
• suggest that subjecting women to an ‘ideal’ gender type by labelling it as femininity is a part of the way society seeks to keep women in a subordinate position

Question 4

what is the patriarchy?

Answer 4

• describes a society that is dominated by men and runs in their interests
• systematic oppression of women by men - pervasive throughout society => ‘interrelated social structures, which allow men to exploit women’ - theorizing patriarchy (1990)

Question 5

what are walby’s six structures of the patriarchy?

Answer 5

• state - women are less likely to have formal power and representation and labelled as ‘anti-family’ if they do
• culture - they are misrepresented in the media and pop culture
• household - more likely to do the housework and raise the children, hence discouraged from pursuing a career, ‘family is patriarchy’s chief institution’ - kate millett
• violence - more prone to being abused
• paid work - likely to be paid less
• sexuality - their sexuality is more likely to be treated negatively e,g, having multiple sexual partners

Question 6

how do feminists distinguish between the public sphere (society) and the private sphere (family)?

Answer 6

public sphere refers to social life - public discourse, politics etc while private sphere is in the intimate realm of family life, where individuals are thought to have more autonomy and privacyy

Question 7

what is meant by the slogan ‘the personal is political’?

Answer 7

• suggests that ALL relationships between men and women are based on power and dominance, not just those in the public sphere
• showed that ‘personal’ aspects of life were in fact a system sought to repress women, especially in the case of domestic abuse
• it was largely ignored in society in 1960s/70s and it was suggested to be a ‘private matter’ because it concerned personal relationships

Question 8

how is family seen as key area of women’s oppression?

Answer 8

seen to fulfil several roles that keep women ‘in their place’
- children are brought up to accept their different, hierarchic roles
- socialises women into accepting the role of a housewife as the most fulfilling role they’ll ever have
- children see their parents acting out traditional gender roles and perceive them to be natural - generational perception
- women are expected to carry out most of the domestic work (unlike men), even when they have a career
- wives are expected to cater to the emotional, sexual, and physical needs of their husband
- once married and with children, they sacrifice their career prospects and are expected to raise the children at their own cost. if they do decide to return to work, they find their prospects blocked

Question 9

what is equality feminism?

Answer 9

• they seek equality between men and women and believe that the biological differences between men and women are inconsequential in modern society

Question 10

what is difference or essentialist feminism?

Answer 10

• argue that men and women are fundamentally different to one another - there are essential biological differences between sexes
• it calls for highlighting and valuing the differences between men and women, rather than encouraging women to deny them and become ‘more like men’ to achieve equality
• seeks to encourage women to accept and respect their female qualities, which are (at the very least) as important as men’s in society

Question 11

Do difference feminists advocate for the superiority of women?

Answer 11

• SOME go further in stressing the superiority of women’s cultural values - such as compassion and pacifism

Question 12

which strands of belief are an extension of essentialism?

Answer 12

• cultural feminism challenges the dominant argument that women are inferior and subservient to men
• separatism: some believe women should create separate societies but others believe that, from time to time, women should have separate spaces and time from men to exit the patriarchal society and reconnect with their female values
• political lesbianism - ‘heterosexuality is a political institution and separatism is a way to escape its domination’ - suggests that any relationship with a man is based on power and control and the only equal relationship is that with a woman - so lesbianism is a political choice

Question 13

why is difference feminism controversial among other feminist groups?

Answer 13

• it is argued that suggesting that women have a passive, nurturing, caring nature sets feminism back and undermines all the progress that the women’s movement has made

Question 14

what is intersectionality? and what was its aim?

Answer 14

• arose in the late 1980s as part of third-wave feminism
• criticised previous forms of feminism for ignoring black and working-class women’s experiences
• coined by kimberle crenshaw when showing how black women were often marginalised by both feminist and anti-racist groups so this was a way to fight for their visibility and inclusion
• aimed at widening the narrow focus that feminism traditionally had, to welcome the varying experiences of women from different backgrounds and to give these women a voice

Question 15

what are the different types of feminism?

Answer 15

• liberal feminism
• socialist feminism
• radical feminism
• post-modern feminism
• equality feminism
• essentialist/difference feminism

Question 16

what is liberal feminism?

Answer 16

• suggests that women are entitled to the same rights as men and should have all the freedom they need to become autonomous individuals in society (all liberal values applied to women)
• early form of feminism that demanded women’s suffrage as they believe if they had a vote, they would have a voice that must be listened to
• after suffrage, they aimed to achieve equality in all areas of the law

Question 17

what do liberal feminists believe about the equal distribution of rights?

Answer 17

• legal and political equality for women => in terms of education, pay, abortion, divorce laws and contraception
• sought to ensure equal access to the public sphere, which is connected to the liberal idea of equality of opportunity

Question 18

who are the key figures of liberal feminism?

Answer 18

• Mary Wollstonecraft - a vindication of the rights of women, c18th
• Betty Friedan - ‘feminine mystique’ - labelled the msiery of women in domesticity as the ‘problem with no name’. she asserted that women were just as capable in any career path and lobbied for reform of any law that held them back from their full potential

Question 19

how is feminism reformist?

Answer 19

• in the belief that gender imbalance can be overtuned primarily through democratic pressure
• and that once all barriers to women in the workplace have been removed, women will start to enter all areas of industry including those that are traditionally seen as ‘for men’
• this will lead to the disappearance of gender stereotypes as young girls will see women in all types of positions

Question 20

why is liberal feminism unlike other types of feminism?

Answer 20

• does not seek to challenge the private sphere and simply argues argues that society should give equal opportunity for everyone to stay at home or go out or both
• does not believe that a fundamental restructuring of society is necessary
• rejects the idea of patriarchy as the pervasive and systematic oppression of women, instead highlighting discrimination against women, whixh can be altered

Question 21

what is socialist feminism?

Answer 21

• believes that gender inequality in society stems from capitalism

Question 22

how did engels argue that women served the needs of capitalism?

Answer 22

• capitalism needed unpaid helpers to enable them to properly carry out their work
• women were confined to the private sphere where their primary role would be to take care of their family, who would be socialised into the next generation of workers serving capitalism
• women acted as a reserve army of labour
• capitalism is based on the accumulation of private property …..

Question 23

how did socialist feminists believe that socialist societies would be a way of escaping the patriarchy?

Answer 23

• believe socialist societies could exist where childcare would not be the foremost concern of a mother
• living in a communal basis was imagined with couples looking alongside each other and sharing the responsibility of housework
• Charles Fourier - wanted to model society on communal living, which could work towards a mutual benefit

Question 24

what is the difference in belief between traditional and modern socialist feminism?

Question 25

how does modern socialist feminist juliet mitchell argue that women are oppressed?

Question 27

Who was Charlotte Perkins Gilman?

Answer 27

• 1860-1935
• socialist feminist
• best known for ‘the yellow wallpaper’

Key ideas:
- to be free, women need economic independence
- gender stereotyping in childhood is wrong
- “in a sick society, women who have difficulty fitting in are not ill but demonstrating a healthy response”

Question 28

What were Gilman’s main ideas?

Answer 28

• sex and domestic economics were tied; for women to survive, they needed to please their husbands with sexual assets so that he would financially support the family
• gender stereotyping is forced onto young girls to “prepare them for motherhood (social conditioning) => societal pressure. Argued that values shouldn’t be taught differently to young children => politics of sameness
• economic independence was vital to their freedom and would make them equal, motherhood should not stop them.
• to be economically independent, women should be able to work and allow for marriage without a change in their economic status

Question 29

What did Gilman believe about human nature?

Answer 29

• human nature: “ the first duty of a human is to assume the right functional relationship to society - to find your real job and do it”
• “there is no female mind. The brain is not an organ of sex”
• “the ideal woman was not only assigned to a social role that locked her into her home, but she was also expected to like it”
• women have the skill of multitasking because they are forced to at home but men don’t, especially during parenthood BUT are deemed ‘hysterical’ for having a less linear thinking pattern
• it is not ‘a woman’s privilege to change her mind’

Question 30

What did Gilman believe about society?

Answer 30

• “only as we live, think and feel and work outside the home, do we become humanly developed, civilised and socialised” - women should have the power to be socially and economically free
• “it is only in social relations are we human…”
• “woman should stand beside the man as the comrade of his soul and not the servant of his body”

Question 31

What did Gilman believe about the economy?

Answer 31

• “the female is economically dependent on the male. He is her food supply”
• calling women economic factors is making them equivalent to ‘horses’

Question 32

Who is Simone De Beauvoir?

Answer 32

• 1908-1986
• initially reluctant to call herself a feminist because she needed

Question 33

Who is Simone De Beauvoir?

Answer 33

• 1908-1986
• initially reluctant to call herself a feminist because she believed the world needed a socialist movement rather than a women’s movement BUT then realised that she no longer believed this would be sufficient

Question 34

What are De Beauvoir’s key ideas?

Answer 34

• women are taught and socialised into becoming ‘women’ - “one is not born a woman, but rather becomes, a woman” - called motherhood a mode of turning women into slaves as they were forced to put all their focus in it
• otherness - men are the norm; women are ‘other’, as they are seen to be fundamentally different
• accepted that women internalised their otherness as it had been constantly imposed on them. Inferior to men in their own eyes too so they need to be conscious of that before struggling against it
• she said feminists should not reject being a part of a man’s world instead of a separate feminine nature.

Question 35

Who was Kate Millett?

Answer 35

• radical feminist - the strand of feminism was created through her book ‘sexual politics’ in 1970