Femenism

Question 1

What is the patriarchy?

Answer 1

A system of male domination which males use as cultural, social, political, economic send physical power to controlwomen

Question 2

What are our 4 types of femenism?

Answer 2

Liberal
Marxist
Radical
Difference

Question 3

What do Liberal femenists believe?

Answer 3

Boys and girls learn via socialisation so learn from a young age that boys are the powerful breadwinners and girls are the nurturing housewives

Question 4

Who are our feminist thinkers?

Answer 4

Ann Oakley
Somerville
Helen Wilkinson

Question 5

What does liberal femenist Ann Oakley believe?

Answer 5

From a young age people are trained to have a social expectation about there gender
Boys have hegemonic masculinity (providers and protectors) and Girls have hegemonic femininity (nurturers)

Question 6

Ann Oakley- how do parents reinforce these behaviours?

Answer 6

Manipulation- discouraging and encouraging behaviour on basis of appropriateness of child’s sex
Canalisation- parents channeling Children’s interests into toys and activity’s that are seen as normal for that sex
-Children then internalise these

Question 7

Ann Okaley- What are the social conformities boys and girls have?

Answer 7

Colour codes- Boys pink girls blue
Dress code
Appearance code
Toy code- boys trucks girls dolls and packaging
Play codes- boys are boisterous and girls are docile
Etiquette code- girls be lady like and boys discouraged to cry
Family media codes- birthday cards or stories (women portrayed an evil e.g. evil stepmother)
Speech codes- girls pretty boys handsome
Domestic code- boys copy dads diys girls copy mums cooking
Control codes- girls interrogated about boyfriends and personal life boys freedom

Question 8

Ann Okaley- bedroom culture?

Answer 8

Girls spend leisure in bedroom so more likely to do homework private sphere
Vs boys leisure time outdoors in the public sphere

Question 9

How are liberal femenists seen as optimistic?

Answer 9

Notice that there has been progress overtime
Family roles are more egalitarian

Question 10

Liberal femenists- Somerville?

Answer 10

Women have had much more choice about marriage, paid work and also in relationships

Question 11

Liberal femenists- Helen Wilkinson?

Answer 11

Economy’s gone under change, used to very masculine filed with manufacturing jobs that were male dominated
We’re now seeing a feminisation of economy as we are seeing new service jobs being taken up by women leading to them having more economic power e.g. beauty sector
-Men are more involved in the families as fathers are now looking after children

Question 12

LF- Helen Wilkinson, what is the gender quake?

Answer 12

Because we’ve had a cultural change in women’s attitudes it has ultimately lead to a gender quake
Women are prioritising there careers more then starting a family

Question 13

LF- Sue Sharpes study?

Answer 13

Studied teenage girls in 1970’s to 1990’s
1970’s- wanted to be married, have children and then potentially a career
1990’S career, independence and then a husband

Question 14

LF- political and legal changed?

Answer 14

-Equal pay act 1975, Sex discrimination act 1975, Equality act 2010
-Women’s maternity right and pensions
-Reproductive rights, access’s to abortion and contraception
-Divorse laws, in 1970 divorces initiated by men because of faulty now 2/3rds or divorse initiated by women
-Porpetry rights for women
-Illegal to rape in marriages 1990
-Domestic violence is a crime

Question 15

Critics of liberal femenists?

Answer 15

-Only looks at white middle class professional groups, ignores poorer ethnic women
-Women still bear the major burden of childcare and housework even when engaged in full time career
-DV and rape within marriage are still significant

Question 16

What is Marxist femenism?

Answer 16

Rejecting optimism of liberalism femenist and believe women are oppressed by the needs of capitalists system and men

Question 17

Who are our 2 Marxists femenists?

Answer 17

Benston and Ansley

Question 18

Overview of femenists?

Answer 18

Women who stay at home are exploited by capatalism class as they produce and bring up the future labour force but receive no wage from capatalism class for there domestic service

Question 19

MF- Benton’s belief?

Answer 19

Patriarchal ideology is a product of capatalism and that they convince women’s role is to be at home
Reserved army of female labour (meaning that they are highered part time and for temporary labour)
Women that believe there main place is at home are unlikely to demand high paying jobs
-However when the economic circumstances change the women are laid off and they accept this as there ‘real place’ is the home

Question 20

MF- Ansleys theory?

Answer 20

Punchbag theory
When men come home from being exploited by the workplace and capatalism they need a way to relieve this anger and stress so they end up abusing there wives. After they have used domestic violence and treating women like punchbag they are able to go to work the next day free from stress therefore supporting capatalism
-Patriarchal family sets up benefits for men as they don’t have to stress about competing with there wife for jobs and higher wages

Question 21

Evaluation of Marxists feminists?

Answer 21

Positives
-Shown how gender roles in family are created by the requirements of a capitalist society rather than being natural as functionalists believe
-Have shown the way in which family benefits capatalism society and the ruling class rather than society as a whole

Question 22

Critics of Marxists femenists?

Answer 22

-Nature of the family is predetermined by the economic system, so they see family as preforming predetermined functions for society. Interpretavists would say they ignore the day to day experiences of those living in families
-Based on nuclear family, still believe men are breadwinners and women housewives when there is so much more diversity
-Ignore feminisation of workplace e.g. Wilkinson genderquake. Have more power in society

Question 23

Marxist femenists- radical femenist critic?

Answer 23

Doesn’t explain the similarity’s in family structure in capatalism and non capatalism society, therefore women’s oppression is a result of male domination because it happens in all society capatalism or communism
E.g. Women were said to be in space via the Soviet Union but there still at home

Question 24

Marxist femenist- new right and functionalist critic?

Answer 24

Attack and undermine the nuclear family
It’s the cornerstone of society and without it many social problems like youth crime will become a problem

Question 25

What do radical feminists believe?

Answer 25

The patriarchy is the problem
The nuclear family is there to benefit men, as it transmits the patriarchal ideology that’s then spread to children via socialisation creating a difference between male power and superiority
-Encouraged the notion of sexual division of labour is natural and unchangeable and views women as objects

Question 26

Radical femenists sociologists?

Answer 26

Millet and Firestone
Germaine Greer
Delphy and Leonard
Purdy

Question 27

RF- Millet and Firestone?

Answer 27

Men and women form sex classes which have very different interests and levels of powers
The nuclear family should be abolished
We should use new reproductive technologies e.g. Virgo fertilisation to exclude men from families as women’s dependance on men derives from their childbearing

Question 28

RF- Germine Greer belief?

Answer 28

Even in modern marriage women are subservient to husband
Single women are happier than married shown in divorce rates being instigated by women
Wives are more likely to suffer physical and sexual abuse than husbands and daughters by male relatives

Question 29

RF- Delphy and Leonard belief?

Answer 29

Women contribute to husbands work by providing emotional and sexual well being
They flatter, sympathise and pay attention to men to given them a sense of wellbeing, in contrast to men who may claim they love there wives but yet exploit them

Question 30

Rf- Purdy belief?

Answer 30

Women are exploited in family relationships due to childcare responsibilities
Women are encouraged by patriarchal ideology to form couples and have children and if they dont have children they are defined as eccentric and selfish
-Only way to bring home to men the sacrifices that child rearing involves for women is to stop having children (baby-strike) as this is the only action resulting in men taking women’s demands for equality within families seriously

Question 31

Evaluation of radical feminist?

Answer 31

-Dated poorly as they dont account for economic and social changes such as education success of women
-Women today adopt a range of active social identities that dont involve playing a secondary role to men
-Ignore diversity
-Ignore preference of women that find childcare fulfilling instead of careers
-Fail to offer realistic alternatives
-Heterosexual relationships are based on mutual love rather than exploitation
-Ignore men being abused in relationships
-Paints war between males and females

Question 32

Evaluating Radical feminists- Somerville?

Answer 32

Men still value relationship with men

Question 33

Why do difference feminist reject the others?

Answer 33

They assume all women are members of a single group who share interests and are all equally exploited, believe not one single, united group rather have a variety of interests

Question 34

Black difference femenists?

Answer 34

Stress importance of racial and ethnic differences of women e.g. some ethnic minority’s have less power status in family compared to other ethnicity’s

Question 35

Difference femenists- class, age and nationality?

Answer 35

Middle class women may be less exploited by men than poorer women
Not all women are exploited

Question 36

Difference feminism- family diversity?

Answer 36

Increasing family diversity today and women may not be equally eploited in all family types
E.g. many women are lone parents and can’t be exploited by cohabiting men, there are differences in gender relationships in families from different ethnic and religion backgrounds

Question 37

Difference feminist sociologists?

Answer 37

Nicholson
Calhoun

Question 38

Difference feminism- Nicholson?

Answer 38

Women are better off outside trad nuclear family’s and all types of family and household should be socially accepted as they suit women in different circumstances

Question 39

Difference feminism- Calhoun?

Answer 39

Women cannot be exploited by men in lesbian families
Believe that there is increasing choice in family life gay and lesbian families are examples of chosen families