Femenism Flashcards
What is the patriarchy?
A system of male domination which males use as cultural, social, political, economic send physical power to controlwomen
What are our 4 types of femenism?
Liberal
Marxist
Radical
Difference
What do Liberal femenists believe?
Boys and girls learn via socialisation so learn from a young age that boys are the powerful breadwinners and girls are the nurturing housewives
Who are our feminist thinkers?
Ann Oakley
Somerville
Helen Wilkinson
What does liberal femenist Ann Oakley believe?
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)
Ann Oakley- how do parents reinforce these behaviours?
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
Ann Okaley- What are the social conformities boys and girls have?
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
Ann Okaley- bedroom culture?
Girls spend leisure in bedroom so more likely to do homework private sphere
Vs boys leisure time outdoors in the public sphere
How are liberal femenists seen as optimistic?
Notice that there has been progress overtime
Family roles are more egalitarian
Liberal femenists- Somerville?
Women have had much more choice about marriage, paid work and also in relationships
Liberal femenists- Helen Wilkinson?
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
LF- Helen Wilkinson, what is the gender quake?
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
LF- Sue Sharpes study?
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
LF- political and legal changed?
-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
Critics of liberal femenists?
-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
What is Marxist femenism?
Rejecting optimism of liberalism femenist and believe women are oppressed by the needs of capitalists system and men
Who are our 2 Marxists femenists?
Benston and Ansley
Overview of femenists?
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
MF- Benton’s belief?
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
MF- Ansleys theory?
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
Evaluation of Marxists feminists?
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
Critics of Marxists femenists?
-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
Marxist femenists- radical femenist critic?
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
Marxist femenist- new right and functionalist critic?
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
What do radical feminists believe?
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
Radical femenists sociologists?
Millet and Firestone
Germaine Greer
Delphy and Leonard
Purdy
RF- Millet and Firestone?
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
RF- Germine Greer belief?
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
RF- Delphy and Leonard belief?
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
Rf- Purdy belief?
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
Evaluation of radical feminist?
-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
Evaluating Radical feminists- Somerville?
Men still value relationship with men
Why do difference feminist reject the others?
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
Black difference femenists?
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
Difference femenists- class, age and nationality?
Middle class women may be less exploited by men than poorer women
Not all women are exploited
Difference feminism- family diversity?
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
Difference feminist sociologists?
Nicholson
Calhoun
Difference feminism- Nicholson?
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
Difference feminism- Calhoun?
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
