Femenist Flashcards
What theory is feminist?
A structural (a top down) conflict theory (men vs woman)
What is the patriarchy?
Male dominancy
Society’s ruled by this
What is female subordination?
Females held back, there exploited and aren’t given chances in life
Have limited power
What approach do feminists take?
Interpretivist, so use qualitative research
They use this to understand woman’s own experiences and why they are being treated differently
Is feminism a response to modernism?
Yes, it provides the consequences of the industrial society on the position of women
Is feminism just a sociological theory?
No, its also a political theory as they are advocating for change
What is male stream?
Traditional sociological theory’s have been theorised by men, they ignore female experiences and the generalise men’s experiences and try to apply them to females
What does Simone De Beauvoir 1949 believe about feminist assumptions of women before and during industrialisation?
Theirs a belief that women are intellectually inferior to men, Females are ‘The second sex’
What does Eagly 1987 believe about feminist assumptions of women before and during industrialisation?
Biological sex role theory
Men tend to be physically stronger then women so an assumption can be made that they are also more intelligent then women
What does Chester 1972 believe about feminist assumptions of women before and during industrialisation?
Women are deemed as the weaker sex so are therefore emotionally irrational
General reasons on assumptions of women before and during industrialisation?
Women are financially dependant on men and their role is in the household
What are the different waves of feminism?
First wave- mid 19th-20th century, suffragist and suffragettes
Second wave- liberation movement of 1960s and 1970s, post ww2 only men soldiers, so women had to work during ww2 but when they came back they had to stay home again
Third wave- 1990s to millennium. diversity and post-feminists
Fourth wave- post feminism to modern day, this one is questionable and not believed by many
Time frame of first wave feminism?
Mid 19th century- early 20th century
Aims of first wave feminism?
-Fights for social and political equality
-Struggle for women’s suffrage (right to vote)
-Key concerns included education, employment and marriage laws
Impacts and success of first wave feminism?
1918- granting the vote to women over the age of 30
1928- women received the vote on equal terms as men
First wave- what were suffragists?
The suffragists believed in peaceful, constitutional campaign methods like silent protests and educating people about women’s plight
However these failed to make significant progress
First wave- what were suffragettes?
Because the suffragists failed, this new generation created their own campaign. The suffragettes were willing to take direct, militant action in order to be heard
This actions included, jumping in front of horses, vandalising shop windows and putting bombs through post offices
First wave- who are our key figures?
Millicent Fawcett
Emmeline Pankhurst
First wave- who is Millicent Fawcett?
She began a writing and speaking career discussing women’s education and women’s suffrage amongst other issues
-Emerged as the suffrage leader and headed a committee that became the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society’s in 1897 (NUWSS)
First wave- who is Emmeline Pankhurst?
Born in 1858 in Lancashire to 2 parents who were advocates for the equal suffrage for men and women
E’s work for the woman’s suffrage began in 1878, and met her husband Dr Richard Pankhurst who was a radical lawyer who was for the suffragette movement, the two got married in December 1879
-E took place in the non-militant aspect of the campaign and travelled up and down the country to speak at rallies
When was second wave feminism?
1960s-1970s
What were the aims of second wave feminism?
-Equal pay, rights and representation
-Key concerns included access to contraception, choice and flexibility over family roles and the right to a career
What was the impact and success of the second wave?
1970’s- equal pay act
1979- Sex discrimination act and equality act
Second wave- success on law, workplace, family, social policy and education?
Law- equal pay
Workplace- Right to a career and a safer workplace with less sexual harassment
Family- Access to contraception and abortion
Social policy- Abortion reform and divorce reform (matrimonial offence to now irretrievable breakdown of marriage) and paternity leave
Education- Ambitious to achieve higher, girls achieve better then men, Gist and Wise
What are the types of feminism?
Liberal
Marxist
Radical
How can we describe liberal feminism?
As a society we are moving towards a march of progress
Believe humans have socially constructed society as we have made different gender roles through socialisation
-Theirs no reason why we cant re-educate ourselves as a society and change the gender regimes
-More equality can be achieved through laws
Who’s are key liberal feminist thinker?
Ann Oakley
Liberal feminism- what does Ann Oakley believe?
Theirs no reason why we cant re-educate ourselves as a society and change the gender regimes
She found out through doing a study looking at different society’s and seeing their different gender roles
-She found that in Mbuti of Congo, men do childcare
Support for Liberal feminism?
-Young and Willmott (the symmetrical family), men doing more domestic work
-Parents socialise and have different aspirations for their sons and daughters
-More women then ever before in employment
-Continuing reform changes e.g. paternity rights
Challenges to Liberal feminism?
-Equal pay act is difficult to monitor and regulate e.g. BBC gender pay gap scandal
-Prejudice attitude’s still exist regarding women and maternity leave and part time employment and pay
-Still significant in western countries (violence against women) Dobash and Dobash
-Ferri and Smith suggest that women still do most of the domestic labour, the dual burden
Overview of marxist feminist?
-Incorporation of feminism and marxism, believes that women are exploited through capitalism and the individual ownership of private property
-They are known as providing a dual system explanation as they combine womens exploitation with patriarchy and capitalism
Marxist feminist- Delphy and Leonard 1992?
-Women are at an economic disadvantage compared to men as they carry out more unpaid labour (childcare and housework) then men
-Leading to exploitation and maintains the male role as breadwinner and financially powerful
Marxist feminist- What are the three ways women are oppressed by capitalism?
-Women reproduce the labour force
-Women absorb husbands anger because of the alienation he feels from his work
-Women = ‘reserve army’ of cheap labour
Marxist feminist- -Women reproduce the labour force explain this?
-Through their unpaid domestic labour
-Socialising the next generations of workers
-By maintaining and servicing the current workers
Marxist feminist
-Women absorb husbands anger because of the alienation he feels from his work
explain this?
What does Fran Ansley say?
-Anger that would otherwise by directed at capitalism
-Ansley says that women are ‘takers of shit’, this means that women are treated like punchbags, this is because men come home from being exploited all day and abuse their wives to make them relaxed for the next day of work
Marxist feminist
-Women = ‘reserve army’ of cheap labour explain this?
-Women can be taken on when extra workers are needed (men at war)
-Employers can then let them go to return to their primary role of unpaid domestic labour
Supporting factors of Marxists feminists?
-Women more likely to suffer from dv than men, supports fact that women absorb mens anger
-Women more likely to be employed as the reserve army of labour and to pick up flexible and part time work
e.g. up to 30,000 women saked each year for being pregnant
440,000 women loose out on promotions or pay rise as a result of pregnancy
Critics for marxist feminists?
-Belief that the family must be abolished along with a sociological revolution, ignores the real benefits of the family unit can provide women (ignores preference theory- a women’s choice to be housewife)
-Different economic position of women are generalised e.g. m/c women may not feel opressed compared to w/c women as they are more likely to be financially independent
-Radical feminists argue that patriarchy predates capitalism so therefore capitalism is not a key cause of women’s equality as there subservient position in society
Radical feminist overview?
Argue society’s have been founded on patriarchy, the key divisions in society is between men and women
Radical feminist- why do they believe that men are the enemy?
They are the source of women’s oppression and exploitation
-The family and marriage are key oppressive institutions
Men benefit from women’s unpaid domestic labour and sexual services
-Men dominate women through dv or threat of it
How do radical feminists believe the patriarchal system to be overturned?
Germaine Greer 2000
Separatism- women must organise themselves to live independently from men
-Political lesbianism- heterosexual relationships should be replaced ‘matrilocal’ (all female) households
What does radical feminist- Schulamith Firestone 1972?
-Sexual class system was the first form of inequality, predating the economic class system
‘men and women were created differently and not equally privileged. Gender inequality rose from biology
-As biology is the source of female oppression, biological equality must be achieved before female subordination can end
-Birthcontrol, helped women get control of their bodies
For women to be truly free though, babies should be created outside the womb to stop dependency on men
Support for radical feminism- Jenny Sommerville 2000?
There are many aspects in society why women haven’t achieved full equality
1) politics- disproportionally amount of women in politics (millet) argues men pass laws and social policies to benefit their position and reinforce subservance
2) family’s- unequal division of domestic labour
3) school- increased male violence and harassment, upskirts, objectification
4)workforce- vertical segregation, gender domains, employment fields like engineering, technology and space etc are all male domination
Challenges of radical feminism?
-Ignores the progress made in the sense of better aspects to divorce, job opportunity’s and control over fertility
-Separationism, unlikely to work as heterosexual attraction means the nuclear family is unlikely to disappear, impractical solution which lack evidence
-Some aspects are considered to be promoting extremist views (men are the enemy)
-Many men are the feminists and therefore this branch of feminism been discredited
Third wave feminism- what feminist is this?
Difference
What is difference feminism?
We can’t generalise women’s experiences
Lesbian and heterosexual or Black or white or Working class and middle class women all have different experiences of the family’s from one another
We now have empowering heroines- Pocohontas, Buffy and Xena the warrior princess
Difference feminism- Black feminism?
Believe sexism and racism are bounded together, example of intersectionality
The racism black women experience is not adequately addressed by main stream feminist movement as it’s run by white middle class women
Difference feminist- Alice Walker?
The author of the colour purple
Argues that non white women have different experiences than white women and advocates the personality perspective writing from your own cultural background and position
(another is Belle Hooks)
Difference feminism- what is arab feminism?
explored by women in arab countries
particularly muslim women
Argue oppression comes from religion and cultural values and practices
Difference feminism- Nawal El Saadawi?
Fights against genital mutilation, she’s experienced this
Explains the trauma and how this sexual violent act should be banned
2010- fourth wave feminism?
-Celebrates diversity of gender identity’s available to all e.g. LGBTQ+ gender fluidity
-It deconstructs patriarchal ideas and reconstructs them from a position of power e.g. slut walks
-Semiotic guerrilla walk- meaning of signifier such as high heels/lipstick/designer clothes should be shifted from powerless to powerful
-Contreversial
