Femenist

Question 1

What theory is feminist?

Answer 1

A structural (a top down) conflict theory (men vs woman)

Question 2

What is the patriarchy?

Answer 2

Male dominancy
Society’s ruled by this

Question 3

What is female subordination?

Answer 3

Females held back, there exploited and aren’t given chances in life
Have limited power

Question 4

What approach do feminists take?

Answer 4

Interpretivist, so use qualitative research
They use this to understand woman’s own experiences and why they are being treated differently

Question 5

Is feminism a response to modernism?

Answer 5

Yes, it provides the consequences of the industrial society on the position of women

Question 6

Is feminism just a sociological theory?

Answer 6

No, its also a political theory as they are advocating for change

Question 7

What is male stream?

Answer 7

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

Question 8

What does Simone De Beauvoir 1949 believe about feminist assumptions of women before and during industrialisation?

Answer 8

Theirs a belief that women are intellectually inferior to men, Females are ‘The second sex’

Question 9

What does Eagly 1987 believe about feminist assumptions of women before and during industrialisation?

Answer 9

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

Question 10

What does Chester 1972 believe about feminist assumptions of women before and during industrialisation?

Answer 10

Women are deemed as the weaker sex so are therefore emotionally irrational

Question 11

General reasons on assumptions of women before and during industrialisation?

Answer 11

Women are financially dependant on men and their role is in the household

Question 12

What are the different waves of feminism?

Answer 12

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

Question 13

Time frame of first wave feminism?

Answer 13

Mid 19th century- early 20th century

Question 14

Aims of first wave feminism?

Answer 14

-Fights for social and political equality
-Struggle for women’s suffrage (right to vote)
-Key concerns included education, employment and marriage laws

Question 15

Impacts and success of first wave feminism?

Answer 15

1918- granting the vote to women over the age of 30
1928- women received the vote on equal terms as men

Question 16

First wave- what were suffragists?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

First wave- what were suffragettes?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

First wave- who are our key figures?

Answer 18

Millicent Fawcett
Emmeline Pankhurst

Question 19

First wave- who is Millicent Fawcett?

Answer 19

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)

Question 20

First wave- who is Emmeline Pankhurst?

Answer 20

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

Question 21

When was second wave feminism?

Answer 21

1960s-1970s

Question 22

What were the aims of second wave feminism?

Answer 22

-Equal pay, rights and representation
-Key concerns included access to contraception, choice and flexibility over family roles and the right to a career

Question 23

What was the impact and success of the second wave?

Answer 23

1970’s- equal pay act
1979- Sex discrimination act and equality act

Question 24

Second wave- success on law, workplace, family, social policy and education?

Answer 24

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

Question 25

What are the types of feminism?

Answer 25

Liberal
Marxist
Radical

Question 26

How can we describe liberal feminism?

Answer 26

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

Question 27

Who’s are key liberal feminist thinker?

Answer 27

Ann Oakley

Question 28

Liberal feminism- what does Ann Oakley believe?

Answer 28

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

Question 29

Support for Liberal feminism?

Answer 29

-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

Question 30

Challenges to Liberal feminism?

Answer 30

-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

Question 31

Overview of marxist feminist?

Answer 31

-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

Question 32

Marxist feminist- Delphy and Leonard 1992?

Answer 32

-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

Question 33

Marxist feminist- What are the three ways women are oppressed by capitalism?

Answer 33

-Women reproduce the labour force
-Women absorb husbands anger because of the alienation he feels from his work
-Women = ‘reserve army’ of cheap labour

Question 34

Marxist feminist- -Women reproduce the labour force explain this?

Answer 34

-Through their unpaid domestic labour
-Socialising the next generations of workers
-By maintaining and servicing the current workers

Question 35

Marxist feminist
-Women absorb husbands anger because of the alienation he feels from his work
explain this?
What does Fran Ansley say?

Answer 35

-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

Question 36

Marxist feminist
-Women = ‘reserve army’ of cheap labour explain this?

Answer 36

-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

Question 37

Supporting factors of Marxists feminists?

Answer 37

-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

Question 38

Critics for marxist feminists?

Answer 38

-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

Question 39

Radical feminist overview?

Answer 39

Argue society’s have been founded on patriarchy, the key divisions in society is between men and women

Question 40

Radical feminist- why do they believe that men are the enemy?

Answer 40

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

Question 41

How do radical feminists believe the patriarchal system to be overturned?
Germaine Greer 2000

Answer 41

Separatism- women must organise themselves to live independently from men
-Political lesbianism- heterosexual relationships should be replaced ‘matrilocal’ (all female) households

Question 42

What does radical feminist- Schulamith Firestone 1972?

Answer 42

-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

Question 43

Support for radical feminism- Jenny Sommerville 2000?

Answer 43

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

Question 44

Challenges of radical feminism?

Answer 44

-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

Question 45

Third wave feminism- what feminist is this?

Answer 45

Difference

Question 46

What is difference feminism?

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Difference feminism- Black feminism?

Answer 47

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

Question 48

Difference feminist- Alice Walker?

Answer 48

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)

Question 49

Difference feminism- what is arab feminism?

Answer 49

explored by women in arab countries
particularly muslim women
Argue oppression comes from religion and cultural values and practices

Question 50

Difference feminism- Nawal El Saadawi?

Answer 50

Fights against genital mutilation, she’s experienced this
Explains the trauma and how this sexual violent act should be banned

Question 51

2010- fourth wave feminism?

Answer 51

-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