Feminism

Question 1

Charlotte Perkins Gilman
(1860-1935)
Novelist, poet, social reformer

Answer 1

American socialist feminist
- SEX AND DOMESTIC ECONOMICS are hand in hand AND societal pressure
- WOMEN WERE DEPENDENT on their husbands to survive financially, so USED SEX TO PLEASE their husbands and continue to be supported.
- Girls were ENCOURAGED TO FULFIL A DOMESTIC ROLE (done through family structure and societal culture)
- Women should achieve economic independence to be free from men

Question 2

Simone de Beauvoir
(1908-1986)
Writer, intellectual and philosopher

Answer 2

Socialist
- Sex vs gender
‘OTHERNESS’ (men are the ‘norm’)
- Class struggle wasn’t enough to help women’s positions
- WOMEN WEREN’T ‘BORN’ BUT ‘MADE’
- femininity is a cultural construct taught to women through socialisation
- Their SOCIALISED ROLES TURNED WOMEN INTO SLAVES (domestic duties and that’s it)
- MEN’S VIEWS WERE THE ‘NORM’ (women’s viewed with suspicion - deviant and inferior)
- This made WOMEN SEE THEMSELVES AS INFERIOR
- Women shouldn’t turn away from the ‘MALE WORLD’ (didn’t see the feminine nature as positive)

Question 3

Dr Kate Millett
(1934-2017)
Academic, sculptor, writer

Answer 3

American radical feminist (argued for the “Sexual Politics 1970”)
- FAMILY (undoing traditional family will lead to a SEXUAL REVOLUTION)
- Portrayal of women in ART AND LITERATURE (DEGRADES WOMEN)
- Female oppression was political and cultural
- REMOVAL OF TRADITIONAL FAMILIES WOULD LIBERATE WOMEN FROM THE PATRIARCHY (as the man dominates the family)
- Masculine authority is taught from childhood and reinforced through culture
- wife was man’s property

Question 4

Sheila Rowbotham
(1943-???)
Feminist theorist, writer

Answer 4

Socialist feminist (result of economic and cultural factors)
- CAPITALISM (women are FORCED TO SELL THEIR LABOUR TO SURVIVE AND PROVIDE - women are disadvantaged by capitalism)
- The family (an instrument for DISCIPLINING AND SUBJECTING WOMEN TO CAPITALISM)
- CRITICISED MARRIAGE
- the way to improve the position of women was to radically change the ‘cultural conditioning’ of humanity (e.g by OVERTHROWING CAPITALISM)
- Men are able to dominate their wives

Question 5

bell hooks (no capitals)
(1952-2021)
Author, feminist

Answer 5

Pseudonym (her grandmother) and lower-case letters to empower her to fight against oppression
- WOMEN OF COLOUR
- INTERSECTIONALITY (CLASS)
- Wished to bring concerns of black women to mainstream feminism (as only white, middle/upper classes women were looked at)
- Women of colour had been DOUBLY DISADVANTAGED (race and gender - torn between which one to fight for)
- Should be solidarity between gender, races and classes

Question 6

Background on women

Answer 6

• 1 in 4 suffer domestic violence
• 830 die each day from complications from birth/pregnancy