Feminism Flashcards
How many waves of feminism are there
4
What time period was the first wave of feminism and what did it involve
Mid 1800’s
Focused on aosicla and legal reform (especially the right to vote)
Led by mainly middle class women
Successful in the vote, education, access to professional jobs, womens rights to property
What time period was the second wave of feminism and what did it involve
1960/70s
Argued that society is patriarchal
Focussed on women raising awareness of their oppression and offering each other support
Focussed on equal pay, access to contraception, equal rights in jobs and education…
Types of feminism emerged: liberal, radical, marxist
What time period was the fourth wave of feminism and what did it involved
2010 onwards
Debates about if there is a fourth wave
Focus on tackling sexism globally using new forms of technology
Creating online networks of supprt giving voice to women
Everyday Sexism Project - highlight the day to day examples of engrained sexism
What time period was the third wave of feminism and what did it involved
1990s
Focus on individual desires and wishes rather than seening women sharing same experiences
Focus on ability to express your identity
Focus on challenging traditional ideas about sexuality and abolishing gender roles and stereotypes in the media
How many different types of feminsim are there
7
What are all the types of feminism
Liberal
Radical
Postmodernism
Marxist and Dual Systems Feminism
Difference and Black Feminism
(the combined ones have similar opinions/ goals)
What do Liberal feminists believe
Men and women should be equal
Gender socialisation - norms and values based on male and female are socially constructed and internalised during socialisation (Oakley)
Cultural ignorance is the problem - traditional beliefs oppressing women e.g being more irrational and emotional
Optimistic
What do Liberal Feminists believe is the solution to gender inequality
Reform - gradual change rather than revolution
Political action - legislation changed to prevent discrimination legally, socially and economically
Socialisation - change patriarchal gender norms and promote more female role models
What is one positive and negative for the Liberal Feminsts view
Improvements in gender inequality since the 1970s suggest that the law, social attitudes and culture are important in maintains patriarchal power
Radical Feminists - law change cannot liberate women, women still have to act in ways men want them to in order to succeed, the media stil sexualised owmen, Gender pay gap remains
What do Radical Feminists believe
Patriarchy is universal and the most fundamental form of conflict - occurs everywhere and benefits all men (men benefit from womens upaid labour)
Patriarchal power is exercises through personal relationships - voilence controls women both directly and indirectly
The personal is political - all relationships have power imbalance (public and at home)
Firestone - root of womens oppression from womens biological ability to have children makes them economically dependent on men
Millet - patriarchla ideology makes women think they are weak and unable to defend themselves - less assertive and ambitious
What do radical feminists believe the solution is to gender inequality
Firestone: Abolish pregnancy and have artificial wombs.
Separatism: Men and women live apart.
Political lesbianism: The only non-oppressive sexuality is lesbianism.
Consciousness raising: Women sharing experiences to realise they are not alone
What is one positive and three negatives of the radical feminist belief
Useful in highlighting the remaining gender inequality that Liberal Feminists ignore.
Marxists: Class is the primary form of inequality not patriarchy.
Difference Feminists: Radical assumes women are in the same position and ignores elements like class and ethnicity.
Separatism is an impractical suggestion: Heterosexual attraction reduces the chance of Separatism.
What do Marxist feminists believe
Patriarchy is caused by capitalism
Women are a source of cheap exploitable labour
Women are a reserve army of labour
Reproduce the labour force
Absorb anger and ‘takers of shit’
Oppression results from the role as an unpaid domestic housewife as it makes women economically dependent
What do marxist feminists believe the solution is to gender inequality
Overthrow capitalism
What is one positive and one negative for the marxist feminist viewpoint
Marxists show greater understanding of the importance of structural factors than Liberal Feminists.
Cannot be used to explain women’s subordination in non-capitalist societies
What do Dual system feminists believe
There are two systems (Hartmann) : Economic - capitalism and sex-gender - patriarchy
The tewo systems reinforce each other - domestic work limits womens availability for paid work
Walby: The interests of capitalism and patriarchy are not the same. Capitalism depends on female cheap labour, Patriarchy wants to keep women subordinated within the domestic sphere
What do Dual system feminists believe the solution to gender inequlity is
To overthrow capitalism as well as the patriarchy
What are some criticisms for the Dual System feminism perspecitive
Cannot be used to explain womens subordination in non-capitalists societies
What do postmodern feminists believe
All women do not have the same experiences of oppression so the path to liberation is different for different women
We should change the way lanaguage is used as it is socially constructed and use knowledge as power (educate on political and social factors)
What do Postmodern feminists believe the solution is to gender inequality
Reject the idea of a single path to female liberation - liberation means different things so we cannot have a single set of goals.
Deconstructing (critisising) masculine language and thinking
What is one negative evaluation point for the postmodern feminists perspective
Recognising diversity is very important however celebrating difference may have the effect of dividing women into an infinite number of subgroups, weakening Feminism as a movement of change
What do difference feminists believe
Essentialism: criticises other feminist for assuming that all women share the same experiences
False universality: other feminism claim to be for all women but only share the experiences of MC white women
Everyone woman has different experiences based on different parts of their identity - disability, class, ethnicity
What do difference feminists believe the solution is against gender inequality
To make a conscious effort to recognise that women have different experiences of oppression
What is a criticising point of the difference feminism perspective
Recognising diversity is very important however celebrating differences may have the effect of dividing women into infinite numbers of subgroups, weakening feminisism as a movement of change
What do black feminists believe
Ethnocentric: other types of feminism only concentrate on white womens experiences
Mizra: Black feminism needed to change ‘victim ideology’ that black women are passive victims of racism, sexism and class inequality
Can provide unique and important contributions (with facing racism oppression)
Black feminism has helped devolop post-colonialism ideas - looking at how racism today stems from colonialism in developing countries
What do Black feminists believe the solution is to gender inequality
Recognising the unique and difference experiences black women have with oppression and using the different perspective to develop our understanding
What is one positive and one negative of the black feminist perspective
Succeeded in extending other feminist aalysis and highlighting neglected areas of research
Emphasizes one difference (ethnicity) at the expense of others (class, age, sexuality)
