Feminism Flashcards
What are the core tenets of Feminism?
- Patriarchy
- Otherness
- Gender
- Equality
- Liberation
How can you define Patriarchy?
A system of institutionalised discrimination against women by men
Explain Feminist belief in ‘Otherness’
Women are not just biologically different from men, but also psychologically, culturally, etc.
What do Feminists think of Gender? (Give Liberal and Radical Views)
It’s a social construct.
Liberals: Women should be able to choose to follow gender roles
Radical: Gender needs to be eliminated
What do Liberals/Radical Feminists think about Equality?
Liberals; Equal access to education, public office and all positions in the economic structure
Radicals: Women should get more rights. (i.e. Lesbian Separatists)
What do Liberal/Difference/Marxist Feminists think about forms of Liberation?
Liberal: Women develop collective consciousness and break away from male cultural hegemony
Marxist: Liberation comes with the downfall of capitalism
Difference: Acceptance of power in difference and ‘womanness’
Explain Radical Feminism
- Patriarchy meta-narrative (Society is macrocosm of patriarchal family)
- Sexual inequality causes all other forms of inequality
- Gender =/= Sex
- Relations between men and women are always oppressive and epxloitative
Explain Liberal Feminism
- Believes the state shouldn’t have any control over women’s lives
- e.g. Equal rights, legal abortion, contraception, divorce, etc.
Explain Marxist Feminism
Gender inequality is related to capitalism
- Housewives are exploited labour. ‘Sexual Division of Labour’ benefits capitalism.
- Patriarchy is due to private property (Engels: Men passing on their property to their sons)
Explain Ecofeminism in 3 points
- Male dominating culture is the reason for all environmental damage
- Women are caring and nurturing, men are cold and dominating
- Environmental Disaster solved by women withdrawing from corrupt patriarchies and forming matriarchal societies
Explain Postmodern Feminism
No grand narrative. Trying to explain gender inequality through abstract theory is impossible because theories are made as a result of cultural/social/economic landscape of when they were made which is always changing
Explain whether different branches of Feminism are multi-causal or mono-causal
- Radical; Mono
- Liberal; Mono
- Marxist; Mono
- PoMo; Multi
Explain the method of achieving Radical Feminist Goals
Revolutionary: Structure of society must be changed to get rid of the concept of gender
Explain the method of achieving Liberal Feminist Goals
Reformist: Campaigning for legal change to give Women completely equal rights and prevent government controlling women more than men
Explain the method of achieving Marxist Feminist Goals
Revolutionary: Downfall of capitalism, uprising of marxist society
Explain the method of achieving Postmodern Feminist Goals
Every method is specific to the context. Some may be Reformist, some may be Revolutionary
Explain ‘Personal is Political’ as a radical feminist idea
- female oppression operates in all walks of life,
public and private, and in many respects originates in the family itself - the public/private divide conceals
aspects of female oppression such as the failure to recognise the significance of
domestic work carried out by women in the home
What ideologies are feminism most compatible with?
Liberalism and Socialism
Why is Feminism compatible with liberalism?
- Individualism; Everyone gets equal rights
- Rationalism; people judged on character not sex
Why is feminism compatible with socialism?
Marxist Feminism; Link between capitalism and sexual inequality
Why do radical feminists think that feminism is not compatible with any other ideology?
- Other ideologies do not recognise Gender as THE meta-narrative
- Liberalism is too reformist
- Socialism is too focused on class, not sex.
Why is Feminism not compatible with conservatism?
- Equal rights requires change. Conservatives oppose change.
- Gender roles are Traditional. Tradition is good to Conservatives.
Summarise the ways that Feminism is defined by the quest for gender equality
- Transcending difference and gender
- Seeking to eliminate gender
- Seeking legal equality
Summarise the ways that Feminism is NOT defined by the quest for gender equality
-Difference Feminism; liberation comes from recognition of differences
What are the two ideas that unit all branches of feminism?
- Women are disadvantaged as a result of their sex
- That disadvantage can and SHOULD be overthrown
What are the ways in which feminism as a whole has deep divisions within branches?
- Different ideas of the cause/meta-narrative of women’s subjugation/sexual inequality between Liberal, Radical and Socialist Feminists
- Opposition between Difference Feminists (Lesbos Separate) and Equality Feminists (Equal rights)
- Post Modern Feminism just disagrees with all of them
In what sense have radical feminists sought to redefine the nature of politics?
- Redifining what counts as political (Personal is Political)
- Politics = Power Structured Relationships
What is the relevance of radical feminists defining politics as power-structured relationships?
The oppression of women in the private sphere is political because men dominate women
How does the sexual division of labour benefit capitalism, according to Marxist feminists?
- Women are ‘reserve army of labour’
- Relieves men of child-rearing and housework, so men can focus on their job
- Gives men incentive to work, to take care of wife and kids
In what ways do radical and liberal feminists have things in common?
- Both are ‘Equality Feminists’
- Both want to overthrow the disadvantage to women as a result of their sex
In what ways does radical feminism fundamentally oppose liberal feminism?
-Liberal = Legal reform VS Radical = Consciousness changing - Liberals = equality in public sphere VS. Radicals = 'Personal is Political' - Radicals = Gender affects everything VS. Liberals = Gender affects rights/opportunities/etc.
Why have some feminists criticised gender equality?
- Equality necessarily encourages women to be ‘like men’ which perpetuates oppression
- Based on androgyny which conceals deep differences between genders
- Goal of feminism is emancipation, not equality (You go girl!)
