Feminism

Question 1

Mary Wollstonecraft

Answer 1

Women should be equal to men but are currently trapped in a metaphorical “bird cage” where they are unable to be fulfilled. This patriarchal cage means that women are not socially, politically or economically equal yet (Liberal)

Question 2

Oakley

Answer 2

Women do the most unpaid domestic labour compared to men, who only do 15% (Marxist)

Question 3

Breugal

Answer 3

Women are easy to hire and fire as their primary role is the “housewife”, so they form a reserve army of labour (Marxist)

Question 4

Ansley

Answer 4

Safety valve: Women are “the takers of shit” and absorb their husband’s frustrations and stress (Marxist)

Question 5

Benston

Answer 5

Two workers for the price of one: When employers hire a man, they get the woman for free, who does unpaid domestic services that the man would otherwise have to pay for (and so demand higher wages) (Marxist)

Question 6

Millet

Answer 6

Men directly benefit from women’s exploitation (Radical)

Question 7

Rich

Answer 7

Compulsory sexuality: Women are forced into heterosexual relationships due to social attitudes. Women need to be able to enter into lesbian relationships to experience non-oppressive sexual pleasure (Radical)

Question 8

Firestone

Answer 8

Childbearing is a burden for women and we should use science to free them from this (Radical)

Question 9

Delphy and Leonard

Answer 9

Women perform 57 varieties of unpaid services in the family including sex and domestic labour (Radical)

Question 10

Amos and Palmer

Answer 10

Because black women also face racism, they have different experiences to white women. In this situation the family can be a source of support, not oppression (Black/Difference)