Feminism

Question 1

feminism - malestream sociology

Answer 1

male-dominated - carried out by men on men then applied to women providing an incomplete explanation of social life

Question 2

liberal feminism - how did women inequality develop from?

Answer 2

sexist stereotyping
gender role socialisation
lack of positive role models
sex discrimination 
generating lack of equal opportunities

Question 3

liberal feminism - how will equality for women come?

Answer 3

gradual process so that women can be on equal terms as men

Question 4

liberal feminism - strengths

Answer 4

• research has produced evidence proving gender differences is socially constructed
• lead to equal pay act, sex discrimination act, changed traditional attitudes to improve women’s lives

Question 5

liberal feminism - weakness

Answer 5

• only deals with reducing women’s subordination rather than challenging the underlying cause
• changes in the law or peoples attitudes wont be enough to bring equality

Question 6

radical feminism - domination

Answer 6

men dominate women in all areas and men benefit

all women have shared interests in challenging men who control women through violence, turning them into sex objects

Question 7

radical feminism - where is patriarchal power inequalities found?

Answer 7

public and private spheres of life

Question 8

radical feminism - solution

Answer 8

women should free themselves from oppression by the complete destruction of patriarchy
separatism & lesbianism

Question 9

radical feminism - criticisms

Answer 9

• assumes all women share common interests
• doesn’t recognise other factors that are important sources of inequality
• gradual reform has weakened significance of patriarchy without revolutionary change (liberal)
• doesn’t offer solution to abolish patriarchy, just way to escape rather than challenge ; isn’t likely to appeal to all women (heterosexual attraction)
• not all men engage in domination of women
• capitalism benefit & main source of women subordination

Question 10

marxist feminism - what intensifies patriarchal inequalities?

Answer 10

capitalism for its own interests

women’s expressive role helps keep capitalist society stable at their exploitation

Question 11

marxism feminism - cheap labour force

Answer 11

women sacked during times of economic recession re-employed during times of prosperity
women’s unpaid domestic labour/childcare

Question 12

marxism feminism - solution

Answer 12

challenge capitalism and class inequality 
as working-class women suffer the greatest

Question 13

marxism feminism - criticisms

Answer 13

• patriarchy exists in all societies

- men are the ones who benefit and are the instruments of oppression

Question 14

difference feminism - black feminism

Answer 14

early feminist theories ignores the different experiences of patriarchal subordination in minority ethnic groups

Question 15

difference feminism - feminism was seen through the eyes of?

Answer 15

white, middle-class women

Question 16

difference feminism - postmodern society

Answer 16

weakening structures and people pick’n’mix is reflected in the diversity of meaning attached to being a women

Question 17

difference feminism - different oppression

Answer 17

specific groups may face multiple oppression
different groups of women have different conceptions of oppression
hijab/burqa seen as oppression or resistance to patriarchy

Question 18

diference feminism - criticisms

Answer 18

empathising the differences between women deflects the attention away from the problems shared by women