Feminism Flashcards
The core ideas of feminism - human nature
Sex and gender – the term sex refers to the biological differences between men and women. For most feminists, sex differences should be irrelevant to the way in which men and women are treated in society. Other feminists see sex differences as important and explain the inferior status of women. This belief is known as essentialism. Mostly radical feminists agree that biology may have determined the inferior status of women and determined gender roles. Gender refers to the cultural and economic differences between the lives of men and women.
Liberal feminists – accept the significance of sex differences but regard gender differences and the superiority of men as an artificial construct, created by patriarchal societies. They believe there is no reason why biological differences between the sexes should be converted into gender differences. This behaviour is learnt, by both men and women and has been reinforced by education and other cultural institutions. Liberal feminists want to combat sexist attitudes through legislation for equality and education.
Radical feminists – they see gender differences as more deep rooted than liberal feminists believe. Male gender exists in all aspects of life. They believe it must be destroyed and a cultural revolution needs to take place to combat patriarchy. One radical feminist Firestone believed women would triumph in their struggle against men by removing all sexual functions of women and thus removing all sex differences between men and women. It would be replaced by an androgyny – state without sexual relations.
Socialist feminists – see the oppression of women linked to capitalism. They believe women like workers have become an oppressed class, as patriarchal societies assign an inferior gender role to women so they can become a cheap source of labour. Due to their inferior status they have been forced to work for lower wages and they are viewed as dispensable, lacking job security. The solution for socialists is the destruction of capitalism or at least amendment to it. In particular women should be granted the same protection, working conditions, pay and opportunities as men.
Personal and private sphere – liberal feminists believe in the separation of the private sphere from the public sphere. The private sphere concerns aspects of life in particular to us. In the public sphere our actions do affect others and become the concern of the government. Radical feminists do not recognise the distinction between the public and private sphere, for them everything is political.
Core ideas of feminism - the state
Feminists do not have a distinct theory of the state. The main characteristic of the modern state for feminists is patriarchy. But liberal feminists see the government as the solution, through legislation. Equality laws designed to impose gender equality in the public sphere, laws imposing equal pay regulations and laws dealing with domestic violence. Radical feminists believe problems are deep rooted in patriarchal culture and therefore the state is powerless to combat this.
Core ideas of feminism - society
Patriarchy – for society capitalism is a complete integrated political, social and economic system in which workers are an exploited class. This has comparisons to radical feminists, where patriarchy is the key characteristic and women are the exploited class. Radical feminists see the removal of patriarchy vital to the emancipation of women. Patriarchy is part of every aspect of society and therefore is difficult to remove. It is combated by a full scale attack on cultural values in society, possibly involving violent resistance to male dominance. The second is the through the creation of a female counter culture, separate altogether from patriarchal society, with women leading completely separate lives from men. Liberals take a similar view of patriarchy but see the solution as reform, not revolution. Liberals see patriarchy as a characteristic of society, not fundamental, therefore it follows that society can be made less patriarchal gradually. Equality feminism and difference feminism – equality feminists have limited aims, seeking equality for women in all spheres. Difference feminism is complex. From their perspective men and women have fundamental differences and these should be recognised in society. Difference feminists argue the different genders have differences which should be embraced. Some difference feminists have claimed that attributes particular to women are superior to male characteristics and a world dominated by women would be superior with less violence and war and more provision for children and the environment. Equality feminists argue that difference leads to inequality and this will mean men will benefit. They think there must be equality and male superiority must be destroyed. Intersectionality – some suggest feminism has tended to be a largely white, middle class movement. They point out women from a variety of different backgrounds face different problems. This led to the idea of a much segmented movement and the philosophy known as Intersectionality occurred. It pointed out that we all have multiple identities and gender is only one of them.
Core ideas of feminism - economy
Engels said capitalism reduced women to wage slaves, their positions reduced to a ‘reverse army of labour’ when male workers were at a shortage. Therefore modern socialist feminists see exploitation and capitalism to be linked. All feminists agree women are discriminated against in the economic world due to unpaid labour in the home, the pay gap and more senior jobs reversed for men, women are denied equality of opportunity.
Key thinker Simone De Beauvoir
Human Nature – developed the idea as women being the other. Idea men have characterised women as different in men’s choosing. Women’s freedom to choose their own way is removed almost from birth. Women must liberate themselves and must seek sexual liberation and freedom from the binds of the nuclear family. Even in personal relations, women are inferior. Gender differences are created by men in society, they are not natural.
State – equality of opportunity must be achieved by education, economic freedom, state funded child care, legislated abortion and widespread contraception. State reinforces a culture that prevents women from expressing their true freedom and identity.
Society – women must be granted the opportunity to make as many choices as men, to be able to escape the drudgery of housework and their role in marriage as a kind of sex slave. Female characteristics are learnt from a patriarchal society. She wanted social mobility.
Economy – economic freedom for women to gain equality. She believed men’s domination of economic life restricts the life choices open to women.
Key thinker bell hooks
Human Nature – patriarchy has taught women to hate themselves and see themselves as inferior, she said sexist thinking made women judge each other without compassion. Women in common with men have multiple identities and therefore experience multiple forms of oppression. State – state needs to try and create a more equal society. The state is dominated by white males and therefore reflects and reinforces their dominant position in society. Society – equality must be established in society as a universal principle, in that way women will become equal. She believed in Intersectionality, different groups within feminism faces different problems. All these groups need to achieve equality. To end patriarchy it has two elements. Creation of a more equal society and second men must understand women must break free from the preconceptions of themselves which have been created by a patriarchy. Economy – women living in property have problems that middle class women do not face. The liberation of the poor is an economic as well as a social issue.
Key thinker Sheila Rowbotham
Human Nature – women’s consciousness of the world is created by men. She believed that men cannot understand the nature of oppression they are imposing upon women.
State – she believed the state is the servant of capitalism
Society – nature of society is economically determined and society reflects the dominant position of both capitalists and men in general. Only a society where complete equality is imposed, women will achieve equal status with men. For Rowbotham she means socialism is the solution. Women are oppressed in the home and in wider culture. A socialist revolution will not automatically liberate women; they must be freed from oppression in home life, personal relationships and a wider culture.
Economy – she has a socialist perspective as women are a low paid reverse army of labour. She believed the best hope for the liberation of women lies in a socialist future, under capitalism there is little hope that women will ever escape from the patriarchal society.
Early principles of feminism movement
The early origins of women’s movement and the first wave of feminism were largely liberal in nature. The liberal principles of early feminism were:
• Liberty – women should be free to choose the nature of their own lives
• Women should enjoy equality of opportunity, full access to education, career and progression
• Women should enjoy the same civil rights as men, for example the rule of law should apply to them and the law should never discriminate against them
• Women should enjoy equal private rights, in particular property
• Women should enjoy the same democratic rights, the vote and to stand for office
Failures of first wave feminism
As many of these objectives were realised, it became apparent that they were far from enough, that women remained an inferior gender and continued to suffer discrimination and lack of opportunity. By the 1960s it was apparent that there was something else preventing the liberation of women: the existence of patriarchy
Second wave feminism
Betty Friedan discovered that the problem was cultural in nature. She called it the problem with no name, implying it was largely undiscovered. She pointed out that women themselves did not recognise the nature of their oppression. As well as men being victims, as they were socially conditioned to think they were superior. Both Beauvoir and Friedan stressed the concept of otherness in their discussions of women’s place in society. Otherness refers to the position of women in patriarchal society, treated as separate to society, an inferior minority, subordinate to men. Once the true nature of patriarchy was revealed women were able to take up the cause for themselves.
Liberal feminists proposed three main forms to combat patriarchy:
• The opportunities for women to be able to make their own choices had to be opened up by ending discrimination and inequality. This aspiration is known as gender equality
• Cultural attitudes which reinforced women as inferior had to be combated. This as to be achieved through education, propaganda and opposition to sexist attitudes
• Women would have to achieve formal equality in all fields. This involved legislation. As first wave feminists insisted, there must be political and legal equality.
Key thinker - Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Human Nature – she argued against the Darwinist theory ‘survival of the fittest’ which suggested it was biologically inevitable men should be dominant. Gilman argued biological differences between men and women had become irrelevant, as there was no reasons why women do not play an equal part alongside men in modern economics, as women can compete equally with men.
State – she believed equality of opportunity had to be achieved by legislation from the state
Society – said girls were socialised that from an early age, at home and school, to take on the role of motherhood and homemaking rather than a wider role and career outside the home. She said women’s confinement to the home is culturally not biologically determined. She campaigned for the destruction of the traditional nuclear family and replaced by forms of communal living whereby child rearing and housework would be shared among men and women, thus freeing women for a wider role in society.
Economy – the domestic servitude of women allowed men to dominate the outside economic world
Does liberal feminism fail to understand the true nature of the patriarchy - yes (radical argument)
- The movement does not understand the position of working class and ethnic minority women who face multiple forms of oppression. This is described as Intersectionality.
- Liberal feminists, in supporting a capitalist society do not understand the ways in which market capitalism inevitable oppresses and discriminates against women.
- Liberal feminist’s underestimates the personal is political. They do not understand sexual relations between men and women are power relationships and therefore political in nature
Does liberal feminism fail to understand the true nature of the patriarchy - no (liberal argument)
- Liberal feminists understand that formal inequality is not the only problem but they claim that the cultural nature of patriarchy is key. Therefore they have made sexism a key target in their struggle for women’s liberation
- By achieving legal or formal equality for women on the whole, liberal feminists believe that patriarchy will decline as men no longer hold dominant positions in society.
- Liberal feminists claim that women have a more developed understanding of patriarchy and are steadily achieving sufficient power to be able to combat it
Radical feminism
This is not really one movement but is a series of different perspectives on the problems posed by patriarchy. They do have some characteristics in common:
• They propose the destruction of patriarchy society and its transformation into a completely new form
• Radical feminists are revolutionary in outlook, though not normally favouring violent revolution
• They stress the importance of female consciousness in their proposals for a new social order
• They are mostly difference feminists rather than equality feminists
Difference and equality feminists
Instead of attempting to ignore the biological and cultural differences between men and women, difference feminists stress and celebrate the differences between men an omen. They state that one sex is not superior to the other and that differences should be embraced, therefore the search for equality through legislation, like the liberal feminists are pointless.
