Feminism Core Ideas Flashcards
Who created the first well known piece of work of feminism and what was it called?
Mary Wollestonecraft
A vindication of the rights of women
What were some of Wollstonecraft’s main points in her book?
She urged that women be offered an education and that they assert their right to be considered as useful members of society. They should become independent from their husbands and this will aid them to become a good mother
What did John Stuart Mill and Harriet Taylor do to promote feminism?
Campaigned for the passage of the Married Women’s Property Act (1882), which allowed women to keep their own property after they married
What did Charlotte Perkins Gilman do in the origins of feminism?
She wrote extensively about the lack of opportunities for independent women and argued the inferior position of women in the home was a model of their subordinate position in wider life
What issue attracted the most attention at the beginning of feminism?
The franchise- votes for women
What progress was made in American politics for women between 1890 and 1920
In 1890, the National American Women Suffrage Association was founded. By 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment to the US constitution was passed, guaranteeing equal voting rights for women
What progression was made towards feminist goals in the UK between 1903 and 1928?
In Britain, the women’s social and political union, run by the Pankhurst family, led the suffragette movement. They achieved the vote for married women over 30 in 1918 and equal voting rights in 1928.
What did the suffragette movement become known as?
The first wave of feminism
What were the assumptions made by the suffragettes about when they achieved the vote?
They assumed women would quickly seek election to office and that parliament would pass legislation to improve conditions for women, and, in particular, would establish equality in all kinds of social and economic fields
What came out of the women gaining the vote?
Not much- little impact.
Only thing was slight improvements in education and partial opening of professions
What was the second wave of feminism and when did it emerge?
1960s
Broader cultural movement that sought to critique a post-industrial society, especially identifying the alienation of various social groups from a society of mass communication and consumerism.
These groups included youth, ethnic minorities and black population, the gay community, disabled people and women
What are the two issues feminists address concerning human nature?
Sex and gender
The personal is political
What is meant by the term sex?
For feminists, it refers to the biological differences between men and women. They are seen as inevitable, natural and unalterable
What are the main biological differences between men and women?
Women give birth
Women tend to have lower levels of physical strength
How do feminists think sex should change peoples opinions towards a person?
Sex differences should be irrelevant to the way in which a women is treated in society and in relationships and shouldn’t affect general status
What is essentialism?
The fundamental nature of biological differences between men and women. Some feminists say such differences are essential to understanding the status of a women in their inferior position
What would feminists argue that sex has caused upon the status of women in society?
For most, they argue they have determined the gender roles of women in history and today. More radical feminists agree but argue there is no need for this to carry on today
What is gender?
How was it created?
This refers to the cultural differences between sexes, leading to men’s superiority and women’s inferiority. This is the creation of a patriarchal society and is not natural
Traditionally, how are gender and sex seen as connected?
Ideas that the roles played by women were biologically determined.
Women are unable to do demanding jobs because of their regular need to give birth and take care of children. Therefore women, were more caring and so wouldn’t be suited to the competitive world of business and capitalism
Women were seen as the homemakers while men were the breadwinners
What were pre feminist, male dominated cultures views towards women?
Women are inferior to men because earning money is more important than motherhood. Women were seen as unable to use judgement and had little need for more than basic education, reinforcing ideas they are inferior
What did Betty Friedan point about cultural attitudes towards gender?
Gender differences are so deep rooted that women themselves tended to share it with men
What is Friedan’s quote about gender differences?
“Each suburban wife struggled with it alone… she was afraid to ask even herself of the silent question “Is this all?”
What is a liberals view to the issue of sex and gender?
They accept the significance of sex differences but regard gender differences and the superiority of men as an artificial construct, created by patriarchal societies. There is no reason biological differences should be converted into gender differences. The inferior attitude towards women is learnt and has deep roots in history, education and cultural institutions like the media
How would a liberal feminist try to respond to the link between gender and sex?
Centres around the need for reform , through legislation for equality and education to combat sexist attitudes
What is radical thinker Juliet Mitchell’s opinion on sex and gender differences
Male gender exists in all aspects of life and so must be destroyed in all these places. She also stressed how the views towards women have been generated in literature and the arts. There needs to be something of a cultural revolution to combat patriarchy
What is radical thinker Shulamith Firestones’ view on sex and gender?
She stressed the importance of sex rather than gender in the oppression of women. She saw women as an oppressed group facing a dialectic struggle and so to triumph women must remove the sex differences that have led to their oppression. This can be achieved by removing all sexual functions of a women and would be replaced with androgyny
What is androgyny?
A state where men and women would co-exist without sexual relations. People should be free to choose their sexual identity and may have no sexual identity at all
What are social feminists views on sex and gender?
They see the oppression of women as being bound up in the whole operation of capitalism. Women, like workers have become the oppressed class who become a cheap source of labour. They aren’t paid in the home and in paid employment, they make up a large proportion of low paid, often part time workers. They are hence dispensable so when there is a slump women are the ones thrown out of work. They are therefore low paid and lack job security
What are socialist feminist responses to sex and gender?
Destruction of capitalism at the most extreme level, or at least, it’s modification as women should be guaranteed the same protection, working conditions and pay
What are the arguments that sex is the reason for differences between men and women in society?
-it’s inevitable that women will take a leading role in child rearing, so men dominate the world of work
-women are physically weaker so inevitably have an inferior position
-women are born with a caring character and so are less fit to capitalism
What are the arguments that gender is the reason for differences between men and women in society?
-men have vested interest in maintaining their dominant gender role in society
-the gender role of women is embedded in their consciousness from an early age to such an extent that women don’t understand it’s patriarchal origin
-in a modern society, there’s no reason why the different biological status of women should affect their role in the economy. They are simply an artificial construct to perpetuate the patriarchy
Who first coined “the personal is political” and who popularised it? Who does it help to distinguish between?
First coined by Firestone, but was popularised by Carol Hanisch
It helps us to distinguish between liberal and radical feminists
What do liberals say about the private public sphere?
There is a separation as the private sphere is no concern of others, especially not the state. As long as our actions don’t harm others, e.g. domestic violence, there’s no need for interference
What is the private sphere?
Concerns aspects of our life that are particular to ourselves and close family. It’s behaviour that doesn’t affect others and can relate to how men and women interact and how women themselves choose to live
What is the public sphere?
Our actions do affect others and thus become more of a concern to the state. For example, how men treat women, how women are portrayed in the workplace, in politics, media and society at large e.g. low wages and sexual assault
What is the radical approach to the public private sphere?
Radical feminists like Firestone and Hanisch, do not recognise the distinction between the two. For them, everything is political. For example, if women are kept at home engaged in homemaking it’s not a private matter because it’s an aspect of wider patriarchy. They argue most women don’t understand the personal is political because their consciousness has been distorted by a male dominated society
What did Germaine Greer say about the personal is political?
Sexual Relationships are determined by men who have managed to make women feel ashamed of their bodies and sexuality. In other words, they have been manipulated to serve the interests of men. Thus such private matters become political
