Feminism - Key thinkers - final Flashcards
What does Simone de Beauvoir believe about gender?
Gender differences are created by men in society. They are not natural.
What does Simone de Beauvoir believe the state does?
The state reinforces a culture that prevents women from expressing their true freedom and identity.
What does Simone de Beauvoir believe about society?
Social constraints prevent women from attaining self-realisation and true freedom.
What does Simone de Beauvoir believe about the economy?
Men’s domination of economic life restricts the life choices open to women.
What does bell hooks believe about human nature?
Women have multiple identities and therefore experience multiple forms of oppression.
What does bell hooks believe about the state?
It is dominated by white males and therefore reflects and reinforces their dominant position in society.
What does bell hooks believe about society?
It is full of complex relationships between different minorities that must be resolved by love between different minority cultures.
What does bell hooks believe about the economy?
The liberation of the poor is an economic as well as a social issue.
What does Sheila Rowbotham believe about women’s nature?
It is created by men.
What does Shelia Rowbotham believe about the state?
The state is a servant of capitalism.
What does Sheila Rowbotham believe about society?
The nature of society is economically determined, and it reflects the dominant position of both capitalists and men in general.
What does Sheila Rowbotham believe about the economy?
She is a Marxist and believes women are a low-paid reserve army of labour.
What does C. P. Gilman believe about human nature?
Biological differences are irrelevant; women can compete equally with men.
What does C. P. Gilman believe about women’s roles in society?
Society has always assigned inferior roles to women.
What did C. P. Gilman believe about the economy?
The domestic servitude of women allowed men to dominate the outside economic world.
What does Kate Millet believe about human nature?
Women are all capable of freeing themselves themselves from male oppression by engaging in lesbian relationships.
What does Kate Millet believe about the state?
The state is merely the agent of patriarchy. It is part of the problem and not the solution.
What does Kate Millet believe about society?
It is completely characterised by patriarchy, which is all-pervasive and infests both the public and private sphere.
What is the tension between radical and liberal feminsts?
Radicals assert that liberals fail to understand the true nature of patriarchy: for liberals it is just a aspect of society, whereas for radicals believe it lies deep in the human consciousness and is the essence of our society. This means that liberals favour reform whereas radicals want revolution.
What do liberals criticise radicals for?
Refusing to acknowledge the private sphere where women should be able to choose freely their own status and consciousness. Liberals accuse radicals of forcing their own forms of consciousness on women rather than letting them be free to find their own.
What do socialist feminists criticise the other forms of feminism about?
They say that liberals and radicals do not emphasise the importance of economic factors in the oppression of women. For socialists, the true source of oppression is their inferior economic position.
What do radical feminists criticise socialist feminists for?
Over-stressing the economic factors. They believe it has economic elements but is more complex than just that, with culture and psychology playing a role.
What is the tension between difference feminists and equality feminists?
Difference feminists deny male superiority and stress the superior female sex instead; equality feminists seek to eliminate differences in society to pursue equality.
What sort of feminist is Kate Millet?
Radical
What sort of feminist is Sheila Rowbotham?
Socialist
What sort of feminist is bell hooks?
Post-modern
What sort of feminist is Simone de Beauvoir?
Liberal
What sort of feminist is C. P. Gilman?
Liberal
What is Simone de Beauvoir’s seminal work?
The Second Sex, 1949
What is Kate Millet’s seminal work?
Sexual Politics, 1970
