Feminist Theory Of Social Inequalities Flashcards
What are the 4 explanations of social class inequality?
- Women reproduce the next generation of workers and socialise them (Feeley)
- Women’s domestic work is unpaid (Benston)
- Women soothe the stress and frustrations of the proletariat (Ansley)
- Women’s roles also support the capitalist ideology
- Women reproduce the next generation of workers and socialise them.
-Feeley
-feels this it it natural and fine to do this
-the family is ‘designed to teach passivity not rebellion’ and children are ‘trained’ to be obedient and docile workers. This socialises family members to accept traditional roles and then the false idea that it is ‘natural’ for them to take responsibilities for different roles. Men and women should have different roles in the family and society that lead to the subordination of women to men and supporting the capitalist economy by keeping women in the home and part of the nuclear family.
- Women’s domestic work is unpaid
-Benston
-women help to reproduce labour power for capitalism in 2 ways:
Women renew men’s ability to go out to work and create profits for the capitalist class by doing work at home and attending to their emotional and sexual needs.
They socialise and care for children, reproducing the next generation of workers at no cost to capitalist employers.
Women are particularly exploited in family life, not simply for benefit of men but profitably of whole capitalist system which depends on their unpaid work
- Women soothe the stresses and the frustrations of the proletariat
-Ansley
-as husbands have been exploited at work, they take their anger out on their wives, not bosses which prevents a revolution. Women absorb their husbands’ frustration at their powerlessness and oppression in the workplace = women are ‘takers of shit’
All workers have their own ‘sponge’ which will aid false class consciousness and discourage a revolution as men are venting their frustrations at their wives rather than their exploitative employers.
- Women’s roles also support the capitalist ideology
-Bruegel
-unpaid domestic labour for women means that they are readily available to do work outside of the home when society requires them to do so. The ruling class use women to join the workforce when needed and send them back to the role of the house-wide when not required. Women become a cheap ‘reserve army of labour’ and are utilised by the ruling class. Women are often not part of trade unions and are prepared to work for less money as their wage could be a second income.
What are the 5 explanations of gender inequality?
- Women are made to feel unsafe by men in the workplace, hindering their career progression. (Adkins)
- Men use violence to assert their power over women (Johnson)
- Women are socialised into subordinate roles from birth (Oakley)
- Women are discriminated against on the grounds of their gender as a result of traditional stereotypes (McRobbie)
- Not all women share the same experience of inequality - patriarchy has shifted from private to public (Walby)
- Women are made to feel unsafe by men in the workplace, hindering their career progression.
-Adkins
-vertical segregation = men and women are distributed across different levels of hierarchy within an organisation = women in lower levels of jobs (men = manager of pub, women work in the pub)
Couples were paid about 25% more than single males doing the same job but the wife is not paid a salary in their own right. = companies can agin cheap labour and wives are even as useful + sexual attractions to boost sales. = reinforces norms and values of a passive and sexualised female identity
-horizontal segregation = men and women concentrated in different types of jobs = women represented in care-giving jobs. - segregation stems from norms and stereotypes
Female employers were often subject to sexual harassment and senior staff were unlikely to do anything to prevent such behaviour. In many service sector jobs, being sexually attractive and engaging in ‘sexual servicing’ are parts of women’s work. Their jobs were about sexuality which reproduces patriarchal relationships
- Men use violence to assert their power over women
-Johnson
-patriarchal terrorism: violence that is the result of ‘patriarchal traditions of men’s right to control “their” women’
-terroristic control using violence, threats, isolation and economic subordination
-world health organisation : 2013, women who had experienced physical or sexual abuse from an intimate partner in their lifetime was 30% globally and 25.4% in Europe
- Women are socialised into subordinate roles from birth
-Oakley
-4 processes of socialisation
-manipulation : encouraging/discouraging appropriate behaviour
-canalisation : parents directing children’s interests
-verbal appellations : parents using stereotypical feminine and masculine descriptions such as ‘gentle’ girls and ‘strong’ boys
-domestic activities : daughters have cultural expectations of future responsibilities (helping out with housework)
- Women are discriminated against on the grounds of their gender as a result of traditional gender stereotypes
-Mc Robbie
-position of women are structurally different from men as men are held in high positions compared to women : men = dominant and women = subordinate
-culture of femininity: excellence is achieved through being a good housewife
-bedroom culture : girls spend their leisure time in their bedrooms, by themselves or with friends. Allows them to avoid embarrassment or be subjected to male negativity
- Not all women share the same experience of inequality
-Walby
-triple systems of oppression: effect on women of the combined systems of patriarchy, capitalism and racism
-intersectionality : recognises the complex interplay between different forms of social inequality including class, gender, ethnicity, religion, nationality etc
-believes that the patriarchy is socially constructed and evolved from ‘private patriarchy’ where women were limited to the domestic sphere of home and family, to ‘public patriarchy’ where women enter the public sphere of employment, politics and so on but continue to suffer disadvantage
-6 structures of public patriarchy = paid employment, household, the state, cultural institutions, sexuality (double standard applied to men and women where men are applauded for multiple sexual partners but women are condemned for the same behaviour) , violence (control of women
What are the 4 explanations of ethnic inequality?
- Black women face more forms of disadvantage than white women (Abbott et al)
- Class, race and gender combine to create multiple sources of inequality (Brewer)
- Black women are portrayed and perceived as passive victims (Mirza)
- Gender disparities stem from colonialism (Connell)
- Black women face more forms of disadvantage than white women
-Abbott et al
-white feminists have been allowed to speak on behalf of black women but black feminists are not expected to speak on behalf of white women.
-critical of the lack of centrality given to issues of tonic difference, radicalisation and racism in feminist theory and research
-racial ideologies are natural and inevitable: one race superior to another
- Class, gender and race combine to create multiple sources of inequality
-Brewer
-ethnic minority groups suffer from inequalities because they are black, because they are women and because they are working class = triple systems theory
-patriarchy + capitalism + racism = work together to create inequality
- Black women are portrayed and perceived as passive victims
-Mirza
-psh back against stereotypes and high lit black women’s strength and resilience, advocating against domestic violence, addressing sexism and racism in schools, promoting women’s independence with alternative family structures and opposing the injustices of police and immigration.
-challenge dominant groups by drawing on own experiences and can offer other ways of thinking that can ‘invoke some measure of critical race/ gender reflexivity no mainstream academic thinking.’
