Feminist view of the family

Question 1

General Feminist view

Answer 1

Feminists are critical of the family as a social institutions. They believe that the family is a tool of female oppression and in particular the nuclear family serves the needs of men rather than women. This is through issues such as unequal division of domestic labour and domestic violence.

• They believe that gender inequality is a social construction and not a natural phenomena

Question 2

What are the four types of Feminism

Answer 2

1. Liberal
2. Radical
3. Marxist
4. Intersectional

Question 3

Liberal Feminists

Answer 3

Families are slowly becoming more equal through changes in law and social attitudes. They do not believe that full equality has been achieved but the process is well underway.

• Parents are now socialising their children in more gender neutral ways, with similar aspirations for both sons and daughters and chores not being determined by gender

Question 4

Evaluation of Liberal feminists

Answer 4

• Overstates the amount of progress that has been made. Women still have triple shift
• Marxists and Radical feminists also argue that liberal feminists fail to challenge the underlying causes of women’s oppression and changing the law is not enough to bring about equality, there is needs to be a fundamental change in social structures

Question 5

Radical Feminists

Answer 5

• Radical feminists believe that men are the enemy and marriage and family are the key institutions which allow partriachy to existst
• hey argue that the family needs to be abolished and a system of separatism needs to be insituted for this to happen
• Argue for Political Lesbianism because heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive

GREER–> All female households with shared parental responsibility

Question 6

Marxist feminism

Answer 6

• Marxist feminists see the family as a tool of capitalism and that it is capitalism not men who oppress women
• They see the family as oppressing women whilst supporting capitalism in three ways
  1. Women reproduce the workforce and socialise hierarchy

2. Women absorb the anger of men who are fustrated by their alienation and exploitation
   ANSLEY–> Takers of shit
3. Women are a reserve army of cheap labour that can be activated when they are needed and let it go when no longer needed eg WW2

Question 7

Marxist feminism evaluation

Answer 7

• Women are no longer a reserve labour force as they have equal rights at work and are as likely as men to be the main breadwinner in the family

Question 8

Intersectional Feminism

Answer 8

States that other feminist beliefs focus on the experience of women in a nuclear family however not all families are nuclear
- Just as not all women will have the same experience of family life

• For example a Black woman may find her family provides refuge from societal racism rather then it being a place of oppression or negativity

Question 9

Intersectional feminism evaluation

Answer 9

Neglects the fact that many women do not share the same experiences of family regardless of ethnicity or social class. For example they all face a risk of domestic violence and low pay

Question 10

Triple shift

Answer 10

Triple shift refers to the three roles that women are expected to perform for the family

1. Emotional support
2. Domestic labour
3. Unpaid work

Question 11

Duel Burden

Answer 11

Refers to the two traditional roles that women are expected to play in the family

1. Emotional support
2. Domestic Labour