Feminist view on family Flashcards
Liberal feminism
gender inequality will end with the introduction of legal changes.These legal changes will lead to a change in social attitudes and socialisation of boys and girls will become less gender specific.they hold a march of progress view – that the progress towards gender equality is gradual, but is happening. E.g.men doing more household chores
Marxist feminist
Main cause of women’s oppression is not men but capitalism. The nuclear family serves the capitalist system for the benefit of the ruling class and at the expense of the working class. It does so by exploiting and oppressing women because they perform unpaid domestic work such as:
Reproducing future workforce-women bear children and socialise them to accept an unfair
Ansley argues that women are takers of shit, they absorb men’s anger by performing sexual and emotional services which maintain emotionally healthy men. Men therefore take out frustration of work on women through abuse which prevents them from taking out anger on capitalism.
Women are a preserve army of labour-they can be employed when needed by the capitalists and then let go when no longer needed. (e.g.WW1/2)
The solution is to overthrow capitalism through a revolution
Radical Feminism
Society is patriarchal -ruled by men. Therefore, men are the enemy- the source of women’s oppression and exploitation. Within family men dominate women the most as they benefit from women’s free domestic labour and sexual services. Men also dominate women through domestic abuse. The solution according to Greer is separatism or political lesbianism-women and men live separately and form an all female matrilocal households
Difference feminism
Difference Feminists argue that we can’t generalise about women’s experiences.They argue that different women experience patriarchy in different ways and to a different extent, e.g. heterosexual and lesbian women, black and white women. For example, the black lone parent families
where women hep each other are less oppressive of
women than the traditional nuclear family.
Difference feminism
Difference Feminists argue that we can’t generalise about women’s experiences.They argue that different women experience patriarchy in different ways and to a different extent, e.g. heterosexual and lesbian women, black and white women. For example, the black lone parent families
where women hep each other are less oppressive of
women than the traditional nuclear family.
Criticism of liberal feminists
too optimistic in thinking that legal changes are enough to lead to a change in social attitudes, e.g. the Equal Pay Act was introduced in 1970, but women still earn 18% less than men.
Radical feminists criticism
ignore the positive aspects of family life and that the position of women in society has improved considerably, e.g. access to divorce, better job
opportunities, control over their fertility,
Marxist criticism
They and radical ignore the trend to gender equality
Criticism of Difference feminism
has been criticised for causing divisions between women which makes our movement for equality weaker.
