Feminists perspective - family Flashcards
Key feminist points
-Believe that gender inequality is still a large point of social differences. UK is a patriarchy
-Women have less economic power, and are expected to be responsible for children, household and have a paying job
-Believe women still need to achieve social, economic, domestic and legal equality with men
-Believe family works to uphold patriarchy - women are socialised to accept male dominance
-Different types of feminism: marxists, liberal and radical
Marxist feminists - key points
-Believe that patriarchy/exploitation of women supports bourgeoise, and that men benefit from capitalist society more than women
-Capitalism exploits proletariat, which then exploits women
Marxist feminism - Margaret Benston (1972)
-Believe nuclear family and women is beneficial to capitalism, produces future workforce with little cost
-Unpaid labour of women is very profitable
Marxist feminism - Fran Ansley (1972)
-Capitalism has removed male workers of control, as they have become alienated from their work
-Challenges masculinity, creates anger that is then absorbed back into the family and female partner
-Can lead to domestic violence, and direct anger at women rather than actual problem of capitalism
Ideological conditioning device
David Cooper - he family is ‘an ideological conditioning device in an exploitive society’ - children learn to conform and submit to authority
Diane Feely - the structure of the family relationships teaches the young to accept their place in a class stratified society
Criticisms of marxist feminists
-Model of family is based on out-dated idea of working father and stay at home mother
-Ignores women who chose to be a mother and wife, and enjoy this
-Present women as ‘passive victims’, when some women have fought back
-Do not see that some families are positives
-Ignore other factors, e.g. race
Radical feminism - key points
-Believe women are exploited through the natural dominance of men, and believe that men will always oppress women
-Believe women are the most oppressed in the family situation
-Purposeful exploitation of men
Radical feminism - Germaine Greer (2000)
-WIVES - most important female role, but marriage is a ‘con’ -Married men score higher on measures of psychological and physical well-being than unmarried men, single women tend to be more content than married women
-MOTHERS- motherhood is satisfying -Women feel the need to return to original figures as quickly as possible after birth, expected to return to housework -Mother’s take the blame for what goes wrong in their children’s lives
CHILDREN/DAUGHTERS - Female children are more available for exploitation and an easier target
-Daughters are more vulnerable to abuse from male family members, feels that abuse is more common than we believe, extension of male heterosexuality
-Best step for women is to live in segregation, would benefit from living in ‘matrifocal’ households
-Work is not backed up by research evidence, and makes sweeping generalisation
Radical feminists- Delphy and Leonard (1992)
- Claim that husbands exploit their wives, despite the fact they do care for them and do love them
- Believe that women have a role within marriage to ‘flatter’ their husbands –> provide emotional support
But do not believe that women receive this in return
Radical feminists - Redfurn and Aune (2013)
-Believe that violence against women from men can take different forms:
-Forced marriage, martial rape, domestic violence, psychological bullying
-Believe they occur as a result of patriarchal ideas that are rooted in society’s history and ideas
-Family acts as a transmitter of ideas onto the next generation, allowing them to continue
Radical feminists - Firestone (1971)
-Believe men and women are separate and conflicting ‘sex classes’ - interaction between the two causes inequality
-Patriarchal nuclear family has oppressed and exploited women
-Women should use new reproductive technologies to exclude men from families as she believes women’s independence on men derives from childbearing functions
Liberal feminist theory - relative resources theory
-Within the home, gender inequality caused through economic imbalance between men and women (men have wider access to higher paying hobs and careers are not disrupted by child birth)
-Gives men more dominance in household (In decision making, therefore do not share responsibility)
-Shift - increase in women in economy in 1970s, led to new ‘dual-earner couples’. Created a more balanced outlook with more women having more power in decisions
-However, disputed as true 50-50 earner couples are rare. Women put more time into childcare and household. Typically women that take time off work when child is ill
-If a man lost his job, the woman would still take on more housework
Liberal feminism - Jennifer Somerville (2000)
-Feminists have failed to acknowledge progress made in society, more choice in jobs and marriage
-Some men are now willing to carry out household tasks
-However many do not take their share of work, but women can now choose to leave them
-Does not believe women would be happier without men, but can see that now women are choosing non-family households
-Believes new policies are vital in increasing equality
-Believes that the burden of childcare on women needs to be lifted in order to increase equality
Liberal feminism - Ann Oakley (1981)
-Believes that gender inequality is a product of discrimination from those who run institutions (its not embedded in society)
-From ignorance and misunderstanding of the biology of males and females
-Focused on gender roles socialisation - this is the source of patriarchal ideas as girls are persuaded that the main roles in life are within the family
-Prevents them from competing or higher-paid jobs
-Believes the change in the economy has also led to legal changes that challenges patriarchal ideas (e.g. Equality Act 2010)
Liberal feminists - Helen Wilkinson
-Believes change in economy over last 50 years (e.g. globalisation) has reduced factories, and introduced tertiary sector which has led to more females in employment giving them economic power
-Believe economic change has led to change in women’s attitudes - ‘gender quake’
-Women have different attitudes towards family life, children than in previous generations, more likely to aspire to university and careers
