Liberal feminism

Question 1

what do liberal feminists focus on?

Answer 1

• liberal feminists are focused on obtaining equal opportunitios and equal rights for males and females in society in areas sich as the workplace, education and politics
• they argue that gender inequalities are mainly a result of gender role socialisation and unfair laws and practices that reinforce discrimination between men and women, rather than innate, biological differences
• liberal feminists believe that changes in norms and values that reinforce gender dividions in society will bring about equality and they regard legislation as one way of achieving this
• they would point to the equal pay act and sex discrimination act as evidence of the success of liberal feminists campaigning

Question 2

what did Oakley (1974) say about gender role socialisation?

Answer 2

• Oakley (1974) argues that gender role socialisation in the family is an important area where gender inequaliry takes root from a young age
• she believes that this occurs through processes such as manipluation and canalisation which teach children expected norms and values from their sex
• maniplualtion refers to the encourageent of behaviour that is seen as gender appropriate
• for example girls being dressed in a feminine way and attention being paid to their appearance
• canalisation relates to the channeling of children towards toys and activities seen as appropriate for the gender behaviour
• children learn their gender identiy through internaliising behaviour experienced in the family
• for example imitation of parents discoruaging gender inappropriate behaviour such as crying in boys, parents adopting different modes of speech for male and female children and parents assigning gender specific chores to children
• the gender role socialisation is then reinforced and developed by other agents of socialisation such as the education system and the media

Question 3

why has oakleys work been criticised?

Answer 3

• postmodernist ideas suggest that gender identities are no longer fixed and that there are a renge of masculinities and femininities to chose from, therefore, there is no longer a clear set of gender norms for children to be socialised into
• this means that oakleys views are out of date so lack temporal validity
• oakley seemed to regard children as passive recipient of gender role socialisation
• it has been argued that at least there is a process of negotiation between parents and children
• theorists such as ||Connell go further and content that there is a resistacne to gender role socialisation as some children actively go against traditional gender stereotypes

Question 4

what do liberal feminists say about equality?

Answer 4

• liberal feminists believe that equality can be achieved by legan and wider cultural reforms
• most liberal feminists wuld agreee that progress has already been made and they are optimistic about further improvements in the future
• liberal feminists do not see men as oppressors and are usually happy to work with them to bring about change
• sharpes studies into girls priorities may be used as evidence of changing gender norms and values and also supports the view that gender roles are socially constructed rather than the product of natural biological factors

Question 5

why do radical and marxist feminists disagree with liberal feminists?

Answer 5

• radical and marxist deminists would argue that liberal feminists fail to explain how males and females come to hold different levels of power in the family and more widely in society
• radical feminists would explain this by referring to patriarchy and marxist feminists would cite capitalism

Question 6

how is the fact that liberal feminists are very optiistic a weakness?

Answer 6

• it has been argued that liberal feminists are overaly optimistic and positive about their achievements
• for example despite the equal pay act of 1970, there has continued to be a significant gender pay gap throughout the years, which in 2014 stood at 10%

Question 7

which other feminists criticise liberal feminism?

Answer 7

-some other forms of feminism take issue with liberal feminisms focus on reforming existing structures in societu and argue that more revolutionary change is needed to bring about equality

Question 8

how is the fact that liberal feminist id middle class a weakness?

Answer 8

-critics argue that liberal feminism is a middle class movement that represents the interests of educated professional women but fails to adress the concerns of a wider range of women such as those from minority ethnic groups or the working class