radical feminism Flashcards
radical feminist views
- destruction of traditional patriarchal society and creation of a whole new type of society –> revolution rather than reform, not violent though
- emphasise importance of female consciousness
- difference rather than equality feminists –> men and women are biologically and culturally different and these differences need to be recognised and celebrated, but some believe that women have superior characteristics to men
- identity politics to include a wider range of women and their differing struggles
Kate millet –> Sexual Politics 1969
Key thinker Kate Millett’s ‘Sexual Politics’ (1969) criticised the role of men in a patriarchal society.
She said men oppressed women in all aspects of life: in the home, in the economy and generally.
Their domination is power. They have an entrenched view of their superiority.
Germaine Greer in The Female Eunuch 1970
Germaine Greer in The Female Eunuch (1970) argued that men actually hate women and that is the reason for their oppression. Women have been taught to hate themselves which is why they accept this. Women need to be aware of their inferiority, to liberate themselves
radical feminist responses to the patriarchy
· Abolition of the nuclear family, replaced by communal living and child rearing.
· Sexual liberation and escape from the traditional male-female relationships. Political lesbianism.
· The elimination of biological roles (ie, use technology to free women of their biological enslavement). This is called androgyny – women will no longer need men to reproduce, therefore will be free.
what was political lesbianism
- becoming a lesbian for a political reason to avoid men
- The main idea of Political Lesbianism is that sexuality is a choice. It’s about rejecting heterosexuality and men, not necessarily about having sex with women.
under the patriarchy who was the working class and who was the ruling class to radical feminists
women were the working class
men were the ruling class
radical feminists hoped to abolish class conflict
how did millet describe marriage
- a patriarchal unit within a patriarchal whole
- relationship between the sexes is one of dominance and subordination
what was the role of children to radical feminists
- socialised to their gender roles
- so agreeing to a system of inequality long before they knew the meaning of this
- link to CPG and liberal feminist concept of socialisation
what was millets dual perception of the patriarchy
- saw the dominance of men in terms of both sexism and “heterosexualism”
- sexism is an entrenched belief in male superiority
heterosexualism is the idea that heterosexual relationships are superior to gay relationships
what was the main contention of Millets work in Sexual Politics, about heterosexual relationships
- women need to find sexual liberation if they want to be liberated in life
- idea of heterosexual relationships being political in a patriarchal society as they conform to the idea of men dominating over women so therefore exercising power over them
- so women who accept political lesbianism are on the road to personal liberation
what were the links between radical and socialist feminism
- focus on the plight of working class women
- state is negative so needs to be destroyed –> patriarchy or capitalism
- reformist
compare liberal and radical feminism regarding gender equality
liberal –> men and women can be equal
radical –> men and women have biological differences so cannot
equality vs difference
- agree that society has conditioned women into being subordinate and inferior
compare radical and liberal feminists regarding the state
liberal –> state is neutral so is a tool to combat the patriarchy
radical –> the state is inherently patriarchal and an agent of the patriarchy due to it being a male dominated system
liberal vs radical feminism regarding the main issues affecting society
- men are the biggest issue
- radical feminists believe that women do not know how much men hate them –> Greer
- liberal feminists want to fight for legal, educational and political freedom
- radical feminists want social, cultural and sexual liberation from men
compare the best methods for combatting issues facing women for radical vs liberal feminists
radical –> separationists, political lesbianism, difference feminists, revolution, abolish current state
liberal –> equality feminists,
similarity of SDB and radical feminism –> abolition of the nuclear family for liberal and separation for radical, due to putting women as subordinate, also agree on socialisation of women (CPG)
