State

Question 1

Introduction - Themes

Answer 1

• ‘The Personal is Political’
• The Nature of the State
• Patriarchy

Question 2

Introduction - Argument

Answer 2

There are a few broad agreements between the branches, however feminists fundamentally disagree on the state’s nature and jurisdiction which means they hardly agree about the role of the state

Question 3

Agree - Personal is Political - Point

Answer 3

Feminists agree that what happens in the public sphere is the concern of the government and the state - therefore, something has to be done about it

Question 4

Disagree - Personal is Political - Point

Answer 4

• Liberal Feminists advocate for the separation of the private and public sphere
• Radical Feminists do not recognise the distinctions between the private and public sphere - for them, the personal is political

Question 5

Disagree - Personal is Political - Example
(Liberal)

Answer 5

Simone De Beauvoir supports the liberal notion that the state can grant opportunities within the public sphere, however, it is ultimately the women’s decision what they wish to do in the private sphere

Question 6

Disagree - Personal is Political - Example
(Socialist)

Answer 6

Sheila Rowbotham agrees with their assertion that the ‘personal is political’ - they argue that the power men have over women within the family is not a private matter because it is an aspect of the wider patriarchy

Question 7

Agree - The Nature of the State - Point

Answer 7

Feminists agree that the nature of the state itself is patriarchal and therefore it is a wider tool used to oppress and dominate women. They also point to the reluctance of the state to address the inferior position of women and that there must be greater state interference

Question 8

Agree - The Nature of the State - Example

Answer 8

Simone De Beauvoir argues that the abolition of patriarchy will be achieve largely through state legislation such as education, state funded childcare and state funded abortion

Question 9

Disagree - The Nature of the State - Point

Answer 9

• Liberals are much more willing to work with the state to gradually end the patriarchy - they argue that if government are seen as party of the problem, they are also part of the solution
• Radical Feminists argue that the state is largely superficial in its support for feminism

Question 10

Disagree - The Nature of the State - Example
(Radical)

Answer 10

Legislation has not addressed the more fundamental problems of inequality which are deep rooted in patriarchal nature - this means that the state is powerless to combat them, especially being a patriarchal institution itself

Question 11

Agree - Patriarchy - Point

Answer 11

All strands of feminism understand that the state perpetuates the patriarchy including socialist feminists who have rejected the fact that class is the only schism

Question 12

Disagree - Patriarchy - Point

Answer 12

• Majority of feminists argue the role of the state is to abolish the patriarchy in order to stop female oppression
• Socialist feminists argue it is the extreme modification of capitalism that will liberate women

Question 13

Disagree - Patriarchy - Example
(Socialist)

Answer 13

Sheila Rowbotham argues that the best hope for the liberation of women lies in a socialist future, as it is not until the state is state is socialist that women’s consciousness will be lifted