strands withtin feminism Flashcards
what are the different strands of feminism
Liberal
Radical
Socialist
Post - modern feminism
liberal feminism
Advocates for equal rights and equal opportunities for men and women. Applies the liberal concepts of individualism (each individual is valuable and should not be required to sacrifice themselves for the greater
good of society), equality of opportunity
and equal rights to women.
liberal feminism key ideas
Gradual changes by changing the law – no need for complete restructuring of society
Rejects the idea of patriarchy as a structural system of oppression – instead protests against a number of specific forms of discrimination of
women
Campaign for equal rights for women and men
Concerned with equality of opportunity for women – removing barriers to female employment
After equal opportunities for women are established, gender stereotypes will disappear automatically
radical feminism
Our current society is based on patriarchy as a structural system of oppression, and society needs to be radically changed
radfem key ideas
- Patriarchy is a system of oppression – society needs to be radically changed to end patriarchy
- Gender is the main division in society, and people’s positions, interests and views are mostly shaped by their gender
- Strongly supports that ‘the personal is political’ – female oppression is part of every part of our lives, including families.
- Girls learn from a young age that they have fewer opportunities than boys
what is the minor sub group of radical feminism
difference feminism
difference feminism key ideas
- Argue that there are essential, important biological and cultural differences between men and women
- Women have specific values and qualities that should be embraced, perhaps even superior to men, For some this is reason to advocate female separatism
socialist feminism
Capitalism is the reason for women’s oppression
what did Engels write
He wrote that society became a patriarchy when its economy changed towards capitalism – capitalism caused women’s oppression.
how does the patriarchy serve capitalism - engels
Working-class women act as unpaid helpers to care for male workers (e.g. cook, clean), so they can work; this domestic work doesn’t cost the bourgeoisie anything, but they still benefit from it
Working-class women are a reserve army of labour, to be used whenever needed, but sent back home when not
Working-class women give birth to and raise the next generation of workers – reproducing the labour force
Middle class women give birth to those that will inherit property, and keep wealth (the ownership of the means of production) within bourgeois families
socialist fems key ideas
- Within capitalism, the bourgeoisie benefits from women’s oppression and exploitation (reserve labour force, reproduction of labour, unpaid domestic work to sustain the workforce)
- A socialist revolution is needed to end patriarchy
- In a socialist society women will be economically independent and no longer solely responsible for childcare (instead, this would be provided communally)
post modern feminism
Different women experience female oppression differently and there is not one fixed way of understanding women and their interests.
PM feminism key ideas
- Women are not one single group; there are many differences in how women experience what it means to be a woman, and how patriarchy is experienced.
- Feminism’s priorities should not be fixed – each generation of young women should reestablish what feminism means
- Intersectionality: gender is not the only important significant division; gender overlaps with race, social class, religion and other divisions to create different experiences of oppression and disadvantage
- Some groups, like black women, are particularly ignored
