theory and methods - feminism Flashcards
What are the four main approaches in feminism?
- liberal feminism
- radical feminism
- marxist feminism
- intersectional feminism
What are the main concerns of liberal feminists?
- they are concerned with the human and civil rights and freedoms of the individual
- all humans should be equal and therefore all men and women should be equal
How do liberal feminists argue change should be?
- gradual and careful, not rash or revolutionary
- equal legislation can secure equal opportunities for women
What are the key distinctions Ann Oakley makes between sex and gender?
- sex = refers to the biological difference between men and women - fixed
- gender = refers to culturally constructed differences between the ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’, transmitted across the generations via gender role socialisation - socially constructed
What are the key areas of change for liberal feminists?
- gendered socialisation and education
- over time, this will encourage cultural change and that gender equality will become the norm
How can liberal feminists be critiqued?
- they have been critiqued for being overly optimistic, regarding laws as having the potential to ‘fix’ prejudices and change attitudes
- they ignore the fact that there may be deep seated structural causes of women’s oppression
When did radical feminism emerge?
- in the 1970s
What is the key concept of radical feminism?
- patriarchy = men control and hold power over women
What does Firestone argue?
- the roots of women’s oppression lie in the biological ability of women to have children - this makes women dependent on men
What do radical feminists argue about the patriarchy?
- it is direct and personal - oppression takes place in the public sphere of the workplace, etc as well as in the private sphere of the family
What do radical feminists suggest about relationships between men and women?
- they are rife with sexual politics
- all relationships involve power and they are political when one person uses this power to dominate another
What did Brownmiller (1976) argue?
- fear of rape is a powerful control over women’s behaviour
What did Rich argue?
- that men force women into a narrow and unsatisfying ‘compulsory heterosexuality’ which becomes the only socially acceptable form of sexuality
What strategies do radical feminists offer?
- separatism = men and women living apart
- consciousness raising = when women share experiences in groups, they see that they are not alone - this may lead to collective action, e.g. marches
- political lesbianism = lesbianism is he only non-oppressive sexuality
How have radical feminists been critiqued?
- it offers no explanation of why female subordination takes different forms in different societies
- they overlook women’s violence towards men and violence within lesbian relationships
What are the main ideas of marxist feminists?
- they see women’s subordination as a result of capitalism
- although men benefit from women’s subordination, the main beneficiary is capitalism
What are the ways in which female subordination serves an important function for capitalism?
- women are the source of cheap exploitable labour - they can be paid less because it can be assumed that they are dependent on their husbands
- women are a reserve army of labour
- women reproduce the labour force
- women absorb anger
