Theory - Feminism Flashcards
What are the 4 kinds of feminist?
- Liberal/reformist
- Radical
- Marxist (+dual systems)
- Intersectional/poststrcuturalist
Where does liberal feminism find its roots?
Liberal feminism, focussed on formal gender equality and the civil and human rights and freedoms of women, is rooted in the enlightenment project’s belief in equal/natural rights.
What are the two main changes liberal feminists argue for?
- Laws and policies: formal legisation can protect the rights of women from abuse and enforce equality, such as with the 1971 Sex Discrimination Act
- Cultural change: prejudices and stereotypes are another way in which women are oppressed so we need to tackle the socialisation into these ideas (like the natural domestic nature of women) that perpetuates oppression to make gender equality the norm
Oakley (1972) and gender:
Liberal feminists distinguish between:
- Sex: the biological differences between men and women
- Gender: the socially constructed differences between ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ identities and roles
What is Liberal feminism a critique of?
Parsons (1951) argues that men and women are naturally suited to different role in the family: the instrumental (fiscal) role for men and the expressive (emotional) role for women - Liberal feminists regard this as a conflation between gender and sex, men and women are equally capable of both roles.
How is liberal feminism similar to functionalism?
It holds the most harmonious view of society - conflict between men and women is seen as a product of outdated attitudes, rather than innated differences, and gender equality is a win-win as men will also be more free of gendered expectations.
Give a criticism of liberal feminism.
It is excessively optimistic, it sees the obstacles to gender equality as simply a lack of legislation and outdated views, having little view of a structure of causing women’s oppression - Walby (1997) argues they offer no explanation for the overall structure of gender inequality.
What are the claims of radical feminists?
- Patriarchy is universal - Frieston (1974) argues it has its roots in women’s biological capacity to bear infants and how this makes them dependant on males
- Patriarchy is the primary and most fundamental form of equality, with men as the enemy of women
- All men oppress all women as all men benefit from the patriarchy
What does ‘the personal is the political’ mean?
All relationships involve power and are inherently political because the inequality in power between men and women is constant and cannot be ignored - radical feminists aim to see how this controls women, such as Brownmiller (1976) finding that fear of rape acts as a deterrent for women going out at night.
What is the radical feminist perspective on sexuality?
Sexuality is not a natural biological urge, it is consrtucted by the patriarchy to satisfy men’s sexual desires, such as Rich (1981) arguing that menforce women into narrow and unsatisfying ‘compulsory heterosexuality’.
What are radical feminists methods of social change?
- Seperatism: men’s oppression of women is expressed via sexual and domestic relationships, so living apart will further female freedom from patriarchy
- Political lesbianism: heterosexual relationships are inherently oppressive (‘sleeping with the enemy’) so lesbianism is the only non-oppressive form of sexuality
Greer (2000) and separatism:
Greer argues for the creation of all-female or ‘matrilocal’ households as an alternative to the heterosexual family.
Give 2 criticisms of radical feminism.
- Vague utopian notions of seperatism is unfeasible - Somerville (2000): heterosexual attraction makes it unlikely that the nuclear family will be replaced by single-sex households.
- Men don’t benefit from patriarchy either, bell hooks argues that men are equally forced into rigid boxes
How does women’s subordination benefit capitalism?
Women’s oppression results largely from their role as unpaid homemakers, which makes them:
- Act as a source of cheap exploitative labour, being paid less and foced into dependency on their husbands
- allow them to be a reserve army of cheap labour, being treated as marginal workers due to the assumption of their role, moved in during booms and out during recessions
- Reproduce the next generation of workers, both literally and socially, as well as service the current generation, their husbands
- Absorb men’s frustration at the capitalism via domestic violence (act as ‘the takers of shit’ (Ansley (1972)))
Barrett (1980) and ‘familism’:
Barrett places a larger focus on ideology: women choose relationships that are exploitative (the nuclear family) because they are socialised into the idea that it is the only way for them to be fulfilled, through motherhood, intimacy, and sexual satisfaction - ‘familism’. Although we must overthrow capitalism, we must also overthrow ‘familism’ to ensure women’s liberation.
Give 2 criticisms of Marxist Feminism
- Unpaid domsetic labour mey benefit capitalism but why is it sepcifically women doing it? Hartmann (1981): Marxism is ‘gender-blind’
- Why is there patriarchal oppression in non-capitalist societies? Under Stalinist communism, women were still given the lowest-paid and low-skilled jobs, whilst still being expected to take care of the family
How does dual systems feminism differ from Marxist Feminism?
Whereas Marxist feminism sees women’s oppression as rooted in capitalism, dual systems theorists, like Hartmann (1979), sees capitalism and patriarchy as seperate but intertwined systems of oppression that form ‘patriarchal capitalism’ and reinforce one another, such as domestic labour limiting women’s abitility to work and discrimiation pushing many into the family.
Walby (1988) and sual systems theory:
Capitalism and patriarchy are inter-related, but their goals are not always aligned, specifically over the exploitation of female labour (capitalism wanting the cheap labour and patriarchy wanting to keep women in the domestic, private sphere), but, in the long run, capitalism is more powerful so patriarchy has to compromise with keeping them in low-status, subordinated ‘women’s’ jobs.
Give a criticism of dual systems theory.
Pollert (1966): patriarchy is not a system in the same way as capitalism, it is merely a descriptive term for practices like male violence and the control of women’s labour.
What is the main feature of intersectional feminism?
Intersectional feminists argue that feminist theory is ‘essentialist’ and has claimed a ‘false univerality’, such that it has claimed to be about all women despite largely being about white, Western, heterosexual, middle-class women; as such, it has treated them as a monolith or a homogenous group with negligible differences in experience - a lot of Western feminism discusses sexuality but, for women in the developing world, this is a lower priority than food scarcity and healthcare.
What is Butler’s problem with modern feminism?
Butler argues that the Enlightenment Project is a discourse (form of power/knowledge) that legitimated domination by Western, white, middle-class males, supposedly applying a universal lens but excluding women and other oppressed groups. Modern feminism is much the same, claiming to represent ‘universal womanhood’ but representing Western, white, middle-class voices - the Enlightenment ideals are ultimately impossible to adapt as no groups is a monolith.
What is Butler’s view of womanhood?
Butler argues that gender is not something universal but is itself ‘performative’, meaning that we do it (in different ways based on different societal constructions) to make it true, it is not something we are - Saudi Arabian gender discourse is different Western so the way they ‘do gender’ is different.
What does Butler see as the benefit of poststructuralist feminism?
It allows the feminists to deconstruct different discourses to see how they harm women, like the view of childbirth as a ‘medical process’ gives doctors power over women; but it also allows us to see how different disocourses lead to different form of oppression (relegation to the private sphere v. triple shift) and then different forms of resistance.
Give 2 criticisms of poststructuralist feminism.
- Walby (1992): there are differences, however, there are important similarities too, all based on patriarchy, like domestic violence and sexual assault
- Segal (1999): it abandons any notion of real, objective and oppressive social structures, oppression is not just about discourse, it is about real inequality
