Topic 7 - Feminism

Question 1

Liberal Feminism - Oakley [3]

Answer 1

Proposes changing attitudes through:

i) Laws, policies & reforms (e.g. Sex Discrimination Act, Equal Pay Act)
ii) Promoting girls’ equality in education
iii) Tackling gender socialisation & division

Question 2

Carol Hanisch

Answer 2

‘The Personal is the Political’

Patriarchal power is exercised through personal relationships, often through physical or sexual violence.

Question 3

Radical Feminism - Millet & Firestone [3]

Answer 3

• All men oppress women, all men benefit from patriarchy
  Separatism: living apart from men & creating a new culture of female independence
  Political lesbianism: hetero relationships are ‘sleeping w/ the enemy’ and therefore lesbianism is the only non-oppressive form of sexuality

Question 4

Marxist Feminism - Fran Ansley [3]

Answer 4

• Women are the ‘takers of shit’
• Women’s unpaid domestic work benefits capitalism -> have to pay one person in the family
• Women act as a ‘reserve army of labour’

Question 5

Difference Feminism - Pauli Murray [2]

Answer 5

• Other types of feminist fail to recognise women can have many different experiences of patriarchy
• Class, ethnicity, sexuality & location all lead to different experiences of patriarchy

Question 6

Evaluation of Feminism [3]

Answer 6

• Feminists disagree with each other, different branches in conflict w/ each other
• In the West women are fighting for a seat in the boardroom but in developing world women are fighting for their lives
• Feminists often adapted interpretivist ideas to create a method focused on empathy

Question 7

Feminist approach to studying sociology [4]

Answer 7

• Feminist research is about constructing new knowledge and changing society
• Sociology marginalised women, feminists want to produce knowledge useful for women
• Many feminists prefer qualitative research e.g. when researching sexual violence
• Feminist methods have evolved to meet contemporary challenges e.g. reproductive rights which have improved lives