Feminism
Key thinkers Liberal feminist – Betty Friedan (not KT)
Socialist feminist – Shelia Rowbotham, Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Radical feminist – Kate Millet
Post modern feminist – bell hooks
Difference feminist – Germain Greer
Simon De Beauvoir – socialist, radical second wave feminist
waves - First wave: liberal feminism (1970s to 1950s)
- Second wave: liberal feminism, radical feminism, social feminism (1960s to 1980s)
- Third wave: emergence of postmodern feminism, transfeminism (1990s to 2000s)
- Fourth wave: development of postmodern feminism, liberal feminism, radical feminism,
transfeminism (2000s to date)
Core ideas and principles
Sex and gender Sex
- This is the biological differences between men and women.
- Biological differences have observable physical attributes such as external and internal
anatomy, chromosomes and hormone prevalence.
- Within feminism, there are two main debates concerning sex: difference feminism VS
equality feminism and transfeminism VS transfeminism sceptics.
- Difference Feminists argue that the biological differences between women and men are
important and believe in essentialism. Carol Gilligan argued that biological differences affect
the way that men and women think their specific male and female characteristics and each
sex has a specific nature. However, most feminists are equality feminists arguing that
womans nature is socially constructed by society.
- transfeminism VS sceptics. Transsexual refers to those whose gender identity differs from the
biological sex they were classified at birth. Since the turn of the century, there's been a rise of
transgenderism and the development of trans feminism argues that sex is socially
constructed. However, this is a minority viewpoint within global society within feminism
itself, as most feminists argue that sex is a biological fact.
- Radical second wave Feminist Germaine Greer has explicitly stated that transgender women
are not women. While, Sheila Jeffries has asserted that feminism should not only be for
women born woman. However, Andrea Dworkin supports the socially constructed definition
of sex, arguing that the state should finance exchange operations for transsexuals.
Gender
- Gender is used to explain the gender roles of men and women. The majority of feminists
argue that gender roles is socially constructed and formed gender stereotypes. Simone de
Beauvoir argued that the biological differences between men and women had been used by
male dominated state and society as a justification for predetermining the gender role of
woman.
- Men had successfully characterised themselves as the norm, whereas women were the
other, and this otherness had left women subordinate to men in society, this was something
believed by Simone de Beauvoir.
- Otherness is imposed on women by men. Made this distinctness clear when she argued that
men's domination meant that they were the first sex, while women were the second sex.
- argued that gender roles are socially constructed from a young age. Subordinating women to
the will of men.
- Kate Millett and Bell Hooks, both perceived social construction as beginning in childhood with
the family unit, gender roles are therefore neither natural nor inevitable.
First wave - feminism extended classical liberals ideas about human nature and freedom of the individual
feminism said that they explicitly included women. Wished for state to reform society and economy.
- Wollstonecraft argued that women were just as rationalism and should receive the same
educational opportunities.
- Taylor Mill argued that women should have the same right to vote as men and also play a
role in the making of the law.
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman argued that women should have equal opportunities in the
workplace and conceptualised the idea of economic independence for women.
, Second-wave - Second wave feminism had divergent solutions to women's problems. Liberal feminists
feminism influenced by freedom. First wave, feminism argued for the state to reform society and
economy, allowing women equality within the public sphere.
- Radical feminists influenced by millet and Greer saw the state as part of the problem and
wondered radical changes to the public and private spheres of society.
- Influenced in part by the ideas of Rowbotham, social feminists argued that only under a
socialist feminist revolution could the inequalities of both capitalism and women oppression
be solved.
- United by the idea that women were being oppressed by men. Through the patriarchy.
Patriarchy - Feminism used the term patriarchy to describe a social system supporting male domination
and female subordination.
- Kate Millet is credited with the first analysis of patriarchy.
- The Beauvoir argued that for the majority of history women have been relegated as
subsidiary status by men.
- of feminists focus on different aspects of patriarchy:
- Liberal feminists believe that patriarchy can be reformed by the state and in Western society
there are numerous examples. Female emancipation access to education. Legalisation of
abortion.
- Radical feminists focus on patriarchy in both public and private spheres and believe that
patriarchy is 2 pervasive to be reformed. Instead, change must be revolutionary.
- Germaine Greer argued that male respect for women is an affection as they have a deep-
rooted loathing of woman. Which is expressed by the obscenities used to describe women
sexual organs.
- Socialist feminists believe that female consciousness is created by men as part of the
capitalist machine. Sheila Rowbotham adopted a Marxist theory of history that concluded
that women have always been oppressed and that revolution was needed that would destroy
both capitalism and patriarchy.
Third wave - expanded on the work of Millet.
feminism - Silvia Walby identified 6 patriarchal structrues that promote discrimination.
- These are the state, household, violence, paid work, sexuality and culture.
Postmodern - argued that feminist discussions had primarily been from a white middle class perspective.
feminism Hooks argued women of different ethnicities and socio economic classes had been neglected
by mainstream feminism.
- 4th wave feminists argue that patriarchy is especially misogynistic in the developing world
with forced marriage and sexual violence more prevalent than in the West.
The personal is - Liberal feminist focus on the public sphere of society, such as equal pay and conditions in the
political workplace, arguing that the private life of woman is outside the remit of political analysis.
- Radical feminists refute this, arguing that the personal is the political as patriarchy is relevant
in the private sphere of family life.
- Gilman berated the misery of women's private lives and the exploitative nature of domestic
roles. Societal pressure forced young girls to conform to motherhood with gender specific
clothes and toys. Gilman argued for gender neutral garments and playthings.
- Rowbotham argued that marriage was like feudalism with women akin to serfs playing feudal
dues to their husband.
- De Beauvoir championed contraception as it allowed women control of their bodies and the
chance to avoid endless child bearing.
- Millet believe Family was a social construct and not a natural arrangement.
- Minutes believed patriarchy granted men ownership over their wife and children,
entrenching with sexism. The family socialise the young into recognising masculine authority
and female marginalisation within society. That marriage saw women lose their identity by
taking their husbands surname.
- Radical feminists opened private life to public scrutiny.
Equality - Feminism is a splintered ideology with its different branches disagreeing on the exact nature
feminism and of patriarchy and how best woman should achieve parity with men in state, society and
difference economy.
feminism - However, many of the differences lie between equality feminists and difference feminists.
