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Summary Feminism A* Essay Plans for Edexcel A level Politics
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longer has this utmost power. This is a problem because it can create disagreements andconflicts between the devolved nations and westminster.
Eg Scotland has been pushed to devo-max as of the Scotland Act 2016, giving them complete
financial, legislative and administrative autonomy that they have freely executed such as their
lowering of the voting age restrictions to 16 in Scottish elections.
Does not threaten sovereignty
Despite governments across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland existing, the UK
parliament still has power over them as they control devolution and possess distinct powers.
Parliament can also evoke devolution because it is just an act of parliament. This retains their
sovereignty as they continue to have the utmost power over the devolved nations and their
proceedings.
Eg The Welsh Assembly do not have the power to determine taxation, only parliament has this
power
Culturally they have lost importance, politically they retain sovereignty.
FEMINISM
Feminism and human nature
Mostly agree
AGREE - most feminisms accept there is a difference between sex and gender
Both radical and socialists argues gender is learnt behaviour - women expected to conform
to societal stereotypes of femininity
● Simeon De Beaviour - spoke about ‘one is not born but rather becomes a woman’ =
through socialisation while men are the norm and women are considered deviants
from the norm - ‘otherness’
● Charlotte perkins gilman spoke about the different toys girls ar given to play with
which conditions girls to fit s box of femininity as they grow up - thus there is little to
divide these two strands on the ide aht women’s human behaviour is a social
construct and can be undone
DISAGREE - granted difference feminists believe women have a different nature to men
while equality feminists do not share this view - radical feminists are divided between
difference feminists and equality feminists. Difference feminists believe women have unique
traits and rather than downplaying these qualities, they ought to be celebrated
● Difference feminists believe in ‘essentialism’ these traits are at least as equal or
better qualities of men. Some also believe that man's nature is also nature and fixed
thus the patriarchy is fixed too. Therefore instead of trying to be like a man or change
men, women should instead remove themselves instead of challenging it - this has
lead to their support for women only institutions - men are too prone to violence, men
won't change, men cannot be trusted and therefore a commune is justified from
banning men
, ● Equality feminists - argue that in separating themselves from men they let culture of
male dominance exist outside of the commune and suppress female longoing for
greater opportunities - based on liberal mary wollstonecraft - everyone is ‘human
being’. They support the concept of androgyny. Apart from biology, the difference
between female and male human nature is inconsequential - difference feminists do
not share their view
● Ultimately, difference feminists represent a tiny part of feminists thought and is far
from the mainstream, thus it is more justified to say that there is more to unite than
fragment the movement on human nature
AGREE - ultimately, most feminists accept that patriarchy needs to be overcome for womens
true human nature to flourish
Socialists feminists and radical feminist call for a revolution to end patriarchy
● Sheila rowbotham - believes that patriarchy by society is perpetuated by capitalism
and would exist without it due to sexist attitudes and therefore hse writes about a
revolution in a revolution - destroying capitalism and going after the patriarchy too
● Radicals - patriarchy is pervasive and needs to be addressed by conscience raising.
For kate millet, a cultural and sexual revolution is required from women themselves
for their true human nature to flourish, this includes ‘destruction of traditional
marriage and the nuclear family’
● Liberal feminists - feminism is a problem in the public sphere and would focus on
parliamentary and legislative reform
● Grated that intersectional feminists believe that other feminists strands are too
narrow and naive - believe abolishing the patriarchy is only one component to the
myriad of discrimination faced within society - bell hooks said ‘no other group in
america has so had their identities socialised out of existence as have black women’
- recognising the race war as a cause for concern in tandem with the feminist war.
Removing the multiple layers of challenge is needed in addition to ending the
patriarchy
Yet all feminists accept the removal of the patriarchy is a necessary start to female
flourishment, even most modernists accept this. While the strands may adopt different
methods to addressing patriarchy they all believe that it exists, it is a problem and prevents
women, and removing it would allow womens true human nature to flourish.
While it is commonly accepted that not all feminists share the same views on human nature,
specifically difference and equality feminists, most actually do agree on these views.
Radicals and socialist feminists largely agree on the idea of socialisation and how gender
differences ought to be inconsequential. Liberal feminists agree that addressing the
patriarchy would assist women to reach their full potential, also accepting that it is a
necessary step in their aims and goals of intersectional feminists. Thus, there is more
agreement than disagreement when it comes to female human nature.
Feminists and the economy
Only limited agreement on feminists between the economy - they disagree on whether to
prioritise the economy as a way to liberate women, agree radical and socialist feminists
, broadly agree about male dominance of the economy, feminists divided about what the state
should do with the economy
DISAGREE: they disagree on whether to prioritise the economy as a way to liberate women
● Socialist feminists - ending capitalism would make the biggest dent into the collapse
of the patriarchy. Simeon de Beviour noted how men dominated economic life, limited
the life choices of women
● Liberal feminists would prioritise equality before the law before they focus on the
economy
● Intersectional feminists believe white middle class women benefit more from the
economy than working class black women, the priority would be to address this
problem
● Radical feminists - economy is only peripheral to Kate Millet's views on feminism and
is not the core focus - far more focus on literature and the private sphere and we
must focus on the culture of society not just the economy. Germaine Greer said ‘the
real theatre of the sex war is the domestic hearth’
● Even De Beviour focuses on the culture of society and not just the economy, detailing
how the problem is that ‘one is not born a woman but rather becomes a woman’
putting her at odds with other socialist feminists who would more closely prioritise the
economy - such as sheila rowbotham ‘the state facilitates capitalism which in turn
oppresses women’
● Cultural change can be assisted by. But not dominated by economic measures - we
see that socialist feminists are on their own in prioritising the economy compared to
other feminist strands
AGREE: radical and socialists feminists broadly agree about male dominance of the
economy and the problem of capitalism
● Radical feminist - most believe in equality feminists and believe that biological
differences between men and women are inconsequential - the economy should
promote this form of feminism, equality feminism
● Socialist feminists - believe in achieving equality in the economics sphere through
overthrowing capitalism which would make a major dent in the patriarchy. Sheila
rowbotham writes about a revolution within a revolution - she would support the
Dagenham strikes in the 1960s over equal pay and the importance of unions
representing female workers.
● This would have also been supported by liberal feminists who believe in equality
before the law and consequently equal pay legislation as they dont want the men to
dominate the economy either - as seen with betty friedan and gloria steinem’s
advocating for equal rights amendment, betty freidan said ‘having jobs that provide
income will mean women can become a more effective force, a more equal force in
the political process’ - recognising the problems with the economy contributing to the
oppression of women
DISAGREE: feminists are divided about what the state should do with the economy and the
promotion of equality
Feminists disagree upon the extent to which the economic difference are important
● Some radical feminists called difference feminists call for women to accept this,
accept biological differences and value these differences. To not deny this
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