To what extent do feminists agree over human nature? (2019)
Agreement:
Gender differences aren't natural, are designed by men, and thus are irrelevant:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman = liberal - biological differences between men and women are
irrelevant and women can compete equally with men (believes Darwinism is sexists as
evolution is biased towards men and ignores the female brain - "there is no female mind, the
brain is not an organ of sex.")
Simone de Beauvoir = socialist - gender differences are created by men in society and are
therefore unnatural ("one is not born but rather becomes a woman.")
Sheila Rowbotham = socialist - women's consciousness of the world is created by men
Kate Millet = radical - women are all capable of freeing themselves from male oppression by
engaging in lesbian relationships
bell hooks = post-modern - women have multiple identities and therefore experience
multiple forms of oppression (?)
Disagreement:
Post-modern feminists (bell hooks) appear to disagree…:
bell hooks says it isn't possible to make women equal to men because not all men are equal
in society - suggests men don't make ALL gender differences or that other factors are just as
much to blame
Disagree over the means by which gender differences can be removed…:
Liberal feminists say these issues will be solved with legal, political and cultural
reform/equality (Charlotte Perkins Gilman - domestic work should be divided?)
Socialist feminists say these issues will be overcome with a socialist revolution which
liberates women from the oppression of socialism (Rowbotham rejects that the women's
movement is best served with engagement in the conventional political process, calls for a
'revolution within a revolution')
Radical feminists say these issues will be solved with the abolition of the family unit which
removes the societal pressure for women to conform (communal lesbian living and
relationships)
Post-modern feminists say these issues will be solved by considering a range of factors such
as race, religion, and gender (bell hooks advocates that community would solve these
problems and says that men must be involved in women's equality movement).
To what extent do feminists disagree about the nature of the society they wish to create? (2019)
LoA: a small extent, more agreement than disagreement as all believe that society is a massive
determinant for women's roles/oppression and that society needs to be reformed in one way or
another
Para 1 - agreement
Society plays a significant role in oppressing women and social reform is needed to rectify
this
o CPG - society has always assigned inferior roles to women, conform as mothers,
reliant on sexual assets to please their husbands, "only as we live, think, feel and
work outside the home, do we become humanly developed, civilised socialised"
o SdB - social constraints prevent individuals (not just women) from attaining self-
actualisation and true freedom, society socialises women into their behaviour, "one
, is not born but rather becomes a woman", her book 'The Second Sex' details how
women are relegated to the secondary role of "the other" and have passively
accepted patriarchal society's role for them, societal change would bring reform -
universal childcare, equal education, conception, abortion, economic freedom,
marriage chosen.
o bh - lower class women and racial minority women are oppressed, believes the
solution is a societal reform (form of community), "…continually reminded in their
everyday lives that all women do not share a common social status."
o SR - women were confined to domestic work as it was a 'commodity production' as it
enabled men to work and women to reproduce, cultural change in social
conditioning
o KM - systems of patriarchy exist in both public and private spheres, wanted a true
sexual revolution within the domestic labour with radical changes towards personal
and family lifestyles, abolition of family unit was the key to sexual revolution and
children raised into socialised gender roles -> dismantle by living and childrearing in
a community
Para 2 - disagreement
Some (socialist) feminists emphasise that social reform must come through economic
change
o CPG (liberal/socialist) - women are financially dependent on husbands -> trade
sexual favours for protection, can escape patriarchy when economic dynamics
change - "the female is economically dependent on the male"
o SR (socialist) - nature of society is economically determined, domestic work of
women is merely an economic means to an end, women = 'low-paid reserve army of
labour'
Means of social reform is varied
o CPG - legal and economic reform
o SdB - social reform
o bh - social reform (community)
o SR - economic and cultural change through social conditioning
o KM - sexual revolution and extreme social change (abolition of family unit,
communal living)
To what extent do feminists agree over the best ways to achieve social change? (2020)
LoA: more disagreement than agreement
Para 1 - agreement - social reform
CPG (liberal) - "only as we live, think, feel and work outside the home, do we become
humanly developed, civilised socialised"
SdB (socialist) - societal change would bring reform - universal childcare, equal education,
conception, abortion, economic freedom, marriage chosen.
bh (post-modern) - believes the solution is a societal reform (form of community),
SR (socialist) - cultural change in social conditioning
KM (radical) - wanted a true sexual revolution within the domestic labour with radical
changes towards personal and family lifestyles, abolition of family unit was the key to sexual
revolution and children raised into socialised gender roles -> dismantle by living and
childrearing in a community
