year 12 Feminism

patriarchy

patriarchy

male dominated society

Patriarchy is a social system in which men hold primary power and predominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege, and control of property. It is a form of male dominance that is prevalent in many societies around the world.

what type of feminists differentiate between a public and private sphere

liberal feminists

what type of feminists reject this distinction

radical feminists, arguing instead that ‘‘the personal is political’’

essentialist/difference feminists on the issue of sex and gender

biological differences are important as they determine gender roles of women & history today - there are fundamental differences between men & women

equality feminists on the issue of sex and gender

sex differences should be irrelevant - the biological status of women shoudln’t affect their general status

what did gilman argue

girls were socialised from an early age into the role of motherhood and homemaking

social construct

roles/ideas created by society

simone de beauvoir (1908-1968)

feminity (cultural) is man-made (‘‘the other’’)

≠

being female (biological sex)

‘‘women are not born, but made’’

existentialism

set the freedom of the individual against the constructions placed on him or her by the moral and religious world around them & exhausted them to struggle against such restrictions by improving their own will upon life.

for exitenstialists, failing to impose one’s own will is knwon as ‘bad faith’, but succeeding is known as ‘authenticity’

Existentialism in feminism is a philosophical and theoretical approach that emphasizes individual freedom, choice, and responsibility. It recognizes the unique experiences and perspectives of women and seeks to challenge traditional gender roles and societal expectations. Feminist existentialism also explores the ways in which gender intersects with other aspects of identity, such as race and class, and how these intersections shape one's experiences and understanding of the world.

De Beauvoir and ‘the other’

described women as the ‘other’ since men have characterised women as different, but different in a way of their men’s choosing, not the choosing of women themselves.

what did De Beauvoir reject

the notion that girls are born with any nurturing instinct; rather, she asserts that they learn it from their parents and from their schooling.

what is De Beauvoir’s solution to the treatment of women

1. women must be granted the opportunity to make as many choices as men

2. women must liberate themselves

Feminist view of society

-if male dominance is constructed, it can be deconstructed (changed); simone de beauviour: women can reject sexist expectations + linerate themselves

-women occupy inferior position in male-dominated society (patriarchy)

-women’s inferior position is not natural but socially constructed (‘man-made');

sex vs gender

Charlotte perkins gilman (argued against darwinist Pseudo scientist)

why did Mary Wollstonecraft support the french revolution

due to its support of rights for women

timeline of feminism

First wave : late 1800th - early 1900s

focuses on legal equality (e.g. property)

Second wave: 1960s

focuses on social/cultural attitudes, discrimination

Third wave: 1980s (post modern feminists)

focuses on diversity of women + oppression

similarities between simone de beauviour and bell hooks

similarities:

-social expectations (gender roles) lead to women experiencing discrimination, oppression

-can be changed; liberation

-seek to eradicate gender inequality

differences:

-hooks: gender equality is not enough

-men also need to play a part

bell hooks

post-modern feminist as she is attempting to break the movement free of its traditional perspectives and to accept modern realities

-starting point in her analysis of the inferior position of women: society is completely disfigured by inequality in general

-seeking to create equality for women is no solution to inequality, rather, equality must be fully established in society as a universal principle

-criticised many other feminists as they concentrate too much on women, especially white, middle-class women

-believed men have a valid role to play in the feminist movement as they must come to understand the patriarchy that they are imposing

-patriarchy has taught women to hate themselves as women see themselves as always and only in competition with one another for patriarchal approval

two elements of the struggle against patriarchy (hooks):

-more equal society so discrimination is reduced → eliminated

-the direct relationships between men & women. women need to ‘unlearn self-hatred’ and ‘no longer see ourselves and our bodies as the property of men’

gilman wrote that

‘‘women are economic factors in society. But so are horses’’

feminists view on economy

all feminists:

pay gap, ‘'glass ceiling’’, low paid work, unpaid labour (gilman: horses)

liberal feminists:

-education to redress sexist stereotypes

-capitalism = rational choices = freedom

-support capitalism; want to remove male dominance from capitalism

-support medicine reforsms to a capitalist economy

(want equality of opportunity for women)

socialist feminist:

-oppression patriarchy + capitalism

-patriarchy can only be overcome if capitalism is overthrown

-women are the ‘‘reserve of labour’’

rowbotham criticisms of marxist

-came from a marxist background but also criticises marxists for taking a narrow view of the oppression of women by confining themselves to analysisng the role of women in industrial capitalism rather than in domestic life and wider society

rowbotham quote

‘‘men will often admit other women are oppressed, but not you.’’

men cannot really understand the nature of the oppression they are imposing upon women. They can recognise it in theory but not practice

rowbotham

-believes that the best hope for the liberation of women lies in a socialist future as only in a society where complete equality is imposed will women achieve equal status with men

-a socialist revolution will not automatically liberate women as they must also be freed from oppression in home life, in personal relationships, and in the wider culture

-believes women cannot end patriarchy on their own as men must also become willing to relinquish their dominant position by seeing patriarchy for what it really is

feminist women on patriarchy on society

liberal= just one part/aspect of society

advocate reform (e.g. laws about equal pay/free childcare)

radical= woven through society

advocate revolution

feminist views on state

all feminists:

states & governments are accomplices in the exploitation of women in a male-dominated society

liberal feminists:

state + government = solution

legislation & changes in the nature of state-run education

socialist feminists:

capitalism naturally exploits women and the state is an agent of capitalism. state= ultimate architect of the exploitation

radical feminist:

patriarchy is more pervasive than these reforms suggest. state= powerless + a patriarchal institution itself

exists to benefit men

core principles of liberal feminism

liberty

equality of opportunity

equal civil rights

equal private rights

equal democratic rights

kate millet’s best known book

sexual politics

kate millet

-perception of a patriarchy is a ‘dual’ one as the dominance of men is seen in both sexism and heterosexuality

-all heterosexual relationships are effectively political in a patriarchal society because they involve men exercising power over women