Liberal Feminism

Liberal key thinkers

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Simone de Beauvoir

Mary Wollstonecraft (not spec but good)

Androcentric culture

where the views and interest of men are placed at the centre of soceity’s culture

Liberal feminists and gender stereotypes

don’t want women restricted by gender stereotypes

Liberal feminists and sex/gender

Categories of men and women are merely biological and women should aim for androgyny

at the same time some people do feel a strong inclination towards motherhood and they defend the rights of all women including those who want to make traditional choices

Simone de beauvior on sex and gender

never wrote about it explicitly but her work is clear that the physical differences between men and women don’t cause any deeper distinctions

Betty Freidan and sex and gender

Sex is merely biological classification and they shouldn’t be used to draw conclusions about the intellectual capabilities of women, people should aim for androgyny

Pinkstinks

pressure group dedicated to ending gender stereotyping as it limits girl’s ambitions, successfully stopped large companies like Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer marketing toys specifically to boys or girls

Simone de Beauvoir quote about sex and gender

One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman in her 1949 book The Second Sex.

Summary of lib fem views on sex and gender

sex doesn’t determine characteristics and the idea that they are different is a social construct

main aim of liberal feminists

women to have equality with men in the public sphere through political and legal reform

elections and legislation

Wollstonecraft called for women to have political representation and Perkins Gilman was a prominent member of the suffrage movement in the US

Examples of liberal feminists achievements

laws requiring women to resign their jobs after they get married and rights like paid maternity leave

liberal feminists and the private sphere

don’t concern themselves because women should make their own decisions about their lives behind closed doors as it doesn’t affect public life

liberal views about the role of the state

reforms needed to eliminate discrimination and extend women’s rights

early reforms brought about by liberal feminists

Equal pay act of 1970

Representation of the people acts of 1918 and 1928

Sex discrimination act of 1975

role of the state within feminism

all branches share a sense that women have been badly served by governmental structures and policies

early liberal feminist views of the role of the state

Should work to remove legal and political values to ensure equality of opportunity for men and women

later liberal feminist views on the role of the state

state needed to do more than just extend equality of opportunity and began to campaign for more specific legislation that would offer increased protections or new rights for women

examples of rights of women being expanded not just equalised by liberal feminists

rape within marriage being criminalised

guaranteed access to contraception and abortion

overview of role of the state for liberal feminists

reformist, working with the patriarchal state to achieve change

ultimate aim of liberal feminists for the state

women as well represented as men in and by state institutions

liberal feminists view of patriarchal society

seek to reform them through political, social and cultural change

5 liberal demands for the status of women

• same democratic rights as men

• equality of opportunity with men in things like education and work

• same civil rights as men so rule of law equally applied to both so it didn’t discriminate against them

• inherit property on the same terms as men

• direct their own lives inside and outside the home

main demand of early liberal feminists

political and legal equality

how did later liberals explain why women were still experiencing discrimination after political and legal equality

men continued to assume that they were superior as they had designed how society operated so all they saw around them was conformation of this

De Beauvoir problem women faced

otherness

otherness

In a patriarchal society where men have the upper hand, women are seen as other rather than equal members of society which forms a major barrier to equality

two main ways to combat the patriarchy proposed by liberals

• cultural attitudes that demeaned women has to be combated by propaganda, education and opposition to sexist language

• political and legal equality had to become reality in all aspects of live through legislation to protect and extend women’s rights

heyday of reformist feminism

the 1960s, after this they faced increasing challenge from radical feminists who believed that liberals weren’t ambitious enough

Charlotte Perkins Gilman quote

‘there is no female mind. The brain is not an organ of sex’

What theory was Perkins Gilman a supporter of

reform Darwinism, the idea that Darwin’s theory of evolution had overlooked the rational capabilities of female animals

How did Perkins Gilman describe society

as ‘sick’ because it forced women to fit into fixed ideas about their role in domestic life

liberal feminists and education

Wollstonecraft and Perkins Gilman both believed the responsibility for the sexes receiving equal education was on society and women themselves, not the state

What did Freidan campaign for

the state to legislate on equal pay, maternity pay and abortion rights

Freidan on culture

women should benefit from positive discrimination to help establish true political and economic equality

Freidan cultural channels

called for cultural channels to reflect women’s interests and true nature by focusing less on their roles as mothers, wives and daughters

One liberal who did recognise discrimination in the private sphere

Betty Freidan who discussed the plight of highly educated suburban women who had given up their careers to become housewives