Radical feminism

views on sex and gender

the false idea of sex and gender being linked has been used by the patriarchy to undermine and marginalise women

Kate Millet on sex and gender

liberal feminist counterparts have underestimated problems caused by prejudices about sex and gender and their responses are inadequate

root of all repression of women in their lives

gender stereotypes

sexual revolution

method to overthrow the patriarchy which is responsible for all repression

how do women participate in the sexual revolution

women need to reject inferior and submissive roles in both their private and public lives which means insisting that men take equal responsibility for housework and childcare so women can have equal opportunities out of the home

‘The personal is political’

Written by Carol Hanisch, sums up radical feminist view that how women behave at home affects their public lives

3 reasons why radical feminists care about private sphere

• women who are submissive at home will struggle to assert themselves in public

• if they do most of the domestic work then time to advance careers is limited and this is just helping men advance

• if more chores and parenting is done by women this models a pattern of unequal gender relations to children and keeps cycle going

radical feminists and the state

patriarchy so ingrained into the state that it can only be eliminated if existing structures of government dismantled and replaced with new systems designed with gender equality in mind

reform v revolution

liberal feminists are reformists but radical and socialist feminists share socialism’s desire for revolution to bring about complete change

3 common goals of radical feminists on the patriarchy

• dismantle patriarchy and transform society into a completely new form

• revolution required but normally reject idea of violent revolution

• raising female consciousness is important to make women aware of the oppression that they face

what do radical feminists disagree on

the exact nature of the problems caused by the patriarchy and how they should be addressed

Kate Millet book

1970, ‘sexual politics’

male chauvinism

idea popularised by kate millet, is the tendency of men to exercise and celebrate their power over women

What did Kate Millett mean when she said “sexual relations are political”?

Sex is shaped by power dynamics, with men using it to dominate women, making it a site of patriarchal control rather than a private act.

Germaine Greer book

the female Eunuch 1970

Germaine Greer’s argument in her book

men actually hate women which is why they oppress them and women are taught to hate themselves and willingly accept an inferior position assigned to them by men

Germaine Greer on equality

a conservative aim, why should they aim to se women’s ultimate potential in terms of men’s actual, doesn’t want women to aim to ‘live the lives of unfree men’

How can women become free according to Greer

women must understand then throw off the inferiority imposed on them by men and only once they have done this will they become fully human

Most controversial recent radical feminist

Angela Dworkin

Angela Dworkin book

Women hating

What did Dworkin see as symbolic of male systematic oppression against women

pornography as it depicted women as sex objects

Dworkin’s proposal to combat patriarchy

women to form themselves into lesbian communities because as long as they allowed themselves to be sex objects for men, they would never achieve full liberation

What to Millet and Greer have in common

the importance of how women perceive the patriarchy as they needed to believe that they had the power to liberate themselves

Radical feminist proposals to end patriarchy

• abolish nuclear family

• sexual liberation

• elimination of biological roles like childbearing

Sexual liberation as an end to patriarchy

critical for Greer, by escaping limitations of traditional relationships, women could free themselves from male domination

abolition of the nuclear family as an end to the patriarchy

replacement by communal forms of living and childrearing to remove male domination in the family, Millet thought this

Firestone

radical feminist who wanted the development of biotechnology to free women from their biological enslavement