Feminism key thinkers

Charlotte Perkins Gilman- what were her two key ideas

• To be free, women needed economic independence

• Gender stereotyping in childhood is wrong

what was CPG’s main argument

Sex and domestic economies are closely connected

what did women need to do to survive in the patriarchal world? (cpg)

Rely on sexual assets to please their husband so he would financially support his family

Why did CPG argue that women are forced to conform from girlhood

patriarchal socialisation conditioned them to accept domestic roles and economic dependence on men

What was needed for CPG to bring freedom for women

Economic independence

Why did CPG allow communal housing

Allow individuals to live singly and still have companionship, and comfort of a home

In what ways is CPG a radical feminist

Critiqued male domination in both public and private spheres, arguing that the nuclear family oppressed woman by enforcing rigid gender roles

In what ways is CPG a socialist feminist

Linked women's oppression to capitalism, arguing that economic dependence on men kept women dominated and that women's liberation needs collective social reform

what were Simone de Beauvoir’s two key ideas

• Women are taught and socialised into becoming “women”

• Otherness - men are the norm; women are the ‘other’

why was Simone de Beauvoir reluctant to call herself a feminist

Initially saw it too narrowly focused and preferred broader existential and philosophical critiques of women's oppression

why did Simone de Beauvoir call motherhood a means to turn women into slaves

They are forced to focus on motherhood and femininity

what did Simone de Beauvoir mean with the term ‘otherness’

Women seen as fundamentally different from men in every sense, making them deviant from the norm

why did Simone de Beauvoir argue women accepted and internalised this “otherness”

Women themselves saw each other as inferior

Why did Simone de Beauvoir reject the idea of a mystical ‘feminine nature’

Another example of further oppression of women to refusing anything ‘masculine’

What supports the view that Simone de Beauvoir was a radical feminist

Argued in The Second Sex that women are made, not born, shaped by patriarchal structures that define them as the “other” and subordinate

What supports the view that Simone de Beauvoir was a socialist feminist

linked to women's oppression to both patriarchy and capitalism, arguing that women's economic dependence reinforced their inequality and need for collective social reform

What were Kate Millett's two most important ideas

1. The family is the key tool of patriarchy

2. socialisation gives men power, and denies women power

What was Kate Millett's argument in Sexual Politics

• Female oppression is both political and cultural

• Undoing the traditional family is key to tree sexual revolution

• The family was patriarchies key institution of mirroring society by teaching young girls their place in relation to their brothers where they learn about the role of woman by observing hierarchical relationship between their mother and father

What privileges did patriarchy traditionally grant the father

Total ownership over his wife and children

why did Kate Millett attack the idea of heterosexual romantic love

Viewed it as patriarchy's chief institution

Why is the patriarchal nuclear family so important to Kate Millett, at the centre of her radical approach to feminism

it is the primary institution throughout which male dominance is socially reproduced, conditioning women into submission from childhood and sustaining patriarchy through cultural and sexual power

What were Sheila Rowbotham's two key ideas

1. Women are oppressed economically and culturally

2. Capitalism and sexism are closely linked

what is the cause of woman's oppression, in Sheila Rowbotham's view

Result of both economic and cultural forces, so a dual response examining both public and private spheres needed

for Sheila Rowbotham, what came first: capitalism or patriarchy? and why does it matter

Patriarchy came first but capitalism intensified women's oppression

This matters because tree freedom requires tackling both the systems

Why are women doubtfully oppressed and what does that require (Sheila Rowbotham)

Oppressed both by capitalism and patriarchy meaning liberation needs both economic Revolution and cultural change

what is Sheila Rowbotham's view of the family

A unit of female oppression, where women are exploited as unpaid domestic labourers and socialised into submissive roles

In Sheila Rowbotham's view, do men also suffer from hierarchy, despite having higher social rank than women

under hierarchical systems, but women's oppression is deeper because it is both economic and cultural whilst men's is usually economic and class based, not in reinforced through their gender identity

What were bell hooks two key ideas

1. Mainstream feminism excludes the concerns of women of colour

2. Solidarity is important, between genders, races and classes

Why did bell hooks chose to decapitalise her name

To distance herself from the ego associated with names

What is hooks mainly known for

Efforts to bring in cultural concerns of women of colour into mainstream feminism movement

How did patriarchy - and historical feminist critiques of patriarchy specifically affect women of colour

Often ignored women of colour through race and class from the movement, and faced intersecting opportunities that white middle-class feminists failed to address

What is solidarity, and why is it so important to hooks, and radical feminists

Solidarity means shared struggle across differences, and it matters to hooks and radical feminists because feminism must be inclusive and collective; fighting all systems of domination not just sexism, to achieve genuine liberation