Feminism

Strengths

• gave women a voice

• raised awareness of gender issues

• (Liberal) contributed to the emancipation of women

• (Marxist) understanding women’s work

• (Radical) highlighted the exploitation of women in society

Weaknesses

• ignores other factors like class systems and social categories eg. disability

• (Liberal) does not recognise and working class and ethnic women experience more barriers

• (Marxist) does not explain female targeted crime and low paying work opportunities

• (Radical) cannot explain why bourgeoisie and proletariat women experience sexism differently

key ideas

The belief that women and men should have equal political and economic opportunities and be treated the same

Rejects other theories for being male oriented

The capitalist system allows for specific exploitation

(Liberal) should treat people according to merit with equal career opportunities, main aim is to remove stereotypes

(Radical) alternative social structures for women as inequality exists due to biological differences

(Marxist) emphasises social class as women exploited because of both there gender and class