Feminist perspective

• Family is key site of women’s oppression

• Reject gender inequality as natural - see it as socially constructed

Liberal Feminism

• Campaigns for equal rights and opportunities (e.g. equal pay, anti-discrimination laws).

• Believes change is possible through legal reform and shifts in social attitudes.

• Family is gradually becoming more equal.

• Similar to Young and Willmott’s ‘march of progress’ view.

Comes from:

• Men doing more domestic labour.

• More equal socialisation of children.

• Parents have similar aspirations for sons and daughters.

Ao3:

• Too optimistic.

• Fails to challenge deeper structural causes of oppression.

• Marxist and radical feminists argue legal reform isn’t enough.

Marxist Feminism

• Women’s oppression is rooted in capitalism, not just patriarchy.

• The family supports capitalism by exploiting women.

• Reproduce the labour force through unpaid domestic work.

• Absorb male frustration caused by capitalist exploitation

• Ansley: wives are "takers of shit"

• Act as a reserve army of labour -hired when needed, discarded when not.

• Abolish the family alongside a socialist revolution to dismantle capitalism.

Radical Feminism

• Patriarchy is the root of all female oppression.

• Men are the enemy as they benefit from unpaid labour and sexual services.

• See the family and marriage as central patriarchal institutions.

• Domestic and sexual violence are tools of male dominance.

They see to:

• Abolish the family.

• Promote separatism - women living independently from men.

• Political lesbianism - heterosexual relationships are inherently oppressive.

• Greer - advocates matrilocal households.

Ao3:

• Somerville - ignores improvements in women’s lives (e.g. divorce rights, job access, fertility control).

• Heterosexual attraction makes separatism unrealistic.

• Advocates for family-friendly policies like flexible working to improve equality.