Sheila Rowbotham (1943-)

Key text: Women’s Liberation and the New Politics (1969)

Human Nature

-Women’s consciousness of the world is created by men

-eliminate idea of gendered work

-need a revolution in men’s thinking

State

-The state is the servant of capitalism

-more services (e.g. laundrette, restaurants and nurseries) should be available cheaply to free women

-should have unequal rights which acknowledge women’s different circumstances

Society

-The nature of society is economically determined. Society reflects the dominant position of both capitalists and men in general

-need a social revolution to achieve equality

-liberal feminism= upper-middle-class

-w/c women suffer more than w/c men as they are unacknowledged for unpaid labour at home

-men initially excluded from revolutionary groups to allow women to gain confidence

The economy

-Marxist perspective. Women are a low-paid reserve army of Labour

-should have more part time and flexible work

-employers should provide childcare options