Feminist View on The Family Flashcards
What do Radical Feminists argue about the nuclear family
That patriarchy is rooted in the family and that patriarchal ideology is taught to children during gender role socialisation
What do Delphy and Leonard (1992) argue (Radical Feminism)
That husbands exploit women in the home by making little contribution to housework and childcare. Women are expected to be there for men - to flatter them and emotionally manage them
What has Radical Feminism been accused of
Men-hating, and its naive solution to withdraw from the world of men has severely undermined the power of its argument
What does Catherine Hakim (2010) point out in her criticism of Radical Feminism
That it rarely considers that women rationally choose to get married and willingly take on full-time motherhood and housework responsibilities
What does Hill Collins (1990) criticise Radical Feminism for
Because of its ethnocentrism. It assumes universality of patriarchal experience for women but Hill Collins points out this is based on middle-class White women’s experience, which has little in common with the daily patriarchal experience of black or Asian women in the UK or developing countries
What argument do Marxist Feminist develop
Engel’s argument that the nuclear family oppresses women
What does Benston (1972) claim (Marxist Feminist)
That women’s labour in the family is exploited by capitalism in two ways:
- Women reproduce and rare the future workforce at no extra cost to the capital class
- Wives take responsibility for the upkeep of their homes and the health and fitness of their husbands at no extra cost to the capitalist class. This unpaid domestic labour ensures the male workforce is productive. Women’s labour is therefore essential to the profitability of the capitalist system.
What are Marxist Feminists accused of neglecting
Recent economic and educational changes and sociological evidence which suggests that some women are resisting the notion of traditional family life and electing to try out more radical alternative styles of family and household in which capitalist exploitation is less implicit
What do Liberal Feminists argue
In favour of the gradual reform of both society and the family in order to reduce the influence on patriarchy
What do Liberal Feminists observe
That women have come a long way since Victorian times. They no longer have to be economically dependent on men, they have acquired much the same set of legal and political rights as men, and most divorces now are initiated by women
What is Somerville (2000) critical of (Liberal Feminist)
Of both Marxist and Radical various of feminism because they often fail to acknowledge the progress made by women in modern societies, and they fail to observe that the choices available to women today are probably responsible for the diversity of household and family types in the UK
