feminism

Question 1

What do liberals believe regarding human and civil rights?

Answer 1

Liberals are concerned with the human and civil rights and freedoms of the individual

They believe that all human beings should have equal rights.

Question 2

What is reformism?

Answer 2

Reformism is the idea that progress towards equal rights can be achieved by gradual reforms or piecemeal changes in society, without the need for revolution.

Question 3

What do liberal feminists argue about achieving gender equality?

Answer 3

Liberal feminists believe women can achieve gender equality through laws and policies against sex discrimination in employment and education.

Question 4

What do liberal feminists call for in addition to legal reforms?

Answer 4

Cultural change to combat traditional prejudices and stereotypes about gender differences.

Question 5

How do liberal feminists view sex and gender?

Answer 5

They distinguish between sex as biological differences and gender as culturally constructed differences.

Question 6

What is the difference between sex and gender according to liberal feminists?

Answer 6

Sex refers to biological differences, while gender refers to culturally constructed roles and identities.

Question 7

What do liberal feminists believe about gender differences?

Answer 7

Gender differences vary between cultures and over time, unlike fixed sex differences.

Question 8

What is the liberal feminist stance on traditional gender roles?

Answer 8

Liberal feminists argue that traditional gender roles prevent both men and women from leading fulfilling lives.

Question 9

What is the liberal feminist perspective on the relationship between men and women?

Answer 9

They see conflicts between men and women as not inevitable but a product of outdated attitudes.

Question 10

What do liberal feminists believe about socialization and culture?

Answer 10

Changes in socialization and culture are gradually leading to more rational attitudes to gender.

Question 11

What are instrumental roles according to Parsons?

Answer 11

Instrumental roles are performed in the public sphere of paid work, politics, and decision-making.

Question 12

What are expressive roles according to Parsons?

Answer 12

Expressive roles are performed in the private sphere of unpaid domestic labor and childrearing.

Question 13

What do liberal feminists challenge regarding gender roles?

Answer 13

They challenge the division of roles into instrumental and expressive, arguing both genders can perform roles in both spheres.

Question 14

What do liberal feminists argue about women’s emancipation?

Answer 14

Women’s emancipation is a ‘win-win’ situation from which men too will gain.

Question 15

What criticism do liberal feminists face regarding their optimism?

Answer 15

They are criticized for over-optimism, seeing obstacles to emancipation as simply prejudices or irrational laws.

Question 16

What do Marxist and radical feminists argue against liberal feminism?

Answer 16

They argue that liberal feminism fails to recognize the underlying causes of women’s subordination.

Question 17

What is the key concept of radical feminism?

Answer 17

Patriarchy, meaning a society in which men dominate women.

Question 18

According to radical feminists, what is the relationship between patriarchy and women?

Answer 18

All men oppress all women, benefiting from women’s unpaid domestic labor.

Question 19

What does radical feminism say about personal relationships?

Answer 19

They see the personal as political, where power dynamics in relationships reflect broader societal power structures.

Question 20

What is the significance of sexuality in radical feminism?

Answer 20

Patriarchy constructs sexuality to satisfy men’s desires, portraying women as passive sex objects.

Question 21

What strategies do radical feminists propose for change?

Answer 21

• Separatism
• Consciousness-raising
• Political lesbianism

Question 22

What do Marxist feminists believe about women’s subordination?

Answer 22

It is rooted in capitalism, not merely patriarchy or outdated attitudes.

Question 23

What is the primary role of women in capitalism according to Marxist feminists?

Answer 23

Women serve as unpaid homemakers, placing them in a dependent economic position.

Question 24

What is the ideology of familism according to Michèle Barrett?

Answer 24

It portrays the nuclear family and its sexual division of labor as natural and normal.

Question 25

What is one criticism of radical feminism?

Answer 25

It offers no explanation of why female subordination takes different forms in different societies.

Question 26

What do critics say about the concept of patriarchy?

Answer 26

It involves a circular argument, where male violence maintains patriarchy, while patriarchy is maintained by male violence.

Question 27

What do Marxist feminists argue about capitalism's role in women's oppression?

Answer 27

Capitalism is the main cause and beneficiary of women's oppression.

Question 28

What theory does Juliet Mitchell use to argue about femininity?

Answer 28

Freud’s psychoanalytic theory ## Footnote Mitchell suggests that ideas about femininity are deeply implanted in women's unconscious minds.

Question 29

What do Marxist feminists emphasize in their analysis of women's subordination?

Answer 29

The relationship between capitalism and women’s subordination ## Footnote They recognize the importance of structural factors more than liberal feminism.

Question 30

What is a criticism of Marxist feminism regarding non-capitalist societies?

Answer 30

It fails to explain women’s subordination in non-capitalist societies ## Footnote Women’s subordination exists beyond capitalist frameworks.

Question 31

According to Heidi Hartmann, why is Marxism considered 'sex-blind'?

Answer 31

It does not account for why women, not men, perform unpaid domestic labor ## Footnote Hartmann highlights the need to consider gender dynamics in labor.

Question 32

What two systems do dual systems feminists combine in their theory?

Answer 32

* An economic system: capitalism * A sex-gender system: patriarchy

Question 33

What term do dual systems theorists use to describe the intertwined nature of capitalism and patriarchy?

Answer 33

Patriarchal capitalism ## Footnote This concept helps understand women’s subordination through both domestic and paid work.

Question 34

What is Sylvia Walby's argument regarding capitalism and patriarchy?

Answer 34

Their interests are not always the same; they can collide over the exploitation of female labor ## Footnote Walby notes that capitalism often prevails, leading to women's segregation in the workforce.

Question 35

What do difference feminists argue about women's experiences?

Answer 35

Women do not share a single homogeneous experience of oppression ## Footnote They highlight the diversity among women based on class, race, and sexuality.

Question 36

What is the problem of essentialism in feminist theory?

Answer 36

The idea that all women share the same fundamental 'essence' ## Footnote Difference feminists critique this view for failing to reflect the diversity of women's experiences.

Question 37

What does poststructuralist feminism focus on?

Answer 37

Discourses and power/knowledge ## Footnote It examines how different discourses define identities and influence power dynamics.

Question 38

How do poststructuralists view the Enlightenment project?

Answer 38

As a form of power/knowledge that legitimates domination by Western, white, middle-class males ## Footnote They argue that it falsely claims universality while excluding oppressed groups.

Question 39

What does Judith Butler argue about the concept of womanhood?

Answer 39

There is no fixed essence of what it is to be a woman ## Footnote Identities are shaped by various discourses across cultures and times.

Question 40

What advantage does poststructuralism offer to feminism, according to Butler?

Answer 40

It allows feminists to analyze different discourses that subordinate women ## Footnote This analysis helps reveal diverse forms of oppression and resistance.

Question 41

What does Sylvia Walby argue about the similarities among women?

Answer 41

Women all face patriarchy and related issues like low pay and violence ## Footnote Walby emphasizes the importance of recognizing common struggles.

Question 42

What criticism does Lynne Segal have regarding poststructuralist feminism?

Answer 42

It abandons the notion of real, objective social structures ## Footnote Segal argues that oppression is not solely a result of discourses, but also about real inequalities.