feminism

Question 1

liberal feminism

Answer 1

seeks to achieve gender equality through reform, and a cultural change in the way we view gender

they critique functionalist views of gendered roles being biologically determined, and they believe gender is a social and cultural construct since the way women are socialised are dependent on the time period and society

they acknowledge there has been a march of progress that means women have gained significant rights in recent years e.g. the equal pay act and sex discrimination act allows women to earn as much as men, meaning they no longer need to rely on a man for financial support - this means girls have a role model of a financially independent women that resocialises them into knowing they aren’t restricted by the expressive role

Question 2

liberal feminism AO3

Answer 2

functionalism argues that the sexual division of labour is functional - the instrumental/expressive role split between men and women is essential for the family and society to run smoothly

the new right would take a stronger approach to this as they argue the breakdown of the instrumental/expressive roles have lead to a moral breakdown and high crime rates

Question 3

radical feminism

Answer 3

argues patriarchy is universal, and the concept of patriarchy lies in women’s biological capacity to bear children - it the fundamental form of social inequality, and all men oppress all women

all men benefit from the unpaid domestic tasks of women and their sexual services. patriarchal oppression is direct and personal since it concerns the family, where men dominate women e.g. the fear of rape for women deters women greatly from leaving home at night (heidonsohn’s patriarchal control)

women are often portrayed as passive and untrustworthy, leading them to have less opportunities e.g. women portrayed as the second sex in religious texts as well as inferior to men, leading to them facing the stain glassed ceiling in religious institutions

they argue the only way to solve this is by separatism - women live separate from men which creates a culture of female independence - and political lesbianism - women exclusively seek lesbian relationships in order to avoid sleeping with the enemy

Question 4

radical feminism AO3

Answer 4

functionalism argues institutions such as the family and religion actually benefit women rather than oppress them e.g. women can also destress at home as men provide them the money to pay for the hosuehold

marxism argues we are actually socialised into the norms and values of capitalism e.g. in the family there is a hierarchy, similar to the workplace

Question 5

marxist feminism AO3 (under feminism)

Answer 5

postmodernism argues this is an outdated view, as class and gender are no longer barriers

social action theories argue this is too deterministic as we all have free will and not all women passively accept their exploitation by the patriarchy and capitalism

Question 6

black feminism

Answer 6

focus on the way gender interacts with other social characteristics to create a specific experience of inequality

argues non-white women suffer from two layers of oppression - by their gender and that they live in a racist society

Question 7

black feminism AO3

Answer 7

social action theories argue they ignore free will and it is too deterministic e.g. fuller’s black girls rejected the negative labels put on them by their teachers and vowed to defy their expectations

Question 8

difference feminism

Answer 8

women experience the world in different ways dependent on where they are, their ethnicity, their health etc.

they want to challenge the idea of femininity in a metanarrative to highlight the diversity of women’s experience e.g. black women may not feel oppressed in the family because they view the family as a source of support from racism