Feminism Essay Plans Flashcards
(18 cards)
1 Do feminists agree on issues regarding human nature?
Intro -
- feminists agree on the impact of the patriarchy on their human nature and quality of wife (Sylvia Walby in ‘theorising Patriach’ 1990)
- they disagree on how to achieve a gender equal society
P1 Agreements
-sex you are born with does not determine success in life
- gender is cultural and nurtured (shaped by the patriarchy, most humans are androgynous, they reject most “gender appropriate behaviours”)
- believe gender differences are irrelevant (Gilman - “the brain is not an organ of sex”)
- they agree that the patriarchal society is damaging to human nature (Sheila Rowbotham, believes that the female consciousness is determined by men) (these indicators for success are determined by men and characterised by stereotypes that fit them (masculinity / aggressiveness as opposed to female submissiveness)
P2 - Disagreements
LIBERAL / EQUALITY FEMINISTS
- Wollesonecraft + CPG= they should have the same rights as men as they are rational, independent, autonomous
- would be against things such as gender stereotyping of toys (Pinkstinks campaign)
- Betty Friedan= sex/gender divide needs legislation for equal rights, science points to their equality and androgyny
- women should be left to make their own life choices
MARXISTS / SOCIALISTS FEMINISTS
- Engels, not for their inherent similarity but because of how capitalism thrives under a patriacy (his “the origin of the family, private property and the state”, gender roles encourage capitalism, and women should be involved in labour)
- Sheila Rowbotham (NYC radical feminist)- blends a Marxists and radical feminist perspective, female subordination is encouraged in a patriarchal, capitalist society, so must be abolished
- Socialist feminists= equal pay and gradualism would allow the sex/ gender divide to end
RADICAL FEMINISTS
- Simone de Beauvoir: gender roles marginalise women and sustain mail dominance
- Kate Millet: liberal feminists underestimate their oppression and have prexisting prejudices to sex and gender, SO Liberal methods of ending the divide will not work as they are deep rooted
- for a sexual revolution, women must reject submissive roles and public vs. Private sector, and men must take responsibility for oppression
CULTURAL FEMINISTS
- emphasises cultural values/attributes as opposed to biological ones
- revalue female traits that have been historically undervalued
- for them, equality is counter intuitive (essentialism by Germaine Greer)
- the problem is not that sex and gender have been artificially connected, but that they have been treated with less importance
Conclusion -
- feminists are aware that the human nature of women has been tainted heavily by the patriarchy
- they disagree however on how to achieve a more equality and individuality for women
- yet, the key idea that oppression of women needs to be tackled by the state is present
Are legal rights enough for feminism? (Reform vs. Revolution)
It is enough (Reform)
- Liberal feminists (MW + BF): it will install formal equality, reformist movement, legal and economic equality can be achieved by women and use the state as a tool
- BF= state leg, like affirmative action, can assure equality of opportunity and outcome
- Charlotte Perkins gilman, due there being no main difference between men + women (brain is not an organ of sex) the state is the source of ending discrimination and ensuring formal equality
Post - modern feminists: bell hooks, would like Equality Act 2010 that combines all marginalised groups under one piece of legislation
MJ- a reformist approach aligns with ideas of androgyny, and this will restore society to an equal state so they can thrive politically, economically, socially
It is not enough (Revolution)
Radical feminists: laws are not enough to tackle systematic oppression of women, dismantling of gov structure only way to achieve
- SRB: dictatorship of the proletariat is the only way to end oppression from capitalism and patriarchy
- movement of ‘reclaim the right’
- Friedrich Engels and reserve army of labour, state has placed women at an inferior place to men and this can be dismantled only through a revolution
- Shulamith Firestone, a Marxist radical feminist
- bell hooks: white supremacy + patriarchy come hand in hand and change cannot exist under this system e.g. Eco feminism, blocking RAF
MJ: reform has happened previously, such as suffrage and equal pay, and this has not been enough, this revolution would be only way to end the oppression of the patriarchy
Do feminists agree on the State?
P1 YES:
STATE IS PATRIACHAL
- has failed women, and been complicit in their subordination
- men have the upper hand in the state structure (politically and economically)
- state has perpetuated male and female gender stereoypes and contributed to women being the inferior gender
P2 NO:
LIBERAL/ EQUALITY FEMINIST REFORMIST APPROACH
P= 1st wave (some 2nd wave), and original feminists:
- State has previously failed in tackling problem of female subordination
- have perpetuated this subordinate role
E= Charlotte Perkins Gilman in “The Yellow Wallpaper” 1892
- state is the source of ending discrimination + can grant formal equality
E= Betty Friedan in “The Feminist Mystique” 1973
- affirmative action policies to lead to equality of outcome not just opportunity
E=
- would agree with policies in UK such as 1918 enfranchisement, 1970 EPA, 1991 Criminalising Marital Rape, 2021 Domestic Abuse Act
- can be a useful vehicle for establishing formal equality
P3 NO:
RADICAL AND SOCIAL FEMINIST CULTURAL APROACH
P= 2nd+3rd Wave feminists:
- measures and laws useful, but not enough to tackle systematic oppression of women
- dismantling of Gov structures only
E= Kate Millett, “Sexual Poltiics” (1970)
- state sustains patriarchy
- needs to prevent oppression, not just level the playing field - e.g. reclaim the night (low SA convictions and SE)
E= Sheila Rowbowtham “Women, Resistance, Revolution” (1972)
- state servant of patriarchy and capitalism (links to bh “ain’t i a woman” that state is interlocking system of ‘imperialist white supremacy’)
- ‘unequal rights’ needed, as their situation is different
- equality impossible under capitalist state, argues for dictatorship of the proletariat
E= Germaine Greer “the personal is political”
- the state must legislate to prevent discrimination in the private sphere as well as the public one
E=
- the current state cannot deliver full equality for men and women
- so must be dismantled to foster true equality a
Do feminists agree on the Economy?
P1 YES:
MAIN AGREEMENT: WOMEN ARE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST IN THE ECONOMIC WORLD
- unpaid labour in the home, often low paid, pay gap (2.50), glass ceiling (40% women pt, 13% male pt), less respected careers
Want change for arising economic issues:
- END to gender pay gap (e.g. Sheffield and Birmingham Council cleaner gender pay disparities, Tesco 2021 European Court of Justice case, male delivery workers)
- NO jobs of limits for women (army, firefighter)
- women need to be economically independent
MAIN DISAGREEMENT : how to deal with this
P2 NO:
LIBERAL FEMINISTS
- CPG= in modern industrial societies, biological differences have no impact
- MW + BF= women should have access to equal opportunity in economic life (AA)
- believe that female ownership of private property and a stake in capitalist society will increase their rationality and individualism, placing them in the same position as men
- there are now little obstacles to women
P3 NO:
SOCIALIST FEMINISTS
- SRB= women oppressed in capitalist marker, seen as cheap force of labour, overthrow of capitalism needed
(She criticises FE, lack of focus on the lack of female property as a catalyst for this oppression)
- Freidrich Engels= ‘reserve army of labour’, opression of women due to capitalism is real, has reduced them to inferior wage slaves, only used when needed
- SDB= patriarchy source of oppression, argued socialist, equal economy can only come about with revolution
- Millet= “gender is a performance” and patriarchy needs to be overturned
P4 NO:
3RD WAVE
- bell hooks- capitalism, imperialism, white supremacy, patriarchy means oppression for women in ALL situations
- Ain’t i a woman also applies to women in lower economic situations
- this oppression manifests in different ways for different women
- Crticises liberal feminists who failed to acknowledged that having a job is not enough/ legal equality to advance economically, there are different ways in a capitalist and patriachal society that causes oppression
Do feminists agree on society?
P1 YES:
- patriachal Society, scientific research centred for men and their concerns, neglect of female history
- men have positions of authority, and women have more junior roles (public vs. Private) - so they suffer injustices and institutionalised disadvantages
P2 NO:
LIBERAL AND EQUALITY FEMINISTS
- seek to reform patriachal society through political, social and economic changes
- believe that societal differences based on gender should not be present
- CPG “the brain is not an organ of sex” SDB “One is not born a woman, but rather becomes a woman”
- must eradicate legal and political obstacles (1991 marital rape, 1970 equal pay, 1918 enfranchisement)
P3 NO:
RADICAL and DIFFERENCE FEMINISTS
- attack patriachal societies, desire to live separately
- fundamental differences need to be highlighted and changed
- SOCIALIST - SRB (society reflects dominant position of capitalists and men)
- CULTURAL FEMINISM - women need to formulate a society away from men to realise their true nature (E.G. Germaine Greer)
- no sex gender difference, difference feminists biologically and psychologically different, do not seek to align with them
P4 NO:
POST MODERN FEMINISM
- bell hooks argues the patriarchy socialises men to dominate
- criticises the effect previous feminism has had on society
- present a new idea that different sections of women need feminism in society (poor/people of colour)
POST MODERN FEMINISTS
Is Feminism a single doctrine? / Are the aims of feminism united?
P1 -
- feminism : the political belief that women are entitled to the same political, economic, legal and social rights as men, and is a necessary movement due to the institutionalised discrimination leading to their inferior role in society
AGREE On patriarchy (men having the upper hand in political and economic life) repressing them, as theorised clearly by Sylvia Walby in “Theorising Patriach”, where she identifies
AGREE On how their human nature has been heavily tainted by a patriachal society
MAIN DIVISIONS
- sex and gender
- public vs. Private (the personal is political)
- reformist or Revolution approach
- equality or difference
- if post modern feminism can actually work
P1 Liberal Feminists 1st Wave (late 19th + 20th century):
KEY IDEAS
- Classical liberalism - rationality - education
- gender justice (legislation EPA 1970) reformism (gradual reform) contemporary directions (affirmative action)
PEOPLE
- Charlotte P Gilman, Mary W, Betty F
P2 Marxist/ Radical/ Socialist Feminists 2nd Wave (60s - 70s)
KEY IDEAS
- Capitalism is the problem
- Patriarchy is root cause of oppression
Radical- believe there is no sex gender divide, women are better then men
PEOPLE
- SRB, KM
P3 Postmodern feminism
KEY IDEAS
- different women in different ways experience oppression in different ways
- gender should be understood via intersectionality (Kimberly Crenshaw 1989)
PEOPLE
CONC:
- no feminism is not a single, unified doctrine
- is a diverse collection of ideologies and movements working towards gender equality
- have various approaches and priorities
- yet they are all focused on the same idea
What is the distinction between Public vs. Private?
What is this Concept?
- quote= ‘The personal is political’ Carol Hanusch 1970
- men dominate public sphere, women essentially relegated to private sphere
- this has served to entrenched the patriarchal system to ensure female oppression
THE PUBLIC SPHERE
- men in this sphere have marginalised the private sphere and maintained it in the political process
- the public sphere’s male bias= makes it difficult for women to raise issues that concern them (Reproductive rights, the glass ceiling (e.g. 40% work pt, 13% men pt)
E= Simone De Beauvoir in “the Second Sex” 1949 argued that the masculinity is portrayed as positive/the norm, and femininity as inferior and reinforces the dichotomy of the public and private sphere
THE PRIVATE SPHERE
- are limited to unpaid labour in the home, or are discriminated against in the economic world
- CAROL HANISH 1970 ‘the personal is political’
- > female oppression not only present in the public sphere (laws, Jobs) but also private (domestic abuse), so state MUST intervene in both
- Kate Millet refers to the public superiority and private inferiority as ‘power structured relationships and arrangements whereby one group of persons is controlled by another’
= LIBERALS / CONSERVATIVES ON THE P VS. P
- gender divisions reflect wider needs of society
- men and women must perform these ‘seperate sphere’ roles to socialise children and support society in a proper manner
(A reason why the UK Female enfranchisement movement was rejected, due to interrupting seperate spheres)
CONC
- division is designed prevent feminine values and women’s issues from entering the political process
What do feminists aim for? Difference/ Cultural or Equality (Androgyny)?
KEY DIFFERENCE
- main divide is sex and gender!!!
P1 EQUALITY:
ANDROGYNY IS A MAIN THEME:
- cpg, sdb, mw, bf, bh (liberal) km (radical) SRB (socialist)
- different types of feminists, recognise the goal of feminism is to create equivalent male and female rights
- belief that sex and gender are different, no biological evidence they are different
E= CPG “the brain is not an organ of sex” Concerning Children 1900
- in favour of some degree of legislative feminism
- all challlenge patriarchy
P2 DIFFERENCE:
- do not just challenge patriarchy, but want a matriarchy
- due to sex= gender, feminism should lead to a recognition that women are superior to men and should therefore construct the state in that way
- legislation not enough, a mass cultural change needed: Germaine Greer ‘the personal is political’ (they see female traits as superior, matriarch and priding their values)
Example of mass cultural change: SEPARATIST the Libertarian Women’s network, so they created women’s only squatting areas, due to not wanting to live in a society with men, and that sex and gender is difference
P3 FEMINISM HAS MANY SIMILAR AIMS, DIFFERENCE DEPENDS ON THE PERIOD
- aims are widely similar= address institutionalised female discrimination + injustice and change their situation
- 1st wave liberal feminists WERE ‘revolutionary’ for their time
- now that legislative equality has been widely reached (UK 1918 and US 1920 enfranchisement), it is fitting that the movement has split into some feminists wanting extended cultural change
CONC:
- Aims of feminism are diffuse
- some small, vocal, radical separatists groups are present and want difference
- but mainstream and original feminism DOES aim for equality
Is biology destiny? (Nature vs Nurture)
INTRO
- debate has caused a divide between difference and equality feminists
- about how much biology causes characteristics, behaviours
P1 NO:
- want a seperate matriarchal society
E= Germaine Greer “the Female Eunuch” (1970)
- she is a trans exclusionary radical feminist
- believe women are superior to men and destiny IS determined by sex, that trans women are not women
P2 YES:
- equality feminists want androgyny (a person can be both female and male gendered), want to break down patriachal and gender stereotypes to encourage this
- German psychologists in the 1920s: wrote on the distinguished nature between sex (biological) and gender (social construct), feminists before and after 1920s agree with this (gender is nurture, sex is nature)
- bell hooks -
Depends on the wave of feminists
Do all feminists share the same view on patriarchal power?
P1 YES
- ALL feminists agree that we live in a patriachal society
- MW have their rationality limited
REFORMIST APPROACH
- CPG: the patriarchal state can be a Source of change
- Legislative changes (MW, BF)
P2 NO
SOCIALIST APPROACH - dismantle patriarchy
- SRB dictatorship of the proletariat “women, resistance, revolution” (1972)
- bell hooks = patriachal power is not t only problem a number of this G’s oppress people
Can post- feminism be successful?
What?: the cultural shift that emerged after 2nd wave feminism, in the 1970s, arguing that primary goals of feminism has been largely achieved, and how to overcome present inequalities
YES:
STRENGTHENED MOVEMENT
- bell hooks main idea= education gap between those lower in the economic scale
- a global movement - e.g. International Women’s day, celebrated 8th March each year
- post feminism is successful, in reviving the debate on feminism (e.g. reclaim the night, domestic abuse, pay gap which is 2.50 in UK 2024)
- post feminism is successful, especially in supporting the rights of women in countries were there is little to no legislative equality (Sudan, Yemen,Afghanistan)
E.g. bh “Feminism is for everyone” , MeToo Movement
INTERSECTIONALITY BY KIMBERLY CRENSHAW = the emphasis that every individual has a variety of identities,a nd to understand someone properly, one must consider ethnicity, social class, gender, religion and disability take into account
- form of understanding that there are other sections of women who need feminism for different reasons
- Crenshaw - refers to ‘Multiple forms of Inequality’
- BLM, 3 women made it
- post feminism has highlighted that a multifaceted approach is needed to tackle female inequalities (e.g white women wanted equal pay to men, black women wanted equal pay to white women
- this has broadened scope and appeal of feminism
NO:
AIMS TOO DIFFUSE
- has diluted feminist ideals, and involved other movements (racism) making it focus more about individual empowerment rather than systemic change away from female discrimination
Examples of their differences:
- opinions on sex work, it liberates women and is their choice to do so BUT is still repressive
DIVIDES ARE STRONGER
- equality vs. Difference, sex gender divide
- socialists would say it is not
- liberal: the personal is now political it should JUST be law (USA example of liberal feminism not working, overturning og Dobbs vs. Jackson)
- has still failed to address economically disadvantaged groups (SRB and dictatorship of the Proletariat) and marginalised groups (bh and first wave feminism is successful
CONC:
- post- feminism can be successful
- post feminism is certainly more divided and much needs to be done for women in disadvantaged positions
- but it has already proven successful in reviving the movement to protect women in countries were the fundamental aims of feminism have not been met
What are difference feminists?
- Difference feminists are an offshoot from radical feminism that are opposed to androgyny. -Difference feminists believe that sex/gender are the same and that the female gender is characterised by co-operative and kind behaviour, as opposed to male masculinity and competition e.g. Germaine Greer.
- They don’t see transgender people as able to become another gender as they believe that ‘biology is destiny’.
