FEMINIST THINKERS

Question 1

THINKERS

Answer 1

• De Beauvoir- existentialist
• Guilman- socialist
• Rowbotham- socialist
• Kate Millet- radical
• bell hooks- intersectional

Question 2

SIMONE DE BEAUVOIR 1908-1989

Answer 2

INTRO:
> socialist/ existentialist
> “The Second Sex”- women are the “other”, deviating from the norm of men
> women must become conscious of their identity and escape from domestic role imposed by men
- State: reinforces culture that prevents women from expressing their true freedom and identity
- Human Nature: gender differences created by men not biology- women need to gain self-definition
- Society: social constraints prevent everyone from attaining self-realisation, women expected to conform to a role imposed and controlled by men; casted women as the “other”- stereotypes need to be rejected
- Economy: men’s domination of economics restraints the choices open to women; women need economic independence

Question 3

GILMAN 1860-1935

Answer 3

Socialist Feminist
INTRO
> “The Yellow Wallpaper” explores her own journey with depression, follows story of a woman diagnosed with “hysteria” and locked in a basement by her husband
> criticised how girls were socialised into domestic servitude
- Human Nature: women and men equally intelligent and capable,biological differences irrelevant, criticised people using darwinism to justify male dominance
- State: no distinctive views
- Society: always assigned inferior roles to women, no justification in modern world, social pressure forces girls to conform through products, preparing them for motherhood
- Economics: domestic servitude allowed men to dominate outside world, sex and economics go hand in hand- women use bodies to survive as they have to please their husbands

Question 4

KATE MILLET 1943-2017

Answer 4

Radical feminist
INTO
> Birthed radical feminism with “Sexual Politics”- argued undoing traditional family was key
> “rule by men” dominated all aspects of life, private and public
- Human Nature: women’s subjugation to men is a societal construction, not biological
- State: agent of patriarchy, part of the problem
- Society: completely characterised by patriarchy- infesting both the private and public; men rule women within the family, economy, and government- socialisation occurs in the family and reinforced through friends, media, culture, and art
- Economy: men rule women through property ownership and male inheritance; quasi-socialist

Question 5

ROWBOTHAM 1943-

Answer 5

Socialist feminist
INTRO
> Helped start women’s movement in Britain; historian that wrote many books on revolutions
> “Women’s consciousness, man’s world”, argued the liberation of women required an end to capitalism and sexist culture
> Revolution within a revolution; new way of seeing for women will lead to collective solidarity and liberation
- Human Nature: New way of seeing must be formed to challenge the consciousness men created for women
- State: servant of capitalism and therefore female oppression
- Society: economically determined, reflects dominant position of rich capitalists and men, family= instrument of disciplining and subjecting women to capitalism; men do not recognise how they oppress women in practice
- Economy: criticised marxism for narrow view of capitalism and class rather than oppression in domestic life and society; women are low-paid reserve army of labour, economic attachments to men

Question 6

bell hooks 1952-2021

Answer 6

intersectional feminist
INTRO
> Began intersectionality, brought concerns of women of colour into movement
> Modernised feminism, argued that women often faced multiple types of oppression
- Human Nature: equal across all genders, races, classes-women have multiple identities and experience multiple forms of oppression; oppressed by intersecting systems- collective action needed to overcome socialisation
- Society: inclusivity between minority cultures should be established to resolve social conflict; patriarchal ideologies brainwash men to believe domination over women is beneficial
- State: dominated by white men, which reflects and reinforces their dominant position in society; achieving equality in this system is both impossible and undesirable- should change
- Economy: liberation of the poor is an economic and social issue, women in poverty face more issues than other women- supported reforms like equal pay and wealth redistribution