To what extent do feminists agree over sex and gender Flashcards
(19 cards)
What is the general consensus among feminists regarding sex and gender?
Feminists largely disagree (80%) over sex and gender. While they all reject pure biological essentialism, they differ on various aspects of gender and its relation to sex.
What do radical feminists believe about gender and biological sex?
Radical feminists maintain a biological basis for gendered oppression, arguing that biological sex plays a foundational role in women’s oppression.
What is the belief of radical feminists regarding gender?
Gender is socially constructed, but built upon biological sex, particularly reproduction.
Who is a key thinker associated with radical feminism?
Shulamith Firestone
Claimed that reproduction was the ‘original class divide’ and advocated artificial reproduction to eliminate gender oppression.
What do liberal feminists believe about gender?
Liberal feminists believe gender is entirely a social construct unrelated to sex differences.
Who is a key thinker associated with liberal feminism?
Betty Friedan
Blamed cultural myths—not biology—for keeping women in the domestic sphere.
What is the extent of disagreement between radical and liberal feminists?
Radical feminists maintain that biology underpins gender roles, whereas liberals reject this entirely.
What do postmodern feminists reject regarding sex and gender?
Postmodern feminists reject fixed categories of both sex and gender.
What is the belief of postmodern feminists about gender?
Both sex and gender are fluid, performative, and shaped by intersectional identity.
Who is a key thinker associated with postmodern feminism?
bell hooks
Argued that mainstream feminism marginalised black and working-class women by treating ‘woman’ as a universal category.
What do socialist feminists believe about women?
Women are a coherent group economically oppressed under capitalism.
Who is a key thinker associated with socialist feminism?
Sheila Rowbotham
Saw gender roles as shaped by capitalism but still applied to a recognisable category of women.
What is the extent of disagreement between postmodern and socialist feminists?
Postmodernism challenges the coherence of ‘sex’ and ‘gender,’ whereas socialists retain these categories for political mobilisation.
What do liberal and socialist feminists agree on regarding gender?
Both agree that gender is socially constructed and used to perpetuate inequality.
What is the belief of liberal feminists regarding gender roles?
Gender roles are learned through culture, education, and discrimination.
Who is a key thinker associated with liberal feminism?
Mary Wollstonecraft
Believed women are not inferior by nature, but made so by poor education and oppressive customs.
What do socialist feminists believe about gender roles?
Gender roles serve capitalism and are imposed to exploit women’s labour.
What is the extent of agreement between liberal and socialist feminists?
Both reject essentialist definitions of gender and emphasise its cultural construction.
What is the conclusion regarding feminist disagreement over sex and gender?
Feminists disagree substantially (80%) over sex and gender, with radical feminists linking biology to gender, postmodernists rejecting fixed categories, and only liberals and socialists maintaining moderate agreement on gender’s social construction.
