 Liberal Feminists  Radical Feminists  Marxist / Socialist Feminists  Black Feminists  Post-Feminists

Ann Oakley  Liberal feminists campaign for equality between men and women e.g. for equal pay.  They believe that gender inequalities exist because of socialisation and the way that males and females are taught to behave differently.  Can you think of examples?  Liberal feminists concede that relationships within families are becoming more symmetrical.

Andrea Dworkin  Radical feminists believe that men are the enemy and that women would be better off if they were freed from men's control and had nothing to do with them!  Radical feminists are famous for campaigning on issues such as domestic violence, rape and pornography.  They believe family and marriage are patriarchal institutions which need to be overturned. Greer (2000) advocates ‘matrifocal’ households as an alternative to the nuclear family.  Some advocate ‘political lesbianism.’

Veronica Beechey  Marxist/Socialist feminists focus on how women are exploited by capitalism. They put in hours and hours of unpaid labour through housework and childcare, performing several functions for capitalism.  They argue that women suffer greater exploitation than men because they are paid less on average. Women are a Reserve Army of Labour who can be hired and fired as necessary.  Fran Ansley (1972) claims that wives soak up the frustration and alienation that their partners feel.

Nira Yuval-Davies  Black feminists have criticised other feminists for ignoring the position of black women.  They argue that black women are doubly disadvantaged in society as they face both sexism and racism.

Catherine Hakim  Women create inequalities for themselves.  For example, women choose to have children, they choose to take time out to bring them up and they choose to work part time to help look after them.  Therefore it is these 'choices' which lead women to be lower paid and have less successful careers.