1. FEMINISM

2. 15 mark:
What is patriarchy and why is it important in feminist analysis?
Define patriarchy, and explain its importance to feminist analysis.
What is patriarchy, and why is this important in feminist analysis?
On what grounds have radical feminists claimed that ‘the personal is the political’?
How and why have feminists been critical of the ‘public/private’ divide?
In what sense have radical feminists sought to redefine the nature of politics?
Why is the distinction between sex and gender crucial to feminist analysis?
How and why have feminists emphasised the difference between sex and gender?
Explain the key features of socialist feminism
Explain the link between feminism and liberalism.
Why have some feminists criticised the idea of gender equality?
Explain the difference between androgyny and essentialism within feminism.

3. 45 mark:
Radical feminists fundamentally oppose the ideas of liberal feminists. Discuss.
’Radical feminism fundamentally opposes liberal feminism.’ Discuss.
To what extent is feminism compatible with other political ideologies?
To what extent is feminism defined by the quest for gender equality?
‘Feminism is characterised more by disagreement than by agreement.’ Discuss.
‘Feminism is defined by the belief that “the personal is the political”.’ Discuss.
To what extent is feminism a single doctrine?

4. Origins
Feminism emerged as a twentieth century movement but has its roots in the nineteenth century in the work of Mary Woolstonecraft, J.S. Mill and others.
It asserts that society has established problematic power relationships between men and women and that, throughout history, women have been subordinated to men.
There is a difference between ‘sex’ (which is biological) and ‘gender’ (which is a social construct established in ‘learned’ behaviour thorough socialisation).
The factor which helps to explain such variations is the social construction of gender
Society, therefore, imposes different binary roles, behaviours and expectations on men and women which become reinforced and stereotypical

5. Introduction cont’d
However, there are many types of feminism and therefore it is inaccurate to talk of feminism (in the singular) and more accurate to talk of feminisms (plural).
- There are many feminist approaches: Liberal, radical, Marxist, socialist, deconstructionist, Islamic, Choice, Black, postcolonial, even Cyborg…

6. Types of Feminism 1) What separates different strands of feminism?
1) What separates different strands of feminism?
- If we return to the opening statement ‘Feminism is both a political movement and academic perspective which has its central focus Gender, or more precisely problematic gender relations’ the differences between types of feminism are often categorised by:
a. How they understand gender;
b. How they see unequal gender relationships:  some accept that there are biological sex differences, but that these differences have no social, political or economic significance (androgyny); others believe that these differences are crucial in determining psychological and behavioural traits (essentialism) - men and women are essentially different. 

7. There are 4 main types of feminism:
Liberal Feminism;
Radical Feminism;
Socialist Feminism;
Deconstructionist/Postmodern Feminism
In addition there is anti-feminism (a response to feminism)

8. Types of feminism cont’d
It is these forms of feminism that have marked the main trends in feminist thinking.
In case there is any doubt that gender relations are still largely unequal, this very short video helps to illustrate what the world might start to look like if we take men out of the picture

9. Liberal Feminism
A quest for equal RIGHTS and FREEDOMS for women in the public and political life.
Eg Suffragettes: women shoul;d have the same political rights as men
After getting the right to vote, liberal feminism turned its attention to campaigning for other, usually economic, rights – such as equal pay and equal access to employment.

10. Thus, liberal feminists seek the same rights as men in a liberal democratic system within the world of work and politics
- Feminists refer to this as the ‘public sphere’

11. 3) In terms of how they understand gender, Liberal feminists believe that gender differences are largely irrelevant in relation to one’s access to the public sphere.
- women have the same intellectual capabilities as men and therefore should be given the same access to individual rights.
- As such, these feminists are often referred to as equality feminists – they overlook gender difference and instead seek equality between men and women.
They believe in androgyny rather than essentialism. 

12. So…..
Liberal feminists define the problem underpinning gender inequality as a problem of representation
- They are not suggesting that the current liberal democratic system is wrong – but that it needs to be corrected by increasing the representation of women
- This is why liberal feminists are often referred to as using an ‘add women and stir’ approach
The problem is that women have not been considered to be as able as men– that women were somehow limited
- The idea that women aren’t as rational as men has historically led to women being barred from accessing public life

13. - the Victorians tried to prove that women’s heads were smaller than men’s heads and therefore women must be too stupid to engage in work and politics
- Similarly, it was argued by Victorian physicians that if a woman read too much her womb would shrink and therefore she would be unable to have babies if she did too much reading and thinking.

14. - Liberal feminists believe that these ideas of women not being able to compete with men has been the main problem and that this legacy still works against women today
- Therefore, liberal feminists believe the solution to this problem is to assist women through anti-discrimination laws to compete on the same basis as men in the liberal democratic system.

15. Radical Feminism Radical Feminism emerged in the 1960s
Radical Feminism emerged in the 1960s
It argues that it is not just the lack of women’s participation in public life which is the problem but the very structure of society itself
- The political system, and society more generally, has been dominated by men and therefore the odds are stacked against women.
So if a woman wants to do well she has to behave like a man.

16. The system or structure of society then is considered patriarchal which means that it is dominated by men and therefore works to disadvantage women
- This patriarchal system not only plays itself out in the public sphere, in the world of work and politics, but it is also found in the private sphere (also known as the domestic sphere – which relates to the home and the family)

17. - In the domestic sphere, institutions of marriage and the family were historically also dominated by men
- Men were considered the head of the household – and reduce women to their reproductive roles
– women were oppressed through the expectations on them to make babies and engage in housework
- These feminists then were concerned with the subordination of women in the private sphere and the power men had to control female reproduction and sexuality within monogamous marriage
(Note: rape within marriage was not criminalised in the UK until 1991)

18. These inequalities in the private sphere are reflected in women’s relative lack of power and influence in the public sphere
- This is why radical feminists coined the term ‘The Personal is Political’ – this refers to the notion that women’s oppression is rooted to male dominance within the home.
- Within patriarchal structures, values associated with being a man – assertiveness, competitiveness and aggression – are held in higher esteem than the values associated with being a woman – namely cooperation, expressiveness and a caring disposition

19. - As such, these feminists sought to overthrow patriarchy and the values associated with being a man in order to build a society based on feminine traits like caring and cooperation
4) Radical feminists believe that men and women are essentially different to one another – with men being naturally aggressive, competitive and assertive and women being naturally caring, emotive and cooperative
- These feminists are often called ‘difference feminists’ – in other words, they suggest that we are born different.
They believe in essentialism rather than androgyny. 

20. 5) Radical feminists define the problem underpinning women’s oppression to be located in the structure of patriarchy
- Patriarchy works to devalue feminine traits in favour of masculine ones
- However, radical feminists would argue that these feminine traits are just as valuable, or even more valuable, than male traits
- As such, some radical feminists proposed the idea of overthrowing patriarchy in favour of a matriarchy
- Others suggested that women should live in single sex communities. Often this is referred to as separatist radical feminism or even political lesbianism (rejection of heterosexual, male dominance)

21. Socialist Feminism Socialist feminism also began during the 1960s
Socialist feminism also began during the 1960s
- Like radical feminists they argue that women’s subordination is due to patriarchy, but also that gender inequality is linked to capitalism as well.
- Thus, women’s subordination is produced by the social structures and institutions of not just patriarchy but also of a class society.

22. Capitalism has created a separation between the home, family and personal life on one hand and the workplace on the other
- For example, the capitalist system requires women to work in the home in order to do two things:
Firstly, to look after the home so that men can engage in wage labour;
Secondly, to reproduce the next generation of wage workers for the capitalist system
- As such, women’s work is essential for capitalism to function

23. 3) the work traditionally done by women in a capitalist system, is often considered to be trivial as it is unpaid
- In other words, women’s domestic labour is fundamental to the functioning of capitalism but at the same time is not properly recognised
- men tend to control women’s labour and reproduction in the home
- The problem lies with both capitalism and patriarchy (aka patriarchal capitalism)

24. Socialist Feminists recognise unequal gender relations to be a by-product of the system of patriarchal capitalism
- The structures of patriarchal capitalism benefit from promoting ideas that women are naturally programmed to like housework and childcare
- This promotes the dominance of men and the middle classes
- gender is something we are born with naturally (like our biological sex) but rather as ways of behaving which we are socialised into
- And it is this socialisation (through toys, norms, dress codes etc) which has led to women being considered suitable for home-life and men for wage work

25. 5) For socialist feminists gender inequality is therefore a consequence of patriarchal capitalism
Thus both patriarchy and capitalism need to be overthrown and replaced with a system whereby men and women are not associated with different forms of labour
- Thus, for eg, Socialist Feminists felt that housework should be shared between members of the household equally
- They also recommended the redesign of homes in ways that would maximize the potential for creativity for both men and women
- For example, emphasizing the need for rooms like studios and studies, getting rid of the kitchen and dining room and thus moving food preparation and eating into a more communal setting

26. Deconstructionist Feminists
Deconstructionist feminists (aka 3rd wave feminists) emerged in the 1990s
- labelling of our bodies as either male of female is the root of gender inequalities
- For eg, when someone has a baby the most culturally important question is ‘is it a boy or a girl?’ and the idea that the baby can remain an ‘it’ – with no gender specification – is considered to be an impossibility
This ‘gendering’ is a culturally embedded practice
- In other words gender ambiguity is excluded, and we are allocated a sex or a gender identity from birth

27. - Even babies born with ambiguous genitalia are usually surgically altered so that they can fit into this labelling system
- This labelling is a way of perpetuating inequality as the attributes which are linked to femininity are considered inferior to those which are linked to masculinity
- They believe that the consequences of allocating a body a sex based on the shape of its genitalia, which after all makes up less than 1% of our bodies, and then suggesting that those bodies which are sexed as male will behave in a particular way (for example being good at map reading) and those bodies that are sexed as girls will behave in the opposite way is hugely problematic

28. - Thus, gender is created through our use of language which is structured to label bodies as male or female, masculine or feminine
- Once the labelling has taken place, once you have been named either boy or girl – then you play out or perform the roles which are seen as appropriate for males and females
- By repeating these appropriate behaviours, gender appears as though it comes naturally – however, these are behaviours which you learn to do rather than ones which you have been born to do
- ‘Gender is the repeated stylisation of the body, a set of repeated acts within a highly rigid regulatory frame that congeal over time to produce the appearance of substance, of a natural sort of being’ (Judith Butler, 1990, Gender Trouble, p. 33)

29. 4) Thus, the ‘problem’ for deconstructionist feminists is this labelling process
- As such, they aim to demonstrate that these categories are not biologically real categories but rather part of our language system
- This can free both men and women from behaving in the ways that we are expected to behave (for eg, without the labelling men would no longer be expected to have to be the first person who goes down stairs to confront potential intruders in the house!)
- In other words, if we dismantle the language of gender – we also dismantle the expectations which are attached to our gender roles – and would therefore be more free to engage in a wider range of behaviours

30. Conclusion Most would agree that equality is a good thing.
But there are many strands to feminism.
Asking someone ‘are you a feminist?’ is a flawed question.
The question should be: ‘What kind of feminist are you?’