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Feminism
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- 1What are feminists key ideas?Feminism is based on the idea of conflict. This is due to society being patriarchal (based on male domination), leading to women being in a subordinate position to men in all areas. There is therefore conflict between men and women. Feminists' main concern then is to look at gender relations in society.
- 2What do feminists say about sociology in general?Feminists also believe that sociology has been traditionally malestream and therefore ignored the role of women.
- 3What are the 4 branches of feminism?1. Liberal
2. Marxists
3. Radical
4. Difference/postmodern - 4What are Liberal Feminists main ideas?Liberal feminists believe that women can achieve gender equality through the reformation of laws and policies e.g. laws against sex discrimination can secure equal opportunities for women in the workplace. Sexist attitudes and stereotypical beliefs about gender are socially constructed and are transmitted through socialisation (e.g. through the family, media, education, work etc.)
- 5How do Liberal Feminist think that patriarchy can be solved?Traditional prejudice stereotypes about gender differences are a barrier to equality e.g. reject the idea that ideological differences make women less rational than men. To achieve gender equality, we must change socialisation patterns i.e. promoting appropriate role models in areas of social life (e.g. males taking responsibility for domestic work or female teachers in traditional male subjects). Reject Functionalists ideas about division of labour roles
- 6Overall view of Liberal Feminists?It is an optimistic branch of Feminism which believes that a) changes in socialisation and culture ARE gradually leading to change and over ignorance AND b) political action is steadily bringing about progress to fairer society.
- 7What are Marxist Feminists ideas?Women's subordination is rooted in capitalism - results from their roles of unpaid homemaker which places them in a dependent economic position.
- 8Marxists Feminists ... Their subordination performs a number of important functions for capitalism :- Source of cheap, exploited labour
- Reserve army of labour
- Reproduce the labour force
- Women absorb anger - 9Marxist Feminists What do they mean by both 'Source of cheap, exploitable behaviour' (1) and 'Reserve army of labour' (2)1. Women are paid less as employers assume that they are dependent on their husbands' income
2. Women are treated as marginal workers (i.e. used during economic booms and out again in times of recession) as it is assumed their primary role is in the home - 10Marxist Feminists What do they mean by both 'Reproduce the labour force' (3) and 'Women absorb anger' (4) ?3. By nurturing and socialising the next generation of workers (children) and servicing and maintaining the current generation (husbands)
4. Ansley (1972) describes women as 'takers of shit' who soak up the frustration their husbands feel because of alienation they suffer at work - 11Marxist Feminists What does Barrett (1980) say about 'familism' in women's oppression?Barrett focuses on the role of ideology of 'familism' in maintaining women's oppression - the idea that the nuclear family and the sexual division of labour is presented as the 'norm' and that women can only attain fulfilment through motherhood and intimacy. We must overthrow this ideology and women's acceptance of oppressive family roles
- 12Dual system theorists (Marxist and Radical Feminists perspectives) what are their views together?They argue that patriarchal capitalism exists where domestic work limits women's availability for work - but the lack of work opportunities drives many women into marriage and economic dependence. The two systems (views) reinforce eachother
- 13What are Radical Feminists key views?They believe patriarchy is universal and is the most fundamental form of inequality and conflict (men are women's enemy), all men oppress all women (especially in terms of their unpaid domestic labour and sexual services). They see the personal as political - all relationships involve power. Domination of women through fear, threat or sexual/physical violence has the effect on controlling women. They also believe that women should share their experiences to raise consciousnesses and lead to collective action
- 14Radical Feminists What does Rich (1992) say about heterosexuality?Rich argues that men force women into a narrow and unsatisfying 'compulsory heterosexuality' - patriarchy constructs sexuality so as to satisfy men's desires (e.g. pornography)
- 15What do Radical Feminists say about heterosexual relationships and what do they advocate? (Greer)Heterosexual relationships are oppressive as they involve 'sleeping with the enemy' therefore advocate political lesbianism. They also advocate 'separatism' in order for women to be free of oppression - living apart from men, creating a new culture of independence E.g. Greer argues for the creation of all - female or 'matrilocal' housholds
- 16What are Difference (Postmodern) Feminists key ideas?They do not see women as one homogenous group - different women have different experiences of patriarchy, racism, capitalism, homophobia etc.
Other branches of Feminist theory are essentialist (they see all women as the same). They fail to reflect the diversity of women's experiences and they exclude other women and their problems - tend to focus on white, Western, heterosexual, middle class women
Different discourses give rise to different forms of oppression therefore Feminism should aim to de-construct different discourses to reveal how they subordinate women - 17Difference Feminists What does Butler (1992) say?Butler argues that there is no fixed entity called 'womanhood' that is the same everywhere as identities are constructed through different discourses e.g. religion, media, advertising, consumerism, education etc.
- 18EVALUATION Feminism has wider theoretical appeal. They think in a similar way to ...... Marxists as they recognise the structures in society. Feminism is also based on the idea of conflict, emphasising the conflicts between men and women.
- 19EVALUATION Feminism does not just have one theory but has a number of branches, all of which have particular strengths. For example,Marxist feminism illustrates the links between social class and gender. Radical feminism exposes the exploitation of women through patriarchy and has had a major influence on the emancipation of women. There is slightly less reductionist than other theorists
- 20EVALUATION As feminisim follows Interpretivist methodology...... their empirical findings are high in validity. For example, Dobash and Dobash's research into domestic violence used unstructured interviews and gave a valid insight into experiences of abused women
- 21EVALUATION Feminism has been criticised for being ideological and bias...... By focusing on patriarchy feminists ignore the fact that these days men are also used for domestic labour and that women are becoming increasingly independent
- 22EVALUATION Early feminist theories can be criticised as they only offer a partial explanation of...... women's experiences in modern societies. This is because they only focus on the dynamic of gender and ignoring other important social dimensions such as class and ethnicity
- 23EVALUATION Feminist methodology has been criticised for being low in reliability...... This is because it it grounded in small scale, qualitative, and subjective approach , making the results of their other studies difficult to generalise to all other women
- 24EVALUATION Why have Liberal Feminists been criticised?They have been criticised for being over-optimistic. They see the obstacles to emancipation as simply the prejudices of individuals or irrational laws that can be generally reformed. They ignore the possibility there is a deep seated structures causing women's oppression
- 25EVALUATION Why have Marxist feminists been criticised?They fail to explain women's subordination in non-capitalist societies. As it is found in non-capitalist societies, it cannot explain solely in terms of the needs of capitalism. (however, in their defence, Marxist feminists are only seeking to explain the position of women in comptemporary society). Doesn't explain why women and not men perform domestic labour
- 26EVALUATION Why have Radical Feminists been criticised?They assume that all women are in the same position and ignores class, ethnic differences etc. between women. E.g. Middle-class women have more in common with a middle-class men then with working class women. Sommerville argues that separation in unlikely to be achievable as heterosexual attraction makes it unlikely that nuclear households will be replaced by single sex households
- 27EVALUATION How have Difference Feminists been criticised?They are so focused on differences between women that they fail to recognise similarities. This in turn may divide women into subgroups thereby weakening Feminism as a movement
- 28Feminism LINKED TO RESEARCH METHODSAlthough feminism offers structural/positivist thinking - e.g. how structures shape and determine women's lives (theory), they favour an action based/interpretivist methodology. For instance, they use informal interviews to understand the true feelings of women
- 29IN CONCLUSION, although feminists provide a useful insight into the workings of society that theory is ideological driven. Therefore,the theory is reductionist as it fails to take into account competing theoretical ideas. Postmodernists are critical of the feminist meta-narrative as they claim to have a 'totalising' (all encompassing) theory of society. Postmodernists maintain that rival narratives should be considered for a full account of social life. It is interesting to recognise the emerging branches of feminism for example, 'Eco-feminists' that reflect changes to society
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- A-level (Paper 1 and 3 - Research Methods and Theory) Sociology Fichas sobre Feminism, creado por Catherine Rayner el 09/03/2018.
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- Catherine Rayner
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