feminism

source of womens opression:

-the differences in the roles of men and women

• women = expressive role = roles performed in the private sphere, for example household labour and caring for family members 
• men = instrumental role = roles perfromed in the public sphere, for example paid work and decision making 

often the womens role is much more emotional, empathetic and involves attachment.

discrimination prevents women from having equal oppurtunities in society. 

solution to womens oprresion:

changes in socialisation and culture in order to overcome ignorance and prejudice

political action involving anti-discrimination laws and policies 

the creation of equal oppurtunities for women

liberal feminsits are less critical of society and see female disadvantage as a result of historical ideas and gender socialisation.

they focus more on the changes taking place in the roles of women and will also point to the fact that traditional masculine roles can be restricitive for men.

liberal feminism is the most significant in the main strands of feminism

source of womens opression:

cheap exploitable labour; they can be paid less as employes presume they will be looked after by a husbands earnings.

reserve army of labour; they can be moved in and out of the labour force during times of recession and boom

reproduction of labour force; through unpaid domestic labour they socialise children into the next generation of exploited female workers 

women absorb anger; Ansley (1972) describes wives as "takers of ****" as they soak up the anger of their husbands exploitation 

• capitalism is the principle source of womens opression 

solution to womens opression:

the overthrow of capitalism so society is communist is needed to secure womens liberation

Marxists feminsits point to the correction between masculinity and the controll of economic resources

They see the organisation of the economy as the cause of female disadvantage 

Marxist feminists argue that working-class women are exploited by both patriarchy and capitalism. Most feminists think that gender is the most important division/conflict in society, but Marxist feminists see social class as being of equal importance.

source of womens opression:

men dominate women 

patriarchy is universal; male domination is in all known societys 

patricarchy is primary; it is the most fundamental form of inequality and conflict, men are a womans worst enemy 

all men opress women; all men benefit from pratriarchy,women do domestic chores and provide children. 

solution to womens opression; 

separartism - women live apart from men to create female independance 

conciousness raising - experience sharing women groups that will lead to collective action 

political lesbianism - 'dont sleep with the enemy' the only non opressive form of sexuality

radical feminists say that female disadvantage suits the interests of men as men do not want to give up their power and advantages, so they maintain a society that gives inferior status to women and defines femininty as weak and trivial.Radical

feminists firmly believe that we must transform the entire basis of society towards a celebration of feminine values and virtues.

"free women from the shackles of patriarchy" Andrea Dworkin

radical feminists have no specific role for men whatsoever 

radical feminism has recently been founded because in the past women were unable to attend universitys to become researchers and challenge the male veiw of the world.

radical feminists are more militant in their approach to takling opression

source of womens oppression:

postmodern feminsits agree with other feminists that gender is a very important identity and that women are often subject to discrimination 

however they argue that any single feminist perspective is an attempt of domination as it would exclude many different groups of women 

solution to womens oppression:

rather than rejecting steryotypical aspects of the female gender identity, they often embrace their feminity as a positive identity. 

postmodern feminism describes a range of view points reacting to feminism, whilst not being agaisnt feminsim they beleive that women have acheive second wave goals. 

the term was first used in the 1980s to describe a backlash against second wave feminsim 

Certain postmodern feminsits argue that feminism is no longer relevant in todays society as the first goals of feminism have already been acheived

source of womens opression:

white middle class feminists do not reflect the most pressing needs of ethnic minorities. white feminist campaigns are given focus and attention by the media but no other minorities are.

solution to womens opression 

no solution from any single form of feminism. 

black women should not be seen as hopeless victims as many have overcome opression not suffered by middle class women

there needs to be more focus on sociolgists of ethnicity.

Black feminism, also known as difference feminism is a perspective that sees how women are oppressed by the patriarchy but also by both capitalism and racism. They argue that minority-ethnic, working-class women are the most discriminated against people in society.