Feminism Perspective

What is feminism? No one all encompassing definition Gender seen as a crucial determining factor in our social experience Women and men were seen as fundamentally different and these ‘natural differences could not be altered’.

What is feminism? Feminism may be seen as the greatest social force in the 20th Century, but it can be traced back to earlier times. Common for feminism to be divided into 3 waves Seen as encompassing different periods of time, seeking different agendas and utilizing different strategies (Calaghan and Lazard (2011p 87)

1st Wave, Term coined retrospectively after 2nd Wave was in common usage Activity at beginning of 19th Century and into 1st few decades of 20th Century. Existed across Europe, North America, Australia, NZ, India, China Iran and many more. In Western societies focused on suffrage, women’s rights to own property and have control over their children

2nd Wave Activities beginning in the 1906s – 1980s Focus - economic equality & to equality of treatment in the workplace and society Some major campaigns – equal pay, equal opportunities in work and education, legal abortion and later against male violence

3rd Wave 1990s post structuralist ideas – such as sex and gender, transgender politics and antiracist Celebrates women’s abilities, allows women to seek to be feminine if they chose to express themselves politically, culturally, sexually, diversity.

3rd Wave Criticism – absence of single cause however the other waves were not unicausal Feminism for those who have grown up with feminism, who may not realise the benefits they enjoy from the struggles of earlier waves.

5 Strands of feminism Liberal feminism Radical feminism Marxist/socialist feminism Black feminism Postmodern feminism Not all feminists fit into one category Each strand outlines key tendencies but there are many perspectives

Postmodernism A body of thought that suggests that it is misleading to make universal claims about the world. Or to try to find one truth or explanation about complex social relations.

Feminism You Tube Feminism 1 Feminism 2

Liberal feminism Argue that the treatment of women in society violates justice, rationality, citizenship, human rights, equality, and democracy Much of the discrimination is informal and based on custom, sexist assumptions and prejudices – product of gender conditioning

Liberal feminism Advocate political action and reform – formal legislative changes and educational strategies to challenge stereotypes and prejudices Need for economic changes to bring about equality – child care costs and refuges for those who experience domestic violence Need for positive role models ? Influence of celebrity culture?

Liberal feminism Criticisms theory ethnocentric no real change to the large majority of women despite some reform Changes to women but on male terms Margaret Thatcher adopted a traditional masculine style? Glass ceiling Systemic nature of oppression in society not acknowledged show only a partial picture ??

Radical feminism Associated with women’s liberation movement 1960s Argued the gender equality is a form of social inequality Millett (19700 cited in Callaghan and Lazard 2011)argued that society is patriarchal

Patriarchal The rule of men over women and of older men over younger men Concept provides an insight into many aspects of women’s lives

Radical feminism Criticisms Some argue that identifying men as oppressors and women as exploited is misguided Others argue that putting women as a universal group masks women’s varied and complex social reality

Marxist feminism Marxist theory has a strong emphasis on economic determinants of social relationships and the links of social class to inequality Oppression of women linked to capitalist order Feminist theory - challenges the invisibility of gender in sociological theory

Marxist feminism Criticism No account of female oppression before capitalism In class struggles women often found themselves in a secondary role, with little change in relations between male and female

Socialist feminism Argue women’s oppression product of economic needs of capitalism and patriarchal gender theory which existed before capitalism Family – household system controls women’s access to paid employment Cost of childcare?

Black feminism Ethnocentric key issues focus on white feminism