Feminism

Intro Questions Would you describe yourself as a boy/man or girl/woman? On what did you base your answer? Write down of a list of words you would associate with a woman you thought was feminine’. Write down a list of words you would associate with a man you thought was ‘masculine’. Write down a list of words you would associate with a woman you thought was ‘masculine’. Write down a list of words you would associate with a man you thought was ‘feminine’. Write down a list of words you could associate with either men or women. What do you notice about the words that describe feminine women and masculine men? What do you notice about the words that describe masculine women and feminine men? What do you notice about the words that describe both men and women? How do we learn to use the words identified above, and where do they come from? Look at the words you have identified in Questions 3 and 4. What influence do you think they may have on the way men and women behave? Look at the words you have identified in Questions 5 and 6. Why do you think we use such words and what effect do you think they have on the person they are describing?

Sex and Gender Sex = Man/Woman and Male/Female The difference between sex and gender is essential to the study of feminism (and society in general) Sex is biologically determined whereas gender is made by society Sex = Man/Woman and Male/Female To do with the XX or XY chromosomes Gender = Masculine/Feminine To do with how we are socialised in families and peer groups

Malestream Sociology This is a play on the word mainstream you see – feminist sociologists arguing that sociologists in the past – like Durkheim, Marx, Weber have only focused on men. Even when all male samples are used, the results are generalized to apply to all people Areas of life that concern women are belittled and seen as less important culturally than male domains, and so are not studied When women are studied, they are represented in a sexist way

Ann Oakley Through a historical study of other cultures, Ann Oakley pointed out that in different societies men and women carry out different roles. Patriarchal power within capitalism provides a justification for women to be enslaved domestically – and think that this is natural

Oakley – how the process of socialisation creates gender The child’s self concept is affected by manipulation. For example, mothers tend to pay more attention to girls’ hair and dress them in “feminine” clothes. Differences are achieved through canalization involving the direction of girls and boys towards different objects. This is particularly obvious in the provision of toys that encourage girls to rehearse their particular social roles as mothers and housewives. Girls are given dolls and mini domestic appliances. Things to dress up, put make up on etc.

The media helps to reinforce the traditional roles of men and women. Verbal appellation – this means saying stuff like “good girl”, and “naughty boy” – showing attention to gender and encouraging to identify with, and imitate adults of the same gender. Different activities – Girls are encouraged to become involved in domestic tasks. The media helps to reinforce the traditional roles of men and women.

Radical Feminism views all forms of social arrangement that have hitherto existed as patriarchal because men have always dominated women due to the twin threats of violence and rape. They consider men to be the enemy of women and advocate the overthrow of male power as the only route out of patriarchy. Some radical feminists advocate the overthrow of heterosexual relationships and in particular marriage since they view both as opportunities for men to dominate, oppress and exploit women. Others argue that female emancipation can be achieved technologically through artificial insemination of males, thereby freeing women from sole responsibility from childbearing.

Liberal Feminism is often referred to as ‘equal opportunities’ feminism and focuses on changing attitudes, policy and law. The Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts in the 1970s in Britain may be viewed as successes for this type of feminism. Generally feminists from this tradition campaign for equal rights and do not advocate more radical structural change

Marxist Feminism views capitalist class relationships as the main cause of female oppression, exploitation and discrimination. Women and men are socialised into unequal power relationships in the workplace and this carries on into the home. The labour market is supported by the family structures found in capitalist countries. Women provide unpaid domestic labour and bear overall responsibility for child rearing, which ultimately suits employers as it removes from them the economic burden of doing so. Since Marxist feminists consider capitalist societies to be male dominated, ie. patriarchal, they advocate the overthrow of capitalist relations of production and their replacement by socialism, which they claim would be free of gender, class and ethnic discrimination.

Strengths of feminism Enabled women to write about women Gave women a voice Raised awareness of gender issues Balanced perspectives by seeing things from a women’s point of view Enabled women to write about women

Weaknesses May overlook the oppression and exploitation of (some) men May be ignoring wider factors such as class Ignores other social categories such as ethnicity May overlook the oppression and exploitation of (some) men