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Structural conflict: feminism - Coggle Diagram
Structural conflict: feminism
Waves of feminism
Second wave (1960s - 70s) - concerned with the radical transformation of society to overcome patriarchy, burning bras in the street to fight for equal pay, abortion, divorce
Third wave (mid 1990s - present day) - more focused on individual identity rather than laws, and the differing experiences of women, diverse forms rather than general
First wave (early 1900s - late 1920s) - creating equality between men and women, where women rought for the right to vote, own property, wear trousers
Fourth wave (present day) - uniting and empowering women through common cause, protests taking place over the internet
Challenge to malestream sociology
Sociology pre 1970s was mainstream
Women were marginalised from sociological research
Heidensohn (1970s) - feminism rose to challenge malestream sociology, female criminality / domestic labour / domestic violence
Patriarchal society
Walby
Private - in the home, domination of men in the household through decision making, male violence, money management
Public - patriarchy women experience in society, eg. male violence, workplace
Radical feminist but believes there has been improvement in private patriarchy
AO2
At the summit, politicians and policy experts were discussing issues such as leadership, legislattion, and policies that work for women, in areas including peace and security
Around the world, women are closing the gender gap in areas such as health and education, but significant gender inequality persists in politics
Women political leaders summit - only 23% of the world's politicians are women (34% of MPs in the UK)
Walby - society is patriarchal through housework, state, violence, cultural institutions, sexuality (patriarchal male gaze)
Patriarchy - a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women
Liberal feminism
Friedan - lack of opportunities due to gender socialisation, expectations, gender roles, learning what 'femininity' and 'masculinity' actually look like is still an issue
Solution - remove gender socialisation, positive female role models in schools and in the home, changing expectations around gender
Lack of female role models, canalisation, manipulation
Analysis (AO3)
'The boy in the dress' - against stereotype
Equal Pay Act brings more opportunities in the workplace, sex discrimination, Divorce, Dissolution, and Dissolution, Marital Rape Act
Socially constructed through socialisation, as inequality is taught (eg. sexist stereotyping in expectations / books
Sommerville - March of Progress, where laws have changed to help position, workplace is more open to women
Argue that smaller changes in the position of women in society would lead to equality between the sexes
Sharpe - interviews about girls' ambitions, finding at it changed from love, marriage, husbands,and careers, to independence
Developed out of second wave feminism, seeking reform rather than revolution
Criticises usefulness of the witness of them, changing the role of women in society, women are more involved in the workplace, politics, decision making
Analysis (AO3)
Men are becoming more uncertain in their role / point of them being there
Rise of the metrosexual man, an urban male, taking great care in their appearance, lifestyle, removal from traditional male role
Faludi - crisis of masculinity
Evaluation (AO3)
Overly optimistic as there is still progress to be made
Not going against patriarchy itself, and it is not providing a solution to the overall structure
Equal Pay Act, Sex Discrimination Act, Marital Rape Act, Divorce, Dissolution, and Separation, Divorce Reform Act
Eurocentric view - not happening worldwide
Led to policy changes and March of Progress
Radical feminism
Particularly associated with certain writers from second wave feminism
AO2
Levy - Raunch culture
Levy attacks the increasingly sexualised culture that objectifies women
Women are showing their sexuality in many more aspects in society
For example, music, films, TV shows, adverts, clothing
More women see sex as their only source of power
Firestone and Ortner
Because of this, women have to be dependent on men
Every man benefits from patriarchy - women's unpaid labour, childbearing / childrearing
Stems of women's biological capacity to have children 'pregnancy disables women'
Men are the enemy
Patriarchy is universal
Personal is political - stems from sexual relationships, and power relationships created a sexual politics where women are seen as inferior
AO2
Created for male pleasure
Goes against reproductive purpose, for men's benefit
Sexuality is a social construct
Rich - women in pornography are used as passive sex objects
Penetration is used for male pleasure and forces women into unsatisfying heterosexual relationships
Brownmiller - 'the fear of rape is a powerful deterrent against women to be out alone at night', as physical power leads to the control of women in society
Solutions
Consciousness arising - highlighitng the shared experiences of women, slut marches, where women wear what they want without wanting to have sex, me too movement
Political lesbianism - sleeping with the man is sleeping with the enemy, and the only non oppressive form of a relationship is with other women
Greer - advocate separatism, where there are matrifocal and matrilocal families (female dominated and near mother's family)
Women having control over their reproduction - Firestone argued that contraception was a step towards greater gender equality, as it gave women more control over when they got pregnant
However, it doesn't give women complete control as for full equality, there needs to be an artificial womb so they aren't disabled by pregnancy for 9 months
Evaluation (AO3)
Difference feminists - ethnocentric as it ignores EMs
Marxist feminists - class affects equality of women, as a lesbian M/C is higher than a lesbian W/C, despite neither being men
Sommerville - political lesbianism is impossible due to heterosexual attraction and removes women's choice by forcing their attraction
Liberal feminism - overexaggerates extent of oppression faced by women, as there is a march of progress towards gender equality, and radical feminist solutions are impractical
Ignores violence against men and female on female violence, and not all men benefit from patriarchy and women's labour
Pollert - patriarchy is a circular argument, as it is both the cause and outcome of oppression, reinforcing itself without explaining what caused the structure of patriarchy
Marxist feminism
Smith - women are used to reproduce the labour force
Ansley - women act as a safety valve 'women are takers of shit'
Benston - women are the reserve army of labour
Barrett
Bourgeoisie promote traditional and ideological family, so women still see the family as a way of success
Success is measured through motherhood and relationships rather than work / religion
False consciousness
Women still choose to get married and have children despite awareness that this oppresses them
Ideology of familialism
Delphy ad Leonard - women are a source of cheap and exploitative labour
Mitchell
This is because unequal labour continues to oppress women
Ideas around femininity are so deeply rooted in capitalist society that women cannot escape patriarchy without abolishing capitalism
Abolishing capitalism will liberate women
Women's subordination comes because of capitalism as they take on the home duties that are unpaid for the interest of capitalism
Evaluation (AO3)
Hartmann - 'sex blind'
Gives priority to capitalism rather than actually helping the position of women
Removal of capitalism would benefit W/C white men more than do anything for women
Women are still victims of patriarchy, for example at home
The relationship between Marxism and Feminism is such that it always gives priority to Marxism
Society can be 'sex blind'
Hartmann - dual system feminism
One does not cause the other
Capitalism doesn't cause patriarchy, and patriarchy doesn't cause capitalism
Patriarchy and capitalism are intertwined and not standing alone
Does not explain women's subordination in non capitalist societies or societies where there is capitalism
Walby - to truly understand female oppression, both capitalism and patriarchy needs to be researched together, for example how domestic division and paid work are linked to each other
They are able to link both class and gender inequality
Reject the notion of gender equality by liberal feminism and also say that patriarchy is not due to sexual exploitation like radical feminists, but rather capitalism
Difference feminism
Traditional feminism is ethnocentric - claims to address issues about women in general but it is only focusing on experiences of white women in the Western world
False universality - not a shared experience for all women
Do not see all women as a single homogenous group - women of EM backgrounds, transgender, homosexual all have different experiences
Intersectionality
Each woman has different experiences of oppression based on their characteristics
Critiques traditional feminists for being ethnocentric - doesn't take into account different experiences of women
AO2
Family may be racially oppressive
Dallas and Sapsford - family is a safety net against racist society
Black feminism
Mirza
Difference feminism is required to highlight and challenge distorted assumptions that black women are passive to racism, patriarchy, and class inequality
Provides a voice for women who haven't been heard even within feminism
Black feminist
Evaluation (AO3)
Glass ceiling and concrete ceiling - not in the conversation of work as they have the barriers of both sexism and racism
Reuther - white women have claimed a false universal womanhood
White women are most likely to benefit from policy changes, for example Equal Pay Act
Walby - women's experiences may differ, but argues that it takes away from the shared experiences of patriarchy that all women face, disuniting women and making feminism weaker
Essentialists of feminism - the idea that all women share the same experienceS
so people have different ways of interpretting the same thing for example the tube / train system in london - londoners understand how it works and can do everything quickly, but tourists will struggle and might take long to figure it out - different reaction / interpretation of the same phenomena (tube being the phenomena)
Post-structuralist feminism
The enlightenment project
For example, religious leaders, male dominated scientific research, male testing rather than both, justification for women being in the home
Allowed white M/C men to gain power in multiple forms and discourses through society
1700s - 1850s - beginning of modernity
Men can dominate because in these areas, they have power through structure and have the knowledge to dictate what happens in them, so can control women
AO2
For example, 'womanhood' in Saudi Arabia is seen through the lens of religion, unlike in the UK, where womanhood is seen through the lens of culture / media / TV / songs
No universal experience of women - different, despite still being legitimate
Patriarchy changes within societies
For example, by defining childbirth as a medical condition, it gives them the power to treat women for something natural and normal
Evaluation (AO3)
Useful at highlighting the different discourses that exist behind the power men have over women
Feminists need to keep their focus on equality
Segal - oppression is not just a discourse, but it is a real inequality
Patriarchy looks different in each one
Multiple discourses where patriarchy is, for example religion, science, medicine
Analysis (AO3)