Feminism

Dr. Ramesh Chandra Sethi

Assistant Professor (Pol. Sc.)
School of Law
KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
• What you will learn out of this lesson-feminism?

What is feminism (all about)?

Origin and development of feminism
Core themes of feminism
Types of feminism
Various tensions (perspectives) within feminism
Feminist discourse in the age of globalization
Any other important issues & challenges
What is feminism (all about)?

•The concept of feminism was started in 18th century or way back as far as the ancient civilizations of Greece,
primarily as a social movement/women’s movement in the western world for the emancipation (free from
legal, social & political restrictions) of women

• Book (1405)“The Treasures of the City of Ladies” by Mediaeval (late 14th & 15th century France, recognized
as the 1st Feminist Philosopher) Italian-French notable women writer Christine de Pizan - advocating women’s
rights to education & political influence

• Women known for their heroism & virtue

• Spoke out against the inferior status of women

• She had challenged the prevailing attitudes

towards women with a bold call for women
education
•The first text of modern feminism was written by Mary Wollstonecraft (1792) - “A
Vindication of the Rights of Women Strictures of Political & Moral Subjects”

• she wrote against the backdrop of the French Revolution

(1789 - 1799) - Women were treated as second-class citizens

• often viewed as the property or a commodity of

a husband, father, or society in general.

• aim was to end the tyrannical oppression forced upon

them by men in their society during that time
•Mid 19th century focused on women’s movement for right to
vote of women (female suffrage) that has been referred to as first
wave of feminism - demand that women should enjoy the same
legal & political rights as men (sexual equality) & all other
forms of sexual discrimination or prejudice would quickly
disappear

•Feminism as a political term was a 20th century invention, but

has been a familiar part of everyday language since the 1960s,
the word “feminist” was used in the 19th century as a medical
term to describe either the feminization of men or the
masculinization of women, in modern era it has been linked with
women’s movement….
• First wave of feminism - Developed in mid 19th century, based
on pursuit of sexual equality in the areas of political & legal
rights, particularly suffrage rights

• Focus on same legal and political rights as men

• Women’s movement in USA during 1840s - campaigns against

abolish slavery

• Seneca Falls Convention - 1848, birth of US women’s right

movement for females suffrage (Declaration of Sentiments
written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton 1815-1902)

• Female suffrage - New Zealand (1893), UK (1918) & USA

(1920)

• It was believed that if women could vote, all other forms of

sexual discrimination or prejudice would quickly disappear
•Second wave of feminism - Developed in 1960s & 1970s, focused on women’s liberation especially private
spheres
•Demanded for social change, social & cultural distinction between males & females, feminism as an ideology,
gender study as an academic discipline

(i) Betty Friedan’s - (The Feminine Mystique, 1963)

•She found some problems of women & called

“the problem with no name” the frustration & unhappiness being
confined to the roles of house wife & mother

Traditional notion about politics: Politics is an activity that takes

place within “public sphere” of govt. institutions, political parties
pressure groups & public debates

Family life & personal relationships are confined within "private

sphere” so..

Family relationship is non-political

(ii) Kate Millett (Sexual Politics, 1970):

She said “politics as a power structured relationships,

arrangements whereby one group of persons is controlled
by another”

Relationship between govt. & its citizens is clearly political, so

as employers & workers within a firm & also relationship in the
family, between husbands & wives & between parents & their children

So, politics exists whenever & wherever social conflict is found.

Therefore, politics an activity that takes place within all social groups &
is not merely confined to the affairs of Govt. or other public bodies.

•Patriarchal Govt. as an institution where “the half of the populace which is female is control by that half of
male”, patriarchy is therefore, a hierarchy society , characterized by both sexual; & generational oppression.

•The sexual divine of labour

•“Public” Man - Politics, education, careers, art & literature

•“Private” Women - Family, caring, child-rearing, domestic work

(iii) Germaine Greer’s - (The Female Eunch, 1970)
•Focused on personal, psychological & sexual aspects
of female oppression.

•Second wave of feminism was not merely

“political emancipation but women’s liberation”.

•The above goal was not achieved by political reforms or legal changes alone but demanded
revolutionary process of social change

•By 1990s, feminism spread all the western countries & added a new chapter to feminism
approach - Radical feminism: elimination of male supremacy in all forms including social
& economic spheres

•Radical feminism - Gender division to be the most politically significant of social

cleavages, & believes that they are rooted in the structure of domestic life
Nibedita Menon (Seeing Like A Feminist, Penguin, UK, 2012),
• Is feminism only about “WOMEN” ?
We have seen that feminism is not, in fact, about “women”
but about recognizing how modern discourse of gender
produce human beings as exclusively “men” or “women”

•Feminism is not even about gender alone,

but about understanding how gender is
complicated by class (as in case of domestic servants);
by caste & by queer politics
(as in the case of gay men & intersex identities)

•Feminism is not about a moment of final triumph over the gradual

transformation of the social field so decisively that old makers shift
forever
Concept of Feminism (Feminist as an ideology)
• Feminist ideology is defined by two basic belief: Women
are disadvantaged because of their sex (can be
overthrown)

• Feminists see as a political relationship between the

genders: the supremacy of men & the subjection of
women in most, gender divisions as political, political
positions (elite position), feminist challenged a
“mobilization of bias” traditional notion within political
thought or political process
Core themes of feminism
The Political - Sexual division of labour (Public-Man), & Private -
Woman

• Patriarchy - Power relationship between men & women

• Sex & Gender - Gender divisions in the society are natural and
women & men merely fulfill the social role

• Equality & Difference - Goal to overthrow of patriarchy & the

ending of sexist oppression

• Sex & Politics - Politics

•
Core themes of feminism:
(i). Redefining the political:
• Radical feminists argue politics take place in everyday life
• Politics within sexual division of labor
(ii). Patriarchy
• Feminists believe gender like a social class, race or religion & a
politically significant social cleavage
• Feminists refers “sexism” as a form of oppression like racism as
racial oppression
• Patriarchy as power relationship
• Patriarchy creates a hierarchical order in the society & oppresses
women as a community
(iii) Sex and Gender
• Sex - refers to biological difference
• Gender - refers to a cultural term (different roles that society ascribes to
men & women)
• Responsibility of child care - cultural than biological activity
(iv) Equality & difference
• Sexual equality
• Legal & political equality
• Radical feminist - Equality in family & personal life
• Pro-women feminism - creativity, caring & sympathy
• Cultural feminism- engaged with women centre culture & life style,
women craft, art, literature, sisterhood - nursing, childbirth, motherhood
Types of feminism:
• Liberal- Demands for equal rights for women & men in public
spheres

• Socialist- Women’s liberation in the process of radical social

change

• Radical - Elimination of male supremacy, gender equality &

revolutionary change

• Postmodern feminism, Black feminism, lesbian feminism & so

on..

• Third wave feminism - Power relationships & deconstruct

gender identities
Types of feminism
(i). Liberal Feminism (LF)
• The idea & values of LF influenced deeply the 1st wave of feminism
led by women’s movement
• Equal rights for women as privileged by men on the ground of
“human beings”-Mary Wollstonecraft (1792)
• Distinction of sex is unimportant in political & social life if someone
gained access to education
• Johan Stuart Mill (On the Subjection of Women, 1869)-Society
should be organized on the principle of reason not by birth of sex
• J.S. Mill said - women are entitled to the rights & liberties enjoyed by
men
 Contd… Liberal Feminism (LF)
2nd wave of feminism:
• Betty Friedan (Feminine Mystique)-it is a cultural myth that women seek
security & fulfillment in domestic life & feminine behavior that discourage
women to enter employment, politics & public life in general

• believe in the principle of individualism (entitled to equal treatment,

regardless of their sex, race, color, & religion)
• to be judged on the rational grounds, their talents & personal worth
• believe in the demand for equal rights, entitled to participate in, or
gain access to, public & political life
• any form of discrimination against women should be prohibited
• female suffrage (right to vote) will provide legal & political rights
• LF is essentially reformist-it seeks to open up public life to equal
completion between women & men, rather than to challenge the
patriarchal structure of society
• Liberal feminists (Lf) do not wish to abolish the distinction
between public & private spheres of life & sexual division of labor
• Lf argue for reforms (Right to Vote, Right to Education, Right to
pursue a Career)
• Lf assume that men & women have different natures &
inclinations
• Lf demand for equal rights that lies at the core of liberal feminism
discourse
• Lf believe emancipation of women for equal rights &
opportunities for women but they ignore for social class & race
• Socialist Feminism (SF)
• Social feminists (Sf) believe in socialist ideas, social structure of society is
solely responsible for inequality between two men & women

• So, there is need of social change through social revolution that will emancipate
women from the rights of legal, social & political restrictions

• Patriarchy (central theme) is understood in the light of social & economic factor
that has been noted in Friedrich Engels (The Origin of family, Private Property
& the State)

• Engels focuses on development of capitalism & institution of pvt. property that

changed the position of women (overthrown the ownership of mother right) &
given ownership of pvt. property to men

• Engels called it “the world historical defeat of the female sex” & the institution
of family oppresses the female group

• The bourgeois family is patriarchal & oppressive & they believe ownership of
purport will be passed to only their sons
 Contd… Social Feminism (SF)
•Most of Sf agree that the confinement of women to s domestic sphere of
housework & motherhood serves the economic interests of capitalism

•Some have argued that women constitute “a reserve army of labor” that can
be recruited into the workforce when there is need to increase production

•Women domestic labor is vital to the health & efficiency of the economy

•Next generation of capitalism’s workers are produced by women by bearing

& rearing the children

•Women allow men to concentrate their time & energy on paid & productive
employment.
• Males are considered the breadwinners of the family & enjoy the high
status within the family.
• Modern Social Feminists (MSF) find difficult to accept the primacy
of class politics over sexual politics
• MSF believe sexual oppression is every bit as important as class
exploitation
• According to M. Juliet (cultural & ideological, 1971), women fulfill 4
social functions:

• 1. they are members of workforce & active in production, 2. they

reproduce human species, 3. responsible for socializing children, 4.
considered as sex objects
Radical Feminism (RS)

• 1960s & 1970s, the group of feminist uncovered the influence of patriarchy not
only politics, public life & economy but in social, personal & sexual existence

• Radical feminists-Eva Figes (Patriarchal Attitudes), Germaine Greer (The Female

Eunuch), Kate Millett (Sexual Politics)

• According to Kate Millett - Patriarchy as a “social constant” running through all

political, social & economic structures & found in every historical &
contemporary society & religion.

• Kate Millett - patriarchy should be challenged through a process of

“consciousness raising” an idea influenced by Black Power movement of 1960s
& early 1970s
What are the central features of Radical Feminism
• Sexual oppression is the most fundamental feature of society &
other forms of social injustice
• Gender is the deepest social cleavage & politically significant
• Raise voice against “patriarchal form of society & sex
oppression”
• Patriarchy is a system of politico-cultural oppression
• How to achieve equality - only possible through sexual revolution
• Women are superior, possessing the qualities of creativity,
sensitivity & caring
• Need of radical transformation of all spheres of life
Third -wave feminism & beyond
• Started in 1990s by a young generation of feminist theorist

• Noticed that 1960s & 1970s women’s movement have seems

limited relevance to the young generations as there is
transformation of social and political life of women during 2nd
wave of feminism

• Overemphasis within earlier form of feminism & given

importance to women belongs to the middle class, white women
in developed societies, low-income women in developing world,
some of color

• Re-emphasized on how racism has been linked with oppression,

highlights gender equality & economic disadvantaged that
confront women of color
 Contd……….Third -wave feminism & beyond

•Focused on the issues of women as their identity

•Focused on post-structuralism of Michel Foucault - power & system

of thought based on the idea of discourse or discourses of power

•New feminism that focuses & addresses on the issues of political,

economic, & social inequalities that are faced by the disadvantaged
women

•Post-feminism activists found “women as victims” but emphasized

the need for women to take a greater responsibility for their own
sexual & personal conduct
Feminism in a global age

•Emphasized on how feminism is a truly global ideology?

•Based on a global orientation: the desire to foster sisterhood

being reflected in the world wide growth of women’s groups
& organizations

•Feminism received the attention worldwide in-Beijing 4th

World Conference on Women that was held between 4-15
Sept, 1995, (189 Governments., 5,000 Representatives, 2,100
NGOs), please read the Beijing Declaration document: Page
No. 1-5 (Annex-1)
Beijing 4th World Conference on Women

Declaration - Determined to advance the goals of equality,

development and peace for all women everywhere in the
interest of all humanity

The equal rights and inherent human dignity of women and

men and other purposes and principles enshrined in the
Charter of the United Nations

To ensure the full implementation of the human rights of

women and of the girl child as an inalienable, integral and
indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental
freedoms;
• Postcolonialist emphasis on cultural rights over women’s
rights amounts to a thinly veiled defense of patriarchy

• Do you think globalization acts as an agent of female

emancipation or its enemy?

• Globalization enhances job opportunities for women but

sometimes it creates problems as you have noticed in some
of the cases either women/girls were victimized with some
form of sexual exploitation/inappropriate behavior by their
Heads of the Companies/Institutions/Organizations
References:
1. Andrea Cornwall & others (eds.), “Feminisms, Contradictions, Contestations &
Challenges in Development”, Zed Books, London & New Work, 2007.

2. Andrew Heywood, “Political Ideologies: An Introduction”, Palgrave Macmillan,

UK, 2014, pp. 226-249.

3. Bell Hooks, “Feminism is for Everybody Passionate Politics”, South End Press,
Cambridge, 2000.

4. Elizabeth Jackson, “Feminism & Contemporary Indian Women’s Writings”,

Palgrave Macmillan, UK, 2010.

5. Gitanjali Gangali , “Indian Feminisms, Law, Patriarchies & Violence in India”,

Ashgate Publishing Company, 2007.

6. Margaret Walters, “Feminism: A Very Short Introduction”, Oxford University Press,

2005.

7. Nibedita Menon, “Seeing Like a Feminist”, Penguin, UK, 2012.