FEMINIST THEORIES

FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES è OFFER VARIOUS, SOMETIMES COMPETING,

“SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST” EXPLANATIONS FOR THE PERVASIVENESS
OF RELATIONSHIPS OF DOMINATION AND SUBORDINATION BETWEEN
MEN AND WOMEN è AND FOR A RANGE OF UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT
THE CHANGES REQUIRED TO REDRESS EXPLOITATIVE AND OPPRESSIVE
RELATIONSHIPS.

LIBERAL FEMINISTS

1) MAIN SOURCE OF GENDER INEQUALITY IS THE "PROCESS OF

SOCIALIZATION" (LEARNING PROCESS BY WHICH YOU ACQUIRE THE
KNOWLEDGE, SKILL, AND MOTIVATIONS REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE IN
SOCIAL LIFE).

2) THE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT SHAPED WOMEN’S LIVES WERE THE

LAWS AND PREJUDICES (SHARED BY MEN AND WOMEN) THAT EXCLUDED
THEM FROM THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND FROM THE RIGHT TO EARN THEIR
OWN LIVING ON AN EQUAL FOOTING WITH MEN.

3) WOMEN STRUGGLED FOR THE RIGHT TO HIGHER EDUCATION,

ENTRANCE INTO THE PROFESSIONS, THE RIGHT TO OWN PROPERTY AND
HOLD PUBLIC OFFICE, AND FOR SUFFRAGE, THE RIGHT THAT CAME TO
SYMBOLIZE FULL CITIZENSHIP.

4) THE SOLUTION: – EDUCATION = REMOVE INDIVIDUAL IGNORANCE.

THEREFORE, THESE LAWS AND THE PREJUDICES THAT UNDERWROTE
THEM WOULD GRADUALLY BE REPLACED BY EXTENDING EQUALITY OF
OPPORTUNITY TO WOMEN.

SOCIALIST FEMINISM:

1) OPPRESSIVE RELATIONS BETWEEN THE SEXES ARE NOT SIMPLY

DERIVATIVE OF CLASS. THE INTERCONNECTIONS BETWEEN SEX
OPPRESSION AND CLASS EXPLOITATION HAVE (HAD)TO BE ADDRESSED.
2) A. FOCUSED ON THE LABOUR DONE BY WOMEN IN THE
HOUSEHOLD—CALLED DOMESTIC LABOUR—HELPS TO SUSTAIN THE
CAPITALIST SYSTEM.
(A) REARING CHILDREN;
(B) SUSTAINING HUSBANDS.

RESULT: BOTH CAPITALISTS AND INDIVIDUAL MEN BENEFIT FROM THE

UNPAID AND PERSONAL SERVICE OF WOMEN IN THE HOME.

3) SOME SOCIALIST FEMINISTS ANALYZED THE INTERCONNECTIONS

BETWEEN THE PUBLIC SPHERE OF CAPITALIST AND STATE RELATIONS
AND THE PRIVATE SPHERE OF THE FAMILY/ HOUSEHOLD.

(A) CAPITALISM DONE AT FRACTION OF THE COST;

(B) THE APPEARANCE OF THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN PRIVATE AND
PUBLIC SUSTAINS THE UNEQUAL RELATIONS BETWEEN MEN AND
WOMEN THROUGHOUT SOCIETY.

4) THE SOLUTION: OVERCOME THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC

SPLIT è FAMILY WAGE; DENIAL OF EDUCATION; NO SOCIAL SUPPORTS
FOR CHILD CARE.

RADICAL FEMINIST

1) GENDER INEQUALITY IS ROOTED IN THE MATERIAL CONDITIONS OF

MEN AND WOMEN. THE BIOLOGICAL FAMILY IS AN INHERENTLY
UNEQUAL POWER DISTRIBUTION.

LIKE MARXISM WHICH CONTENDS: MONOGAMY WAS THE FIRES FORM

OF THE FAMILY TO BE BASED NOT ON NATURAL CONDITIONS BUT ON
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS: THE EXCLUSIVE AIMS OF MONOGAMOUS
MARRIAGE WERE TO MAKE THE MAN SUPREME IN THE FAMILY AND TO
PROPAGATE, AS THE FUTURE HEIRS TO HIS WEALTH, CHILDREN
INDISPUTABLY HIS OWN.

2) THE SOLE PURPOSE OF MONOGAMOUS MARRIAGE IS TO

SUBJUGATE THE FEMALE SEX TO THE MALE è THEY LOCATE MEN’S
POWER OVER WOMEN IN THEIR ABILITY TO CONTROL WOMEN SEXUALLY
AND TO DEVELOP THE INSTITUTIONS THAT ENSURE CONTINUING
CONTROL.

WESTERN SOCIETIES ARE A FORM OF PATRIARCHY -- RULE OF MEN, MEN

ARE THE MAIN BENEFICIARIES OF THESE SOCIETIES è IN A WORLD OF
UNEQUAL POWER RELATIONS BETWEEN MEN AND
WOMEN, COMPULSORY HETEROSEXUALITY ENSURES NOT ONLY
WOMEN’S SEXUAL DEPENDENCE UPON MEN BUT ALSO THEIR
ECONOMIC, SOCIAL, AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DEPENDENCE.

3) THE SOLUTION: THE ELIMINATION OF MEN AND THE TRADITIONAL

FAMILY FROM WOMEN'S LIVES -- "COMPULSORY HETEROSEXUALITY" IS
THE KEY WAY WOMEN ARE SUBORDINATED AND ENSLAVED IN THIS
SOCIETY èWOMEN SHOULD BUILD THEIR OWN INSTITUTIONS FROM
HEALTH CLINICS AND WOMEN'S SHELTERS TO SMALL BUSINESSES, ART
GALLERIES ETC.

[[[FLERAS: PP.132 "SOCIAL PROBLEMS" == LIBERAL FEMINISM (LEVELING

THE PLAYING FIELD -- REMOVING DISCRIMINATORY BARRIERS)
== MARXIST FEMINISM (WORKERS (WOMEN AND MEN) OF THE WORLD
UNITE -- RESTRUCTURE SOCIETY TO ELIMINATE PRIVATE PROPERTY AT
THE BASE OF EXPLOITATION) == RADICAL FEMINISM (HEY, HO,
PATRIARCHY HAS TO GO -- ELIMINATE PATRIARCHY AND THE NUCLEAR
FAMILY THAT SUPPORTS IT) == CULTURAL FEMINISM (CELEBRATE AND
POLITICIZE WOMEN AS DIFFERENT AND VALUABLE) == RAINBOW
FEMINISM (COATS OF MANY COLOURS -- WHITE FEMINIST AND FEMINIST
OF COLOUR HAVE DIFFERENT AGENDAS WHERE ADDITIONAL PRESSURES
RELATED TO RACISM AND ETHNICITY ARE SUPERIMPOSED ON AND
INTERSECT GENDER AND CLASS, AMPLIFYING INEQUALITY)
== CONSERVATIVE FEMINISM (THE GOOD OLD DAYS -- ESPOUSES A VIEW
OF EQUALITY THAT ACKNOWLEDGES WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL,
MATERNAL, DOMESTIC ROLES TO CURE THE BREAKDOWN IN THE FABRIC
OF SOCIETY)]].

SUPPLEMENTAL:

A) THIRD WAVE FEMINISM è THIRD WAVE FEMINISTS USE “MEDIA AS

A TOOL OF RESISTANCE.”è RIOT GIRRLS AND ZINESè NEW FORMS OF
MEDIA TO DISSEMINATE AND CIRCULATE KNOWLEDGE PERTAINING TO
JUSTICE FOR WOMEN – TAKING PLACE WITHIN AN UNDERGROUND
CULTURE. }

B) BLACK FEMINISM è BLACK FEMINIST THEORY HAS ARGUED THAT

BLACK WOMEN ARE POSITIONED WITH IN STRUCTURES OF POWER IN
FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT WAYS THAN WHITE WOMEN

[ASIDE/ ALL IN ALL: è BLACK FEMINISM/ EVOLVED PARALELL AND

DIFFERENT FROM WHITE FEMINISM è SOJOURNER TRUTH, HARRIET
TUBMAN, FRANCES E. W. HARPER, IDA B. WELLES BARNETT AND MARY
CHURCH TERRELL, PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF
COLORED WOMEN FOUNDED IN 1896 è CANDADA – MARY ANN
SHADD {THE PROVINCIAL FREEMAN} / VIOLA DESMOND {THE NEW
GLASGOW REVOLT}è BLACK FEMINIST THEORY HAS ARGUED THAT BLACK
WOMEN ARE POSITIONED WITH IN STRUCTURES OF POWER IN
FUNDAMENTALLY DIFFERENT WAYS THAN WHITE WOMEN.

SEE THEMSELVES AS HAVING STRUGGLED FOR RECOGNITION, NOT ONLY

FROM MEN IN THEIR OWN CULTURE, BUT ALSO FROM WESTERN
FEMINISTS.

THREE FUNDAMENTAL PROPOSITIONS:

1) BLACK FEMINIST THEORY HAS ARGUED THAT BLACK WOMEN ARE

POSITIONED WITH IN STRUCTURES OF POWER IN FUNDAMENTALLY
DIFFERENT WAYS THAN WHITE WOMEN

2) SEE THEMSELVES AS HAVING STRUGGLED FOR RECOGNITION, NOT

ONLY FROM MEN IN THEIR OWN CULTURE, BUT ALSO FROM WESTERN
FEMINISTS.

3) [UPSHOT] BLACK FEMINISTS CONTEND THAT THE LIBERATION OF

BLACK WOMEN ENTAILS FREEDOM FOR ALL PEOPLE, SINCE IT WOULD
REQUIRE THE END OF RACISM, SEXISM, AND CLASS OPPRESSION.

THESIS: BLACK FEMINISM ARGUES THAT SEXISM, CLASS OPPRESSION,

AND RACISM ARE INEXTRICABLY BOUND TOGETHER è
ASIDE: THERE IS A LONG-STANDING AND IMPORTANT
ALLIANCE BETWEEN POSTCOLONIAL FEMINISTS, WHICH OVERLAPS
WITH TRANSNATIONAL FEMINISM AND THIRD-WORLD FEMINISM,
AND BLACK FEMINISTS è BOTH [OR ALL] SEE THEMSELVES AS HAVING
STRUGGLED FOR RECOGNITION, NOT ONLY FROM MEN IN THEIR OWN
CULTURE, BUT ALSO FROM WESTERN FEMINISTS [AND THEIR
‘COMFORTABLE CONCENTRATION CAMPS’].

INTERSECTIONALITY [?]è THE NECESSITY OF A METHODOLOGY

OF STUDYING THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS OF
OPPRESSION è SUCH AS GENDER, RACE, CLASS, ABILITY, SEXUAL
ORIENTATION, AND OTHER AXES OF IDENTITY INTERACT ON MULTIPLE
AND OFTEN SIMULTANEOUS LEVELS, CONTRIBUTING TO SYSTEMATIC
SOCIAL INEQUALITY. INTERSECTIONALITY HOLDS THAT THE CLASSICAL
CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF OPPRESSION WITHIN SOCIETY, SUCH
AS RACISM, SEXISM, HOMOPHOBIA, AND RELIGION-BASED BIGOTRY,
DO NOT ACT INDEPENDENTLY OF ONE ANOTHER; INSTEAD, THESE
FORMS OF OPPRESSION INTERRELATE, CREATING A SYSTEM OF
OPPRESSION THAT REFLECTS THE "INTERSECTION" OF MULTIPLE FORMS
OF DISCRIMINATION.