FEMINISM & ITS TYPES

Feminism is a Belief

Definition of Feminism-- It is an awareness of women’s:

 Oppression
 Subordination
 Marginalization
 Discrimination.
 Exploitation in society e.g. family, work…
 Conscious action by women & men to change women’s situation.
Feminism may be understood as:

 Feminism is a belief that women universally face

some form of oppression or exploitation.
 Feminism is a social movement to change the position
of women.
 Feminism is a commitment to uncover & understand
the causes of oppression & it also commits to work
individually & collectively to end authoritarianism.
Continued---------------
 Feminism is a politics- directed at changing existing power
relations & subject positions between women & men in society.
Power relations include e.g. family, education, welfare,
employment, politics, legislation, culture, religion etc.
 Feminism is a theory- system of concepts, analysis & proposals
that describe & explain women’s situations & experiences &
support recommendations about how to improve them.
Feminist is a person who:-

 Holds that women suffer discrimination.

 Advance women’s interests.
 Advocacy of the claims of women.
 Support that women have specific needs which remain
neglected.
 Support need of radical change in the social, economic,
political & legal orders.
Continued---------------
 So a feminist is any one who
recognizes the existence of
discrimination on the basis of
gender (sexes) , male
dominance & patriarchy &
who takes some action against
it.
Continued---------------

 Feminists are those who dare to break the conspiracy

of silence about the oppressive, unequal relationship
between men and women, and who want to change it (
Encyclopedia of Feminism 1987).
 Whether eastern or western, basically all feminist
pursuits are aimed at acquiring rights for women
from the society to which they belong.
 Contours of Feminism
 No specific abstract definition.
 No single theoretical framework/conceptualization.
 Is flexible.
 Is Fluid.
 It changes with history, cultural realities & levels of
consciousness.
 It varies from country to country & within a country
there can be various concepts based on class,
education, ethnicity etc
 Feminism of 1970’s is different from that of 1980’s
and 2011….
 Agenda Of Feminism

It has many dimensions including:

 Analysis of gender roles.

 Patriarchy.

 Class struggle.

 National liberation.

 Poverty & Development.

 Dowry killing.

 Violence against women.

 Religious exploitation.

 ………………………………………
 KINDS OF FEMINISM
GENDER REFORM FEMINISMS
The feminisms of the 1960s and 1970s were the
beginning of the second wave of feminism. They are
liberal feminism, Marxist and socialist feminisms, and
development feminism.
Their roots were, respectively, 18th and 19th century
liberal political philosophy that developed the idea of
individual rights,
Marx's 19th century critique of capitalism and his
concept of class consciousness,
and 20th century anti-colonial politics and ideas of
national development.
 Liberal Feminism
 Lens of gender and gender equality
 Emphasis on traditional understanding of human nature and
personhood: rationality, individual autonomy, self-fulfillment
(characteristics possessed by all).
 Sex and gender neutral; all human beings possess a common
nature.
 A just society is a society that allows individuals to exercise
their freedom and fulfill themselves.
 Emphasis on equality of opportunity: all persons deserve an
equal chance to develop their rational and moral capacities so
that they can achieve personhood.
Liberal Feminism Continued------
 Because society has the false belief that women are by
nature less intellectually and physically capable than men
it excludes women from many opportunities and the true
potential of women goes unfulfilled.
 Liberal feminists argue that women share the same rational
human nature men do and so should be given the same
educational opportunities and civil rights as men are given.
Liberal Feminism Continued------
 The goal of women’s liberation is freeing women from
oppressive gender roles: sexual and gender equality.
 Liberal feminism led to advances in the economic sphere, in
equality of opportunity and in civil rights.
 The main problem of liberal feminism is its tendency to
accept male values as universal values. All women should
want to become like men, to aspire to masculine values.
Liberal feminism often did not include an analysis of class
or sexuality (the sex/gender system).
 Radical feminism
 It is an offshoot of moderate feminism. The radical feminist
believes that the women’s subjection is due to sexual
aggression by men.
 Male supremacy is the oldest, the most basic form of
domination, all other forms of exploitation and oppression.
(Racism, Capitalism, Imperialism, etc) are extension of male
supremacy.
 Radical feminist also argued that the History of the world was
not the struggle of the classes but it was a struggle between
men and women.
Radical feminism Continues----

 For radical feminist – The roots of subordination lies in

the biological family.
 Radical feminist main plea is not only the removal of sex
distinctions but the removal of men in their life – sexual
preferences, control over one’s body, free sex experience
and collective child care are some of the action programs
outlined by the radical feminist.
Radical feminism Continues----
 The radical feminist argue that women have always
been economically exploited for them marriage turns
to be a contract where by sex and service (house
work) are provided by women to men in return for
support.
 The same thing happened in the feudal society where
the lord provided security to the slaves in return for
their services. Women and slaves are equivalent due
to sexual politics.
Radical feminism Continues----
 Similarly virginity is held important and essential for the
female only.
 When a woman marries the custom requires her to change the
title from “miss” to “mrs’. All this she has to do in order to
proclaim her belonging to a man – which implies that she has
no independent existence of her own.
 Her income is regarded as part of husband’s income.
Moreover when both partners earn it is a wife who is expected
to take care of the domestic work such as cooking and
housekeeping.
Radical feminism Continues----

 In the west the radical feminism adopted novel protest

methods to draw the attention of the male oppressors.
 In the 1970 an army of women marched through the New
York streets and placed what they thought “freedom trash
cans” at important points. In this they threw their cosmetics
and false eyelashes.
 Through this they wanted to show that women cannot be
considered as sex objects. They also shouted slogans
“marriage if legalized rape”.
Radical feminism Continues----
 Among the radical feminist the very aggressive group formed societies
whose chief aim was not only liberation of women but also the
annihilation of men.
 Valarie Solanas (April 9, 1936 – April 25, 1988)  was given 3 years
imprisonment for shooting men. She also started a society called
SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men).
 Another such society was called WITCH (Women’s International
Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell). In UK the feminist picketed the Miss
World contest and carried banners displaying – “miss used, “miss
conception” and “miss guided”.
 Man being the enemy of the radical feminist, they stood to put an end
to the subordination and they seem to be no place for men in their life.
 Socialist or Marxist Feminism

 Root cause of the lower status of women lies in the

family.
 The family is the result of the private property in
the means of production therefore complete
equality of women is possible when private
property in the means of production is abolished.
 The concept of private property brought a basic
change in the family.
Socialist or Marxist Feminism
Continues---
 In a capitalist society, family relations are reduced to more
money relations. Karl Marx observed that by abolishing
private means of production the family system will be
abolished this is the only way in which the status of women
can be raised.
 Feminist within the socialist fold have been struggling to
come to grips with the reality of gender oppression in society.
 According to socialist view power is derived from sex and
class and this is manifested materially and ideologically in
patriarchy and class relations. The major task is to discover
the interdependence of class and patriarchy.
Socialist or Marxist Feminism Continues---
 It would be necessary to organize struggle
simultaneously against capitalism and patriarchy.
 Patriarchal system cannot vanish by nearly abolishing
private property.
 A struggle against patriarchal is a struggle against the
present structure of the family system dominated by
men.
 The liberation of women would not be complete
without a change in the patriarchal social system and
all the social values that go with them.
Socialist or Marxist Feminism
Continues---
 The socialist feminist have also raised the whole debate of
domestic work. They argue that women’s oppression is based
on unpaid house work.
 Child bearing, child care and house work are material activities
resulting in products.
 Like radical feminist the socialist feminist are not anti-man.
But they believe in collaborating with men if the latter support
their cause.

“Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It's
about making life more fair for women everywhere. It's not
about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for
that. It's about baking a new pie.”
― Gloria Steinem
 Development Feminism

 Emphasis on uni­versal human rights

 Pressure for the education of girls,
 Maternity and child health care,
 Economic resources for women who contribute heavily to the
support of their families.
 marital rights and sexual autonomy,
 Confronts traditional cultural values and practices that give
men power over their daughters and wives.