SUBMITTED TO: Bharti mam

SUBMITTED BY: SAHIL KAKKAR

BALLB(HONS)3RD SEMESTER
18203

RAYAT COLLEGEOF LAW

 INTRODUCTION
 At its core, feminism is the belief in full social,
economic, and political equality for women.
Feminism largely arose in response to Western
traditions that restricted the rights of women, but
feminist thought has global manifestations and
variations. feminism, the belief in social, economic,
and political equality of the sexes. Although largely
originating in the West, feminism
is manifested worldwide and is represented by various
institutions committed to activity on behalf
of women’s rights and interests.
MEANING OF FEMINISM
Feminism is a movement as well an ideology
that represents efforts to achieve the objective of
equality, dignity, rights, emancipation and
empowerment of women by adopting various
creative ways and means
HISTORY OF FEMINISM
 The history of feminism comprises the narratives (chronological or
thematic) of the movements and ideologies which have aimed
at equal rights for women.
 While feminists around the world have differed in causes, goals,
and intentions depending on time, culture, and country, most
Western feminist historians assert that all movements that work to
obtain women’s rights should be considered feminist movements,
even when they did not (or do not) apply the term to themselves.
Some other historians limit the term “Feminist” to the modern
feminist movement and its progeny, and use the label
“protofeminist” to describe earlier movements.
 Modern Western feminist history is conventionally split into three
time periods, or “waves” each with slightly different aims based on
prior progress.
 Waves of Feminism
1. First-wave Feminism:
 A movement that began in the Enlightenment
and gained momentum In the mid-19th
century, seeking voting rights and educational
access for women in response to abolitionism
and the temperance movement.
2. Second-wave Feminism:
 A radical revival of feminism in the 1960s and
associated with the civil rights movement and antiwar
movement leading to the women’s liberation
movement and reforms in abortion and equal pay
legislation and challenging the objectification of
women through pornography.
3. Third-wave Feminism:
A reaction to early feminism influenced by
postmodernism and poststructuralism arising in the
1990s, recognizing a plurality of experiences for women
based on class, ethnicity, gender, location, and sexual
identity. Third Wave Feminism was critical of the
existing feminist scholarship that focused primarily on
white, affluent, and heterosexual women.
 GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
 Feminist theories have challenged development paradigms since
Ester Boserup’s (1970) ground breaking study. Despite nearly 50
years of feminist scholarship, however, many development
approaches continue to side line women, girls, and other
marginalized groups. The failure to consider crosscutting power
dynamics in development is obstructing intellectual growth as
well as hindering the formation of more equitable development
policies and practices (Bastia 2014).
 Feminist Development brings together a diverse consortium of
scholars and professionals who articulate and affirm feminist
approaches to development, who seek more holistic
understanding of the power dynamics informing development,
and who support collaboration across difference. The Subsection
provides a platform for exchanging information and resources on
feminist development.
 PERSPECTIVES
1. LIBERAL FEMINISM:
 Liberal Feminists believe that the main causes
of gender inequality are ignorance and
socialization. They do not believe that social
institutions are inherently patriarchal. They
believe in a “March of Progress” view of
gender relations. This means that they believe
that men and women are gradually becoming
more equal over time and that this trend will
continue. As evidence, liberal feminists point
to various legal reforms which promote
sexual equality such as the sex discrimination
act (1970), the fact that girls now outperform
boys in education, the fact that there are now
equal amounts of men and women in paid
work.
 Liberal Feminists are especially keen to
emphasise the beneficial effects which
women going into paid work has had on
gender equality – as a result, women are now
much more independent than in the past, and
women are now the main income earners in
25% of households.
2. MARXIST FEMINISM:
 Marxist feminism is a philosophical variant of feminism that
incorporates and extends Marxist theory. Marxist feminism analyzes the
ways in which women are exploited through capitalism and the
individual ownership of private property. According to Marxist
feminists, women’s liberation can only be achieved by dismantling the
capitalist systems in which they contend much of women’s labor is
uncompensated. Marxist feminists extend traditional Marxist analysis
by applying it to unpaid domestic labor and sex relations.
 Marxist Feminists argue the main cause of women’s oppression is
capitalism. The disadvantaged position of women is seen to be a
consequence of the emergence of private property and their lack of
ownership of the means of production From a Marxist Feminist
perspective, the traditional nuclear family only came about with
capitalism, and the traditional female role of housewife supports
capitalism – thus women are double oppressed through the nuclear
family and capitalist system.
3. RADICAL FEMINISM:
 Radical Feminists see society and its institutions as patriarchal –
most of which are dominated and ruled by men – men are the ruling
class and women the subject class. Gender inequalities are the result
of the oppression of women by men, and it is primarily men who
have benefited from the subordination of women.
 Women are an oppressed group. Against Liberal Feminists they
argue that paid work has not been ‘liberating’. Instead, women have
acquired the ‘dual burden’ of paid work and unpaid housework and
the family remains patriarchal – men benefit from women’s paid
earnings and their domestic labour.
 Some Radical Feminists go further arguing that women suffer from
the ‘triple shift’ where they have to do paid work, domestic
workand ‘emotion work’ being expected to take on the emotional
burden of caring for children.
4. POSTMODERN FEMINISM
 Postmodern feminism is a mix of post-structuralism, postmodernism, and French
feminism. The goal of postmodern feminism is to destabilize
the patriarchal norms entrenched in society that have led to gender inequality.
Postmodern feminists seek to accomplish this goal through rejecting essentialism,
philosophy, and universal truths in favor of embracing the differences that exist
amongst women to demonstrate that not all women are the same.
 These ideologies are rejected by postmodern feminists because they believe if a
universal truth is applied to all woman of society, it minimizes individual
experience, hence they warn women to be aware of ideas displayed as the norm
in society since it may stem from masculine notions of how women should be
portrayed.
 Postmodern feminists seek to analyze any notions that have led to gender
inequality in society. Postmodern feminists analyze these notions and attempt to
promote equality of gender through critiquing logocentrism, supporting multiple
discourses, deconstructing texts,and seeking to promote subjectivity. Postmodern
feminists are accredited with drawing attention to dichotomies in society and
demonstrating how language influences the difference in treatment of genders.
5. SOCIALIST FEMINISM
 Socialist feminism is a branch of feminism that focuses upon both the
public and private spheres of a woman’s life and argues that liberation can
only be achieved by working to end both
the economic and cultural sources of women’s oppression. Socialist
feminism is a two-pronged theory that broadens Marxist feminism’s
argument for the role of capitalism in the oppression of women
and radical feminism’s theory of the role of gender and the patriarchy.
 Socialist feminists reject radical feminism’s main claim that patriarchy
the only or primary source of oppression of women. Rather, socialist
feminists assert that women are unable to be free due to their financial
dependence on males in society. Women are subjects to the male rulers in
capitalism due to an uneven balance in wealth. They see economic
dependence as the driving force of women’s subjugation to men.
 Further, socialist feminists see women’s liberation as a necessary part of
larger quest for social, economic and political justice.
 CONCLUSION
 Women have had many great breakthroughs with their
protest, but many still turn a blind eye to the fact that
there is sexual discrimination. Men are still more
respected than women in our society. Not only do they
receive higher pay but the products that are marketed
toward them are less than those marketed for women.
However, new generations are taking the movement by
storm with even males supporting women in their fight.
The problem of women’s rights at hand is not going
away anytime soon, but its growing popularity gives
hope to all those fighting for equality.