The reading basically sums up different perspectives about feminism. Feminist theories have been going on for a long time. Feminist theories often describe women’s way of living and explaining its causes and consequences (Tong, 1998). It is how women act the way they act, think the way they think, and speak the way they speak.
According to Jane Flax, feminist theory has several purposes. First is understanding the power differential between men and women. We all know that in the world we live in today, men are the superiors because of what we call patriarchy and women are highly encouraged to do or follow what men does and want.
Second is understanding women’s oppression or their authority under an unjust or burdensome manner. Oftentimes misunderstood,
…show more content…
She also mentioned that in order to see progress, one must commit to do something about the situation of women.
On the other hand, Bettina Aptheker mentioned in “Tapestries of Life” that women’s lives are fragmented, dispersed, and episodic. The everyday life of women affects their thinking and actions. It is on their dailiness that we get to connect the patterns they try to show, the meanings behind what they say and do and as we try to connect and get these meanings, we, then, slowly recognize and view a woman’s standpoint in life.
In Jean Grimshaw’s Philosophy and Feminist Thinking, she stated that feminist viewpoints must believe that women have been oppressed and unjustly treated. She also mentioned that something needs to be done about the situation. The experiences women have gone through before affect their lives today, resulting to an oppression most people are fussing about. Women before weren’t really privileged to do anything. They were treated differently from men. But Grimshaw also stated how feminists conceptualize the oppression, its causes, and their responses
…show more content…
In this theory, women classify themselves as to what their status is in the society. “A woman’s conception of herself is a product of her social existence” as it was mentioned in the theory. The Marxist feminism is a rejection of individuality set by the liberal feminism since women are a distinct economic class rather than individuals.
The radical feminism focuses more on gender. Women are oppressed because they are women. Radical feminism aims to defeat and/or contradict patriarchy and start promoting a radical or a reform of the society. This theory is basically about women trying to recreate a new form of society where dominance is not for men alone.
The socialist feminism is just like a combination of the Marxist and radical feminism. This theory focuses on the importance of the difference among people namely sex, class, age, race, ethnicity, nationality, and sexual orientation. It states that a woman’s life is shaped by what she experiences and by the aforementioned
By linking sociological theory and political reform, feminists aim to end inequalities between men and women in both public and private environments. Feminist theory is where things such as gender, class, and race meet. Emphasis is placed on masculine versus feminine
“Feminism”, as defined today, is “1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” and “2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”2 Many critics claim that feminism has been active longer than the word itself has existed.3 The word, “feminist” was not in true use until the late 1800s and early 1900s, but activism for women’s rights was alive and well a...
Feminism can simply be defined as a range of movements and ideologies in which share a common ground in terms of defining, establishing and achieving equal opportunities to that of males, in regards to economic, cultural and social rights. It is a critique of male supremacy with efforts in changing this to end the social oppression of women. (Hooks, 2000)
At this point, the difference perspective in ideology and political action has divided the women movement into some feminism types; socialist, Marxist, radical, liberal and many others. While liberal feminist focus their struggle for equality on civil, economic, and political rights, and education, the feminist socialist and Marxist believe women 's oppression is “the product of the political, social and economic structure within which individuals live.” (Tong, 1998: pp.94). Although some other people suppose that the feminist Marxist and socialist is quiet different, but both of them believe the source of women oppression are capitalism and patriarchy. The Marxist feminism is rooted in 19th century thinker such as Marx and Engels, whether
Feminism is a political movement that seeks equality between the sexes. Motivated by the search for social justice, feminist analysis provides a wide range of perspectives on social, cultural, economic, and political ideologies. Important topics for feminist politics and theory include: the body, class and work, family life, globalization, human rights, popular culture, race and racism, reproduction, sex work, human trafficking, and sexuality. From early beginnings, to its current state, feminism has been a pervasive movement that has incited social, political and economic change and advancements. Generationally speaking, over the decades feminism has taken on many different meanings. Feminism has become a spectrum; each generation, or wave,
For most of the world, most of societies have been patriarchal for years. Due to this, women have been oppressed by the rest of society. This has left women, even by other women oppressed and confined to societal expectations. I will be talking about Marilyn Frye’s concept of oppression and provide an example. Frye’s main concept of oppression is when an individual’s rights and options become limited and is ridiculed by society through punishment and discrimination.
Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. In simple terms, it is the ideology of women being equal to men and it is often misinterpreted as the belief of women being above them. Feminists believe in diminishing patriarchy which is a system of society and or government in which men are considered more powerful than women. When people are against feminism they are supporting sexism which is why it is important to educate ourselves on the matter and to understand why we need it.
Since then, feminism has branched out into other categories. There is liberal feminism who sees everyone as equal and believes in equality for everyone, radical feminism who believe all forms of oppression stem from male dominance, socialist feminism who focuses on working class women, etc. (n/a, N.. N.p.. Web. 27 Mar 2014. http://www.angelfire.com/tx2/amazonsociety/feminism.html).
Feminism, in its simplest definition, is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. (Webster) Feminists fight for equality for women to men socially, politically, and economically. At the peak of feminist discourse is equality for men and women in education and in employment. However, feminism also focuses on more than issues regarding the rights of women in relation to men. Issues of gender equality and women’s right to control their sexuality are also at the core of feminist theory. A key argument made by many feminists is how women have very little control over their sexuality, mainly being defined and controlled by men. T...
Patriarchy creates a social division. It is often used to describe the power between a male and a woman. This idea is important in Radical Feminism. Seen as the root of female oppression, Radical Feminists recognize that patriarchy is everywhere. Radical feminist came about because they were not happy with the course of action taken by the first wave of feminists. Radical feminists wanted a revolution, not just reform; they wanted to do things their way as opposed to following “the system”. So they came up with their own theories that fit their way of thinking and often were at odds with the reformer feminists...
Marxist feminism supports the idea that the biological difference cannot justify any form of oppression and inequality in human societies. Marxist feminists do believe that biological differences are not responsible for oppression and inequality between sexes. Instead, Marxist feminists argue that it is the class structure that is responsible for the oppression and inequality between sexes. Particularly, Marxist feminists state that the capitalism is primarily responsible for the class structure in our society. They further challenge the idea that the equality is possible in the capitalistic system.
“A feminist is one who believes in the social, political and economic equality of the sexes” (Adichie, 2013). Feminism is not the belief that one’s sexual orientation or one’s power is superior over another. The very meaning of feminism demonstrates a complete resistance to this belief. Throughout the years, a range of categories of feminism philosophy have developed. They consist of goals in objectives, methodologies, and affiliations. Many feminists distinguish themselves with many branches of women 's activist thought. The three forms of feminism that this essay will consider are liberal feminism, socialist feminism, and radical feminism. This essay will argue that liberal feminism is the most valid theory of feminism as liberal feminist’s
Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women. Studying how the philosophies are constructed and what makes them unjust, this field constantly generates new ideas on how these philosophies need to be fundamentally reconstructed. Liberal feminism, for example, was built around promoting economic and political equality for women. By arguing the older concepts of the split between public and private realms as a way to politically protect male domination of women as “natural”, and ideas about a women’s place in the household, came evidence that supported legal cases leading “to the criminalization in the United States of spousal rape” (qtd. in McAfee). Another completely different approach is radical feminism, which advocates a separation from the whole system, perceiving that the sexual relations between male and female as the basis of gender inequality and female subordination (qtd. in McAfee). Democratic femin...
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional or philosophical dissertation. It helps to explain the main nature of gender inequality. It further explains the social roles of women in the society such as education, communication, philosophy, sociology and so on (Chodrow, Nancy 1991).
Feminism is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. It began as an organized activity on behalf of women?s rights and interests. This concept was developed to help women earn a place in a predominantly male society. Unfortunately over the years, the intentions of feminism have become distorted, not only by anti-feminists, but also by the feminists themselves. The principle of equality for women and men has turned into a fight in which feminists wish to be better than men. Feminism has been twisted and misunderstood so much that it has become a harmful idea.