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feminist theory compared to karl marx theory
feminist critical views on functionalists
karl marx feminist theory
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Feminists have played a major part in the ideology of the family, as they provide an alternative view to the traditional sociology of the family. There are many different types of feminists; the main ones are Radical feminists, Marxist feminist and liberal feminists. Although they are categorised separately, they fundamentally believe in the same idea, which is the dominant functionalist assumptions are inaccurate and should therefore be challenged. Functionalists believe that in the family, the role of the woman is functional when she plays a necessary ‘expressive’ role, providing care and affection for members in a more subordinate role than that of the breadwinner husband.
HOUSEWORK/POWER RELATIONS
One of the functionalists, Wilmott and Young, (1973), claimed that 72% of the married men in their sample help their wife in some other way than washing, even though they do fail to specify what this help is. They believe that the family is symmetrical and both husband and wife have joint conjugal roles, which makes the family a functional institution. However, the radical feminist, Anne Oakley, points out that the fact that they say ‘helps their wife’ implies that the primary responsibility is still the wife’s. Oakley also points out that the creation of the housewife role is a social construction and is not inevitably linked to the female role. This housewife role ensures that women stay subordinate to men, making it difficult for them to pursue careers and this role which is exclusively allocated to women, has no status, is unpaid and alienating, and yet it takes precedence over all other roles. Her conclusion is that the only way women will gain freedom and be able to develop fully as individuals in society is for the ab...
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...xt. Radical feminism has been criticised as it over emphasises the extent to which women share common experiences of exploitation. Following from this, it down grades class and race relations. It also cannot account for the changes in the position of women over time and could only do this with a wider structural framework.
Feminists generally believe that the family has a key role to play in the relationship of the individual to the wider society. They believe that the family is the fundamental site of the exploitation and oppression of women, both within the family itself and in relation to society. Marxist feminists stress that the exploitation of women in the home serves the needs of Capitalism, whereas Radical feminists stress that this exploitation is based on patriarchy. Liberal feminists also believe that patriarchy is the main cause of gender inequality.
This source provided the unique perspective of what was thought to be the perfect household, with a man who worked and a wife who cooked and cleaned. However, it also showed how a woman could also do what a man can do, and in some cases they could do it even better. This work is appropriate to use in this essay because it shows how men talked down to their wives as if they were children. This work shows the gradual progression of woman equality and how a woman is able to make her own decisions without her husband’s input.
Blankenhorn wants men to be the center of the family financially, physically and morally. Feminists are fighting for the opposite; what he describes as “The New Father”. Feminists want androgyny in household and familial work, equal power between the genders but Blankenhorn says that this is destructive to the entire idea of family. Firstly, androgyny in the home would disrupt the already unstable role of a father. Second and most importantly, without strict gender roles, family becomes improvisation. There would be no distinctions between a mother’s work and a father’s work so within each familial unit, who does what work would vary. This is dangerous because it loops back into the idea that fathers aren’t necessary. If anyone can be the breadwinner, the protector, the educator, then there is no real purpose of the father, which is the problem mentality that we are trying to
Feminism is one of the most prominent areas in contemporary sociology. 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
Feminist Theory and/or Feminism is the fight/support of equality for women and men. I am a Feminist and I wanted to refer to this term as the best cartoon that reminded me of feminism before I knew what feminism was when I was younger. The Proud Family is a show that was originally piloted for Nickelodeon and eventually ended up on Disney Channel and ran from 2001 to 2005, starring 14 year old Penny Proud, a young African American woman who lives with her family in a middle class neighborhood. The show was created by Bruce W. Smith I believe and was marked as one of the first animated “Disney Channel Original Series”. One of the reasons I genuinely have fond memories of this show is because of how progressive it was.
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.
Feminism is motivated by the need to establish equality between the genders since most feminists attribute women’s problems to inequality between the two genders. Therefore, by way of a collection of political movements and social theories, feminists seek to curb this inequality between men and women. It is important to note that the equality sought after by feminists is not just economic and political, but also social equality. According to Heather Gilmour, The institution of marriage during the pre-modern era or the Victorian era was based on inequality as the roles to be fulfilled by both genders for the success of the marriage were essentially different (Heather 26). As the roles kept changing over time due to different circumstances, so did the expectations of marriage and along with that, the rise of feminist movement. Screwball comedies such as It...
The late nineteenth century was a critical time in reshaping the rights of women. Commonly this era is considered to be the beginning of what is know to western feminists as “first-wave feminism.” First-wave feminism predominately fought for legal rights such as suffrage, and property rights. A major hallmark of first-wave feminism is the concept of the “New Woman.” The phrase New Woman described educated, independent, career oriented women who stood in response to the idea of the “Cult of Domesticity,” that is the idea that women are meant to be domestic and submissive (Stevens 27). Though the concept of the New Woman was empowering to many, some women did not want to give up their roles as housewives. These women felt there was a great dignity in the lifestyle of the housewife, and that raising children was not a job to scoff at. Mary Freeman's short story “The Revolt of 'Mother',” tells the story of such a domestic woman, Sarah, who has no interest in leaving her position as mother, but still wishes to have her voice heard in the private sphere of her home. Freeman's “Revolt of Mother,” illustrates an alternative means of resistance for women who rejected the oppression of patriarchy without a withdrawal from the domestic lifestyle.
A house is not a home if no one lives there. During the nineteenth century, the same could be said about a woman concerning her role within both society and marriage. The ideology of the Cult of Domesticity, especially prevalent during the late 1800’s, emphasized the notion that a woman’s role falls within the domestic sphere and that females must act in submission to males. One of the expected jobs of a woman included bearing children, despite the fact that new mothers frequently experienced post-partum depression. If a woman were sterile, her purposefulness diminished. While the Cult of Domesticity intended to create obliging and competent wives, women frequently reported feeling trapped or imprisoned within the home and within societal expectations put forward by husbands, fathers, and brothers.
This paper will examine sociological theories and how they relate to the social institution of the family. We typically view society as a group of people, but in sociology, society is not a group of people but a social organization. People are molded by society to fit within the accepted societal bounds. Society must be understood using “the meanings that people put on their values and beliefs” (Bartle, 2010). Within sociology there are three major perspectives. These are the Functionalist, Conflict and Interactionist Perspectives. Each perspective views society in different manners, with each being correct and relevant since social institutions are too complex to be defined by any one theory. Each perspective will be used to explain the perspectives’ relevance to the family.
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...
There was a time when women typically maintained the home and raised children while the husbands were the sole bread-winners for the family finances. However, times have changed and so have women’s rights and expectations for divorce, education, an...
Another critique is that it goes against the basic teachings of feminism, in which men and women are equal. Radical feminist sought to believe that patriarchy is the only reason why women are oppressed in society and all men do not want to see women succeeding in business nor social sector. Due to their misandry towards men, radical feminism theory has often been frowned upon, as it gave the term feminism a bad reputation.
Feminist theory helps to analyze gender inequality and its themes which are discrimination, sexual objectification, oppression, stereotyping and so on.
A criticism is that it focuses on the nuclear family to the exclusion of other family types that can be just as successful. Feminists Dobash & Dobash (????) and Bryson (1992) criticise functionalism for ignoring negative aspects of the nuclear family and the ‘dark side’ - domestic violence, child abuse and mental illness occurring as a consequence of unequal power relationships within the home and how the ‘housewife’ role wa...
to bring you my version of the roles of women in the last fifty years