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,
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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
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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
“The root of the word “oppression” is the element “press”… Something pressed is something caught between or among forces and barriers which are so elated to each other that jointly the restrain, restrict or prevent the thing’s motion or mobility” (Frye, 84-85). Oppression is something felt by many different social groups in societies around the world. The feminist movement is one that sets out to dismantle sexist oppression. Marilyn Frye describes an oppression that she believes is common to all women despite ethnic or racial differences. Kimberlé Crenshaw, in her Tedtalk, however, argues that there is a common experience between females of different social groups due to certain constructs in society, and Audre Lorde discusses how crucial it
“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 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.
Feminism is the movement for removing inequalities from society. Women imbued with a spirit of radicalism understand that a liberal feminist attitude, despite the seeming slowness of change that accompanies it, may transform a community more rapidly than a revolutionary approach that alienates those to be convinced and, thus, extinguishes the possibility of improvement. (Weaver 49) Feminists confront the problems of their society in hopes of altering society to be equal.
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...
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.
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.
Feminist sociology focuses on examining and understanding gender in its relation to power within society as well as individuals. The fundamental principle of feminist sociology is the idea that in most societies, women have been oppressed and that men have been more dominant throughout history. Feminist theory directly relates to feminist sociology. According to the Introduction to Sociology 2e textbook, “feminist theory is a type of conflict theory that examines inequalities in gender-related issues. It uses the conflict approach to examine the maintenance of gender roles and inequalities” (Openstax 261). This paper aims to analyze feminist theory, discuss its history, as well as emphasizing a current social
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)
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).
Throughout history, women have remained subordinate to men. Subjected to the patriarchal system that favored male perspectives, women struggled against having considerably less freedom, rights, and having the burdens society placed on them that had so ingrained the culture. This is the standpoint the feminists took, and for almost 160 years they have been challenging the “unjust distribution of power in all human relations” starting with the struggle for equality between men and women, and linking that to “struggles for social, racial, political, environmental, and economic justice”(Besel 530 and 531). Feminism, as a complex movement with many different branches, has and will continue to be incredibly influential in changing lives. Feminist political ideology focuses on understanding and changing political philosophies for the betterment of women.
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.
“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