Assessing The Feminist View That Conventional Malestream Theories Are Inadequate For An Understanding Of Women In Society
Feminism is divided into several different versions. However, they all
share several common assumptions. They view society as patriarchal,
that is, dominated by men. They see men as the most important source
of women's oppression in society. For example, feminists see men as
having the most power in the family. They have higher paid jobs and
they monopolize the media and politics.
The ultimate aim of all branches of feminism is to end male
domination. To awaken society to the oppression of women and to
eventually rid society of the exploitation of women.
Furthermore, feminists' agree that until the late 1970's sociology has
neglected to study women's issues and roles in society. Until recently
men dominated sociology. The studies were conducted on men by men. The
results were then generalised to the whole of society. Feminist felt
this generalisation was inadequate in the representation of women.
They called this male dominated sociology "malestream", a detrimental
term, as opposed to mainstream. Inadequate representations include the
role of gender in crime, inadequate research methods and a patriarchal
view that biology determines the division of labour. This essay will
focus on the analysis of these areas.
According to Durkheim (1938) and the functionalist perspective crime
is an inevitable by-product of a healthy society. He argued that crime
and punishment serves a function to society. Social change stems from
deviance therefore it is necessary for the advancement of society.
Albert Cohen (1966) and Rob...
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of labour is inadequate to explain the role of women in society.
Feminists have accused Murdock, Parson's and Bowlby of ignoring the
fact that culture and socialisation determines a women's position in
society. In Oakley's scathing attack on Parsons she accuses him of
basing his theory on the myth of male superiority therefore,
perpetuating the oppression of women.
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In the past there were many biases against women and their lack of abilities compared to men. Although the male perspective has changed over the past few centuries, there are many feminists who still fight for ...
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A great place to begin is by investigating when and where or even how did our society, the United States, become socialized to the point where roles and expectations are defined by gender. How have theorists or researchers expla...
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Minas, A. (2000). Gender basics: Feminist perspective on women and men.Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomson Learning.
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Outline and assess the view that patriarchy is the main cause of gender inequality (40 marks)