Classical Mackinnon: Liberal Criticism And Relational Feminism

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Liberal Feminism
Classical liberal feminism attributes the inequalities women experience to their lack of access to the economic and political spheres of social life, which in turn is caused by the legal and social restrictions that are placed upon them. With the liberal principle of universal human rights as their basis (which dictates that all humans are equal in worth), liberal feminists argue that men and women must be treated equally, which can be accomplished by eradicating any limitations (whether legal or social) that prevent women from participating in the same spheres as men. Furthermore, means that are required for women to function and flourish in these spheres, such as the right to education, must be granted to them. Classical …show more content…

More specifically, the two fail to notice, according to MacKinnon, that the disparities between genders are not a product of their ontological differences, but are rather socially reinforced to appear so by the pervasive dominance of which men hold over society.
Liberal feminism’s reliance on the legal system and the state to distribute and open up revenues of equal opportunities for women is ineffectual for MacKinnon, since it is still trying to operate within a framework that is inherently patriarchal. These institutions are incapable of enacting the necessary changes, as they themselves are constructed from a male perspective that perceives the inequality of women as the norm. As MacKinnon summarizes, the apparent absence of explicit laws enforcing gender inequalities is not due to a lack of negligence, but a lack of necessity. An unequal society will undoubtedly have laws that are unequal, even if it is not at first obvious. In other words, for women to be truly equal to men in law, they must first be equal in society. Liberal feminism seems to suggest opposite, as it believes that equality in general will be achieved once women possesses the same personal legal rights and political opportunities as men. This for MacKinnon, would be naïve (as a tool of the patriarchy cannot be used to change it) and ignorant of the more fundamental problem—that the domination of men over women is inescapable and permeates every sphere of society, and is so prevalent that inequalities are misconstrued and reconstructed as gender

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