Introduction to Feminism(s) Feminism: Liberal, Marxist, Socialist, Radical This week we will take a look at some of the main strands of feminist thought: where the early forms of feminist thought originate, and how the later versions of feminist thought and theory developed.
The Feminisms
The Feminist Perspectives Sociology has been - and still is - criticised for what Feminists have called its "malestream" bias. Its preoccupation with explaining male experiences of the social world, to the exclusion (until relatively recently) of ‘female’ experiences. From a Feminist point of view, women tend to be discussed within Sociology (as elsewhere) as "appendages" of men. Feminist perspectives serve to not only redress this "male bias" - but also offer a valuable contribution to the development of sociological knowledge. Feminism is particularly concerned with the analysis of the nature of male/female relationships, and the idea of "patriarchy". A great deal of work has been done to explore these concepts – in order to offer insights into, and explanations of male domination. In the main, Feminists reject "malestream" (and especially Functionalist) arguments about the nature of gender relationships. [What is the functionalist view of gender differences?] In opposition to the functionalist view, feminists argue that men and women in society do not enjoy a "symmetrical" relationship. All varieties of Feminist thought begin with the notion that women are not only socially different to men - but also fundamentally unequal.
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The Feminisms
1. Liberal Feminism. Feminist theories tend to be grouped within two strands or ‘waves’. The first wave originates from around the late 1700’s onwards, and is characterised by Mary Wollstonecraft’s book: ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Women’. The steady progression of this early ‘wave’ culminated in the suffragette movement of the late 1800’s [the Pankhursts – demanding the right to vote & practice the same professions as men]. Liberal feminism is located within this ‘first wave’ of Feminism, and tends to be more concerned with day-to-day questions of political, economic and socialequality [for women]. As a movement it has been concerned with addressing discrimination against women in work, education, & the mass media etc; as well as arguing for various forms of legal protection and social rights for women. The main theoretical thrust of Liberal Feminism is that women - as human beings - are not inferior to men and so they should therefore - enjoy the same political, legal, economic and social rights as men. The main area of focus for this approach has been the Political and legal realms – to ‘publicly’ push forward the argument that women should be allowed complete equality with men [equality of opportunity]. Unlike other feminist approaches, Liberal Feminists have never advocated revolutionary change. Instead it offers a more pragmatic [or practical] approach - which has achieved some notable success, for example: • • • •
The right to vote Anti-discrimination policies Equal pay Act; and Maternity rights
In short, if women are unfairly and unreasonably discriminated against (e.g. in employment) then laws need to be created in order to "redress" the imbalance of power. Liberal feminism has generally been adopted by white, educated, middle class women in order for them to take advantage of wider educational and career opportunities.
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The Feminisms
Reflecting the interests of middle class women in developed societies - failing to take into account problems for working class women, women of minority ethnic groups, and women in the third world. 2. Marxist Feminism. As the name suggests, Marxist Feminists tend to explain gender inequalities from the viewpoint of Karl Marx's & Friedrich Engels analysis of Capitalism. In Friedrich Engels’ book ‘The Origin of the Family, Private Property & the State’ (1884) – he argues that the modern family structure is a result of the system of ‘capitalism’. Before capitalism developed there was an era of primitive communism – characterised by relationships where no rules existed to limited social existence & relationships [including sexual relationships]. The whole of society acted as the family framework. For example the nearest relatives to human beings [chimpanzees] live in ‘promiscuous hordes’, this may have been the pattern for early humans. The family structure which we experience today [a supposedly monogamous, nuclear family] came into being with the development of the industrial revolution & capitalism. For Engels capitalism brought with it the selfishness of private property & the private ownership of land. Property [owned by males] needed to be guaranteed the proper rite of passage to their sons, in order to keep the property in the family. According to Marxists – these selfish qualities are induced through capitalism, the need to ‘own & control’ all things. To guarantee the legitimacy of their children, men needed to control the sexual activities of their partners – so laws enforcing marriage & promoting the nuclear family were established and upheld by the State. For Marxism then – the family is nothing more than a ‘prop’ for the capitalist economy: To ensure selfish attitudes & the pursuit of money, to own material possessions, to control women.
Updating this view: the emphasis is placed upon the way in which working class women are generally exploited through such things as domestic labour and child-
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The Feminisms
care. The kinds of ‘services’ that leave men free to be either exploited, or do the exploiting in the workplace. The importance of the ‘economic’ dimension to people's relationships is stressed: just as an employee becomes dependent upon an employer for a job, wage etc. this kind of dependent relationship is also mirrored in the family group. The woman becomes dependent upon her partner for survival, a highlydependent relationship - characterised by domination, control and subordination. These relationships have become ‘routinized’ over time. The Capitalists seek to justify and maintain this domination, and the male seeks to justify and maintain his domination (in exchange for sharing part of his wage he receives domestic services in return). Therefore, this "patriarchal ideology" of (male) domination and (female) subordination has developed out of the relations produced by the Capitalist system – and not the other way around. For Marxist-feminists, we need to rid the system of capitalism and then gender inequalities will also be remedied. However, the cause of women's oppression today is not simply to be found in economic dependency (although it remains a significant factor). The patriarchal ideology has been developed, practised and refined over two or three hundred years and is an all-round controlling strategy. Thus, the combination of the material fact of economic dependency coupled with the ideological concepts such as "femininity", "maternal instinct" and so forth becomes a powerful social brew in which women are the eventual "losers".
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The Feminisms
3. Socialist Feminism. Socialist Feminism, whilst having a number of things in common with other Feminist perspectives: - supports practical action to improve the position of women's lives on an everyday basis (similar to Liberal Feminism), - attacks the causes of women's economic oppression (as does Marxist Feminism) and also, - challenges the patriarchal assumptions that underpin male/female domestic relations,
As opposed to Liberal Feminism, Socialist Feminists do not see legal/political changes as sufficient in themselves. Women have to be emancipated (made free) as a class, rather than on an ad hoc basis. Since the revolutionary overthrow of Capitalism does not seem very likely to occur, the Marxist-feminist "solution" to female exploitation is not a particularly useful one to pursue. Women need change ‘now’. In essence, Socialist Feminism seeks to combine political analysis with economic and domestic reform as a means of improving the social position of women. In theoretical terms, the main idea that tends to set Socialist Feminists apart from other Feminist perspectives is the recognition that neither patriarchy nor class, in their separate ways, explain female oppression. Various social factors are seen to shape women's lives (class, gender, ethnicity, age and so forth), with no single factor can be seen as the key to unlocking women's oppression. The relationship between "economic class" and "sex class" is considered to be important by Socialist Feminists in that female biology is clearly significant insofar as it allows men to dominate women by limiting their ability to compete economically. Sylvia Walby in ‘The Historical Periodization of Patriarchy’ (1988) argues that we need to understand male/female relationships in terms of "dual modes of production". 1. A "patriarchal mode" that is found in domestic labour, paid work and so forth (where women are exploited on the basis of gender); and
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The Feminisms
2. An "economic mode" where w/c women, like w/c men, are exploited on the basis of their social class. These embody the interests of a Capitalist class and their desire to employ the cheapest form of labour; and the interests of men (patriarchy) who may resist attempts by employers to replace male workers with (cheaper) female workers.
Second wave feminism (Also see SCUM manifesto by Valerie Solanos) http://issuu.com/craigandrewhammond9/docs/scum_manifesto However, as society has gradually granted women more freedom and nearequality with men, some feminists have still argued that women are discriminated against: The second wave of feminism (1960’s onwards) argues that the oppression of women consists more of the violent oppression of all women in all spheres of their lives: • • • • •
The economy The media (pornography) The family Personal & sexual relationships General attitudes and beliefs of society
For the second wave of feminism – the freeing of females from male violence and control requires much more than equal rights. Society needs to be changed fundamentally on all levels – public and personal.
Second wave feminism locates female oppression not only in public life and politics, but in all aspects of social, personal and sexual existence. [the personal is political] 4. Radical Feminism. For Radical Feminists, it is because of their biology (the necessity to bear children) and patriarchal domination, that women become dependent upon men for their material survival and protection.
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The Feminisms
In this respect, since all women have a common biology, and are all subject to male oppression they constitute a distinct class - one that has its own interests and political agenda. Germaine Greer argues in ‘The Female Eunuch’ that even the sexual act between a man and a woman is a violent and barbarous act on the part of the male – the female is conditioned to accept the passive role. For Shulamith Firestone, the family and biology are the main sources of patriarchal domination, and she characterises it as being based upon four "facts" 1. Women, because of their reproductive biology, have always been dependent upon men for their protection and survival. 2. Human infants are dependent upon adults for a relatively long period of time (during which they have to be looked after). 3. There is a basic and universal mother-infant bond based upon the fact that the mother actually gestates the child (it comes from her body). Firestone sees this as a special, interdependent, relationship unlike that which exists between a father and child. 4. It is this biological (reproductive) division between the sexes, that is the source of all other divisions - economic, political and ideological. Firestone argues in ‘The Dialectic of Sex’ that it is the very biological fact that women become pregnant and then have to give birth to children that disadvantages and oppresses them. Firestone believes that modern genetic technology should be used to alter the biological make-up of the human species – To relieve women of this burden. Cybernetic technology should be developed [like Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’] to allow reproduction to take place in laborotries. Thus aboloshing this burden. Firestone’s vision is one of an androgynous (sexless – neither male nor female) species. Capitalism, like any economic system, is built upon the exploitation of female biology by men and, for Radical Feminists (unlike their Marxist counterparts). The revolutionary overthrow of Capitalism is not seen as a solution to women's exploitation - (as it cannot change the fact that men will still be able to exploit female biology).
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The Feminisms
Ti-Grace Atkinson argues that a temporary solution is to practice ‘political lesbianism’ whereby feminism is the theory, lesbianism is the practice. A seperatist feminist haven organised and lived in by women only – men [the enemy] would be banished along with their barbarous oppression. This approach is the most extreme theory, and generally argues that all men are the enemy and therefore should be exterminated or isolated. The main criticism to be levelled at this theory to alter the genetic make-up of the human species to eradicate men – is that is it really a ‘realistic’ scenario? Is it a useful theory, is it not merely a variation of or degeneration into fascism (e.g. nazism) I would argue that it is, what do you think?
Discuss how you would use these theories to respond to the following question: Critically discuss the usefulness of different feminist perspectives in relation to contemporary society.
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The Feminisms
Feminist Explanations All of the feminist perspectives argue that women are oppressed in British society, but they differ in their explanations of the causes of this oppression and the -ways in which ft should be overcome.
Liberal Feminists Perhaps the least radical of the feminist perspectives. They argue that the so-called difference between men and women are not innate but the result of socialisation and 'sex-role conditioning'. The different -ways that boys and girls are treated from birth discourages women from developing their full potential. In this way women are oppressed in society and are seen as subordinate to men. Therefore, to liberate women it is necessary to show (educate) that men and women are equal in potential, thus their concern is with fighting for equal fights. Evaluation: Advocates and supports equal rights legislation but fails to explore other explanations for inequalities.
Radical Feminists Their basic theory is that men are the enemy! They argue that there has always been a sexual division of labour underpinning and reinforcing a system of male domination. Male defined ideas about women's 'natural' roles and behaviour persists in all spheres of society and therefore benefits men and serves to keep women subordinate and inferior to men. Men use their aggression to control women and are thus able to maintain their dominant position. To be free women need to separate themselves from male domination. Evaluation: Highlights dark side of family life but fails to account for the different experience and expectations of women, particularly in relation to class and the role of capital.
Marxist/Socialist Feminists Recognises both the role of Capitalism and patriarchy. Men exercise power over •women and in Capitalist societies patriarchy takes a specific form. With industrialisation women lost certain legal rights and -were excluded from certain spheres of paid work compared to men who gained certain political, legal and economic rights. Women became dependent on males and male needs dominated both within marriage and in wider society. Marriage and motherhood became women's primary role with limited access to paid work. Women serve the needs of Capitalism because they are a cheap source of labour and reproduce future labour at little cost to capital. Evaluation: Links in the role of capital but fails to explore the experiences of men.
Black feminism Argued that 'white feminists' have ignored the position of black women. Black women have a double disadvantage as they are oppressed by racism in white society and by patriarchy. Evaluation: Highlights colour-blind nature of feminist approaches but ignores similarities between different women's (ethnic) groups.
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Post-modernism feminism Challenges assumptions around gender identities, suggests there are now a range of identities from -which women and men can choose from. Evaluation: Highlights the changes in society, however ignores that for some people there is limited choice and the power of gender ideology.
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