FEMINISM Liberal Feminism In 1983, Alison Jaggar published Feminist published Feminist Politics and Human Nature where Nature where she defined four theories related to feminism: liberal feminism, Marxism, radical feminism, feminism , and socialist feminism feminism !er anal"sis was not completel" new# the $arieties of feminism had begun to differentiate as earl" as the 19%&s Jaggar's contribution was clarif"ing, extending and solidif"ing the $arious definitions, which are still often used toda" (iberal feminism's primar" goal is gender equality in in the public sphere )) e*ual access to education, e*ual pa", ending +ob sex segregation, better woring conditions )) won primaril" through legal changes -ri$ate sphere issues are of concern mainl" as the" t he" influence or impede e*ualit" in the public sphere .aining access to and being paid and promoted e*uall" in traditionall" male)dominated occupations is an important goal /hat do women want0 (iberal feminism feminism answers: mostl", what men want: to get an education, to mae a decent li$ing, to pro$ide for one's famil" /hat she described as liberal feminism feminism is theor" and wor that focuses focuses more on issues lie e*ualit" in the worplace, in education, in political rights /here liberal feminism fe minism loos at issues in the pri$ate sphere, it tends to be in terms of e*ualit": how does that pri$ate life impede or enhance public e*ualit" hus, liberal feminists also tend to support marriage as an e*ual partnership, and more male in$ol$ement in child care Abortion and other reproducti$e reproducti$e rights ha$e rights ha$e to do with control of one's life choices and autonom" 2nding domestic $iolence and sexual harassment ha$e to do with remo$ing obstacles to women achie$ing on an e*ual le$el with men (iberal feminism tends to rel" on the state and political rights to gain e*ualit" )) to see the state as the protector of indi$idual rights (iberal feminism, for example, supports affirmati$e action legislation re*uiring emplo"ers and educational institutions to mae special attempts to include women in the pool of applicants, on the assumption that past and current discrimination ma" simpl" o$erloo man" *ualified women applicants he 2*ual ights Amendment was Amendment was a e" goal for man" "ears of liberal feminists, feminists, from the original women's suffrage proponents who mo$ed to ad$ocating a federal e*ualit" amendment, to man" of the feminists of the 19%&s and 194&s in organi5ations including the 6ational 7rgani5ation for /omen /omen he text of the 2*ual ights Amendment, as passed b" ongress and sent to the states in the 194&s, is classical liberal feminism: "Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex."
/hile not den"ing that there ma" be biologicall")based differences between men and women, liberal feminism cannot see that these are ade*uate +ustification for ine*ualit", such as the wage gap between men and women ritics of liberal feminism point to a lac of criti*ue of basic gender relationships, a focus on state action which lins women's interests to those of the powerful, a lac of class or race anal"sis, and a lac of anal"sis of wa"s in which women are different from men ritics often accuse liberal feminism of +udging women and their success b" male standards In more recent "ears, liberal feminism has sometimes been conflated with a ind of libertarian feminism, sometimes called e*uit" feminism or indi$idual feminism Indi$idual feminism often opposes legislati$e or state action, preferring to emphasi5e de$eloping the sills and abilities of women to compete better in the world as it is his feminism opposes laws that gi$e either men or women ad$antages and pri$ileges This is the variety of feminism that works within the structure of mainstream society to integrate women into that structure. Its roots stretch back to the social contract theory of government instituted by the American Revolution. Abigail Adams and Mary Wollstonecraft were there from the start, proposing euality for women. As is often the case with liberals, they slog along inside the system, getting little done amongst the compromises until some radical movement shows up and pulls those compromises left of center. This is how it operated in the days of the su!ragist movement and again with the emergence of the radical feminists. "#$% "&ee Daring to be Bad, by Alice 'chols ()*+* for more detail on this contrast.%
Radical Feminism DEF I NI T I ON
adical feminism is a philosoph" emphasi5ing the patriarchal roots of ine*ualit" between men and women, or, more specificall", social dominance of women b" men adical feminism $iews patriarch" as di$iding rights, pri$ileges and power primaril" b" gender, and as a result oppressing women and pri$ileging men adical feminism opposes existing political and social organi5ation in general because it is inherentl" tied to patriarch" hus, radical feminists tend to be septical of political action within the current s"stem, and instead tend to focus on culture change that undermines patriarch" and associated hierarchical structures
adical feminists tend to be more militant in their approach radical as getting t o the root; than other feminists are A radical feminist aims to dismantle patriarch", rather than maing ad+ustments to the s"stem through legal changes adical feminists also resisted reducing oppression to an economic or class issue, as socialist or Marxist feminism sometimes did or does adical feminism opposes patriarch", not men o e*uate radical feminism to man) hating is to assume that patriarch" and men are inseparable, philosophicall" and politicall" obin Morgan defended man)hating as the right of the oppressed class to hate the class which is oppressing them; ROOT SOFR ADI C ALF E MI NI S M
adical feminism was rooted in the wider radical mo$ement, where women participated in anti)war and 6ew (eft political mo$ements of the 19%&s, finding themsel$es excluded from e*ual power b" the men within the mo$ement, e$en with underl"ing theories of empowerment Man" of these women split off into specificall" feminist groups, while still retaining much of their political radical ideals and methods hen radical feminism became the term used for the more radical edge of feminism adical feminism is credited with the use of consciousness raising groups to raise awareness of women's oppression al" , Andrea >worin,
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reproducti$e rights for women, including freedom to mae choices to gi$e birth, ha$e an abortion, use birth control or get sterili5ed e$aluating and then breaing down traditional gender roles in pri$ate relationships as well as in public policies understanding pornograph" as an industr" and practice leading to harm to women, although some radical feminists disagreed with this position
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understanding rape as an expression of patriarchal power, not a seeing of sex understanding prostitution under patriarch" as oppression of women, sexuall" and economicall" a criti*ue of motherhood, marriage, the nuclear famil" and sexualit", *uestioning how much of our culture is based on patriarchal assumptions a criti*ue of other institutions including go$ernment and religion as centered historicall" in patriarchal power
ools used b" radical women's groups included consciousness)raising groups, acti$el" pro$iding ser$ices, organi5ing public protests, and putting on art and culture e$ents /omen's
-rovides the bulwark of theoretical thought in feminism. Radical feminism provides an important foundation for the rest of feminist /avors. &een by many as the undesirable element of feminism, Radical feminism is actually the breeding ground for many of the ideas arising from feminism0 ideas which get shaped and pounded out in various ways by other (but not all branches of feminism. "1TM%
Radical feminism was the cutting edge of feminist theory from appro2imately )*345)*46. It is no longer as universally accepted as it was then, nor does it provide a foundation for, for e2ample, cultural feminism. "''%
This term refers to the feminist movement that sprung out of the civil rights and peace movements in )*345)*3+. The reason this group gets the radical label is that they view the oppression of women as the most fundamental form of oppression, one that cuts across boundaries of race, culture, and economic class. This is a movement intent on social change, change of rather revolutionary proportions, in fact. "#
%$ The best history of this movement is a book called Daring to be Bad, by Alice 'chols ()*+*. I consider that book a must7 "#$% Another e2cellent book is simply titled Radical Feminism and is an anthology edited by Anne 8oedt, a well5known radical feminist "''%.
Marxist and Socialist Feminism
Definition: he phrase socialist feminism was increasingl" used during the 194&s to describe a mixed theoretical and practical approach to achie$ing women's e*ualit"
feminists who ally themselves with the philosophical and economic theories of 8arl Mar2, who discovered the economic l aws underlying capitalism and wrote about them in his masterpiece, 1apital. In this and other works, Mar2 and his lifelong collaborator 9rederick 'ngels laid the foundations of Mar2ist economics, the philosophical concept of dialectical materialism, and the method of social analysis known as historical materialism. Mar2 showed how the working class is e2ploited for pro:t by capitalists, who gain wealth by paying workers a bare minimum of the value they produce. Mar2ist feminists view the capitalist drive for pro:ts as responsible for women;s second5 class status and other forms of oppression such as racism and homophobia. -rean arrangement that allows the world;s capitalists to save trillions of dollars every year.
In ?rigin of the 9amily, -rivate -roperty and the &tate, 9rederick 'ngels drew on the work of early anthropologists to show how women;s oppression developed in pre5history when communal, matrilineal societies were violently replaced with patriarchal societies in which individual wealth and private property were key. (-atriarchal, pro:t5driven societies became dominant by conuest and colonialism, though remnants of matrilineal culture survived in tribal societies throughout the world. 9rom a position of early leadership and respect, women became powerless domestic slaves. 'ngels describes this as the world historic defeat of the female se2. Mar2 and 'ngels viewed women;s entry into the paid labor force as the :rst step toward liberating women from sti/ing dependence on men, though it does not free them from the class oppression they share with male workers. To achieve the full liberation of women and of the multi5racial, working class of all nations, international socialism is necessary, which is in essence a return in modern form to the cooperative egalitarian foundations of early human e2istence. Mar2ist feminism is essentially the same as socialist feminism and materialist feminism, though some academics have de:ned the terms in ways that construe di!erences.
Mar2ism recogni=es that women are oppressed, and attributes the oppression to the capitalist@private property system. Thus they insist that the only way to end the oppression of women is to overthrow the capitalist system. &ocialist feminism is the result of Mar2ism meeting radical feminism. #aggar and Rothenberg "Feminist Frameworks: Alternative Theoretical Accounts of the Relations Between Women and Men by Alison M. #aggar and -aula &. Rothenberg, )**% point to signi:cant di!erences between socialist feminism and Mar2ism, but for our purposes I;ll present the two together. 'chols o!ers a description of socialist feminism as a marriage between Mar2ism and radical feminism, with Mar2ism the dominant partner. Mar2ists and socialists often call themselves radical, but they use the term to refer to a completely di!erent root of societyB the economic system.
Postmodern Feminism -ostmodern 9eminists have built on the ideas of 9oucault, de Ceauvoir, as well as $errida and Dacan (who I;m not going to talk about. While there is much variation in -ostmodern feminism, there is some common ground. -ostmodern 9eminists accept the male@female binary as a main categori=ing force in our society. 9ollowing &imone de Ceauvoir, they see female as having being cast into the role of the ?ther. They critici=e the structure of society and the dominant order, especially in its patriarchal aspects. Many -ostmodern feminists, however, re
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