EXPECTATION

A. Content Standards
The learners demonstrate an understanding of the key concepts and approaches in the
Social Sciences.
B. Performance Standards
The learners shall be able to:
 Interpret personal and social experiences using relevant approaches in the Social
Sciences and;
 Evaluate the strength and weaknesses of the approach
C. Most Essential Learning Competency
 Analyze the basic concepts and principles of feminism
 Apply the idea of feminism and its importance in examining socio-cultural, economic,
and political conditions.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the module, the students will be able to:

 Define feminism
 Determine how various approach of feminism is important in valuing women
 Discuss the benefits of studying feminism to the society as a whole.

PRE-TEST

A. Write “True” if the statement is true and write “False” if the statement is false.
______________1. Intersectionality is the interlocking forms of oppression and marginality
that structure people‟s lives, opportunities, and enfranchisement.
______________2. Sex roles are described as the tasks and functions perceived to be ideally
suited to masculinity or femininity.
______________3. Gender roles are about the concept on how the society assigned
expectation for masculinity and femininity through the norms society
created.
______________4. Cultural feminists believe that the different values associated with
womanhood and femininity is the reasons why men and women
experience the social world differently.
______________5. Gender oppression is an effect of the social process of gender relations
that institutionalize and reproduce certain norms of gender to privilege the

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 dominant group and marginalize, exclude, or cause other harm to the
oppressed group.
______________6. For Radical feminists, power is a positive social resource that must be
distributed fairly.
______________7. Radical feminism sees structures as that cause domination and that these
are bigger than any individual. The structures and practices of different
organizations become similar because all seek legitimacy.
______________8. According to liberal feminists, women reproduce workers by doing all the
households to prepare the men to sell their work another day.
______________9. Imperialism depends on women and the oppressive ideologies of gender
to solve the crisis of overproduction according to Marxist feminists.
______________10. The 3 main aspects of cultural feminism are: essentialism, separatism,
and socialism.

LOOKING BACK

Choose 1 review question only

A. How do the institutions enforce its B. Why rational choice theory is also
rules and guidelines to guide every important in understanding
individual‟s decisions? institutionalism?

INTRODUCTION OF THE LESSON

FEMINISM

Introduction

Feminism is described as the political, cultural, and economic movements that aim to
establish equal rights and legal protections for women. Its history can be divided into three
waves. The first wave (19th to 20th Century) was centered on women suffrage. It ended up with
the passage of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution in 1919, granting women voting
rights

The 2nd wave (1960‟s to 1980‟s) is about the women‟s liberation movement for equal
legal and social rights. Its slogan “the personal is not political” explains that cultural and political
inequalities are closely linked. This slogan portrays how women personal lives reflect the sexist
power structures. Betty Friedan‟s criticism to this explained in her book how women are framed
to the idea that women could only find fulfillment through childrearing and homemaking. She
hypothesized that women are victims of false beliefs that their identity is dependent on

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husbands and children eventually causing women to lose their own identities in that of their
family.

The 3rd wave (1990‟s) is a continuation of and reaction to the 2nd wave as a response
to what they perceived as the failures of the 2nd wave. They argue that the 2nd wave is only
focused on the upper-middle class white women. The 3rd wave sees women‟s lives as
intersectional, and considers that the race, ethnicity, class, religion, gender, and nationality are
all significant factors that cause inequality or affect feminism (Drucker, 2018).

Feminist Theory

Feminist theory is a set of ideas that originate from the belief that women are not
subordinate to men or gets its value when related to men (such as being a servant, a caretaker,
a mother, or a prostitute). It also believes that the disciplines, systems, and structures in the
world today can be changed for the better (Tong, 2002).

“Feminist theory is a- major branch within sociology that shifts its assumptions, analytic
lens, and topical focus away from the male viewpoint and experience and toward that of
women.” It sees social problems, trends, and issues that are unseen or misidentified by the
historically dominant male views about society (Crossman, 2019). Feminist theory pursues
equality and justice by means of illuminating the forces which create and support inequality,
oppression, and injustices in the social world. It is not about superiority of women over men but
rather it is a view that women are part of social forces, relations, and problems (Crossman,
2019).

Gender Differences

Gender differences give us understanding of how women differ from that of men in terms
of their location in social situations or their experiences thereof. According to cultural feminists
the different values associated with womanhood and femininity are the reasons why men and
women experience the social world differently (Crossman, 2019).

Some theorists believe that the different roles assigned to sexes within institutions
explain gender differences such as the sexual division of labor in the household. Sex roles are
described as the tasks and functions perceived to be ideally suited to masculinity or femininity
(Zevallos, 2014). For example, in the Philippines, you may hear the phrase: “ikaw ang babae,
kaya dapat ikaw ang gumawa”, signifying that sexes has exclusive roles. Gender differences
include how patriarchal societies marginalized women (Nigam, 2014). It includes how
masculinity is developed through socialization, and how its development interacts within the
process of developing femininity in girls (Crossman, 2019). Gender roles are about the concept
on how the society assigned expectations for masculinity and femininity through the norms
society itself created (lumenlearning.com). We may hear the phrase: “Nakakahiya ka
kababae/kalalaki mong tao”, as an example of how society assigned expectations on genders.

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Gender Inequality

Feminist theories that focus on gender inequality recognize that women‟s location in,
and experience of, social situations are not only different but also unequal to men‟s.

According to humanrightscareers.com the 10 causes of gender inequalities around the

world are: 1) Uneven access to education, 2) Lack of employment equality, 3) Job segregation,
4) Lack of legal protections, 5) Lack of bodily autonomy, 6) Poor medical care, 7) Lack of
religious freedom, 8) Lack of political representation, 9) Racism, and 10) Societal mindsets
(humanrightscareers.com, n.d.)

Based from liberal feminists, women have the same capacity as men for moral
reasoning and agency, but the patriarchal system (such as the sexist division of labor) has
denied women the opportunity to express and practice this reasoning (Crossman, 2019).

Gender Oppression

According to Ingrey (2016), “gender oppression is an effect of the social process of

gender relations that institutionalize and reproduce certain norms of gender to privilege the
dominant group and marginalize, exclude, or cause other harm to the oppressed group”.
Crossman (2019) added that gender oppression is more than inequality or differences because
women are actively oppressed, subordinated, and even abused by men.

The theory of oppression called psychoanalytic feminism describe that men have
psychological need to subjugate women. The desire of men to dominate women and the
minimal resistance of women to this domination actually lies in the psyche which was
constructed and maintained by the patriarchal society.

Structural Oppression

“Structural oppression theories posit that women oppression and inequality actually
caused by capitalism, patriarchy, and racism”. For example, Marxism believes that capitalism
exploits the working class and that extends to gender as well (Crossman, 2019).

These interconnected forms of oppression can be explained through intersectionality.

Intersectionality suggests that race and gender discrimination, along with other dimensions of
identity and positionality, such as sexuality, age, class and able-bodiness, have implications in
society, legality, politics, and economics. These interlocking forms of oppression and marginality
structure people‟s lives, opportunities, and enfranchisement. According to Collins, (1990/2000)
through intersectionality‟s theoretical framework, we can examine and deconstruct the
structures of race and gender oppression (Palmer et.al, n.d.). For Crossman (2019),
intersectionality uses various factors (e.g. class, gender, race, ethnicity, and age) to explain
what oppression and inequality is. It views that oppression can be experienced by different
women but not in the same way. It also suggests that the same forces that oppress women and
girls also oppress other races and other marginalized groups.

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Types of Feminism

Liberal Feminism
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 (Kinds of Feminism, n.d.). Liberal feminists
believe in the value of freedom and that the just state shall ensure freedom for everyone (Baehr,
2021).
For Liberal feminists, women‟s legal rights to property, including property in their own
person, is fundamental in the emancipation of women. Liberal feminism broadly accepts the
proposition that contemporary advanced industrial societies are meritocratic, and that women as
a group are not innately less talented or less diligent than men but are denied opportunities
simply because of their sex (Bittman, 2002).

Its primary concern is to protect and enhance women‟s personal and political autonomy
through having freedom to one‟s life and the freedom to contribute in the direction of the political
community. For Liberal feminists, power is a positive social resource that must be distributed
fairly (McAfee & Howard, 2018).

Radical Feminism
Unlike liberals who see individual as having potential for freedom, radical feminism sees
structures (as intersectional) as that cause domination and that these are bigger than any
individual. According to Welch, one example of this structure is patriarchy which dominates
women by positioning women as objects of men‟s desire. For radical feminists, power is in
dyadic relations of dominance/subordination like the relation between master and slave (McAfee
& Howard, 2018).

According to MacKinnon (1989) domination is bound up to gender difference. She sees

that the problem is not that difference is not valued; but rather the problem is defined by power.
She defined sex difference as the power vs. powerlessness. She believes that sex difference is
no less than gender difference because it is socially constructed and shaped by relations of
power (Allen, 2016).

For Frye, the most important among the faces of power is access. She defined total
power as unconditional access (having access or the dominant) while, the total powerlessness
as the unconditionally accessible (being accessed or the dominated). The only way women can
challenge such power is to deny access to women‟s body, emotional support, domestic labor,
and so on. She added that “the powerful normally determine what is said and sayable” and that
women have no power to define the terms of their situation. If women have to take power,
women should assert control to access and define themselves (Allen, 2016).

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 Marxist and Socialist Feminisms
Feminists used socialist and Marxist ideas to understand the way women were
exploited. It believes that women‟s labor and reproductive work is devalued and unpaid because
these are essential for the capitalism to function (Allen, 2016).

Marxism‟s social relation between the capitalist and the worker has in itself another
social relation that exists inside the household – that is between husband and wife. This
relationship is called social reproduction – that is women reproduce workers by doing all the
households (e.g. ironing, dishwashing, giving care to husband, childcare, and so on) to prepare
the men to sell their work another day (production). And the most exploitative part of it is that
women never get paid for such labors in the capitalist system (Armstrong, 2020).

Marxists feminists argue that imperialism during the 20th – 21st Century depends on
women and the oppressive ideologies of gender to solve the crisis of overproduction. Engels
argued that households lost its concern in society and became a private service where wife
became head servant at home and is not allowed to take part in social production. For him,
women subordination is a result of gender hierarchies created by capitalism and is not biological
or God-given. Furthermore, women can only end this oppression in patriarchal values and social
orders once they joined and win the struggles against capitalism. However, this was opposed by
Kollantai who argued that women‟s liberation cannot be solely won as workers. She argued that
full women emancipation requires active transformation of morality, sexuality and the family
which can be found in socialism. These Marxist feminist analyses became the bases that gave
way to paid time off for childcare, maternity leave, subsidized food for childbearing women, and
other pro-maternalist policies that the socialist feminism holds.

These movements cause many changes in maternal policies around Europe, the
western world and the other parts of the globe (Armstrong, 2020). In fact, a former teacher in
Caloocan immigrated to Australia to live with her husband receives at least 3-5 times the
average salary here per month for childcare and education. This is because their government
believes in the value of women social reproduction.

In the US during the 1930‟s-1940‟s Mary Inman argued that the reproductive work of
middle class women should be recognized as productive work. Socialist feminists, removes the
separation between production and reproduction and argued that “labor power is a commodity
produced in the home” and that women are essential in the reproduction of capital and
fundamental for the destruction of capitalism (Armstrong, 2020)

Cultural Feminism
Cultural Feminism is a countercultural movement that tries to reverse the cultural
valuation of male and the devaluation of female. Its three main aspects include essentialism
which defines the differences of male and female are part of their essences therefore not
chosen; separatism and; the idea of vanguardism which tries to install new culture instead of

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transforming the one through political means. This vanguardism created social benefits such as
rape crisis center, women shelter, and so on.

ACTIVITY

A. Identification
1. A type of feminism that employs countercultural movement that which to reverse the
cultural valuation of male and the devaluation of female.
2. The feminists that remove the separation between production and reproduction and
argued that labor is a commodity produced at home.
3. It is the most important among the faces of power according to Frye
4. It is the wave in feminism that focuses women‟s liberation through legal and social
rights.
5. It is described as the political, cultural, and economic movements that aim to establish
equal rights and legal protection for women.
B. Group Research Task
Group the class into 3 groups. Next, choose 1 topic below concerning 1) eco-feminism
and 2) I-feminism. Then, present in class the findings while each audience group
creates 1 question. Questions will be asked after each presentation.
1. What are the aims of eco-feminism and I-feminism?
2. How do the 2 feminisms related to other types of feminisms discussed in this topic?
3. How do these types of feminisms make significant contributions to equality?

REMEMBER

Feminism is described as the political, cultural, and economic movements that aim to
establish equal rights and legal protections for women. Its history can be divided into three
waves. Feminist theory is a set of ideas that originate from the belief that women are not
subordinate to men or gets its value when related to men. It also believes that the disciplines,
systems, and structures in the world today can be changed for the better. Gender differences
come from the values we put in womanhood and femininity through sex roles and gender roles.
Gender inequality is how women are unequal to men in their location and experiences in social
situations. Gender oppression is an effect of the social process of gender relations that
institutionalize and reproduce certain norms of gender to privilege the dominant group and
marginalize, exclude, or cause other harm to the oppressed group. Structural oppression occurs
when different structures and forms of oppression intersect to contribute for women oppression.
The types of feminisms are liberal feminism, radical feminism, Marxist and socialist feminism,
and cultural feminism.

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 CHECKING YOUR UNDERSTANDING

A. Use the idea of feminism in understanding personal and social experiences.

1. What do you think are the policies that should be added in order to improve the current
maternal policies in the Philippines today?
2. What is the personal benefit/s of understanding feminism for you as a student?

POST TEST

A. Write the letter of the correct answer on the answer sheet provided at the end of this module
1. The kind of feminism that believes that differences are part of essences
a. Cultural b. Liberal c. Marxist &Socialist d. Radical
2. A type of feminism that believe that women should assert control to access and define
themselves, if they want to take power
a. Cultural b. Liberal c. Marxist &Socialist d. Radical
3. The feminists that believe that power is a positive social resource that must be distributed
fairly
a. Cultural b. Liberal c. Marxist &Socialist d. Radical
4. It is the theory of oppression that describes that men have psychological need to
subjugate women.
a. Eco feminism b. I-feminism c. Marxist feminism d. Psychoanalytic feminism
5. In spite of the same capacity of women for moral reasoning and agency, what system
denies women to express and practice this capacity according to liberal feminists?
a. Capitalist b. Oppression c. Patriarchal d. Social
6. Which one is an example of women role assigned by the traditional society?
a. Business b. Factory Works c. Household duties d. Politics
7. What does the concept “women are part of social forces, relations, and problems” tries to
illuminate?
a. Gender aggression b. Equality of sexes c. Passiveness d. Superiority of women
8. These are the concept on how society assigned expectations for masculinity and
femininity through the norms it created
a. Feminine Roles b. Gender Roles c. Sex Roles d. Women Roles
9. Which one is an example of social reproduction according to Maxism?
a. The wife is employed too to assist the husband for financial support
b. The government provides financial assistance to wives working at home
c. The wife prepares all the needs of her husband to give him energy for tomorrows work
d. The husbands are tied to home in the modern society because everyone is treated equal
10. It is the interconnected forms of oppression that structures people‟s lives, opportunities
and enfranchisement
a. Economics b. Feminism c. Intersectionality d. Oppression
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 REFERENCES:
10 Causes of Gender Inequality (n.d.) Retrieved from:
https://www.humanrightscareers.com/issues/causes-gender-inequality/
Allen, A. (2016) Feminist Perspectives on Power, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Zalta, E.N. (ed.) Retrieved from:
https://plato.stanrod.edu/archives/fall2016/entries/feminist-power/
Armstrong, E. (2020). Marxist and Socialist Feminism. Study of Women and Gender: Faculty
Publications, Smith College. Ma.
Baehr, Amy R., Liberal Feminism. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2021
Edition). Zalta, E.N. (ed)
Bittman, M. (2002, November 2) Family and Gender. University of New South Wales, Sydney,
New South Wales, Australia. Doi: https://doi.org.10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03942-5.
Retrieved from: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080430767039425
Crossman, A. (October 25, 2019) Feminist Theory in Sociology. ThoughtCo.Retrieved from:
https://www.thoughtco.com/feminist-theory-3026624
Drucker, S.A. (2018, April 27) Betty Friedan: the Three Waves of Feminism. Ohio Humanities.
Retrieved from: www.ohiohumanities.org/betty-friedan-the-three-waves-of-feminism
Gender and Socialization. Module 9: Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. Retrieved from:
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-introductiontosociology/chapter/gender-and-
socialization/
Ingrey, J.C. (2016, April 21) Gender Oppression. Wiley Online Library. Doi:
httmps://doi.org.10.1002/9781118663219.wbegss324
Kinds of Feminism (n.d.) Retrieved from: https://www.uah.edu/woolf/feminism_kinds.htm
Lewis, Jone Johnson. (2020, December 20). Cultural Feminism. Retrieved from:
https:www.thoughtco.com/cultural-feminism-definition-3528996
McAfee, N. & Howard, K.B. (2018) Feminist Political Philosophy, The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy, Zalta, E.N. (ed). Retrieved from:
https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2018/entries/feminism-political/
Nigam, s. (2014, September) From the Margins: Revisiting the Concept of „Marginalized
Women‟. Retrieved from:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sold3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2490983
Palmer, G.L. Fernandez, J.S., Lee, G. Masud, H. Hilson, S., Tang, C. Thomas, D., Cloark, L.,
Guzman, B., and Bernai, I. (n.d.) Introduction to Community Pscychology: Chapter 9
Oppression and Power
Tong, R. 2002. Feminist Theory. University of North Carolina. USA. Smelser, N.J. & Balter, P.B.
(ed). International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. Pages 5484-5491.
ISBN: 9780080430768. Retrieved from:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B0080430767039450.
Wolff, K. (2007, February 15) Psychoanalytic Feminism. Doi: https://do
i.org/10.1002/9781405165518. Wbeosp115.
Zevallos, Z. (2014) „Sociology of Gender‟, the Other Sociologist, 28 November. Retrieved from:
https://othersociologist.com/sociology-of-gender/
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ANSWER SHEET FOR DISS Q2 Week 3
Name: _____________________________ Grade & Section: __________________

A. Identification
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

B. Group Research Task

1. ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Checking Your Understanding

1. ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

2. ______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________

Post Test
1. 6.
2. 7.
3. 8.
4. 9.
5. 10.

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