Liberal feminism vs Radical feminism

Liberal feminism and radical feminism are two different branches of feminism.
Liberal feminism promotes gender equality and works to elevate women's status
within current social systems. Liberal feminists think that gradual change and
legislation are the best ways to advance women's rights. They contend that
women should have equal opportunity in terms of political representation, work,
and education. Access to healthcare and reproductive rights are also supported
by liberal feminists.
using the current system. It places a strong emphasis on individual liberties and
rights and works to remove discrimination against women via societal and legal
changes. Liberal feminism rejects the idea that men and women are biologically
different from one another and instead views gender disparity as the outcome of
cultural and social norms. Through education, career opportunity, and political
representation, it seeks to establish gender equality..
On the other hand, radical feminism contends that patriarchy, a system in which
males rule over women, is the primary cause of gender disparity. Radical feminists
contend that patriarchy has an impact on every sphere of society, including the
economics, cultural norms, and interpersonal ties. Radical feminists want a total
reform of the current system and contest the gender roles that contribute to the
oppression of women. Instead than aiming for equality within a gendered society,
radical feminism argues for the full eradication of gender, seeing it as the main
cause of social hierarchy.

In conclusion, radical feminism strives to fully destroy patriarchy and conventional

gender roles, whereas liberal feminism advocates equality for women within the
current system.

Feminism’s success and contribution to law.

By promoting legal changes and calling for equal rights for women, feminism has
significantly influenced the legal system. Here are some ways that feminism has
helped the legal system succeed:

1. Eliminating discrimination: Feminism has worked to eliminate prejudice against

women in all spheres of society, including politics, the workplace, and education.
Additionally, it has worked to repeal laws that discriminate against women.

what feminism has added to the law:

1. Women's Suffrage and Voting Rights: The feminist movement played a

significant role in obtaining the right of women to vote, which resulted in
increased political engagement and female representation in government. In
1920, the US Constitution's 19th Amendment was passed, allowing women the
right to vote..

2. job Equality: As a result of feminist activism, laws like Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 were passed that forbid gender-based job discrimination. As a result,
women now have more employment options and are paid equally.

3. Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Laws: Feminist activism has contributed
to raising awareness of the pervasiveness of domestic violence and sexual assault
against women, which has resulted in the development of laws to protect victims
and hold offenders accountable.

4. Reproductive Rights: Women's freedom to regulate their own bodies, including

the right to access abortion and contraception, has been fought for by feminists.
Due of this, important Supreme Court decisions, including Roe v. Wade, which
made abortion legal in the US, were made..
5. Family Law: Women now have equal rights in marriage and divorce, and there
are more options for them to be recognised as legal guardians of their children
because to feminist agitation.

Feminism has had a major influence on the legal system overall, acting as the
impetus for a number of reforms that have expanded women's rights and equality
under the law.

An outline of feminist legal theory's history

According to enlightenment feminists like Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote during
the French Revolution, women and men both have the capacity for reason
inherently. These feminists claimed that women's capacity for rational thought
had been suppressed by their upbringing because they were made to participate
in frivolous, "girly" socialisation processes, were discouraged from developing
their intellectual faculties, or at least were not encouraged to do so, and were
given inadequate education. Due to a focus on so-called "womanly private
domestic responsibilities," women were subsequently discouraged from
participating in public life and denied opportunities to participate in political
processes. Enlightenment feminists deemed such a condition to be deplorable,
but was optimistic since it might be modified by a different socialisation of the
sexes, thereby giving both males and girls the same upbringing, circumstances,
and chances. Feminists might utilise Mill's work, which notably emphasises the
injustice of women's subordination, as well as the vocabulary of equality,
freedom, and the rights of many, to support their claims for women's rights.
Some people consider the mid-19th to early-20th century suffragettes to be the
forerunners of feminism since they fought for women's rights and the right to
vote. Women were granted the right to vote and significant legal equality before
the law- that is , Women should be able to do the same things that men can if
they have the same rights and freedoms. Women should have the same legal
protections as males, and the law should be applied equally to both men and
women by treating them fairly. The modern (1960s and onward) women's
liberation movement, also known as the second wave of feminism, grew out of
the civil rights and frequently more radical movements in the 1960s, which sought
freedom and equality for women, especially in areas of employed work outside
the home, reproductive rights, and freedom over their own bodies and sexuality.
Many of these campaigners had legal backgrounds or were solicitors, Additionally,
many attorneys introduced the wider feminist viewpoint that women should be
treated equally or with freedom into the legal profession, both in academic
settings and in actual legal practise. Legal experts from many fields and with a
range of viewpoints and interests started focusing on feminist problems or how
the law affected women's life, how it related to women, and whether it truly
treated men and women equally. According to Lacey (1994), the earliest feminist
movement was a Liberal cause that argued for equality and attempted to give
women the same status and legal rights as men. However, this ran into issues
with the male standard, and the second phase was one of declaring difference or
attempting to change the law so that it treats men and women equally but
differently. A third phase is more contemplative and asks the woman questions
more frequently since doing so ran the danger of reviving the debates over
natural subordination. It aims to thoroughly comprehend the part played by
gender in forming social and legal connections, as well as the part played by legal
relations in forming gender..

INTRODUCTION
1. Academic literature in the subject of law has seen a robust and contentious
influx of feminist ideas. The volume of literature that has emerged from this field
of study is so vast and complicated that it can be difficult to organise. Legal
scholarship's feminist theorising heavily borrows on feminist theory in related
fields like literature, sociology, etc. It has several connections to other critical
theory subfields, particularly critical race theory and gay and lesbian legal studies.
The main concepts are dominance, emancipation, and the meaning of humanity.
Redefining the bond between the individual and society is a goal of feminism..
ORIGIN
2. There are several theories that might be used to explain the beginnings of
feminist law. As an outgrowth of the critical legal studies movement, according to
one theory (C. Menkel-Meadow). The acceptance of the goal of the destruction of
patriarchal society, in which the main schools of law overlook or reject the idea of
true equality of men and women, is a fundamental tenet of feminist legal theory.
According to Patricia Smith, the political need for a completely ungendered legal
system is the virtual abolishment of patriarchy.
FEATURES OF FEMINISM
3. The writings of Simone de Beauvoir (The Second Sex), Betty Freidan (The
Feminine Mystique), and others helped to shape feminist jurisprudence in the late
1960s and early 1970s.
Female students started to criticise a curriculum that ignored topics of primary
interest to women, including as rape, domestic violence, reproduction, unequal
pay, sex discrimination, and sexual harassment, as a result of the huge number of
women studying law, a phenomena that began in the late 1960s and continued
throughout the 1970s.
4. Because women have historically been seen as the less important 'other' in sets
of dualistically defined interactions, feminism questions all types of dualism. In
general, it is believed that Western philosophy is made up of sets of binary
oppositions, with one side given preference over the other (such as public vs.
private, reason vs. emotion, light vs. darkness, and masculine vs. female). Women
have so been stereotyped as being emotional, illogical, and untrustworthy
, and confined to the private sphere of the family while the male - the rational -
enters the world of politics and law (FrancesOlsen).
VIEWS OF DIFFERENT FEMINIST SCHOLARS AND SCHOOLS
5. Clare Dalton defined feminism as a range of committed inquiry and activity that
is dedicated first to describing women's subordination and exploring its nature
and extent, second to asking both how—through what mechanisms—and why—
for what complex and interwoven reasons—women continue to occupy that
position, and third to promoting change. Feminist jurisprudence explores the
politics of law, much like Critical Legal Studies (CLS), but its main emphasis is on
how the law upholds patriarchal hegemony (according to H. Wishik).
'In a Different Voice' 6. According to developmental psychologist Gilligan, men's
and women's moral development differ significantly in how much emphasis is
placed on rights and abstract justice, responsibility, and context. An "ethic of
care" is based on the principle of non-violence, which states that "no one should
be harmed." An "ethic of justice" is established in the belief that everyone should
be treated equally. The risk of adopting Gilligan's insight is that it leads one to
think that a care-based and rights-based vision may coexist.
7. According to Robin West, the problem with contemporary legal philosophy is
how it defines what it is to be a person. Such a view is sexist since it presumes
that people are fundamentally distinct from one another. Contrarily, she contends
that women are linked to other people through physiologically based activities
such as pregnancy, breastfeeding, and heterosexual relations .West makes the
case for a feminist jurisprudence that reimagines legal ideas to reflect the reality
of women's experience. She makes the case in 'Feminism Unmodified' that
feminists should focus on recognising power. This views the subject of gender
equality as one of power dynamics, of male dominance and female subjugation.
Instead of difference, power is what Mackinnon values most.
PERSPECTIVES OF VARIOUS FEMINIST SCHOOLS
9. Feminist perspectives are helpfully divided into four schools of thought by Cain:
liberal, radical, cultural, and postmodern. She demonstrates how various schools
approach and address the subject of equality..
a. For liberals, equality equates to equal access. Liberal feminists believe that via
their own interpersonal connections with people of the opposite sex, women will
change society.
b. Radical feminists who emphasise gender differences and promote affirmative
action to combat inequality include Littleton and Mackinnon.
c. Cultural feminists stress difference as well, but they see it as a good. They
(authors like Gilligan and West) advocate for reform that upholds the ideals
(caring, relational connection) of this diversity by using the vocabulary of equality.
d. Postmodern feminism cautions against trying to replace an outdated truth with
a new one and views equality as a social construction that is a byproduct of
patriarchy.
.
FEMINIST LEGAL METHOD
The positivist - empirical tradition, which holds that reality can be discovered by
observation and measurement by a neutral observer, is contested by feminist
thought. Contrarily, feminist legal strategies are informed by the hermeneutic
tradition and critical theory's methodologies (Nielson). For those studying
feminist legal theory, postmodernism has provided further insights (Flax).
Whether it be the essentialism of patriarchy itself or the alternatives put out by
cultural feminism, essentialism must be rejected. The law itself and the standards
for legal validity are two representations of objective truth that, of course, can be
questioned if it is. If these too are social constructs , their supposed neutrality is
deconstructed and the gender hierarchies endemic in them exposed .

11. According to Finley, legal language and reasoning are gendered since they are
influenced by men's experiences and come from men's dominant social position
in comparison to women. She stresses the dualistic and polarised nature of this
thinking, much like Olsen, and emphasises that the idea that the law is patriarchal
does not imply that women have been ignored by it; rather, it is viewed through
the lens of men rather than through the experiences and definitions of women.
Indeed, there is evidence that feminist legal theory is becoming more popular
thanks to works by Vandervelde on the gendered roots of Lumley v. Gye, Grosson
bankruptcy law, Kornhauser on tax, etc .For the purpose of incorporating
women's experiences, views, and voices into the law, Finley suggests critical
interactions with the nature of legal language. This has already had an effect:
sexual harassment is starting to be acknowledged (Mackinnon), and in England, R
v. R., the definition of rape has been expanded to include rape in marriage.
CONCLUSION 12. Women were mostly invisible to the law due to their
segregation into the 'private' sphere, or the home realm, which has historically
been uncontrolled. Once more, international law has been cautious and sluggish
to address the special issues that women face during times of conflict, including
rape by military personnel. Additionally, the ability of international law to
influence cultural
 practices which particularly affect women. International law has demonstrated a
willingness to relegate such practises to the private sphere because they are "not
the law's business," whether it be the practise of footbinding women, Hindu
Suttee (the burning of the widow on the funeral pyre of the husband), or the
circumcision of young girls and women. Some feminists who identify as black or
from an ethnic minority group have challenged the overemphasis on gender
classification rather than other social issues like race. Invoking Mariana Valverde

1. 2015, Zone-A Question 11 ‘Of all the strands in feminist legal theory the
liberal one is best
equipped to make concrete suggestions for legal reform.’ Discuss. [SEE
EXAMINER’S REPORT
FROM HANDOUT FEMINISM Q ANALYSIS]

2. 2015, Zone-B, Question 11 ‘Feminist legal theory is bedevilled by internal

disagreements between
feminist legal theorists. As a result, feminist legal theory has forgotten to take
up a common front
against the exploitation of women by contemporary legal systems.’ Discuss.
[SEE EXAMINER’S
REPORT FROM HANDOUT FEMINISM Q ANALYSIS]

ANSWER
THIS ANSWER COVERS TWO ANGLES:
 Various feminists’ schools, similarities & differences
 Feminist contribution to the law (N.B. similar like 1st
angle but similarities and differences
will be reduced, main focus will be on contribution)

1. INTRODUCTION
Feminism cannot be defined in a single way. In addition, many contemporary
feminists hold that no one theory can fully explain the dominance and
oppression of women, and some reject the value of broad ideas, including the
Grand Theory. If feminism can be summed up in the words of Clare Dalton, it
can be said to be a range of committed inquiry and activity dedicated to
1) describing women's subordination in patriarchal society and exploring its
nature and extent; and
2) asking how and why women continue to occupy that position. and
3) Third, to switch positions In relation to the third devotion, it should be
noted that feminism is first a political movement that seeks to undermine
male dominance and end women's subjugation. It examines techniques for
undermining and finally getting rid of patriarchy. George Middleton asserts
that feminism is an assault on social opinion whenever it discriminates
against men and women based on their sex.

LEGACY IN FEMINISM
The most well-known and important type of feminism in history is liberal
feminism. It is also the variety of feminism that directly relates to the law.
According to the liberal feminists' general point of view, societal and legal
restrictions that prevent or restrict women's access to the public arena of
politics and economics are what lead to their subjugation. Fundamentally,
liberal feminism makes the case that people should be treated equally and
according to political liberalism's core tenet that they are rational,
independent, and deserving of respect. Liberal feminists say that men and
women should be treated equally and that liberals should adhere to their
own ideas of equality and universal human rights.
.
[Contribution Of liberals:
1. 1. A regulation stating that males should be given precedence as estate
administrators, like in the US Supreme Court decision Reed v. Reed, is an
example of "unreasonable classification" that liberal feminism has
criticised. The Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of
the Constitution was found to be violated by gender-based
categorization. The appointment of women as state administrators was
made possible.
2.
3. 2. Anti-discrimination laws like the Sex Discrimination Act of 1975 in the
UK, the Sex Discrimination Act of 1984 in Australia, and Article 157 of
the TFEU, which refers to equal pay for equal labour, exemplify the
equal opportunity ideal of liberal feminism.

3The Crime and Courts Act of 2013 stipulated that the Judicial Appointment
Commission may choose a candidate for a position where there are two or
more applicants of similar quality for judicial office in order to increase
judicial diversity. This Act opens the door for female judges.

1. Making legislation more gender neutral does little to aid women. For
instance, equal treatment during pregnancy may result in women losing
their employment since they will be treated less favourably than males.
Actually, because males cannot become pregnant, women should not be
treated similarly in this aspect.
.

4. 2. Individuals who are socially unequal do not experience'real' equality

as a result of equal treatment. It could assist guys even more. Men
began employing a standard as soon as it was adopted into the law to
contest laws and practises that gave women priority, such as custody
and divorce laws, which primarily had the effect of exacerbating
women's disadvantage.
5.
6. 4. Legal liberalism is where the notion of neutrality, impartiality, and
universality originated for liberal feminists. Acts like the Sex
Discrimination Act of 1995 forbid sex-based discrimination.,

Postmodern

It can be viewed as a reaction to the liberal, radical, and cultural

feminisms' alleged shortcomings. They don't adhere to any one
philosophy or "truth," and they are particularly opposed to
discrimination against women. However, they do not forbid it. As a
result, legal liberalism has served as the foundation for the majority of
women's successes.
3. CULTURAL FEMINISM

The focus of cultural feminism is on the distinctions between men and

women, which are seen not as a weakness but as a strength. They shift
liberal feminism's emphasis, which is on the distinctions between women
and men, in the other direction. They believe that celebrating the
differences between men and women is important. It contends that
feminism's most important task is not to assimilate women into the
patriarchy and demonstrate that they can behave like men and adhere to
male norms, but rather to change institutions to reflect and accommodate
values they perceive as characteristic of nurturing women, such as love,
empathy, patience, and concern. They believe that women's differences
should be reflected in the legislation. The work of psychologist Carol
Gilligan, whose experiments revealed that male and female participants
had different ethical worldviews, has had a significant impact on feminism.
The female ethics was more "relational" and based on a "ethic of care,"
that is, it was influenced by interpersonal interactions rather than by
impersonal rules, whereas the masculine ethics inclined to the clear
application of rules. Gilligan did not consider either strategy to be morally
better, despite the fact that both provides advantages. Cultural women
would not be bothered by childbearing or even sexual activity (if there is
consent). However, radicals are against having sex because they believe
that it will cause males to interfere with female bodies. They experience
delivery in the same way.

One criticism is that the cultural feminism's portrayal of women closely

resembles the patriarchal, domestic, and nurturing stereotypes of the 19th
century, and that it fits in well with socio-biologism.
2. Labour rules that forbid them or legal reasoning that supports "unequal
treatment" based on the intrinsic distinctions of women, even when doing
so means maintaining women's inferior status
.
3. The subjugation of pregnant women is a result of the conventional idea
that it is their 'destiny' to become mothers, according to Martha Minow.

Radical feminism

The issue of gender equality is seen by radical feminism as one of the

dominance of women by the male gender. They provide a more thorough
and possibly more basic account of the relationship between alienation and
isolation. Liberalism therefore values distinction and individuality.
Whatever males may value, women's nature is to cherish association and
being with other women, according to radical feminists. Radical feminists
highlight this line of attack's flaw by saying that it primarily targets him.
Liberal feminists have a tendency to focus on the parallels between MAS
MA situations when women and men are equal, such as when it comes to
physical disabilities and how women and men are not in the same
positions.. Women in particular may become programme. Kab feminists
emphasise the distinctions between men and women, and even
acknowledge those differences; they don't understand why it should be
acceptable to place women in disadvantageous circumstances. 7. Another
distinction is the perspective on the use of governmental authority. Liberals
oppose any governmental interference, while radical feminists think that
non-interventions might reinforce the status quo of the masculine gender,
thus there are occasions when more intervention is necessary. These are
the main distinctions between individuals who adhered to liberal and those
who adhered to radical ideologies path But It should be emphasised that it
is incorrect to imagine feminism jurists as being split into distinct, exclusive
factions. Individuals expressed their own thoughts through the movement.
All feminists support one another in the fight against patriarchy. They
respect the rights that have been established and are welcomed by us.
Additionally, viewpoints converge. Radical feminists understand that since
assertions concerning rights continue inside established language, they are
less readily disregarded than other progressive demands. This is why, as
Rhode makes clear, they have a specific resonance in our culture. Right-
oriented techniques offer the prospect of internal challenge that critical
theorists have acknowledged as liberating in other situations by requiring
that the rule of law live up to its own ideals. Furthermore, radical feminists
acknowledge that, on occasion, patriarchal privileges might serve as the
basis for a feminist demand. For instance, the demand that women should
have the option to choose whether to abort a pregnancy is supported in
the United States by the recognition of the right to privacy there. As a
result, when radical feminists criticise liberalism, they are doing it in a
specific way, not the efforts made by individual Liberal feminists to
confront the causes that uphold women's subordination, but rather the
context in which current legal systems are anchored (including conceptions
of individuality, autonomy, and separateness). There are likely to be
significant differences of opinion among feminists themselves over any
"Grand Theory" because the movement is one in which people are free to
voice their own goals. They are worried with the brutality of categorization
and the way that language and theory are used to repress alternative ways
of understanding reality as well as to articulate truth.. Many postmodern
feminists, often following Derrida, employ deconstruction techniques to
reveal the inherent inconsistencies of what appears to be a cohesive set of
ideas. This approach has been effective in disproving patriarchal legal
systems. Others are drawn to reinterpreting conventional Freudian
psychoanalysis, with all of its implications for biological determinism and
subordination, in the spirit of Lacan. As with sexism, our knowledge of it is
always provisional and is best informed by a constant juggling and
reworking of those components which appear most illuminating at the
moment, according to post modern feminists. M.J. Drug emphasised that
radical and cultural feminisms both present male and female identities as
being psychologically and biologically predetermined. [Criticism: They don't
present a single solution to women's oppression because they don't think
there is one for everything and because doing so would imply that all
women's experiences are similar and that oppression of women is a
universal problem. They think that combating women's oppression involves
contextual judgement that acknowledges and takes into account the
uniqueness of human experience.. They don't offer reliable critical
examination. The fundamental criticism of it, especially of ideas linked with
deconstruction, has been that it tends to be more effective at disproving
theories than creating new ones. Many feminists have criticised
postmodern feminists for excluding political action and achieving the
objective of abolishing women's oppression because they are very sceptical
of the category of women as a basis for theory or political action.. ]

6. LIBERAL VS RADICAL
1)
. RADICAL VS. LIBERAL The argument for liberalism depends on rights and
how society has failed to grant women the rights to which they are entitled.
Radical feminists believe that men's dominance over women is more
important than the enigmatic, pie-in-the-sky idea of abstract "rights."

2) Liberalism accepts reasoning processes that disagree with this method

without hesitation because "the reasoning structure of law is consistent
with the patterns of socialisation, experience, and values of a particular
group of privileged educated men." Liberalism watches things from the
outside and makes judgements based on its findings.
.

3). The two schools' points of emphasis are distinct. Liberal feminists
typically focus on societal concerns like discrimination against pregnant
women. Radical feminists have focused more on issues that impact
women's private life, such as protection from harassment, humiliation, and
exploitation by pornography, abuse, and rape inside marriage, while not
dismissing the significance of public concerns.
 4. Liberals detest the practise of pornography, but they have not called for
a prohibition because they are afraid of government restrictions on free
speech and the media. Radical feminists are certain. Pornography should be
strictly prohibited or at the very least strictly supervised.
.

5) The uniqueness and separateness of every human being is the

foundation of liberalism. Separation is not something that radical feminists
value. In Bentham's ideas, the isolation, loneliness, and lack of privacy that
support a woman's right to an abortion in the United States (Roe v. Wade)
are not pleasures but pains.Consequently, when extreme feminists level
feminism.A particular strand of it was attacked. It appears improbable that
a single explanation could account for all women and all types of surgery.
The human experience is too complex to be explained by a single theory or
resolved by a single solution.