FEMINISM

FEMINIST ORGANIZATION THEORY

• What is Feminism :- Feminism is the belief in full social, economic, and political equality for
women. Feminism largely arose in response to Western traditions that restricted the rights of
women, but feminist thought has global manifestations and variations.
• In other words, social movements that share a common goal, which is to define and advance
political, economic, personal, and social rights for women, which includes seeking equal
opportunities in education and employment.
Key areas of focus within feminist theory/Type of Feminism
• Discrimination and exclusion on the basis of sex and gender.
• Objectification.
• Structural and economic inequality.
• Power and oppression.
• Gender roles and stereotypes.

• Types of feminism :-
• Radical
• Marxist
• Liberal
• Difference /Postmodern
 Types of feminism :- Radical
• Men are to blame for women's exploitation, according to a radical. It is primarily men who have benefited from the
subordination of women. Women are an oppressed group.
• Society is patriarchal—it is dominated and ruled by men—men are the ruling class, and women are the subject class.
• Rape, violence, and pornography are methods through which men have secured and maintained their power over
women. Dworkin, Andrea (1981)
• Radical feminists have often been actively involved in setting up and running refuges for women who are the victims of
male violence.
• Rosemarie Tong (1998) distinguishes between two groups of radical feminists:
• Radical-libertarian feminists believe that it is both possible and desirable for gender differences to be eradicated, or at
least greatly reduced, and aim for a state of androgyny in which men and women are not significantly different.
• Radical-cultural feminists believe in the superiority of the feminine. According to Tong, radical cultural feminists
celebrate characteristics associated with femininity, such as emotion, and are hostile to those characteristics associated
with masculinity, such as hierarchy.
• The various alternatives suggested by Radical Feminists include separatism—women-only communes—and Matrifocal
households. Some also practice political lesbianism and political celibacy as they view heterosexual relationships as
"sleeping with the enemy."
 Criticisms of Radical Feminism
• The concept of patriarchy has been criticized for ignoring variations in the experience of oppression.
• Some critics argue that it focuses too much on the negative experiences of women, failing to
recognize that some women can have happy marriages, for example.
• It tends to portray women as universally good and men as universally bad, It has been accused of
man-hating and not trusting all men.
 Types of feminism :- Marxist
• Capitalism, rather than patriarchy, is the principal source of women’s oppression, and capitalists are the main
beneficiaries.
• Women’s subordination plays a number of important functions for capitalism:
• Women reproduce the labour force for free (socialization is done for free).
• Women absorb anger; women keep the husbands going.
• Because the husband has to support his wife and children, he is more dependent on his job and less likely to
demand wage increases.
• The traditional nuclear also serves as 'ideological conditioning,' teaching the ideas that the capitalist class
requires in order for their future workers to be passive.
• The disadvantaged position of women is seen to be a consequence of the emergence of private property and
their lack of ownership of the means of production.
• They are more sensitive to differences between women who belong to the ruling class and proletarian families.
Working class women and men believe that there is considerable scope for co-operation between working
class women and men and that both can work together.
• In a Communist society, Marxist feminists believe that gender inequalities will disappear.
 Criticisms of Marxist Feminism

• Other sources of inequality, such as sexual violence, are ignored by Marxist feminists.
• Patriarchal systems existed before capitalism, in tribal societies, for example.
• The experience of women has not been particularly happy under communism.
 Types of feminism :- Liberal
• Nobody benefits from existing inequalities: both men and women are harmed.
• The explanation for gender inequality lies not so much in the structures and institutions of society but in its culture
and values.
• Socialization into gender roles results in rigid, inflexible expectations of men and women.
• Discrimination prevents women from having equal opportunities.
• Liberal feminists do not seek revolutionary changes: they want changes to take place within the existing structure.
• The creation of equal opportunities is the main aim of liberal feminists—e.g., the Sex Discrimination Act and the
Equal Pay Act.
• Liberal feminists try to eradicate sexism from children’s books and the media.
• Liberal Feminist ideas have probably had the most impact on women’s lives—e.g., mainstreaming has taken place.
 Criticisms of Liberal Feminism

• It is based upon male assumptions and norms such as individualism and competition, and encourages
women to be more like men and therefore deny the value of qualities traditionally associated with
women, such as empathy.
• Liberalism is accused of emphasising public life at the expense of private life.
• It fails to account for underlying structural inequalities.
• Difference Feminists argue it is an ethnocentric perspective—based mostly on the experiences of middle-
class, educated women.
•  
 Types of feminism :- Difference/Postmodern
• Do not see women as a single homogenous group. MC/WC ,
• criticised preceding feminist theory for claiming a ‘false universality’ (white, western
heterosexual, middle class)
• The preceding Feminist theory of being essentialist was criticized.
• criticised preceding feminist theory as being part of the masculinist enlightenment project.
• Postmodern Feminism is concerned with language (discourses) and the relationship between
power and knowledge rather than ‘politics and opportunities'.
• Helene Cixoux: An example of a postmodern/destabilizing theorist
 Criticisms of Difference/Postmodern Feminism

• Walby, women are still oppressed by objective social structures—namely, patriarchy.

• Dividing women into sub-groups weakens the movement for change
Thank You
by Pankaj Mishra