liberal feminism - gender inequalities
equal rights + opportunities for all in the workplace, education and politics through legislation
gender inequalities are caused by the socialisation of gender roles
equality can be achieved by legal and cultural reforms - most progress has already been made.
men are not the oppressors and can help with the changes
Ann Oakey - LF - gender inequalities
gender inequalities begin in the family because of socialisation.
teach children to accept the norms and values of their gender role.
manipulation - encouraging gender appropriate behaviour
canalisation - encouraging activities + toys that seem gender appropriate
weaknesses of LF - gender inequalities
MF + RF = fail to explain why their is a gender inequalities in the first place (patriarchy or capitalism)
legalisation is not far enough - revolutionary change
postmodernists - Oakley ideas are outdated - no longer fixed gender norms
Connell - some children resist traditional stereotypes.
over optimistic
neglects a wider range of women - only looks at educated professional women
strengths of LF theory of gender inequalities
Oakley’s work has been praised for explaining inequalities that are still evident today
there is research support from sue sharp - just like a girl - aspirations of young girls have changed - moms to education and occupation
- however not very representative
Marxist feminists theories of gender inequalities
social class affect the life chances of women + capitalism oppresses women family = patriarchal - women role of mom + wife led them to be exploited by capitalism people are encouraged to accepted the dominant ideology of the nuclear family leads to inequalities. nuclear family = ideal structure, inequalities fair / legitimate as capitalisms is seem as meritocratic
freely - MF - theory of gender inequalities
women produce the next generation of workers
Benston - MF - theory of gender inequality
women’s domestic work is unpaid
Ansley - MF - theory of gender inequalities
women soothe the stresses of the proletariats after a hard day of work
dalla costa and james - MF - theory of gender inequalities
women are exploited and oppressed as they are not paid for domestic work.
Bruegel - MF - theory of gender inequalities
women act as a reversed army of labor
evaluations of the Marxist feminist’s theory of gender inequalities
radical feminists - theory of gender inequalities
the patriarchy is the source of oppression for women - because society is ran by men for the interest of men
men have an advantage in society and have no interest in giving up their power and control.
gender inequalities are caused by a collective effect by men to dominant and exploit women.
revolution will led to female liberation
the family act the main oppressor for women as it allow gender divisions in labor and reinforces male dominance - define women’s role through a patriarchal ideology
biological factors influence women oppression but should not influence inequality
Millett’s - RF - theory of gender inequalities
men originally got power over women because of biological factors but now technology and science has developed enough that men no longer need the dominance or power.
men will defend their power at all costs and are willing to use violence to control women
evaluations of RF theories of gender inequalities
Johnson’s - RF - theory of gender inequalities
patriarchal terrorism explains violence that is the result of patriarchal traditions for men
- control tactics = economic subordinations, threats, isolation and others (domestic violence)
reported that 30% of women world wide experience abuse in relationships
- patriarchal ideology is used to enforce heterosexuality
- traditional nuclear family ensures the male dominance and female subordination with unpaid domestic labor
intersectional feminisms - Sylvia Walby - gender inequalities
believes capitalisms and the patriarchal system led to women oppression
developed a triple system of oppression - looked at how all social inequalities affected oppression
criticised - RF = ignoring other social inequalities MF= overemphasizing capitalism
believes the patriarchy is the most important factor in understanding social inequalities - as it changes overtime and there is a private and public patriarchy
the disadvantages of a patriarchal structure - intersectionality - gender inequalities
women are exploited with a combination of public and private patriarchy through the intersection of different social inequality.
gender transformation - intersectionality - gender inequalities
even though there have been social changes affecting gender relations there is still a patriarchy in Britain
young women face less private patriarchy because of the changes. e.g. education
however are still dependent on men/husbands
evaluations of intersectionality - gender inequalities
+ improved view from other feminists theory’s as it incorporates aspects of different feminists and social inequalities.
+ incorporates social change into her analysis by refining her ideas
- Stacey - over-emphasizing the influence of social structure on behaviour. instead emphasis women negotiate the system and are more active than walby assumes
functionalism - gender inequalities
society is made up of interdependent parts.
this led them to arguing that men and women have separate social roles based on biological differences.
Murdock - functionalist - gender inequalities
studied gender role in 200 societies and found that there were always nuclear families.
he believed that this happened because of biological functions e.g. women are less able to do strenuous tasks
parsons and bales - functionalism - gender inequalities.
men have an instrumental role whereas women have an expressive caring role.
this allow society to run smoothly and explains why men and women have different experiences
human capital theory - functionalism - gender inequalities
there is a difference between men and women experience in work places and in wages is due to their human capital.
men have a higher human capital as they have a better education and abilities.
Rastogi - see human capital as ‘knowledge, competency, attitudes and behaviors embedded in individuals.’
gender inequalities, arise as legitimate outcomes because women have a lower human capital than men
evaluation of functionalist theories of gender inequalities