Unit 2 Politics- Feminism

Rowbotham's Key ideas

-Capitalism - women are forced to sell their labour to survive and use their labour to support their family under the capitalist system. -The family - not just an instrument for disciplining and subjecting women to capitalism, but a place where men took refuge from alienation under a capitalist economy. -Dual response of examining both the public and private spheres required to work towards liberation.

Engels and women serving capitalism

-Capitalism needed workers to be supported and looked after by unpaid helpers to enable them to carry out a proper day's work. -Women were to be confined to the domestic, private sphere where heir primary roles would be to take care of their husbands, have children and socialise those children into becoming the next generation of workers and carers that capitalism needed. This is sometimes known as reproducing the labour force. -Women also acted as a reserve army of labour and could be used as part of the workforce when needed, then sent back home when their usefulness had ended. -Because capitalism was based on the accumulation of private property, assuring the paternity of their heirs was vital to men, so women were therefore required to be virgins until marriage and monogamous throughout marriage.

Violence

-Domestic abuse has only recently been taken seriously in society; in the past, it was not unheard of for police to consider it a private family matter and not for them to 'interfere'. -According to statistics, two women are killed every week in England and Wales by a current or former partner (ONS), one in four women in England and Wales will experience domestic violence in their lifetimes and 8% of women will suffer domestic violence in any given year.

Patriarchy and Family

-Family was 'patriarchy's key institution'; it was a mirror of larger society, unit within a patriarchal whole. -A patriarchal society was based on a strict hierarchy and male dominance, with sexual oppression passing from one generation to the next. -Young girls were taught 'their place' in relation to their brothers and where they learned about the role of women by observing the hierarchal relationship between their mother and father. -Men ruled women within the family, through property ownership and male inheritance and in government, by excluding women or determining the rules of power. Her status as his property continued in her loss of her name and the legal assumption that marriage involved an exchange of women's domestic and sexual consent for financial support. -Socialisation of patriarchal attitudes occurred in the family and was reinforced through friends, schools, the media, wider society and culture e.g. in popular literature.

Millet's Key ideas

-Female oppression was both political and cultural and thus undoing the traditional family was the key to true sexual revolution. -Portrayal of women in art and literature - she showed how patriarchal culture had produced writers and literary works that were degrading to women. Millet demonstrated how the language used in describing sex demonstrated the subjugation of women. -She also suggested that in literature, women were never their own agents; they were commodities silenced by the freedom of men to sexually possess them. -Patriarchy - she developed this idea and how "rule by men" operated at all levels in the public and private sphere.

Different views on Human Nature

-Feminists are divided on their view of human nature. The vast majority of feminists are equality feminists, who believe that the natures of men and women are the same, and that the distinction between sex and gender is artificial. -They support gender equality, believing gender stereotypes to be a social construct. -Difference feminists disagree, believing that men and women have fundamentally different natures stemming from biology, known as essentialism. -Equality feminists believe patriarchy can bed overthrown when gender roles and stereotypes are challenged. They believe that a woman's biology should not determine her social position; biology is thus not destiny. -Difference feminists believe that liberation can only be achieved when women are encouraged to allow their different natures and creative spirits to flourish.

The personal is political

-Feminists distinguish between the public sphere (society) and the private sphere (family). -Until second wave feminism the focus had been on the public sphere, but this movement stated that all relationships between men and women were based on power and dominance, even in the private sphere. -The slogan was to emphasise that the patriarchy was having a large impact on the private sphere as well as the public -A good example of this is with domestic abuse. In the 1960's and 70's the blame was often put on the woman and it was felt that it was a private matter and one that police, and doctors should not intervene in. today we can understand how flawed this thinking was. -The slogan was to help women challenge the status quo around the patriarchy in all areas of their lives. This brought feminism into the area of personal relations between men and women and in the family.

Betty Friedan and The Feminine Mystique 1963

-Friedan's work focused on equality of opportunity and she is often credited with starting second wave feminism. -In her book she outlined "the problem with no name" by which she meant women being miserable and stuck in domesticity which was supposed to fulfil them but left many feeling trapped. -She asserted that women were as capable as men and lobbied for restrictions from women working in the workplace should be removed. -She argued that women were not reaching their full potential as they could only carry out jobs that were considered suitable for women.

Gilman's work

-Gilman criticised how girls were socialised into an expectation of domestic servitude in "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1892) and "Women and Economics" (1898). Was about a woman suffering from mental illness after being locked in a room by her husband for three months for her health- based on her postnatal depression and incorrect treatment. -She believed there was no rational reason why women should not play an equal economic role, as they were just as intelligent and capable, so should have equal opportunities.

What are the benefits of communal living to Socialist Feminists?

-Gilman envisaged utopian socialist societies where childcare was not the responsibility of individual mothers, but that different couples and single people would live side by side and share responsibility. -Charles Fourier had argued that communal living was a key way to remove oppression from women, -Only by removing women from childcare and domestic responsibilities could they be liberated. -Collective childcare is seen as a way of escaping the patriarchy.

bell hooks

-Gloria Jean Watkins (bell hooks) is a postmodern feminist who chose a pseudonym of her great-grandmother to link back to her ancestors, using lower case letters to remove herself from the ego of names.

Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch (1971)

-Greer argued that women's ability and interest in being satisfied sexually has been removed, much like Eunuchs. -Women have been socialised into thinking that their sexual desires and wanting them fulfilled was unfeminine and unacceptable. -Women should engage in sexual activity merely to procreate and not for enjoyment- women who enjoyed or showed interest in sex were punished by men and women. -She also encouraged women not to be embarrassed by their bodies, age or sexuality.

The personal is political-Kate Miller

-Have identified the family as a key part of women's oppression. -It socialises girls and boys to accept their different, hierarchic roles: daughters to show dependence, obedience, conformi9ty and domesticity; boys to be dominant, competitive and self-reliant. -It socialises women into accepting the role of housewife as a woman's only and most fulfilling role. -Children see their parents acting out traditional gender roles and perceive these roles as natural and inevitable. -Women are expected to carry out free domestic work, even when they are also doing paid work. -Wives are expected to cater for the emotional, sexual and physical needs of their husband. -Once married women have children, they sacrifice their career prospects and are expected to raise the children at whatever cost to their paid work. -Once women leave paid employment to raise their children, they find their promotion prospects blocked when they return.

bell hooks- Feminist Theory from Margin to Centre- criticisms of feminism

-In Feminist Theory from Margin to Centre (1984) hooks criticised the idea of second-wave 'sisterhood', which sought to find a commonality of oppression among women, thereby excluding minority women. -By seeking connections between women. This immediately gave white, middle-class women a voice and a bond, while discouraging women of colour from speaking up about different experiences. -Instead, she argued, women should seek to understand the different cultures that women are brought up in and by recognising the different guises that oppression works under, a genuine sisterhood can be found.

Gilman's key ideas

-Sex and domestic economics are hand in hand - for women to survive, they have to depend on their sexuality and body in order to please their husbands. -Societal pressure - young girls are compelled to conform in society and prepare for motherhood by playing with toys and wearing clothes that are specifically designed for and marketed to them. -She attacked how Darwin's Theory of Evolution was used to justify male domination at home and in society. -She argued that women were forced to live a life of domestic servitude, on the grounds this was their true role.

5 Key ideas

-Sex and gender. -Patriarchy. -The personal is political. -Equality and difference feminism. -Intersectionality.

De Beauvoir's key ideas

-Sex versus gender - 'one is not born, but rather becomes a woman'. Women are taught and socialised to do and be what is perceived to be a 'woman'. She called motherhood as a way of turning women into slaves as they were forced to focus on motherhood and femininity instead of politics, technology etc. -Otherness - men are perceived as the 'norm' and women deviate from this norm. Women were considered to be fundamentally different from men in every sense. -She believed women had for too long lived a life according to rules imposed by men, which she saw as "bad faith". -Believed that socialist development and class struggles were needed to solve society's problems, not a women's movement. Later stated that she no linger believed a socialist revolution sufficient to bring about women's liberation.

Modern challenges to Socialist Feminism

-The traditional view has been challenges by modern Socialist Feminists who argue that patriarchy could survive without capitalism -Juliet Mitchell in Women's Estate (1971) argued that the family is a separate source of women's oppression and Marx and Engels were wrong that women's oppression was just because of capitalism. -Mitchell argues that women are oppressed in 4 ways: 1. Reproduction. 2. Sexuality. 3. Socialisation of children. 4. Production. -She argues that capitalism is only responsible for some of these and women should fight capitalism and the patriarchy to create a classless society where men and women can work alongside each other as equals. -Only when all four areas are transformed will women be truly free.

The concept of 'women'

-This is because it can be seen as impossible to generalise about theoretical people called 'women' because their experiences differ so widely. -Equally, if there is no fixed understanding of 'women', them women can define feminism for themselves by absorbing the ideas of feminism into their own values or belief system. -Richards and Baumgardner argued in Manifesta (2000) that in each generation, young women would rediscover and re-establish what feminism meant for them.

Intersectionality

-bell hooks developed the idea of intersectionality and multiple factors which cause suffering in society e.g., poverty, sexuality, race, religion and gender, which sometimes act together. -She criticises feminists who have failed to recognise these factors and focused mainly on white middle-class women. -She shifts the focus to the individual and understanding their circumstances, with women often suffering from multiple forms of discrimination e.g., young gay black women. -Women of colour often left in a double-bind. By supporting the women's movement, they has to ignore the racial aspects of womanhood, but if they supported the civil-rights movement they were subjected to the patriarchal order all women faced.

bell hooks- Ain't I a Woman

-bell hooks in Ain't I a Woman (1981)- suggested that the combination of sexism and racism led to black women having the lowest status of any group in American society, and that this was compounded by the marginalising of black women's experiences from the mainstream feminist movement.

Radical Feminism and the Patriarchy

-Radical Feminism is associated with second wave feminism and the slogan "the personal is political". -Different radical feminists focus on different areas of personal to show the politics involved between men and women. -Different radical feminists focus on different areas of the 'personal' to show how they are 'political', and how patriarchy pervades every aspect of life. They seek to challenge patriarchy by raising awareness of its existence among women as much as men.

In Summary- Radical Feminism

-Radical Feminism is not a cohesive ideological approach to the oppression of women in society. -Radical Feminists have different areas of interest, often disagree with each other and sometimes have diametrically opposite views on the same issue. -They would all agree that the patriarchy is alive and well in modern society.

Household

-Women have been conditioned to believe that domesticity is destiny, and have been discouraged from pursuing occupations that take them out of the home. -Many feminists agree with Kate Millet's view that 'the family is patriarchy's chief institution'.

State

-Women have less representation or roles in position of power. -When they are able to access these roles they often reject them due to anti-family working hours or sexist working places.

bell hook's key ideas

-Women of colour - she brought the cultural concerns of women of colour into the mainstream feminist movement. -Intersectionality - the mainstream feminist movement had focused mostly on the plight of white, college-educated, middle/upper-class women who had no stake in the concerns of women of colour. -Solidarity is important between genders, races and classes. -From a very young age boys and girls are socialised into characteristics expected of them. The boy was denied his right to show or even have true feelings, while the girl was taught to change herself and her own feels to attract and please everyone else.

What is the basis of Liberal Feminism?

-Best understood by considering the liberal views of individualism and foundational equality and applying them to women. -If all humans have equal worth, and women are human, then they should be treated equally to men. -Mary Wollstonecraft's A Vindication of the Rights of Women published at the end of the 18th Century is the first major example of this viewpoint. -She was a key voice in the fight for political emancipation and tried to force the movement to include women.

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

-1860-1935. -Gilman was an American first-wave liberal thinker, though often labelled as a socialist feminist in the USA.

Simone de Beauvoir

-1908-1986 -Was an early French existential feminist and a companion of Jean-Paul Sartre, with a philosophy which argued that women must impose their free will on the world. -Was a Marxist.

Kate Millet

-1934-2017 -Was an American radical feminist, credited for giving birth to radical feminism, in her work Sexual Politics (1970).

Sheila Rowbotham

-1943- -English socialist feminist, with a significant academic following, though less so, within the feminist movement. -She wrote "Women's Consciousness, Man's world" (1973).

Criticisms of Liberal Feminism

-A common criticism of Liberal Feminism is that it fails to address the private, domestic sphere. -Liberal Feminists believe that men and women should just be given equal access to the right to stay at home and look after children. -This means that Liberal Feminists do not see the need to fundamentally restructure society. -They also reject the patriarchy as a pervasive and systematic oppression of women, instead focusing on direct discrimination towards women.

Key beliefs of Liberal Feminism

-A core part of Liberal Feminism is the fight for legal and political equality - ensuring women have the same rights and entitlements in society. -This is best exemplified by the Woman's Suffrage movement in the late 19th and early 20th Century. The assumption was that once women had a vote, they would have a voice and politicians would need to listen to them to be elected. Philosophically, they saw the individual as the basis for gender equality. -However Liberal Feminists have also fought for educational equality, pay equality, abortion and divorce laws and freely available contraception for men and women. -They also try and ensure equal access to the public sphere - also known as equality of opportunity.

Sex and Gender

-A key focus has been on why society generally ascribes the domestic and child-rearing roles to women. -Many feminist argue that this is because of the blurring of the terms sex and gender. -Sex refers to the biological differences between men and women- their body shape, reproductive organs etc. -Gender is the innate characteristics of women e.g.; women are sensitive and emotional whilst men are logical and confident. -Feminists argue that whilst the differences in sex are clear the differences in gender fully down to society. -In different cultures peoples sex is the same but the gendered roles can be very different as can ideas about masculinity and femininity suggesting they come from society. -The language and ascribes roles around the ideas women encourage women to be subordinate to men. -Terms masculine and feminine are used to describe an 'ideal' gender type for men and women to aspire to. This is a ley way in which society seeks to keep women in a subordinate position. -It is then no surprise hat the key characteristics for women to aspire to are to be calm and passive, compassionate and thoughtful, poised and elegant. -Virginia Woolf- A Room of One's Own (1929)- 'she was intensely sympathetic. She was immensely charming She was utterly unselfish. She excelled in the difficult arts of family life.'

Different views on society

-All feminists believe that women are not treated equally in society. However, they differ in the extent to which they think there is a problem and the reason behind it. -Liberal feminists argue that women are discriminated against in society, but focus their attention solely on the public sphere. -Radical feminists believe that society is pervaded by patriarchal values that seek to preserve men's dominant position in society. They argue that 'the personal is political' in that all relationships between men and women, both in the public (society) and the private sphere (private relationship), are based on power and dominance. -Radical equality feminists want a society in which gender ceases to structure a person's identity, whereas radical difference feminists believe that this encourages women to be 'male identified' and perpetuates feelings of 'otherness'. Some difference feminists express this through cultural feminism. -Post-modern feminists challenge the notion that 'gender' is the sole factor in determining female oppression in society, arguing that black and working-class women's experiences of patriarchy are different from those of white, middle-class women- intersectionality.

Rowbotham and Feminism

-All feminists now would agree with Rowbotham of the important interplay between economic and cultural forces, which have caused inequality between the sexes, though would disagree on whether capitalism is the main cause.

Intersectionality and Post-Modern Feminism

-Also challenged the notion that gender alone was the primary factor affecting women- putting it aside things such as race, religion, class and sexuality was a more precise way of understanding challenges faced by women. -Criticised earlier feminist movements for focusing on white, middle-class women and not recognising the experiences of black, working-class or WOC's experiences of the patriarchy. Women experience oppression in various configurations and to varying degrees of intensity. -Intersectionality is the term used by term to describe the contention that there is no single basis for women's subordination and thus no single way to solve it.

Separatists and Political Lesbianism

-An extension of these views are separatist and political lesbianism. -Separatists argue that women should separate themselves from the patriarchy, either permanently in a different society or by creating women only spaces to reconnect with feminine values. -Charlotte Bunch argued in Learning from Lesbian Separatism (1976) that in a patriarchal society heterosexuality was part of domination and the only way to escape the patriarchy is by having a relationship with a woman. -'In a male-supremacist society, heterosexuality is a political institution and the practice of separatism is a way to escape its domination'. This suggests that any relationship with a man is based on power and control, and so the only equal relationship a woman can have is with another woman- so lesbianism is a political choice. -Many feminists disagree with difference feminism mainly due to the fact that its emphasis on feminine qualities feeds into the argument that women are different and somehow inferior.

Sexuality

-As Germain Greer argued in The Female Eunuch (1970), society forces women to repress their natural sexual desires and consider them dirty and 'unladylike'. -Women spend years feeling deviant and abnormal for having normal sexual feelings, then try desperately to curb and repress their sexual desires. -At the same time society allows and encourages men to explore the full extent of their sexuality, as a symbol of masculine virility.

Gilman as a feminist

-As economic independence was the only thing that could bring freedom, she argued that motherhood should not stop a woman from working outside the home. -She suggested that communal housing should be constructed, which would allow individuals to live singly and still have companionship. -Both men and women would be economically independent, with women freed from the role as domestic slaves. Would allow for marriage without economic status needing to change. -Gilman campaigned for more radical ideas on the destruction of the traditional nuclear family, replacing it with communal living and symmetrical roles for men and women. -Though a liberal reformer, many of her ideas at the time, would have been supported by socialist or radical feminists.

What is the basis of Post-Modern Feminism?

-Associated with third-wave feminism and can be encapsulated in the word 'difference'. -This idea of difference was arguing against the somewhat fixed notion of 'women'. -Argued for a more fluid understanding of being a 'woman'. It argued that there are as many differences between women's experiences as there were between men and women's experiences, arguing sometimes that there is no such thing as 'women'.

What is the basis of Radical Feminism?

-Believes there need to be radical changes to society- a sexual revolution, to fundamentally change the structure and nature of society- not merely the redistribution of rights or wealth. -Not a single idea, but a collection of ideas by different feminists united by a belief that society can be defined as purely patriarchal. -For them, gender inequality is the foremost system of oppression, and patriarchy is an independent system of oppression, separate from other ideologies. -They think other strands of feminism are caught between their commitment to women's emancipation and other ideologies, such as liberalism or socialism.

Kate Millet's Sexual Politics (1970)

-Kate Millet's criticism of patriarchy had a particular focus on the family. -Historically society has treated women as the property of the husband. -Until recently if a woman committed adultery the man could divorce her, keep all the property and stop her from seeing the children. -Also, a contract of marriage was considered to give the husband the right to have sex with the woman in exchange for the man supporting her. -Millet also argued that women in art and literature have always been portrayed in a way which is degrading or patronising. -Similarly, she also pointed out that in books women were passive 'accepters' of sexual activity- more commodities that men seek to 'possess'.

Key tactics of Liberal Feminism

-Liberal Feminism is reformist, believing that gender imbalance can be overturned by democratic means. -They believe that by removing the barriers to women in the workplace they will be able to enter all areas of industry. -As women take on more traditional male roles society will realise that women can fulfil any role. -As more young women see women in different roles in the workplace gender stereotypes will disappear.

Different views on the state

-Liberal feminists believe that the state can play a role in promoting female liberation by promoting legal and political equality. The state can also help ensure equality of opportunity between the sexes. -Also believe that the state should concern itself only with correcting inequalities in the public sphere, by promoting equality of opportunity and outlawing discrimination. -Radical feminists disagree, believing that providing an equal, legal framework is insufficient to overthrow patriarchy. They argue that the state primarily promotes the interests of patriarchy. -Believe that the state has a role to lay in eradicating patriarchal values in the public and private sphere by outlawing pornography and ensuring harsher punishment for domestic violence, rape and other crimes against women. -Socialist feminists reject the liberal idea of state as a neutral body, instead suggesting that it works in the interest of capitalism and thus patriarchy.

Equality feminism and difference feminism

-Most feminists believe that the biological differences between men and women are inconsequential and so are seeking equality in all areas of life. This is known as Equality Feminism. -However, in the 1980's and 90's a different form of feminism arose which argues that men and women are fundamentally different and so should be treated differently. This is known as difference or essentialist feminism. -Carol Gilligan acknowledged this when she argued that men and women have very different voices and that women's voices are often ignored by men in power because they have a different viewpoint because of their gender. -Difference feminists criticise equality feminists for encouraging woman to take on male like attributes or copy men for equality when they argue that women should be focusing on female qualities as otherwise they alienate women. -Some go further and argue that female qualities such as compassion and pacifism are superior to male selfishness and ego and so will subsume them. -Cultural feminists are similar but challenge the idea that women's culture is inferior to men's.

What are the core ideas and principles?

-Most of these core ideas and principles are associated with the second wave radical feminism. -Radical feminism introduced new ideas and concepts for discussing and challenging the role of women in society. -Although there has been discussion before it has mostly been arranged around the language of liberalism or socialism.

The 'Other'

-She developed a notion of gender, in which women conformed to an expected role in society, which men controlled e.g., that they should nurture children, which is learned as girls -Women have accepted and internalised their otherness- ben imposed by men but also accepted by women. Thus, women were not just inferior in the eyes of men, but in their own eyes to. Needed to first become conscious of their domination before they could struggle against it. -This led to the idea of the "Other" in which men defined women as fundamentally different from the norm and inferior to them. -Progress could only be made if they became conscious of their own identity, through self-liberation and escaping from a domestic and family role imposed on them by men.

Millet's solution

-She proposed a sexual revolution to remove the patriarchal system e.g. rejecting romantic love and calling for an end to monogamous marriage and the traditional family.

What is the basis of Socialist Feminism?

-Socialist Feminism believes that gender inequality stems from economic factors, and specifically capitalism. -Frederich Engels argued in The Origin of the Family, private property and the State in 1884 that the move from matriarchal famines to patriarchal ones coincided with the onset of capitalism. -He therefore suggests that women are primarily oppressed by capitalism.

Removing the patriarchy through revolution

-Socialist Feminists believes that capitalism creates the patriarchy and so women should join with men and fight to remove the patriarchy. -The only way to remove the patriarchy is to have a socialist revolution and then women's liberation will follow.

Different views on the economy

-Socialist feminists believe that the economy is a key determinant of female oppression- that capitalism in the economic sphere, not patriarchy, determines the nature of female oppression in society.' -They argue that capitalism needs women to play a subservient role in the economy and society- as a reserve army of labour- because capitalism, not patriarchy, requires them to fulfil that function. -Modern socialist feminists have argued that the is an interplay between capitalism in the economy and patriarchy in society that causes the oppression of women.

Culture

-Society has sought to reinforce its message to women through culture. -Adverts in the 1950s emphasised the view that a woman's primary role was to be a good wife to her husband by excelling in all things domestic. -Increasingly, unreasonable expectations of the way 'normal' women should look were imposed through media usage of size-0 models on catwalks and in advertising, as well as the proliferation of 'lad culture' magazine. -Naomi wolf- 'a culture fixated on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty; it is an obsession about female obedience'. -So patriarchal culture uses the media to tell women subtly but powerfully what is expected of them and make them feel inadequate or abnormal when they are unable to meet these expectations.

Six structures of Patriarchy- Sylvia Walby

-State. -Household. -Violence. -Paid Work. -Sexuality. -Culture.

Greenham Common Peace Camps 1980s

-The Women's peace camp was set up at Greenham Common in the 1980s. -A peace camp was set up as a protest against the government's decision to site nuclear missiles there. What was unusual about this peace camp was its women-only nature. -The protesters argued that women had a unique abhorrence towards missiles pf mass destruction as they were 'life givers' who had to protect their children and future generations- something that men could not understand. -Their mainly non-violent protest took the form of singing songs, linking arms to create a human chain around the vase, sit-ins, lie-downs, camping and chaining themselves to and cutting through fencing. -The women were a permanent fixture for 20 years. As they were legally trespassing, the police were called in to forcibly remove them. -The scenes that followed were reminiscent of Gandhi and Martin Luther King's non-violent resistance. However, the media coverage was exceptionally hostile towards what was a largely innocuous protest.

bell hook's impact

-The key struggle is against patriarchy and women breaking free from a male-dominated culture, which has often led to women hating themselves and believing they are inferior. -The key difference she sought to make was a break-away from traditional feminist perspectives and to modernise thinking to embrace the current realities facing women. -Feminists today recognise the importance of rethinking how their agenda can adapt to the modern world, though would express concern if gender is not still seen as central

Intersectionality

-This movement recognised that feminism had mostly looked at the issues facing white middle-class women and is an acceptance that women are not a homogenous group and that the experience of a non-white or working-class woman could be very different. -Term was coined by Kimberlee Crenshaw who argued that black women were often marginalised by feminist groups as their concerns did not fit in with the movement. -She argued that in 2015 that intersectionality 'has given many advocates a way to frame their circumstances and to fight for their visibility and inclusion'. -bell hooks (Aint I a woman?) developed the idea that women's experiences were widely different depending on race and class. Her argument stemmed from the realisation that white, middle-class women did not serve as an accurate representation of women as a whole. -Recognising that the forms of oppression experienced by white middle-class women were different from those experienced by black, poor, disabled or Queer women, feminist sought to understand the ways in which gender, race, religion, sexuality and class combined to determine the female destiny. -Ultimately intersectionality seeks to widen the feminist movement to ensure it understands how the patriarchy impacts on different groups within the women's movement.

Patriarchy

-This term is used to describe a society that is dominated by men and run in their interests. -Most definitions see it as a systematic oppression of women by men suggesting it is pervasive throughout society. -In Theorising Patriarchy (1990) Sylvia Walby identified the patriarchy's pervasive and systematic nature as a "system of interrelated social structures which allow men to exploit women".

Rowbotham and Capitalism

-Though having a Marxist background, she criticised Marxism for its narrow focus on capitalism and class, rather than oppression in domestic life and society. -Argued that sexism predates capitalism, and that the institutions of marriage closely resembled feudalism. She suggested that wives were the equivalent of feudal serfs, contracted to serve their husbands. -She believed men did not recognise how they oppressed women in practice. -She argued how capitalism exploited women, as they must support their husbands and children, they then were also forced to sell their labour to survive. -Domestic work done by women allowed the reproduction of men's labour. The family oppressed women but was also a place where men took refuge from the alienation under capitalism. -Liberation for women required an end to capitalism and to a sexist culture, requiring a "revolution within a revolution". Only way to destroy both was a radical change in the 'cultural conditioning' of humanity regarding child-rearing, homes, laws and the workplace.

'Feminine nature' and roles in society

-Was dismayed by the idea of a separate, mystical 'feminine nature'. She argued that the idea of 'a woman's nature' was an example of the further oppression of women. -Did not think it beneficial for women to refuse to do anything 'a man's way' or refuse to take on masculine qualities. -Women's movements had done some good, but feminists should not reject being part of a man's world, whether in organisational power or with their creative work.

Paid work

-When women were allowed to take up jobs, they were pushed towards lower-paid or part-time roles, or jobs that put them in an assistant position to men- nurses to support doctors, secretaries to support bosses- or ones that focused their attention on nurturing children, such as in the education sector.

Naomi Wolf and "The Beauty Myth" (1990)

-Wolf argued that beauty was "the last, best belief system that keeps male dominance alive". -As women began to compete with men in education and the workplace greater pressure was placed on their physical appearance. -The notion of the ideal women has been made worse by photocopied imaged making the perfect body unattainable. -Wolf argues as women have taken on more and more higher roles more and more women are suffering with eating disorders and having cosmetic surgery. -In 2016 the Children's Surgery reported that 34% of 10-15-year-old girls were unhappy with their appearance- representing a sharp rise in unhappiness from when the same survey was done five years before- while boy's sense of happiness remained stable.