LESSON OBJECTIVES
• TO UNDERSTAND
THE KEY IDEAS
OF FEMINISM
WRITE DOWN FIVE WORDS THAT
SPRING TO MIND WHEN YOU THINK
ABOUT FEMINISM.
DON’T SHOW ANYONE
A BAD REPUTATION?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pdbnzFUsXI
BUT PERHAPS WE SHOULD ALL BE
FEMINISTS?
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg3umXU_qWc
WHAT ARE FUNDAMENTAL
VALUES OF FEMINISM?
IT’S AXIOMATIC (SELF EVIDENT!)
• ALL VARIETIES OF FEMINIST THOUGHT (EVEN THE
MOST POLITICALLY CONSERVATIVE) TEND TO BEGIN
FROM THE OBSERVATION THAT WOMEN ARE NOT
ONLY SOCIALLY DIFFERENT BUT ALSO
FUNDAMENTALLY UNEQUAL TO MEN.
DID YOU KNOW?
• On average two women a week are killed by a violent partner or
ex partner in the UK?
• Up to 3 million women and girls across the UK suffer domestic
abuse, stalking or other violence every year
• In 2011 the Forced Marriage Unit advised over 1,450 people –
78% of these were women or girls
• Around 66,000 women in the UK have suffered genital mutilation
DID YOU KNOW?
Women represent 42% of the workforce, but only:
•
•
•
•
•
22% of MPs
6.1% of FTSE 100 executive positions
20% of university professors
3% of chairpersons
Women earn an average of £140,000 less than men over their
working careers
CLASS AND PATRIARCHY
• THE DUAL BURDEN (HOME AND WORK)
• THE TRIPLE SHIFT (CHILDREN, JOB, HOUSEWORK)
"MALESTREAM" BIAS.
• "APPENDAGES" OF MEN
"...SOCIOLOGY EXAMINES THE STATUS QUO, CALLS IT PHENOMENA, AND PRETENDS TO TAKE NO STAND ON IT,
THEREBY AVOIDING THE NECESSITY TO COMMENT ON THE INVIDIOUS CHARACTER OF THE RELATIONSHIP
BETWEEN THE SEX GROUPS IT STUDIES. YET BY SLOW DEGREES OF CONVERTING STATISTIC TO FACT, FUNCTION
TO PRESCRIPTION, BIAS TO BIOLOGY (OR SOME OTHER INDETERMINATE) IT COMES TO RATIFY AND RATIONALIZE
WHAT HAS BEEN SOCIALLY ENJOINED OR IMPOSED INTO WHAT IS AND OUGHT TO BE. AND THROUGH ITS POSE OF
OBJECTIVITY, IT GAINS A SPECIAL EFFICACY IN REINFORCING STEREOTYPES...FUNCTIONALISTS, LIKE OTHER
REACTIONARIES, ARE OUT TO SAVE THE FAMILY".
RADICAL FEMINIST KATE MILLETT ("SEXUAL POLITICS", 1971)
•HOMEWORK: OBSERVE 2 DAYS OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD.
WHO DOES THE CHORES? FOLLOW THIS UP WITH A QUICK
INTERVIEW TO FIND OUT WHAT ATTITUDES PEOPLE HAVE
TOWARDS THE DIVISION OF LABOUR.
PLENARY
Now look back at the 5 words you
wrote at the start of the lesson.
Have you changed your mind?
LESSON OBJECTIVES
 Identify the different branches of feminism.
 Explain the feminist view of the family.
 Evaluate the feminist view of the family.
The three major types of feminism
a. Liberal feminism.
b. Marxist feminism.
c. Radical feminism.
1. LIBERAL
FEMINISTS
Ann Oakley
Claire Wallace
What does the word liberal mean?
Willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from
one's own; open to new ideas.
Liberal feminists do not spend time blaming men
or capitalism for women’s position in society.
They aim to change social policy/laws to support
women.
Liberal Feminists believe that laws such as the
Sex Discrimination act are making life better
for women although equality still does not exist.
LOOK AT THE TIMELINE AND IDENTIFY ANY
SIGNIFICANT ACTS THAT HAVE CREATED GREATER
GENDER EQUALITY IN THE UK
KEY TERMS
 Emotional work
 Economic dependency
 Gender stereotypes
 Discrimination
 Patriarchy
 Marxist and radical feminists argue that
liberal feminists are too optimistic.
 Marxist feminists argue that there needs to be a
revolution and capitalism must be overthrown in
order to women to gain equality.
 Radical feminists argue that women will only
experience equality when patriarchy is no longer in
place.
EVALUATION
New laws don’t necessarily stop people
committing crimes
2. MARXIST
FEMINISTS
• A combination of Marxism and Feminism.
What is Marxism?
• Marxism is a perspective inspired by Karl Marx.
• Society is unequal due to the economic system
• The powerful minority exploit the majority
• Most things in society can be attributed to the economic
system
Marxist Feminists look at the ways women are
exploited and how this benefits the capitalist
society.
Can you think of any ways the exploitation of women
MARXIST FEMINIST VIEW OF FAMILY
Zaretsky:
 Family must be abolished
 Paying wages for housework
preserves traditional inequalities
 Socialisation of household work
Ansley (1972)
The emotional support that wives provides help to support the
husband’s frustration and this frustration comes from the stress
of working within a capitalist system.
Ansley (1972)
‘Women are takers of shit’
Talking point: how might take out the frustrations of
capitalism on men their partner/wife?
Beechey believes that housewives carry out two
functions:
1.
To provide care for current and future
workers
2. To be a cheap reserve army of labour
Veronica Beechey
Pair/Share: when might the second function come into play?
Enemy=capitalism
Capitalism is the cause of oppression in the
family not men
TO SUMMARISE
Barrett:
a "patriarchal ideology" only develops effectively out
of the initial relations of (male) domination and
(female) subordination produced by the Capitalist
system of production - not the other way around as
many Radical feminists have argued.

Radical feminists argue that patriarchy not
capitalism is the issue that needs to be
addressed.

Liberal feminists argue marxist feminists
ignore the progress that has been made
over the last 50 years.
RIHANNA ‘MAN DOWN’
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE
hy-RXkNo0
 ‘Man Down’ is about domestic abuse.
In this video Rihanna was sexually
abused by her boyfriend. The song
depicts her retaliation.
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
The ‘Dark
side’ of
family life
INTERVIEW WITH RIHANNA
 http://www.youtube.com
/watch?v=OwyhPK81Io&feature=rela
ted
 Watch this clip and make
notes. Do you feel sorry
for Rihanna? Did she
bring this on herself?
CHRIS BROWN’S RESPONSE
 http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=p5DQ8qh1slQ&f
eature=related
 Do you think Chris Brown
is remorseful?
 Do you feel sorry for him?
WHAT IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
“Physical, psychological, sexual or financial
violence that takes place within an intimate or
family-type relationship and forms a pattern of
coercive and controlling behaviour. It may
involve partners, ex partners, household
members or other relatives.”
Taken from the Women’s Aid Federation (2008)
VICTIMS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
Lorena
Bobbit
Pamela
Anderson
LORENA BOBBIT
 http://www.dailytop10.net/top-10celebrities-who-suffered-domesticviolence/
 Lorena fights back!
 Are Lorena’s actions
justified?
THE BRITISH CRIME SURVEY (2007)
 Domestic violence
accounts for almost a
sixth of all violent crime.
 It is estimated that there
are 6.6 million domestic
assaults a year, about half
involving physical injury.
MIRLEES- BLACK
Mirlees- Black found that:
Most victims are women
99% of all incidents against women are
committed by men.
Nearly one in four women has been assaulted by a
partner at some point in her life time, and one in
eight repeatedly so.
DOBASH AND DOBASH (1979)
 Interviewed women in women's refuges in Scotland
and used police and court records to research
domestic violence.
 Dobash and Dobash found that violent incidents
could be set off by what a husband saw as a
challenge to his authority.
 They argue that marriage legitimates violence
against women.
KATHRYN COLEMAN
Kathryn
Coleman (2007)
found that women were more
likely than men to have
experienced ‘intimate violence’
across all four types of abuse –
partner abuse, family abuse,
sexual assault and stalking.
OFFICIAL STATISTICS
 Official statistics understate the true extent of domestic
violence. Why?
STEPHANIE YEARNSHIRE
 Victims may be unwilling to report
it to the police.
Stephanie Yearnshire
(1997) found that on average a
woman suffers 35 assaults before
making a report. Domestic
violence is the violent crime most
likely to go unreported.
DAVID CHEAL
 Police and prosecutors may be reluctant to record,
investigate or prosecute those cases that are reported
to them.
David Cheal 1991 found that this reluctance is due to
the fact that Police and other state agencies are not
prepared to become involved in the family. They make
3 assumptions about the family...
WHY IS IT IGNORED?
1) The family is a private sphere so access to it by the state
agencies should be limited.
2) The family is a good thing and so agencies tend to neglect the
‘darker side’ of family life.
3) Individuals are free agents, so it is assumed that if a woman is
experiencing abuse she is free to leave.
RADICAL FEMINIST VIEW POINT
 The evidence from Dobash and Dobash is evidence of
patriarchy according to Firestone and Millet.
 The key division in society is between men and women.
 The family is the main source of female oppression.
Women are dominated through domestic violence or the
threat of it.
Radical Feminists see the exploitation of
women as being a result of having men
dominate society.
Delphy and Leonard (1992)
 Family role  maintains patriarchy
(rule by men).
 Family is a system whereby men
benefit at the expense of women.
Men benefit from women’s unpaid domestic
labour and from their sexual services, and they
dominate women through domestic and sexual
violence or the threat of it.
Women should find alternative family forms to
the nuclear family to escape patriarchy.
Talking point: what alternative families might radical feminists prefer?
Enemy=men
Men are the source of oppression
and exploitation
Shulamith Firestone
The biological family unit is seen, by Firestone, to be the source of patriarchal domination
and she characterises it as being based upon four "facts“ – what might they be?:
1. Women, because of their reproductive biology, have always been dependent upon men
for their protection and survival.
2. Human infants are dependent upon adults for a relatively long period of time (during
which they have to be looked after).
3. There is a basic and universal mother - infant bond based upon the fact that the mother
actually gestates the child - it comes from her body.
4. The biological (reproductive) division between the sexes is the origin of all other
divisions - economic, political and ideological.
 Domestic violence is a way of
exerting dominance in a
patriarchal society.
 Additionally male domination
in state institutions helps to
explain the reluctance of the
Police and courts to deal
effectively with cases of
domestic violence.
CRITICISM
Faith Robertson Elliot
1996 rejects radical
ideals of patriarchy in
the family. Not all men
are aggressive or
violent. Radical
feminists tend to
ignore this.
CRITICISM
 Radical feminist’s fail to explain
female violence including child
abuse by women and violence
against male partners.
 Mirlees-Black found that one in
seven men has been assaulted
and one in 20 repeatedly so.
OTHER GROUPS AT RISK...
 Mirlees –Black identified other social
groups at a higher risk of domestic
violence:
 Children and young people
 Those in lower social classes
 Those who live in rented
accommodation
 Drug users and those with high levels of
alcohol consumption
RICHARD WILKINSON (1996)
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, INEQUALITY
AND STRESS.
 Domestic violence is the result of stress on family
members caused by social inequality.
 Inequality means that some families have fewer
resources than others such as income and housing.
WHY?
 Those on low income or
living in overcrowded
accommodation are likely
to experience higher
levels of stress. This
reduces their chances of
maintaining stable, caring
relationships and
increases the risk of
conflict and violence....
WHY?
Worries about money, jobs and housing may spill
over into domestic conflict as tempers become
frayed.
WHY?
 Lack of money and time restricts peoples social circle and reduces social support
for those under stress.
VULNERABLE
 Wilkinson and Mirrlees-Black show that not all people
are equally in danger of suffering domestic violence.
 Those with less power, status, wealth or income are
often at greatest risk.
However, unlike the
radical feminist
approach, Wilkinson
does not explain why
women rather than
men are the main
victims.
FILMS ON DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
 Nil by Mouth
 Sleeping with the Devil
 Dangerous Intentions
 Burning bed
DARK SIDE OF THE FAMILY
 Nearly 1 million women experience at least one incident of domestic abuse each year (2009/10 British Crime
Survey data: as reported in latest cross-government VAWG strategy)
 At least 750,000 children a year witness domestic violence (DoH, (2002) Women's Mental Health : Into the
Mainstream, accessed at: p.16)
 Two women are killed each week by their partner or ex-partner (Womens Aid (March 2011)
 54 per cent of women victims of serious sexual assault were assaulted by their partner or ex-partner (Stern,
(2010) The Stern Review p.9 )
 Women experience an average of 35 incidents of domestic violence before reporting an incident to the police
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/08/countries-no-domestic-violence-law_n_4918784.html
WILSON AND PICKETT
Inequality not gender
OTHER FEMINIST SCHOOLS
 Lesbian feminism Lesbian-feminist politics is a political critique of the
institution and ideology of heterosexuality. Heterosexuality is viewed as the
‘norm’ and homosexuality is seen as ‘deviant’. Heterosexual relationships are
seen as a cornerstone of male supremacy.
 Rita Mae Brown, Charlotte Bunch, TiGrace Atkinson, McKinnon, Andrea Dworkin, Adrienne
Rich “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” (1980)
 Humanist feminism women’s oppression is the inhibition and distortion of
women’s human potential by a society that only allows the self-development of
men.
 Black feminism argues that sexism, class oppression, and racism are inextricably
bound together
GENERAL EVALUATION
DIFFERENCE FEMINISM
Difference feminists argue that we cannot generalise about
women’s experiences as if they are all from a conventional
nuclear family.
For example, black feminists argue that white feminists neglect
black women’s experience of racial oppression. Black feminists
argue that black families are a positive course of support and
resistance against oppression.
Others dispute this arguing that women share many of the same
experiences when compared with men, they face greater risk of
domestic violence, sexual assault, low pay etc.
SRO 2011
CRITICISMS OF FEMINISM
 Liberal feminists are often criticised for failing to challenge the underlying
causes of women’s oppression.
 Jenny Somerville (2000): radical feminists fail to recognise that women’s
position has improved considerably (it is therefore dated) and argues that
separatism is unlikely to work.
 Most women want to spend time with men, marry them and have children
together
 The New Right: equality is not always a good thing
SRO 2011
 Pessimistic view.
 Not all men are the enemy
 Functionalists argue not all women view the family
negatively; many have positive experiences in the
family.
 Functionalists argue that women are suited to caring
roles and should be performing domestic duties.
 Marxist feminists argue radical feminists ignore the
role of capitalism.
 Sommerville (liberal feminist) Radical Feminists ignore
the progress has been made by women.
EXAM MATERIALS: JAN 2009
 Item 2A
 Functionalists argue that the family contributes to the
maintenance of the social system and that individuals
benefit from the security and mutual support that the family
provides. However, critics suggest that these views are
optimistic and idealistic, and do not reflect the reality of
family life. For example, feminists are highly critical of the
family and the traditional expressive role that functionalists
identify for women. Instead, feminists focus on the ways in
which family life may have a harmful effect on women.
FOUR MARK QUESTION
 Refer back to Item 2a (Jan 2009)
 (b) Suggest two ways in which ‘family life may have a harmful effect on women’
(Item 2A, lines 6 ñ 7). (4 marks)
 Two marks for each of two appropriate ways suggested, such as women may:
 suffer domestic violence
 be excluded from decision making
 have to sacrifice career for family life
 be expected to carry out domestic role which can be monotonous
 have a double burden of housework as well as paid work outside the home
 be expected to care for relatives
 do domestic tasks unpaid.