...Feminist Theories and Uttar Predash Sociology 100 McLaughlin Thesis In the world, men and women are treated differently. Men and women have different roles and responsibilities, relations, and identities. Men are perceived as the dominant and in-charge person of the two. Men are usually the head of household and make the important decisions for the family. Women are perceived as the submissive person and are under-appreciated. Many women realized this and began to stand and fight against the stereotypical view of women. From this, the feminist theory derived. The feminist theory is a generalized, wide-ranging system of ideas about social life and human experience developed from a woman-center perspective. The feminist theory has four main subgroups, consisting of gender difference, gender inequality, gender oppression, and structural oppression. These theories are evident in the world, especially in the small Himalayan village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh described by Manjari Mehta in “Our Lives Are No Different From That of Our Buffaloes.” Feminist Theories Gender difference is a theory of feminism that argues that women’s perspectives of most situations are different from that of men’s perspectives of the same situation. Gender difference strives to answer the question “And what about the women?” by simply trying to show that women’s location in and experience of situations are different from that of men. Gender difference can be broken down into...
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...superior to and different from women was so deeply integrated into much thinking that most people never thought to question it. Throughout the history of ideas, female inferiority has been seen as the natural order of things. This is where feminism comes into place... feminism is the view which examines the world from the viewpoint of women, hence this 'traditional' view that men dominate women is challenged by feminists, as feminism believes that women are disadvantaged relative to men and that female interests are ignored or devalued by society. Feminism is therefore the movement which essentially campaigns for equality for women in society; examples of feminist groups which have campaigned for equal rights are the suffragettes and suffragists who protested for the right to vote for women in the 20th century. As Paula Trelchler herself put it... feminism is the radical notion that women are people. Liberal feminist Gavron suggested that women are trapped by the traditional roles within the family and that they should have more choice with regards to marriage and family life. Oakly further argued that the mother housewife role has been responsible for the subordination of women in the workforce. Female professional workers are three times less likely to be married than their fellow male workers. Oakly criticized Young and Wilmott, who in their 1972 study suggested that men were doing more in the home, however, in her book 'the sociology of housework', 1974, Oakly opposed this...
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...Liberal Feminism 3.3.3 Second Wave Liberal Feminism 3.3.4 Weakness/Limitations of the Liberal Feminism 3.3.5 Contribution to the Women’s Movement 3.4 Marxist Feminism 3.4.1 Foundations of Marxist Feminism 3.4.2 Other Key Elements in Marxist Feminism 3.4.3 Limitations of Marxist Feminism 3.4.4 Contribution to the Women’s Movement 3.5 Psychoanalytic Feminism 3.5.1 The Beginnings of Psychoanalytic Feminism – Countering Freudian Theories 3.5.2 Explanation by other Theorists 3.5.3 Limitations of Psychoanalytic Feminism 3.5.4 Contribution to the Women’s Movement 3.6 Radical feminism 3.6.1 Definition 3.6.2 The influences that shaped Radical Feminism 3.6.3 What are the variations of Radical Feminism? 3.6.3.1 Radical- Libertarian Feminism 3.6.3.2 Radical-Cultural Feminism 3.6.4 Radical Feminism – Its Structure 3.6.5 The Outcomes of the Movement 3.6.6 Critiques of Radical Feminism 3.6.7 Contribution to the Women’s Movement 3.7 Postmodern Feminism 3.7.1 Postmodern Thought 3.7.2 Postmodern rethinking of psychological explanation of gender 3.7.3 Postmodern Feminist 3.7.4 Limitations of Postmodern feminism 3.7.5 Contribution to the women’s Movement 3.8 Black Feminism and Womanism 3.8.1 The Beginnings of Black Feminism 3.9 Cyber Feminism 3.9.1 Origin of Cyber Feminism 3.9.2 Definition of the 100 Anti Thesis 3.9.3 Cyber art and its relation to Cyber feminism 3.9.4 Cyber Feminism – Practical Manifestation 3.9.5 Cyber Feminism challenges and its future 3.10 Let Us Sum up 3.11 Answers to Check...
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...Feminism or Igbo Culture? Feminism is a body of social theory and political movement primarily based and motivated by the experiences of women. Feminist theory tries to understand the nature of gender inequality and focuses on gender politics and relations. Subjects explored in feminism range from discrimination to stereotyping and many more. As the history of feminism has been studied, feminist movements began in the late 1800’s. Feminist ideas were not only observed in the work place or social life, but also in readings. In Things Fall Apart, there is clearly a feminist point of view. There are certain behaviors that women do not attain, they serve a specific role in the community, have arranged roles in the family, and are limited by the extended family. Although women are “Mother Supreme”, they were looked upon differently by the Igbo because of their feminist views. The opening sentence in Things Fall Apart begins with the description of an alpha male. It is hard not to have a feminist view when a role of masculinity is observed as early as the first sentence. Okonkwo is a self-made, well-respected member of the clan. He has become a wealthy farmer through his own hard work. Behaviors and attitudes that he considers masculine are to have a patriarch mindset, not show love and affection, have a great sense of personal pride, work hard, provide for your family, and being brave. Okonkwo believes that any slight show of weakness is feminine. For example...
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...Feminists study society today through the viewpoint of oppressed women who are seen to be subordinated by men. Their main aim is to liberate women from men, patriarchal society and the socially constructed stereotypes of women. In order to do so, there are different strands of Feminism, which are, Liberal, the least extreme or violent, Marxist, who link in capitalism to Feminism and Radical Feminists, the most extreme. These groups seek to bring about equality through different means and on different levels of severity. In addition to these, there are smaller and more modern groups of Feminism which are Dual Systems Feminists, who are similar to Marxist Feminists and Poststructuralists who believe other Feminists disregard differences between women. Liberal Feminists are concerned with the human civil rights, therefore they seek legal reforms and changes in attitudes and socialisation to bring about gender equality, which does not require a violent revolution. They are the closest Feminist theory to a consensus view on today’s society even though it focuses on the conflicts between men and women. Liberal Feminists reject the idea that biological differences make women less competent or rational than men or vice versa. They distinguish between sex and gender; whereby sex refers to the biological differences such as their reproductive role and physical differences and gender refers to culturally constructed differences between ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ roles. As gender is culturally...
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...This paper examines leadership practice in Nigeria from a feminist perspective. The paper briefly x-rayed Nigeria’s problems from a feminist perspective and come to the conclusion that, majority of these problems are caused by the default androcentric social practices allowed by patriarchy and masculinism, it is important to proffer solution to these problems using the same feminist theoretical frame-work. Hence, this paper attempts long lasting solution to the problem of leadership as it confronts Nigeria. FEMINIST PERSPECTIVE ON SOME NIGERIA NATIONAL ISSUES This section looks at some of the issues that concern Nigeria leadership and development problems and try to look at them from a feminist perspective in order to chart a new paradigm at...
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...Feminists’ argued that gender roles were created by men for their benefit, and they described this type of society as “patriarchal”.They argued the nuclear family performed two key functions which oppressed women a) the family socialised girls to accept subservient roles within the family, whilst socialising boys to believe they were superior – this happens through children witnessing then recreating the parental relationship; and b) it socialised women into accepting the “housewife” role as the only acceptable role for a women. Essentially, feminists viewed the function of the family as a breeding ground where patriarchal values were learned by an individual, which in turn created a patriarchal society. I will use different types of Feminism to explain their understanding of the family . The first type is Liberal Feminists. They believe in a “March of Progress” view of the family. This means that they believe that the family is gradually changing for the better over time by becoming more democratic and more equal. They also argue that men and females share democratic labour ( i.e childcare, cleaning the house). Liberal Feminist believe this happened thanks to new law reforms such as the Divorce Act 1969 and Equal Pay Act 1972. Jennifer Somerville believes that women are still disadvantaged in families . She criticises radical and marxist feminists for failing to accept that progress has been made in some ways. However Marxist Feminist criticise against this by saying...
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...Assess the Contribution of Feminist Sociologists to an Understanding of Family Roles and Relationships Essay Jak There are many different types of feminist theories but they all share a few common interests. They all believe there is a fundamental division in society between men and women, that women are to some extent exploited by men and that society is male-dominated or patriarchal. Oakley argues that the role of the housewife is a social construction and isn’t linked to the female role. The housewife role makes sure that women stay inferior to men making it difficult for them have careers. Women carry out the triple burden in the household; the domestic labour, emotional labour, and paid labour. As shown in the item most of this work is ‘unpaid and hardly recognised work at all’. Oakley argues the only way women will gain independence and freedom in society is for the role of the housewife to be removed as well as the present structure of the family. Wilmott and Young believed the family is symmetrical and that both husband and wife have joint conjugal roles making the family a functional institution and their research showed that men do help women with housework. Radical feminists such as Dobash and Dobash disagree with Willmott and Young’s theory that the family is symmetrical. They believe there are inequalities in the power relations between men and women so they see family as an institution that allows abuse and considering the risk of male violence women would...
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...Theories of Development-Empowerment a)WID,b)WAD,c)GAD Ever since the formation of the United Nations Commission on the Status for Women in 1946, it had been proposing a U. N. Women’s Conference with little success. Gradually with pressure from the American Women‟s Movement, the U.N. General Assembly declared 1975 as the International Women’s Year and 1975-1985 as the International Decade for Women. This declaration led to a growing awareness of women‟s issues and an acceptance of their demands as legitimate issues for policy making, both at the national and international level. The major themes of the International Women’s Year and Conference were-- Equality, Development and Peace. Equality, however, had been a dominant issue for the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women and it came primarily from the feminist movement of the Western industrialized nations. Peace was increasingly considered to be a women issue by the countries of the Eastern block. Development, on the other hand, was a recent issue put forward mainly by the newly independent “Third World” nations as a key to improving women’s lives. During the Decade, the important but previously invisible role of women in the social and economic development of the poorer countries was highlighted. The declaration of the International Decade for Women (1975-85) signified the new visibility of Women in Development (WID) in international forums. During the past few years, the term "women in development" has become...
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...Outline and assess Feminist views on crime and deviance. (50) Within Feminism itself there are many different approaches to crime and deviance including Liberalism, Radicalism and Post-modernism. Each of them believes that crime, or the lack of crime, is a result of the patriarchal dominance in society. Feminists believe that the patriarchy generates crime against women whilst discouraging deviancy amongst women. The official crime statistics show that men tend to commit more crime than women, and some Feminists would agree with this. One theory put forward is that this is because of the differential socialisation of males and females. Oakley argues that males are socialised to be aggressive, self-seeking and individualistic, which can therefore lead to them taking more risks and committing criminal acts. For example, if a boy is socialised into an aggressive role then he might express this through domestic violence against his partner when he is older. In the same way, a self-seeking male will do anything to satisfy his needs, which may explain male rape against women. Oakley states that females, however, are socialised into non-criminal norms and values that stress co-operation, tenderness and caring for others. This tells us that women are much less likely to commit crimes that would hurt another person, such as murder and rape, and this is reflected in the statistics. Moreover, Radical Feminist Heidensohn claims that most academics in the area of sociology and crime...
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...Assess the contribution of feminist perspectives to our understanding of society (33 marks) Feminists see society as patriarchal. They seek to describe, explain and change the position of women within society. The first ‘wave’ of feminism appeared in the late 19th century with the suffragette’s campaign for the right for women to vote. Even though all feminists oppose women’s subordination, there are disagreements on its causes and how to overcome it. Liberal or reformist feminists believe that traditional prejudices and stereotypes about gender differences are a barrier to equality. They believe all human beings should have equal rights. Since both men and women are human beings, both should have the same opportunities. Liberal Feminists argue that laws and policies against sex discrimination in employment and education can secure equal opportunities for women. Campaigning for changes in law can bring about change and we can bring about change through a cultural shift within society. They reject the idea that biological differences make women less competent or rational than men or that men are biologically less emotional or nurturing than women. To bring about change we must shift society’s socialisation patterns. For example society must seek to promote appropriate role models in education and the family by doing this we will benefit from a cultural shift and gender equality will become the norm. Liberal Feminists believe that changes in socialisation and culture are gradually...
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...------------------------------------------------- Feminist Stances on Rape ------------------------------------------------- Causes, Activism and Prevention [Author] Abstract Understanding the many different studies and work done by feminists regarding rape and sexual violence. Table of Contents Introduction…………………………………………………………….3 Anti-Rape Movement………………………………………………4 Feminist Perspective…………………………..…………………..7 Amelioration Vs. Backlash……………………………………...9 Conclusion………………………………………………………….…11 Bibliography……………………………………………….…………12 Introduction The definition of rape has been something of dispute for the last number of years. Rape usually is understood to involve some sort of sexual penetration of a person by force or without consent. Rape is committed more by males, usually on a female. In the last three decades, feminist have worked and studied rape with the collective agenda to work towards changing rape in a social and legal manor. Feminist thought and activism have challenges the myth that rape is rape, showing that it is a common experience among girls and women. Although feminists have different theories on why rape occurs, and how to eliminate it, they share the notion that rape is wrong and work towards learning and teaching about rape prevention. This paper will touch on the anti-rape movement, the feminist perspective, and different hypothesis in learning about the different feminist theories of rape. Anti-Rape Movement Feminists have been working for decades towards raising...
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...often related together in most of discussion as there are some people blame Islam for not giving freedom to women and some other people used to establish human’s right according to Islam especially for feminist properties. Feminism is defined as both a political view and a theory where the subject of analysis centres on gender and provided a platform for women to claim equality, rights and justice. Feminism in basis concerned on four foremost, which are to clarify the origins and reasons of gender inequality, describe the operation and ingenuity of this situation, portrays effective approaches to either beget full equality between genders or possibly improve the impacts of continuous inequality and envision...
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...The objective of this paper is to evaluate why women are committing crime by using Marxist Feminist Theory. Marxist theory was that women commit crime due to capitalism and because of capitalism women feel oppressed and unequal in society. Marxist Feminist Theory Marxist Feminist theory is laid out by Friedrich Engels. Engels explains that a woman's subordinate role is not due to her biological disposition , but to her social relations. A big part of a woman's subordination is the role of a man in society and how a man controls the labor of woman and their sexual life in the home. Woman have to be subordinate in their families and must be submissive to their husbands. Gender oppression and class oppression and the relationship between and man and women in society is similar to Marxist feminist view on a capitalist society. In a capitalist society a woman' s subordinate role comes from class oppression because it is in the interest of the ruling class. Men and women are divided and different privileges while men get paid for their jobs women do not get paid for theirs( childrearing, cleaning, cooking, etc..). Men are taught by society to become dominant to the roles that have been handed to them. Understanding Why Women Commit Crime Woman murder rates have rose by eleven percent a year since the seventies. What started at six thousand in the seventies jumped to seventy-five thousand and this number is increasing. Some possible explanations for these crimes can be poverty...
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...Intersectionality within feminist discourse has always been important to discussions of inequality and working towards solutions. Intersectionality is the way in which different identities, and therefore discriminatory systems, are intertwined and cannot be disconnected from each other. This is why it is so important to use intersectionality when employing the feminist perspective. From our class readings, most of the authors use many examples of intersectionality in their analyses. The books Lucky and Conquest, as well as the excerpt from Half the Sky, all include these examples. The author of Lucky makes very careful descriptive choices in her novel that utilize intersectionality. In the section “Prohibition and Prostitution” from Half the Sky, the authors devote their writing to another form of...
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