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Feminist Theory
Feminist Theory
Difference between liberal feminism and radical feminism
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One of the most well-known entertainers of the world, Beyoncé, is part of the best singers in the music industry. She is, somehow, considered to be a great example of the Feminist movements for showing off the talents of the femininity. The Feminist Movement started in the 1840’s, but it didn’t really expand until the 1960’s after Betty Friedan’s book The Feminine Mystique was published. In that book, Betty encourages women to change the way society view them as the ideal employment for them is to stay at home mom and wife voice their opinions and fight for equality of the sexes.
Throughout the course of history, women's role in society has changed immensely. The certain expectations set on them by the standards of society became widely accepted. They are controlled and are made to adapt to society's norms. Their actions are amplified by the men in society. The thought of superiority in favor of one gender leads to these societal norms that need to be broken.
The Feminist theory focuses on the inequality of gender and how women are not treated as well or equal
Using Feminist Theory, the reader can understand the message in “The Yellow Wallpaper.” In the story, John’s wife is slowly going mentally insane. John limits her abilities in society, because John does not allow her to work, the ability to write, and forces her to stay in the isolated nursery. For example, John’s wife describes her desire to work to do her good mentally. “Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good.”
(Schmalleger, F. 137) The first form is Radical feminism proclaims that the patriarchal societies of men control the law and that the women are defined as subjects and holds that any significant change in the social status of women can be accomplished only through substantial changes in social institutions such as the family, law, and medicine. (Schmalleger, F. 137) The second form is Liberal feminism they proclaim that gender inequalities arise from separate and different domains of influence and traditional attitudes about the appropriate role of men and women. Also holds that the concerns of women can be incorporated within existing social institutions through conventional means and without the need to drastically restructure society.
The feminist movement was not led by any particular figure and was completely non-hierarchal, and was run as a collective. Although there were no specific leaders, there were key figures such as Betty Friedan who was an American writer and Women’s right activist. In 1963 Friedan published “The Feminine Mystique” which was an exploration beyond Women’s traditional roles in society, and it quickly took off to create a social revolt by eliminating the myth that Women wanted to be housewives and homemakers, for Friedan the book marked the beginning of her significant role in the second wave of feminism. Friedan’s role in the overall movement was very much to inspire other women to get behind it and while doing so, Friedan also made sure that those she inspired, never resented men, for her it wasn’t about that “Man is not the enemy here, but the fellow
Music has long had the power to convey powerful and meaningful messages that were directed towards a specific audience throughout history. Its ability to do the aforementioned was exemplified during the beginning and early stages of the Feminist Movement, particularly with Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” (1967) and Helen Reddy’s “I am Woman” (1972). These two songs sought to empower the women of their era by encouraging gender autonomy. Though released five years apart, there were many similarities between the two songs in terms of their musical and lyrical composition, as well as their message and intended audience. However, due to the surrounding social issues of their time period, two very different underlying secondary messages were incorporated
From the feminism theory, I hope to prove that women can acquire their liberation by ending of the economic and cultural repression. Social feminism encompasses Marxist and radical feminism. From Marxist feminism, I hope to confirm that capitalism greatly contributes to the female segregation within a society. In Radical feminism I desire to find that gender and patriarchy spread female segregation. The studies are to prove the idea of current gender roles; as 'natural ', and therefore unchangeable, is mistaken, how and why segregation occurs and that irrespective of feminist movement, sexual equality is a goal worth striving for within the context of
Mary Daly, a radical feminist philosopher of the 1900s, is the author of the famous literary work, entitled: Gyn/ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism. In this book, Daly comprises her feminist ideas and beliefs into three separate passages. Despite the fact that the specific content in each passage explains different topics and theories, Daly’s overarching goal for writing Gyn/ecology: The Metaethics of Radical Feminism is to fully describe the idea of women becoming a “Be-ing” and the “rough journey” of women becoming entrenched in a need to practice radical feminism (1).
Moreover, it challenged the compulsory heterosexuality, a woman can only be successful in society if she is married to a man and be a good ‘housewife,’ which consolidates patriarchy. Radical Feminism challenged many social ideas from reproductive rights to workplace which inevitably led them to examine the traditional gender roles. Finally, Third Wave Feminism, or Transversal Feminism, ultimately seeks to overthrow essentialism, that there exists a single definition of man-ness and woman-ness. Instead, gender is a spectrum of
(Coakley, 2003, p.28). Feminist theory is modelled on the idea that “social order is based primarily on the values, experiences, and interests of men with power. Social life and social order is gendered and based on patriarchal ideas.” (Coakley, 2003, p.29).
The first wave of feminism has been a revolutionary social movement in terms of that it could lead to an overcoming of the previous social order (Newman, 2012 p. 487) through its social agents and create, through this, a new social ordering of time and space. Moreover, through reaching their previously described aims, the first wave of feminism has been able to literally “overthrow the entire system itself, (…) in order to replace it with another one.” (Skocpol, 1979, as cited in Newman 2012, p. 487). Thereby, one can even state that a new ordering of time and space by which routines and routinised behaviour has been challenged as well as changed took place. The interactions influenced the way how societies work today.
The aim of this paper is to draw out the implications of liberal feminist framework for the analysis of education. Doing this paper will discuss its conceptual basis, its typical educational objectives, strategies for change and criticism of the approach. Feminist theoretical framework addresses the question of women’s subordination to men: how this arose, how and why it is perpetuated, how it might be changed and (sometimes) what life would be without it. Middle range theories may be less dramatic and consider particular aspect of gender relation and specific sectors of life such as education, the family or politics. Feminist theories serve a dual purpose, as guides to understanding gender inequality and as a guide to action.
The radical feminists are also trying to gain female power. But their activities normally are too aggressive to be accepted by people. For example, FEMEN is a relatively well-known radical feminism group. Their slogan is “Our mission is protest, our weapons are bare breasts”. They use topless and radical action to achieve their proposition in political and social ways.
Postmodern Feminism Essay Whether sexuality and gender are learned or based in nature has been, and continues to be, a highly debated question with in our society. There are individuals that believe sexuality and gender are innate, meaning that we are born into them. On the other hand, some individuals believe that our sexuality and gender are learned, that they are socially constructed. The latter belief is known as gender performativity, coined by Judith Butler, and is a widely held belief among postmodern feminists.