Feminist Thinkers & Ideas (Edexcel A Level Politics): Revision Note

Argued that women are treated as the ‘other,’ defined by what they are not rather than what they are

Claimed that women are not born, but made through societal expectations and gender roles

Called for the dismantling of social norms that create the ‘myth of women’

Criticised the gendered division of labour within the domestic sphere

Argued that unpaid domestic labour traps women in economic dependence

Proposed state-supported childcare and cooperative living as solutions to empower women

Argued that patriarchy is a systemic sexual hierarchy

Viewed patriarchy as a political system, not a natural order

Claimed that sexual politics and traditional family structures are central to women’s oppression

Argued that women’s oppression is rooted in capitalist economic structures

Claimed capitalism depends on women’s unpaid domestic labour

Argued that reform or revolution of the economic system is necessary for women’s liberation

Emphasised the importance of intersectionality, arguing women’s experiences differ by race and class

Criticised patriarchal culture reinforced through media, education and institutions

Argued that feminism must address racism, poverty and wider systems of oppression