Types of Feminism (Edexcel A Level Politics): Revision Note

The types of feminism

• Feminism has developed into several distinct strands as feminists have disagreed over the causes of gender inequality and the best way to achieve equality

• While all feminists oppose patriarchy, different types of feminism place emphasis on law, the economy, culture, or identity

• This has led to the emergence of liberal, socialist, radical and post-modern feminism

Liberal feminism

• Liberal feminists generally see the oppression of women as solvable within existing societal and political structures

For liberal feminists, oppression is addressed through

• Legal equality

  • Laws should ensure women’s rights in education, work and politics

• Political participation

  • Increasing women’s political participation will lead to greater representation in government and decision-making

• Economic opportunity

  • Equality of opportunity through equal pay and anti-discrimination in employment

• Education and training

  • Access to schooling and professional training should be available for women

• Incremental reform

  • Change should be evolutionary rather than revolutionary

  • Reform should take place within existing social and political structures

Key thinkers

Socialist feminism

• Socialist feminists see the root of women’s oppression as linked to the capitalist system and the gender norms it enforces on women

For socialist feminists, oppression arises from

• Capitalist exploitation

  • Women’s oppression is connected to capitalism and therefore requires either reform or revolution

• Gendered division of labour

  • Women are expected to complete domestic roles

  • Women act as a ‘reserve army of labour’ when required by the state

  • This places women hierarchically beneath men

• Economic dependence

  • Marriage places women in a position of economic dependence

• Need for economic restructuring

  • Economic restructuring is necessary to reduce both gender and class inequality

• State intervention

  • Redistribution of wealth and state support are necessary to achieve equality

Key thinker

Sheila Rowbotham

• Argued that the success of capitalism depends on women’s unpaid domestic labour

• Claimed women’s liberation therefore requires economic restructuring

Radical feminism

• Radical feminists believe that patriarchy is historically rooted and cannot be overturned within existing systems, as it is integral to those systems

For radical feminists, oppression is rooted in

• Patriarchy

  • Patriarchy is the root of women’s oppression

  • Male domination underpins all social hierarchies

• Sexual politics

  • Relationships and sexuality are central to understanding women’s oppression

• Cultural reinforcement

  • The media, law and societal norms reinforce male power

• Limits of reform

  • Existing political and social systems cannot deliver liberation for women

• Need for revolutionary change

  • Society must fundamentally restructure gender relations to achieve equality

Key thinkers

Post-modern feminism

• Post-modern feminists challenge the fixed idea of a ‘woman’, viewing gender as fluid and shaped by factors such as race, place and class

For post-modern feminists, feminism involves

• Rejection of universal definitions

  • There is no single or fixed understanding of what it means to be a woman

• Fluidity of gender and sexuality

  • Gender and sexuality are socially constructed and dynamic rather than fixed

• Multiple identities

  • Women experience different and overlapping forms of oppression

• Decentralised activism

  • Feminism should be context-specific and locally informed rather than universal

• Deconstruction of norms

  • Language, power structures and social norms should be challenged and dismantled

Key thinker

bell hooks

• Argued that women’s experiences cannot be understood in isolation from race, class and culture

Feminism and the four themes

What do feminists think about the four themes?