CHAPTER

3
WHAT IS FEMINISM AND THEORIES
OF FEMINISM
By

ZAHOOR ELAHI (CSP)

WhatsApp # +923004578032
[email protected]
QUESTIONS # CHAPTER 3

CSS 2016: What is feminism? In what way
Radical Feminism is different from Socialist
Feminism?
CSS 2018: What type(s) of feminism can
elevate the socio-cultural, economic and
poli@cal status of women in Pakistan?
CSS 2019: Write short note on Postmodern
Feminism
CSS 2020: 'Language is gendered', what does
this simply? Explain with examples?

 FEMINISM
•  Background (1871, 1896, 1892)
•  Defini@ons
•  Use and meanings of Feminism (Plato, US/Europe,
UK)
•  Approaches (Descrip@ve/Norma@ve)
•  Basic Feminist Ideas (Expanding H.ch, Working eq,
elimina@ng G.St, Ending SV and obj.; rejec@ng
discrimina@on, stereotyping & oppression)
•  Defining Feminism
i.  Speaking, wri@ng, ac@ng and advoca@ng on behalf of women and
iden@fying injus@ce in fields…
ii.  Includes ideas, beliefs and systema@c efforts in organized ac@vity
for making changes in behavior to achieve equality of sexes.

03/06/2020
 THEORIES OF FEMINISM

1→ Liberal Feminism
•  Issues

–  sexual harassment
–  vo@ng/ educa@on right
–  fair compensa@on for work
–  affordable childcare/affordable health care, and
–  bringing to light the frequency of sexual and
domes@c violence against women

03/06/2020

Beliefs of Liberal Feminism
•  Individual’s right
•  False belief
•  Women’s libera@on and gender equality
•  I n d i v i d u a l a u t o n o m y / r i g h t s , l i b e r t y , a n d
independence
•  Favoured Heterosexuality
•  Rejected penis envy theory
•  Consciousness raising
•  Opposed gendered job market

03/06/2020
 CRITICISM
•  i. Not breaking down the deeper ideologies of
society and patriarchy.
•  ii. Also, it has been cri@cized for ignoring race and
class issues.
•  iii. Focused on white, middle class and
heterosexual women.

03/06/2020
 2→ Radical Feminism
•  Issues
–  War against sex and individualism
–  Expanding reproduc@ve rights
–  Breaking down tradi@onal roles.
•  Focus:
–  women are superior to men is certain ways, such
as that they are caring, crea@ve and sensi@ve
–  Radical feminists also aim to help all females,
such as working class and non-white women

03/06/2020
 Beliefs of Radical Feminism
•  Sex/gender is the fundamental cause of
women oppression (model for other
oppressions)
•  Elimina@on of male supremacy
•  Root of women oppression in patriarchal
gender (1960ss-2nd wave) instead of legal
system or class conflict
•  They feel that women may do a beher job
than men tradi@onally have
03/06/2020
Beliefs of Radical Feminism …ConKnue
•  Radical feminists were opposed to patriarchy but
not necessarily capitalism. Elaborate system of
patriarchy & how male exercised them
•  Sex class rather than economic class was the
central concept
•  Black feminists and women of other color
supported it.
•  Why women must adopt certain roles based on
their biology and gender?
•  CR Group

03/06/2020
Beliefs of Radical Feminism …ConKnue
•  Views On Pros@tu@on
•  Views on Pornography
•  Views on heterosexuality (Radical lesbian)
•  Radical feminists have divided into two groups with
very different views.
a. Radical-Libertarian Feminism (reproduc@on,
androgynous, hermaphrodi@c)
b. Radical-Cultural Feminism (reproduc@on,
produc@on)

03/06/2020
 CRITICISM
•  i. Sex based discrimina@on
•  ii. Apoli@cal
•  iii. Focused white and middle class

03/06/2020
 3→ Marxist/Socialist/Materialist/
Feminism
•  Issues
•  Women are not oppressed by men or by sexism,
but by capitalism itself. The posi@on of women in
the family serves the interests of the economy and
the ruling class.
•  Focus
dismantling of capitalism as a way to liberate women

03/06/2020
 Beliefs of Marxist/Socialist/
Materialist/ Feminism
•  Marxist feminism states that economic inequality, dependence,
poli@cal confusion and ul@mately unhealthy social rela@ons
between men and women are the root of women's oppression in
the current social context.
•  Marxism claims that individuals are under the oppression of a
dominant power structure.
•  Primarily concern with division of labor – lack of due reward.
•  Marxists believe that we are socialized according to our external
influences. They argue that socializa@on is an ideological process,
in which its main aim is to transmit the ruling-class idea.
•  SubordinaKon is not result of biological factors but social
posiKons—rela@onship b/w men and women & rela@onship b/w
proletariat and bourgeoisie.
•  Women are oppressed through system of capitalism and private
property (exclusion from produc@ve labor)

03/06/2020
 CriKcism?

03/06/2020
 4→ PsychoanalyKcal Feminism
•  Issues
–  Sigmund Freud: men have Phallis (dual rela@onship b/w
child and mother. 1970- Freud's theory of “Penis envy”.
–  How masculinity develops and sexual inequality is
responded.
–  Male func@ons are subjec@ve while female func@ons are
objec@ve.

•  Focus
–  How social and cultural ins@tu@ons build psyche of child.
–  Family structure promotes heterosexuality, male
domina@on, masculinity superiority and devalua@on of
03/06/2020
women.
 Beliefs of PsychoanalyKcal Feminism
•  Psychoanaly@c feminists explain women’s oppression as
rooted within psychic structures and reinforced by the
con@nual repe@@on or reitera@on of rela@onal dynamics
formed in infancy and childhood.
•  Cri@cal of Freudian and Neo-Freudian no@ons of women
as biologically, psychically, and morally inferior to men,
psychoanaly@c feminists addressed poli@cal and social
factors affec@ng the development of male and female
subjects.
•  Like radical feminists, they saw as key issues sexual
difference and women’s otherness in rela@on to men.
•  The two major schools of psychoanaly@c feminism are
Freudian and Lacanian.
03/06/2020
 CriKcism?

03/06/2020
 5→ Men’s Feminism
•  Issues
–  Men’s movements/ Men’s Feminism emerged at the @me
of the Women’s Libera@on Movement, and the groupings
gathered together under this umbrella @tle were as
heterogeneous as early radical feminist groups.

Focus
–  In a sense they all seemed to be a reac@on to feminism,
but that could be either a posi@ve or a nega@ve one.

03/06/2020
 Beliefs of Men’s Feminism
•  Both men and women are essen@al for their survival so role of one
individual is nothing without existence of other’s role.
•  Men’s consciousness raising (CR) groups, emerging during the early
1970s,
•  There was an acknowledgement that all men had at least the poten@al to
be the oppressor and had greater opportuni@es for power
•  Just as women in CR learnt a great deal about the processes of their own
socializa@on, so men came to understand the ways in which they were
educated to be ‘men’ and what that meant.
•  Women in rela@onship to men
•  Brings men into gender research
•  Study of masculine characteris@cs & Men’s behavior towards other
genders.
•  Men can be made free of their sexual roles. Whether men can perform
feminine role? Simone de Beauvoir rejected this.
•  Western idea of homosexuality; homosexual are men but lower in scale
•  Amalgama@on of theories of feminism.
03/06/2020
 CriKcism?

03/06/2020
 6→ Post Modern Feminism
•  Issues
–  language is complex which creates understanding reality
e.g. sexual rela@ons, domes@c agreements, poli@cs and
raising children etc.

•  Focus
–  Destabilize iden@ty – overcome differences among
signifiers e.g. Doctor, Actor, Chairperson etc.

03/06/2020
 Beliefs of Post Modern Feminism
•  Cultural change or deconstruc@on is required e.g bitch/sexy. Exp. Power is
associated with men e.g. Machiavelli ‘The Prince’.
•  Issues in educa@on: literature so these words/concepts should be used
irrespec@ve of sex e.g chairperson, actor, doctor etc.
•  Men’s wri@ng is full of binary opposi@on e.g good/bad, ac@ve/passive, culture/
nature, logos/pathos etc which help to create reality. This binary pair is
hierarchical and patriarchal. Law of patriarchal society is law of Phallus.
•  Patriarchy dominates and operates other systems e.g. social, economic and
poli@cal systems etc which manifest binary roles. Examples: Women are used for
sex.
•  Women are defined as other. Equality comes when there is no differences among
sexes
•  Accept diversity. Queer theory & post-modern feminism in other discourses
(Mul@ple roles, truths and en@@es)
•  Female & male bodies, sexual desires are exhibited through these discourses;
media
•  Glorify homosexuality without ques@oning gender descrip@on
•  Ins@tu@on & structures
03/06/2020
 CriKcism?

03/06/2020
Any QuesKons?
THANK YOU

ZAHOOR ELAHI