What Is Liberal Feminism?

Liberal feminism is a prominent branch of feminism that aims to advocate for

women’s legal and political rights. It was born in western countries and
emphasizes the value of freedom which can be achieved through political and
legal reform.

The ideas of liberal feminism are rooted in liberalism, a political philosophy that
encourages the development of freedom, particularly in the political and
economic spheres. These key ideas of liberalism include individual freedom,
democracy, equal opportunities, and equal rights.

Liberal feminists apply liberalism to gender equality and claim that the
oppression of women lies in their lack of political and civil rights. Liberal
feminism emphasizes the rights of the individual woman and aims to grant access
to equal rights and representation through legislation.

Accordingly, women’s ‘liberation’ would be achieved by putting an end to

discriminatory practices and by pushing for equal rights. Liberal feminists have
fought for women’s right to vote, to work, to an education, and to have equal pay.

Many liberal feminists think that their fight for these rights is largely won, but
others believe that there are still issues to work on such as the gender pay gap,
representation in politics, and in the media.

A brief history of liberal feminism 

The ongoing struggle for equality dates back centuries, but the tradition of
liberal feminism stems from specific philosophies and policies within the
women’s movement. Here is a brief overview of the history of liberal feminism: 

Early Activism
Liberal feminism began during the Enlightenment with the rise of a political
philosophy known as classical liberalism. Like many classic liberals of the late
18th and early 19th centuries, liberal feminists believed that the best path to
women’s liberation was the right to vote. Early feminist scholars and activists
were inspired by Mary Wollstonecraft’s ‘A Defense of the Rights of Woman’
(1792) and later by John Stuart Mill’s ‘Female Subdued’ (1869).

They also focused on the right to education and paid work. Later, the focus
shifted to political rights because women were considered vulnerable in society,
and to uplift the status of women, political rights were considered very
important. All this led to the first wave of feminism.  

Seneca Falls Convention 

The 1848 convention in Seneca Falls, New York, organized by early American
feminists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott, was probably the first
of the feminist movement’s conferences. Discussions at the event focused on
sexism in public spaces and the extension of fundamental rights, with a focus
on voting. 

At the 1848 convention, Stanton read the ‘Declaration of Sentiments,’ a

statement of grievances and demands patterned after the Declaration of
Independence. She called on women to organize and fight for their rights. The
convention passed 12 resolutions—11 of which were unanimous—aimed at
acquiring certain rights and privileges denied to women in that era. The ninth
resolution demanded voting rights for women; it passed after the insistence of
Stanton, but later it caused many backers of women’s rights to withdraw their
support. Still, it was a cornerstone of the women’s suffrage movement,
culminating in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.

Right to vote
In 1920, American women gained the right to vote and hold public office. These
are important steps towards an egalitarian society with gender equality.

The following year, as head of the National Woman Suffrage Association in

1900, Carrie Chapman Catt attempted to link women’s suffrage to America’s
war effort in the First World War. Although many of her fellow activists were
anti-war pacifists, Catt made the controversial decision to support the war,
thereby portraying the women’s suffrage movement as patriotic. The effort was
successful. President Woodrow Wilson also expressed his support for female
enfranchisement.

On August 18, 1920, Congress ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, which

guaranteed the right to vote for all American citizens, regardless of gender. The
Nineteenth Amendment was a significant victory and a turning point for the
feminist movement.

Civil Rights
Major feminist activism gained momentum in the 1960s when many liberal
feminists discovered a link between racism and sexism. During this period,
pressure to pass the Equal Rights Amendment increased. 

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy created the Presidential Commission on the

Status of Women and appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as its chairman. Its report,
published in 1963, strongly supported the nuclear family and women’s
preparation for motherhood. But it also documents a national pattern of
workplace discrimination, unequal pay, legal inequities, and meager support
services for working women that needs to be remedied through laws
guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, equal employment opportunity, and
expanded childcare services. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 provided the guarantee,
and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was amended to prohibit employers from
discriminating based on sex.

Influential texts
The Feminine Mystique (1963), by feminist scholar and activist Betty Friedan,
examines women’s sacrifices in society, especially in household chores. Her
indelible first sentences will resonate with generations of women, like  “This
question has been lurking in the minds of American women for years. It is a
strange agitation, a resentment, a longing for American women in the middle of
the 20th century.” Women dissatisfied with pastoral life spoke about their
dissatisfaction with their lives. The ingrained sexism in society limits their
opportunities. Today, Friedan’s book is a classic and is often credited with
sparking a “second wave” of feminism, which has sparked intense interest in
issues such as workplace equality, birth control and abortion, and women’s
education. 

Second-wave feminism promotes equal opportunity in the workplace, at home,

and in public. In this movement, bourgeois liberal feminists fight gender
inequality in the workplace. They speak openly about gender roles in the family,
pay gaps, sexual harassment, domestic violence, health care, child care, and
reproductive rights.
What Are The Principles Of Liberal
Feminism?
Gender equality
While they may not deny there may be biological differences between men and
women, liberal feminists do not see these differences as justification for
inequalities between the sexes.

Thus, their main principle is for women to be treated as equals to men.

This can include having the same social and political rights, having equal pay for
doing the same job as men, and being equals in marriage and partnership.

Equality in women’s representation

Liberal feminists believe that women have the right to be as active in society as
men, and thus be equally represented in the workplace, politics, and in the media.

This may mean that they would want to be equally represented in higher career
positions such as CEOs and directors. They would also want to be equally
represented in political roles such as having more women world leaders.

Moreover, they would want to be better represented in film and television, by

having more female leading actors and more female directors and producers.

Reforming the system

Liberal feminists do not necessarily question the system of society as a whole, but
instead, believe in its capacity to reform.

They believe that gender justice is best achieved by modifying existing social
institutions and political systems.
They rely on the state to gain equality and support affirmative action and
legislation which grants equal rights and opportunities to both men and women.
For instance, liberal feminists would generally be supportive of employers and
educational institutions which make special attempts to include women as
serious applicants.

Individualistic
Liberal feminism is individualistic rather than group based. This means that the
rights are granted to individual women who are assumed to be equal and thus
equally deserving, rather than granting rights to a whole group.

The concept of sexism

Liberal feminists are thought to have popularized the concept of ‘sexism’ to refer
to ideas and social practices that keep women in a subordinate role.

They believe that sexism is rooted in the idea of biological determinism, which is
the idea that certain behaviors or abilities are inherent to women or men and are
derived from biological characteristics.

Sexism, liberal feminists believe, is the fundamental cause of discrimination

against women.

What Are The Goals Of Liberal

Feminism?
Equality in the public sphere
The primary goal of liberal feminism is gender equality in the public sphere. This
includes equal access to education, equal pay, ending job sex segregation, and
better working conditions for women. All of these are believed to be achieved
through legal change.

While early liberal feminists sought to gain the right to vote and access to
education for women, modern liberal feminists aim to secure equal social,
political, and economic opportunities, equal civil liberties, and sexual freedoms.
If there is gender inequality in existing institutions, then liberal feminists seek to
eradicate this to create a fair and just society.
Equality in the private sphere
Liberal feminists also suggest that gender equality should be present in the home
as well as in public life. The family can be seen as a social institution and thus
should be an equal structure according to liberal feminists.

They tend to support marriage as long as it is an equal partnership. In an equal

partnership, men and women share the household chores, cooking, house
management, and childcare as equally as possible.

Liberal feminists also generally support abortion and other reproductive rights

that are related to the control of one’s life and autonomy. They also believe that

ending domestic violence and sexual harassment removes obstacles to women

achieving on an equal level with men.

Three tenets of liberal feminism 

Liberal feminism is different from other feminist ideas and activism. Here are
some tenets of liberal feminism:

 Individualism: Liberal feminism focuses on individual freedom and

autonomy. They are rooted in liberal feminism. Individualist feminists
took a more legitimate approach to equality, invoking natural law
theory. They want to fully recognize women’s individual rights through
laws that protect the persons and private property of men and women
equally. When people think of feminism these days, individual
feminism often comes to mind, precisely because it has become so
mainstream.
 Legal and political reforms: Liberal feminists tend to focus on using
existing systems of power, such as courts and government, to secure
rights and improve women’s lives. Women have historically fought for
equal access to public institutions and the workplace, and
representation in cutting-edge industries is a sign of progress.
 Pragmatism: Many liberal feminists take a pragmatic approach to
reform. They look for political struggles that seem to be won and gains
they can make in the current political and economic structure of
society.
Examples Of Liberal Feminism
Today
Since liberal feminism was traditionally focused on legal equality, it could be
considered almost fully achieved in some western countries.

In practice, however, gender equality in law and legislation does not necessarily
mean that there is real and productive equality, which is why liberal feminism
still exists.

In the family
Feminists are critical of the family as a social institutions. They believe that the
family is a tool of female oppression and in particular the nuclear family serves
the needs of men rather than women. This is through issues
such as unequal division of domestic labor and domestic violence.

Liberal feminists argue that families are slowly becoming more equal through
changes in law and social attitudes.
They do not believe that full equality has been achieved but the process is well
underway.

For example, they show how parents are now socializing their children in more
gender-neutral ways, with similar
aspirations for both sons and daughters and chores not being determined by
gender.

In the workplace
While there may be more equality in the number of women in the workplace,
liberal feminists argue that there are inequalities within.

Typically, women are over-represented in positions which are traditionally

‘feminine’ roles such as nursing, teaching, and social care. These are positions
which are often underpaid compared to jobs which are typically male-dominated
such as in science, law, and medicine.
Likewise, there is often still a gender wage gap in many countries where women
still earn less on average than a man for the same job.

While there are more women represented in sectors that were once considered
‘male’, they are often confined to lower positions in the hierarchy and there are
disproportionately less women CEOs, vice-presidents, and directors. Liberal
feminists would like to see more women in these higher positions.

In politics
While there may now be more women involved in politics, there is still an under-
representation in the number of women in political roles.

Particularly, men still dominate political leadership such as in the United States
where there has never been a female president, or in the United Kingdom where
there have only been two female prime ministers.

Men still make a lot of the decisions and laws in society meaning that less
women’s voices are heard. Liberal feminists would suggest that having more
women in positions of power would trigger positive changes to make their views
understood.

In the media
In film and television, female characters are under-represented, with women less
likely to play the protagonist character. Women in film and television often play
the love interest to the main male character or play a smaller role with fewer
speaking parts.

There is a test known as the Bechdel test which aims to examine the presence of
women in film and highlights the sexism that persists.

To pass the Bechdel test, the film must contain two named, speaking female
characters who have a conversation with each other where the topic of
conversation is not related to a man. There are still many films released today
that do not pass the Bechdel test.

There are also fewer female directors in films. Liberal feminists suggest that
having more female directors would allow for more female actors and less female
stereotyped characters.
The History Of Liberal Feminism
Liberal feminism is thought to have emerged in the 18th and 19th century with
the rise of the political philosophy known as classical liberalism. This was a
period of great social change in western countries alongside the rise of capitalism.

Mary Wollstonecraft
Early feminist scholars drew inspiration from Mary Wollstonecraft, especially
from her notable writing of A Vindication of the Rights of Women, published in
1792.
Wollstonecraft was a passionate advocate of educational and social equality for
women.

In her writings, she makes the case that women need to be educated just as well
as men so that they can grow up to be moral and autonomous human beings. She
called for the improvement of women’s status through such political change as
the reform of national educational systems.

John Stuart Mill

A century after Wollstonecraft, John Stuart Mill defended the civic and legal
equality of women and their right to vote in his essay titled > On the Subjection
of Women, published in 1869. He argued that women’s social and political
equality was rooted in liberal principles.

Mill suggested that the central problem encountered by women is that they are
denied a free and rational choice as to how they are to lead their lives – that they
are denied the autonomy of the individual.

He claimed that the capacities of women cannot be known until they enjoy equal
access to education and the vote.

First Wave Feminism

There was a gradual rise of the liberal feminist movement over time, but the first
major advancements in gender equality did not happen until the first wave of
feminism hit the 20th century in the west.
The women’s suffrage movement fought for the right for women to vote.

This struggle was mainly led by liberal feminists although more revolutionary
feminists also took part in the movement. This movement is known as the first
victory of liberal feminists toward having equal rights to men.

Difference between classical liberal feminism and egalitarian

liberal feminism
Classical liberal feminism and egalitarian liberal feminism are both families of
doctrines with significant internal differences. Nonetheless, the differences
between classical and egalitarian-liberal feminists about freedom have some
significant implications as to how the two articulate the problems feminism is
trying to solve, how they specify what the liberal feminist agenda is, and what
role is assigned to the state. 

Egalitarian-Liberal feminists believe that much can and should be done if we

support women’s personal and political autonomy and achieve equality in the
process of democratic self-governance in liberal societies such as the United
States. They see the state as a potential ally in pursuing these goals and
advocate for measures such as anti-discrimination laws, affirmative action, and
welfare state programs, as well as measures to change a culture and ensure
equal participation in democratic self-governance. These crucial features put
egalitarian-liberal feminism on the left side of the political spectrum. 

Classical liberal feminists, on the other hand, tend to hold that feminist political
tasks are limited to opposing laws that treat women differently from men, a
task they see as primarily accomplished in a society like the United States. They
tend to support the outcome of largely unhindered economic and associational
arrangements and oppose, for example, anti-discrimination laws, affirmative
action, and welfare state programs. These characteristics place classical
liberalism on the right side of the political spectrum. However, some classic
liberal feminists argue that the task of cultural liberalization remains on the
agenda of liberal feminism, although they see it as a non-political task and
oppose the use of state power for this purpose. These classic liberal feminists
are culturally on the left. However, other classic liberal feminists reject cultural
liberalization programs and consider themselves correct.
Egalitarian-liberal feminism understands freedom as personal autonomy (living
the life you choose) and political autonomy (becoming a co-author of the
conditions of your life). Egalitarian-liberal feminists believe that the exercise of
individual autonomy depends on certain favourable conditions that do not fully
exist in women’s lives or on social and institutional arrangements that often do
not respect women’s individual autonomy and other factors in women’s
prosperity. They also argue that women’s needs and interests are not
adequately reflected in the framework of their lives and that the basic
regulations that maintain these conditions are not legitimized because women
are inadequately represented in democratic self-governance processes.
Egalitarian-liberal feminists have linked autonomy deficits like these to the
‘gender system,’ i.e., inherited patriarchal traditions and institutions, and they
argue that the women’s movement should work to acknowledge and correct
these flaws. Since, from an egalitarian perspective, protecting and promoting
the autonomy of citizens is an appropriate role for the state, egalitarian
feminists believe that the state can and should be an ally of the women’s
movement in promoting women’s autonomy. 

Strengths And Criticisms Of

Liberal Feminism
Strengths
A strength of liberal feminism is that it is a relatively popular branch of feminism,
and the goals are ones that support a lot of public opinion.

For instance, it is easy for most people to support equal rights for both men and
women to vote and work – it would be difficult to justify otherwise. Likewise, the
major victories of liberal feminists are rarely questioned. For example, not many
would suggest that the vote should be taken away from women.

Liberal feminists have helped to bring forward legislature which helps to protect
more women. They cannot be discriminated against on the basis of their sex in
the workplace, they have more rights, and they can own property. Also, liberal
feminism extends its principles into the private sphere so as to protect more
women from the forms of oppression specific to this sphere
Criticisms
Since liberal feminism is the oldest version of the feminist movement, it faces a
lot of criticism, especially from other feminists.

It is argued that liberal feminists overlook how differences of race, class, and
sexual orientation, among others, can intersect to create different levels of
women’s oppression. Liberal feminists are accused of being ‘white feminists’
which means that they assume that the issues facing white, mostly western
women are issues that all women face.

Much of the work of liberal feminism has been carried by white privileged women
whose fight has mainly been for other white women.

They may question the number of women in politics, for instance, but may not
argue for more women of color, or working-class women in this field. The
suffrage movement saw the vote granted to women in the early 20th century as a
win, despite many women of color not being granted the vote until decades later.

Many liberal feminists would celebrate a woman being promoted to a position of

power without considering the values of the person.

They may overlook the fact that the woman in power has goals that are
oppressive and immoral, because as long as she is in power, it is a win for the
liberal feminists.

Liberal feminism does not really consider the root cause of gender inequality.
Marxist feminists would argue that liberal feminists ignore the systemic
discrimination – that women’s oppression coming from the patriarchy and
capitalism. Instead, liberal feminists do not see the need to overthrow the system,
and in fact, may even promote capitalism.

Liberal feminism often faces additional criticism for the notion of trying to make
women ‘superheroes’, capable of successfully combining marriage, motherhood,
and career.

While many women may desire this, it can be considered as more oppressive
towards women as they are now expected to succeed in a male-dominated
workplace while simultaneously managing their roles as housewife and mother.

Women who do not have the desire or time for a successful career may feel
judged by liberal feminists for not living up to the male standards of success.