FEMINISM THEORY

Both men and women should feel free

to be sensitive. Both men and women
should feel free to be stronger it is
time that we all perceive gender on a
spectrum not as two opposing sets of
ideas. –Emma Watson
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This lesson focuses on understanding the principles of
Feminist theory. Feminist Theory is a major branch within
sociology that shifts its assumptions, analytic lens, and
topical focus away from the male viewpoint and
experience toward that of women. In doing so, feminist
theory shines a light on social problems, trends, and issues
that are otherwise overlooked or misidentified by the
historically dominant male perspective within social
theory. Gender inequality and gender ideology are among
the focus of this module establishing its relationship and
relevance to feminist theory. 3
Feminist Theory focuses exclusively on girls and women and
that it has an inherent goal of promoting the superiority of
women over men. In reality, feminist theory has always been
about viewing the social world in a way that illuminates the
forces that create and support inequality, oppression, and
injustice, and in doing so, promotes the pursuit of equality and
justice. By shifting the focus of social theory away from the
perspectives and experiences of men, feminist theorists have
created social theories that are more inclusive and creative than
those that assume the social actor to always be a man.

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Feminism is the belief that women should have
equal rights to men. In consequence, the feminist
movement fights for equal rights and
opportunities for women.
HISTORY OF FEMINISM
The First Wave
• 19th century and early 20th century UK & US It won improved rights for women in
marriage and property. Its biggest achievement was winning some political power, in the
UK, the Suffragettes and Suffragists campaigned for the women's vote.
• In 1918, women over thirty who owned property won the vote and in 1928 it was extended
to all women over twenty-one.
The Second Wave
1960s & 1970
• It extended the fight beyond political rights to education, work and the home.
• In The Feminine Mystique (1963), Betty Freidan argues women were unhappy because of
the feminine mystique. She said this was a damaging ideal of femininity, which she called
"The Happy Housewife" and it restricted women to the role of homemaker and mother,
giving up on work and education. 6
The Third Wave
1990s-Present
• Widened the feminist movement and its ideas beyond middle class,
white women, addressing the different disadvantages women
experience because of, for example their race, ethnicity and class.
• Some argue that seeing the history of feminism in just these three
waves can ignore the fight for equal rights and the end to
discrimination by women outside the large feminist movements in the
UK and US, including working class women and black and ethnic
minority women.
Post-feminism
1980s-Present
• Includes a wide range of reactions to the feminist movement and is
often critical of the feminist ideas. The word 'post’ suggests that
feminism is not relevant anymore because women have won equal
rights. Other her post feminist's ideas argue that younger women do not
see feminism as relevant to them now. The may still believe in equal
rights for women, but either see themselves as individuals, not part of a
feminist movement or don't want to use the word feminist Feminists
have criticized this as a way of manufacturing consent for the fact that
women are still unequal, by getting women to accept their unequal
position in society
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There are different kinds of feminist theory these are:
• Liberal Feminism This is the variety of feminism that works within
the structure of mainstream society to integrate women into that
structure.
• Marxist Feminism Inequality on gender is based on division of labor
• Radical Feminism Male power is always based from social relation
and interaction
• Socialist Feminism - Women are inferior because of clans based
capitalism
• Post-modern Feminism Women attempt to change and to criticize the
dominant order or the modern thought.
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In general, we as human need to collaborate and cooperate with each
other for a better society. People should learn to understand each
other's uniqueness. Men and women should not fought over
supremacy, after all we are all equal. Feminism as a concept of social
science seeks to raise awareness and understanding about equality of
gender. Men and women and other soxes in between should be given
equal rights and that includes equal opportunities with the absence of
discrimination and bias based on gender. Feminism is not about
women alone, it's not something that foods the ego of women and it's
not synonymous to to ma man hating, it's more of recognizing the
importance of both gender in the society.

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• Gender ideology refers to attitudes regarding the appropriate roles, rights and
responsibilities of men and women in society. Traditional gender ideologies emphasizes
the value of distinctive roles for women and men where men fulfill their family roles
through breadwinning activities and women fulfill their roles being a homemaker and
through parenting activities.
• Gender refers to the roles and responsibilities of men and women that are created in our
families, our societies and our cultures, Gender includes the expectations held about the
characteristics, aptitudes and likely behaviors of both women and men. Gender roles and
expectations are learned. They can change over time and they vary within and between
cultures.
• A gender role is a set of behavioral norms associated particularly with males or females
in given social group or system, which includes division of labor between men and
women, child rearing and socialization, processes.
Gender-based roles coincident with sex-based roles have been the norm in many
traditional societies, specific components and workings of the gender/sex system of rude
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division vary from society to society.
Gender Inequality refers to disparity between individuals due to
gender. Gender is constructed both socially through social
interactions as well as biologically through chromosomes, brain
structure, and hormonal differences Gender inequality has been
prevalent in all societies for centuries and continues to exist even
today.
Some of the Factors Responsible for Gender Inequality:
Literacy: literacy is one of the factors responsible for gender
inequality
Child Marriage: Children specially the girls are married at a very
young age. This proves fatal for their overall development. and have
negative impact on their health, ton.
Social evils: Social evils like dowry system, anti system, are also
responsible for the low status of women
Discrimination against the girl child: The girl child is not treated
property in the family. People still prefer the birth of a boy rather than
a girl. The girl child is trained for household work only. Even today,
female infanticide is a common social evil. 12
Types of Gender Inequality:
• Inequality in the Family: Gender roles develop through internalization and
identification during childhood. From birth, parents interact differently with
children depending on their sex, and through this interaction, parents infuse
different values or traits. in their children based on what is normative for
their sex. Examples are polygamy, traditions favoring men in terms of
inheritance.
• Natality inequality, a preference is given for boys over girls that many
male-dominated societies have, gender inequality can manifest itself in the
form of the parents wanting the newborn to be a boy rather than a girl.
• Professional or Employment inequality: In terms of employment as well
as promotion in work and occupation, women often face greater handicap
than men do.
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• Ownership inequality: In many societies, the ownership of property can also be
very unequal. Even basic assets such as homes and land may be very asymmetrically
shared. The absence of claims to property can not only reduce the voice of women,
but also make it harder for women to enter and flourish in commercial, economic and
even some social activities.
• Household inequality: There are often enough, basic inequalities in gender relations
within the family or the household, which can take many different forma. Even in
cases in which there are no overt signa of anti-female bias in, say, survival or son-
preference or education, or even in promotion to higher executive positions, the
family arrangements can be quite unequal in terms of sharing the burden of
housework and child care. It is, for example, quite common in many societies to take
it for granted that while men will naturally work outside the home, women could do
it if and only if they could combine it with various inescapable and unequally shared
household duties.

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• Special opportunity inequality. Even when there relatively little difference in basic,
facilities including schooling, the opportunities of higher education may be fur fewer
for young women than for young men. Indeed, gender bias in higher education and
professional training can be observed even in some of the richest countries in the
world.
Just like the old saying that education starts from home, a person's view or awareness
about gender is a reflection of what kind of environment he has Our vision,
understanding, and acceptance about the gender roles and how we deal with other
people outside home is something that we first learned from home, a good example is
when we are young, A boy will be always get a toy robot while girls will get Barbie
dolls, there's really nothing wrong with that, but if you are going to think of it, as early
as childhood there's already a way on how our parents trained us on how we need to
behave and act according to our gender. Because our culture dictates higher value of
men over women this gives birth to gender inequality. Gender ideology and gender
inequality has cause and effect relationship. A person's gender ideology affect his
action towards the same/opposite gender. 15