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🔻 Chapter 9: Feminism – Summary (Point-wise) 🔻
1. Definition and Origin
- Feminism = belief that women are disadvantaged by society due to gender & this must be challenged.
- Term gained political traction only in the 20th century, though feminist views go back centuries.
2. Historical Waves of Feminism
First-Wave Feminism (19th–early 20th century):
- Focused on legal and political rights, especially suffrage.
- Thinkers: Wollstonecraft, J.S. Mill, Stanton, Pankhurst.
Second-Wave Feminism (1960s–80s):
- Emphasized ‘women’s liberation’, private sphere politics, body autonomy.
- Texts: The Feminine Mystique (Friedan), The Female Eunuch (Greer), Sexual Politics (Millett).
Third-Wave Feminism (1990s–present):
- Embraced diversity, intersectionality, and gender fluidity.
- Opened up to queer theory, transfeminism, black feminism.
3. Core Themes
- Redefining the Political: “The personal is political” – patriarchy exists in both private and public spheres.
- Sex and Gender: Biological sex ≠ social gender roles.
- Patriarchy: A system of male dominance shaping institutions and culture.
- Equality and Difference:
- Equality feminists want gender neutrality.
- Difference feminists celebrate feminine values like care and empathy.
4. Types of Feminism
🧠Traditional Feminist Theories
| Type | Focus |
|---|---|
| Liberal Feminism | Legal rights, public sphere, education, work equality |
| Socialist Feminism | Class oppression & capitalism as root of women’s subjugation |
| Radical Feminism | Patriarchy rooted in domestic/private life; “sex-class” analysis |
🌀 Modern Approaches
| Type | Unique Emphasis |
|---|---|
| Cultural Feminism | Feminine essence: motherhood, arts, sisterhood |
| Postmodern Feminism | Challenges binary categories; gender/sex as social constructions |
| Black Feminism | Race + gender oppression (e.g., bell hooks) |
| Lesbian Feminism | “Theory is feminism; practice is lesbianism” – political sexuality |
| Psychoanalytic Feminism | Emphasizes subconscious gender conditioning (influenced by Freudian theory) |
| Transfeminism | Gender as fluid; rejects fixed identity; supports trans liberation |
| Queer Theory | Gender as performance (Judith Butler); opposition to heteronormativity |
5. Tensions Within Feminism
- Equality vs. Difference: Should women strive for sameness with men, or celebrate distinctiveness?
- Liberal vs. Radical: Reform (gradual change) vs. Revolution (total societal transformation).
- Inclusivity Debate: Some feminisms accused of ignoring race, class, sexuality, or trans issues.
6. The Future of Feminism
- No longer just a protest movement—feminism is now mainstream and multifaceted.
- Broadened focus to gender relations, sexuality, identity politics.
- Continues to face challenges:
- Backlash from populism and right-wing conservatism.
- Fragmentation within feminism itself.
📘 Table of Major Feminist Thinkers
| Thinker | Core Ideas | Key Work(s) |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Wollstonecraft | Early liberal feminism; reason & education essential for women’s emancipation | A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) |
| J.S. Mill & H. Taylor | Liberal equality; gender as irrelevant to liberty | The Subjection of Women (1869) |
| Elizabeth Cady Stanton | Women’s suffrage, equality in Declaration-style rhetoric | Declaration of Sentiments (1848) |
| Emmeline Pankhurst | Militant suffragette action; direct action for voting rights | Women's Social and Political Union leadership |
| Betty Friedan | Critique of domestic femininity; suburban oppression | The Feminine Mystique (1963) |
| Kate Millett | Patriarchy as cultural and literary structure | Sexual Politics (1970) |
| Germaine Greer | Liberation through personal and sexual autonomy | The Female Eunuch (1970) |
| Simone de Beauvoir | Woman as ‘Other’; existential critique of female objectification | The Second Sex (1949) |
| Susan Brownmiller | Male sexual violence as tool of domination | Against Our Will (1975) |
| bell hooks | Intersectionality; Black feminism; education as freedom | Ain’t I a Woman?, Feminist Theory |
| Judith Butler | Gender performativity; queer theory | Gender Trouble (1990) |
| Ti-Grace Atkinson | Feminist separatism; political lesbianism | Essays and slogans (“Feminism is the theory…”) |