Feminism Essay

George Stoveld

Sociology essay

Assess the contribution of feminist theorists and researchers to an understanding of society today. (33 marks)

Feminism is a conflict theory that sees religion as an instrument of patriarchy - a set of beliefs and practices responsible for women’s subordination. There are different types of feminism and the types I will be evaluating in this essay are Liberal, Radical, Marxist and Difference/poststructuralist feminist. Feminists criticise mainstream sociology for being ‘malestream’. By contrast, feminists examine society from the viewpoint of women, they see their work as part of the struggle against women’s subordination. However, although all feminists oppose women’s subordination, there are disagreements among feminist’s theories about its causes and how to overcome them.

Liberal feminists are concerned with the human and civil rights and they believe that all human beings should have equal rights. Liberal feminists insist that all that is needed to change the status of women is to change existing laws that are unfavourable for women and that will open up more opportunities for women to prove themselves as equal to the opposite sex. Oakley (1972) distinguishes between sex and gender. She claims sex differences are seen as fixed and gender differences vary between cultures and over time. Therefore what is considered a proper role for women in one society or at one time may be disapproved of or forbidden in another. Sexist attitudes and stereotypical beliefs about gender are culturally constructed and transmitted through socialisation, meaning in order to achieve gender equality, liberal feminists must change society’s socialisation patterns. Liberal feminism is an optimistic theory. They believe that political action to introduce anti-discriminatory laws and policies is steadily bringing about progress to a fairer society. They also believe changes in socialisation and culture are gradually leading to more rational...