Feminism and its types

2. Presented by: M Saffi Ullah

3. What is feminism?
Types of feminism
 Waves of feminism
Improvements
Assumptions about Human Nature
Gender role?

4. FEMINISM
Feminists seek to challenge the unfair and unequal
distribution of power and wealth in patriarchal society.
A patriarchal society is one based on male rule and
domination.
Feminists are particularly interested in the contribution
made by the media to society’s dominant ideas about
gender roles.

5.  Eco feminism.
 Socialist feminism.
 Cultural feminism
 Liberal feminism.
 Radical feminism.

6.  Eco-feminism is a social and political
movement which unites environmentalism and
feminism.
Eco-feminists believe that these connections are
illustrated through traditionally "female"
values such as reciprocity, nurturing and
cooperation, which are present both among
women and in nature.

7.  Socialist feminists reject radical feminism’s
main claim that patriarchy is the only or
primary source of oppression of women.
Rather, socialist feminists assert that women
are unable to be free due to their financial
dependence on males in society.

8.  It is developed from radical feminism, although they hold
many opposing views. It is also a feminist theory of
difference that praises the positive aspect of women. As
radical feminism died out as a movement, cultural feminism
got rolling.
Cultural feminism believes in encouraging feminine
behavior rather than masculine behavior.
For example, the belief that "women are kinder and gentler
than men," prompts cultural feminists call for an invasion of
women's culture into the male-dominated world, which
would presumably result in less violence and fewer wars.

9.  Feminists strive for sexual equality via down
to earth political and legal reform. Liberal
feminism is a form of feminism that argues that
equality for women can be achieved through
legal means and social reform.

10.  Radical feminism is a movement that believes
sexism is so deeply rooted in society that the only
cure is to eliminate the concept of gender
completely. How would this be possible?
 Radical feminists suggest changes, such as finding
technology that will allow babies to be grown
outside of a woman's body, to promote more
equality between men and women. This will allow
women to avoid missing work for maternity leave,
which radical feminists argue is one reason women
aren't promoted as quickly as men

11. first wave feminism
 Mid 19th – early 20th century.
 Fight for social and political
equality.
 Struggle for women’s
suffrage (right to vote)
 Key concerns included
education, employment and
marriage laws.
 Successes – higher education
for women, married women’s
property rights and the
widening of access to
professions such as medicine.

12.  Liberation movement of 1960s and 1970s.
 Characterised by struggles for equal pay, equal
rights at work and better representation in
public bodies such as Parliament.
 Access to contraception.
 Highly publicised activism.
 Miss America 1968
 Stereotype of humourless, dowdy, man-hating
feminist.

13.  1980s and 1990s
 Less emphasis on battles for equality
 More emphasis on the positive nature of
ambiguity and difference (not all women are
the same, it doesn’t matter)
 Spice girls and girl power
 Empowering heroines – Buffy and Xena.

14.  We exist in a political and social system that is male
dominated: Patriarchy
 In order for women to experience changes in personal
lives, political changes (to social institutions) must
occur
 Gender schemas/sex-role stereotypes limit
development
• In society, men have more power than women
• Women are taught to rely on men

15. GENDER ROLES
The mass media play a crucial role in socialisation –
teaching us how to behave and think in ways that our culture
finds acceptable.
Sex is biological, gender is
CULTURAL.
What does it mean to be a
woman/man?