Feminist ideology has changed and extended throughout the entire course of its existence. Many feminist currents have developed within its framework, both famous and little known. The first wave of feminism fell on the middle of the XIX – the beginning of the XX century: it was aimed at the struggle for the electoral and other rights of women, for their emancipation. In the late 1960s-1970s, a second wave of the feminist movement arose – the struggle against gender discrimination, which affected issues of the family, reproductive rights, sexual, political and economic relations. The third wave of feminism arose in the 1990s and, according to some researchers, continues even now: in addition to equality issues, it also raises issues related to race, class, sexual orientation and gender identity. Thus, the main aims of the assignment are to explore many different issues associated with feminism, including its essence and main features, as well as explore main feminist trends.
Beginning with definition of the concept of feminism, it can be said that in modern social and political life, a system of views (or theory, philosophy, ideology), the central idea of which is the civil equality of women and men is usually called feminism. This concept is used to refer to the female movement, which is the “product” of feminism. In such a way, feminism is sometimes understood as a philosophical concept of sociocultural development, emphasizing the need to take into account women’s social experience in worldviews, as well as the methodology of research aimed at identifying and articulating the female values system.
Feminism is a completely ideological spectrum. This phenomenon can be viewed from two sides. On the one hand, this is the struggle of women for political rights. This is often correlated with the movement of suffragists. The flowering of this phenomenon occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century and was associated with the political problem of gender. Suffragists sought political rights, in particular – the right to vote, with which they, in fact, coped. The second side is the current in philosophy, a completely intellectual movement.
Researching the historical context of the emergence of this term, it can be said that feminism appeared in the political arena after the 1960s, and it became an independent ideology (Epure, 2014). The ideology of feminism is becoming an important part of modern scientific and political discourse. At the same time, the expansion of feminism long ago went beyond the struggle for the equality of women in various spheres of life (which would have seemed absolutely reasonable and fair), and seeks to question the socio-philosophical, cultural, ideological and socio-political grounds for the order created by the men. The ideology of American and West European radical feminism is increasingly claiming to reconsider and deconstruct the existing, in its opinion, opposition “male” – “female” and seeks the ways to break out of the framework of “paternal culture”.
The emergence of feminism on the European intellectual proscenium is customarily associated with numerous theories and concepts of the 18-20 centuries, including: human rights theories, theories of utopian socialism, and, finally, different theories when human sexuality first began to be considered in the frames of social and political contexts. The following typology of feminism is generally accepted. Liberal feminism aims to achieve women’s equal rights and responsibilities, both in society and in the family. Socialist feminism is focused on changing the existing system with the destruction of all differences. Intellectual feminism, as a new social and philosophical theory and broad socio-political practice, emerges in the spheres of creativity and politics. Radical feminism stands for a critical review of the system of social relations, and offers a social structure with a separate role for women. Formation of the theory and ideology of the feminist movement was initially carried out as a search for answers to questions concerning the status of women in society.
In feminism, the experience of certain sex is not considered, and gender experience includes not biologo-anatomical, but cultural and psychological characteristics, since practically sexual manifestations and biological sexuality exist only as a product of ‘humanized interactions’ (Freedman, 2001). Given these assumptions, the relationship between the sexes is understood in feminism as one of the types of manifestation of power relations, because in the guise of ‘objectivity’ a situation is reproduced where one part of the human race, having its own interests, simultaneously represents the interests of its other part. This corresponds to a specific understanding of ‘objectivity,’ which develops through scientific ideas bearing the stamp of ‘masculinist orientation’.
In cultures of this type, in the opinion of feminist theorists, a woman is represented only as an ‘other person’ (Hewitt, 2010). Representatives of feminism believe that the schemes of rational control that society applies to men and women are, in fact, different, while the type of female spirituality remains, in principle, unclaimed. Therefore, the goal of feminism is to deduce female spirituality from the ‘sphere of silence’. The fundamental inadequacy of traditional theoretical analysis and the need for political action are acknowledged in this area. However, unlike the usual (from the point of view of compulsion) understanding of the political sphere, feminism treats it as widely as possible – as ‘public affairs in general’. Such a redefinition of politics in a non-violent manner is expressed in the slogan “Personal is Political” (Ferree and Tripp, 2006). In this slogan, feminism combines the historical-critical analysis of individual rights with ideology, acting as a ‘call to action’, to a culture change and spiritual renewal in all spheres of society.
Into continuation, it is possible to mention that the emergence of feminist ideas is the result of certain social needs and expectations. Modern feminism is distinguished by a variety of forms and traditions. Its most important areas include liberal feminism, radical (and in its framework – cultural) feminism, Marxist and socialist feminism, “black” feminism, psychoanalytic feminism, postmodern feminism (postfeminism). Its less-known variations include anarcho-feminism, humanistic feminism, and conservative feminism. Among the newest feminist streams are eco-and cyberfeminisms. Two key concepts, such as “gender” and “patriarchy,” link all this many approaches to the ideas of equality of women and men. The concept of sexism is close to them, and it means a special worldview, which affirms the unequal position and different rights of the sexes.
Exploring the main types of feminism, it can be said that in political context, liberal feminism proclaims the equality of men and women through political and legal reforms. This is an individualistic trend in feminism, which focuses on the ability of women to seek equal rights with men based on their own actions and decisions. Liberal feminism uses personal interaction between men and women as the starting point from which the transformation of society is taking place. In the opinion of liberal feminists, all women are able to assert their right to be equal with men independently.
Radical feminism regards the capitalist hierarchy that is controlled by a man as the determining factor of the oppression of women. Supporters of this trend believe that women can be released only when they get rid of the patriarchal system, which they consider to be initially oppressive and dominant. Radical feminists believe that in society, there is a structure of power and subordination based on the masculine front, and no significant reforms of society are possible until this structure is the cause of oppression and inequality, and as long as the entire system and its values continue to exist. Some radical feminists do not see another alternative, except for the complete break-up and reconstruction of society to achieve their goals.
Over time, various trends in radical feminism have emerged, such as cultural feminism, separatist feminism and anti-pornographic feminism. Cultural feminism is the ideology of “feminine nature” or “feminine essence”, trying to return value to those distinctive features of a woman who seems underappreciated. It emphasizes the difference between men and women, but believes that this difference is psychological and culturally constructed, rather than biologically innate. Critics of this trend argue that since its concept is based on taking into account the essential differences between men and women and supports the cultural and institutional independence of women, cultural feminism takes feminists away from politics to a certain “lifestyle”.
Socialist feminism unites oppression of women with Marxist ideas about exploitation, oppression and labor. Socialist feminism regards women as people being oppressed in connection with their unequal position in the workplace and at home. Supporters of this trend consider household duties, childcare and marriage as ways of exploiting women by the patriarchal system. Socialist feminism focuses on broad changes affecting society as a whole. Moreover, some socialist feminists consider the naive point of view that gender oppression is subordinate to class oppression, so a significant part of the efforts of supporters of socialist feminism is aimed at separating gender phenomena from class phenomena.
Observing the main features of diversity feminism, Munford and Waters stated that this type of feminism “recognizes the reality that many feminists successfully mediate between different cultural identities, in ways that affirm and empower them – and that cultures can change” (Munford and Waters, 2014). Moreover, diversity feminists consider the very idea of equality as misleading or simply undesirable. The desire to be equal to a man assumes that women are identified with men, and then they define their goals based on what men are and what they have. The requirement of equality in this context, therefore, embodies the desire to be “as men”.
Remembering the idea that feminists seek the ways to overthrow the patriarchate, many warn of the danger of imitating men, which would lead, for example, to the adoption of competitive and aggressive behavior inherent in men’s society. For many feminists, the movement for equality means the desire to develop and realize their potentialities based on their female essence, in other words, “identifying themselves with women”. Diversity feminists adhere to the “pro-female” position, insisting that gender differences are politically and socially significant. This position is based on the belief that women and men are completely different at the psychobiological level. They believe that the aggressive and competitive nature of men and the constructive and empathic nature of women reflect hormonal and other genetic differences to a large extent, and not just the structure of society.
For today’s feminism, the notion of “diversity” is basic. Modern feminist theories do not presuppose fixed relationships between entities, but treat them as the volatile effects of temporal, cultural or historical specifics, the dynamics of power. They in other words, there is no individual or collective identity without the Other; inclusiveness does not exist without exclusion, universal – without a rejected private, and there is no neutrality that does not give preference to any of the points behind which there are someone’s interests. Klein states that the power plays an essential role in any human relations because differences explain a fact of human existence, an instrument of power, an analytical tool and a feature of feminism as a trend (Klein, 2002). In such a way, women try to not only master the entire policy space, but also declare their intention to change its rules and content radically – to make the policy more humane and people-centered.
In conclusion, we have explored the essence of feminism, its specific characteristics, as well as observed its main trends, and have realized that the world feminist worldview, represented by many directions, is an independent and original way of perceiving and explaining the world. In the future, its transformation into ideology is not excluded.
Works Cited
Epure, M. “Critically Assess: The Relative Merits of Liberal, Socialist and Radical Feminism.” Journal of Research in Gender Studies, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014.
Ferree, M. and Tripp, A. Global Feminism: Transnational Women’s Activism, Organizing, and Human Rights. New York University Press, 2006.
Freedman, J. Feminism. Open University Press, 2001.
Hewitt, N. No Permanent Waves: Recasting Histories of U.S. Feminism. Rutgers University Press, 2010.
Klein, E. Undressing Feminism: A Philosophical Expose. Paragon House, 2002.
Munford, R. and Waters, M. Feminism & Popular Culture: Investigating the Postfeminist Mystique. Rutgers University Press, 2014.
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"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016
"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016
"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016
"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016