Sociology classical tradition Gender issues were peripheral not

Sociology: classical tradition • Gender issues were peripheral (not important) • Several early founders of sociology assumed that men and women are innately different and unequal in their intellectual, emotional and moral capacities • Some theorists based their ideas on biological determinism to justify gender inequalities

• Sociology as a discipline developed in the 19 th century, and the sociologists were concerned with understanding political and economic changes, capitalist society and it’s class relationships • Until the 1960 s Sociology was the male research area

Structural functionalism • In their analysis of gender, structural functionalists begin with the observation that women and men are physically different. These biological differences have led to the emergence of different gender roles • The concept of gender roles refers to the behaviors that are prescribed for a society’s members depending on their sex

• During the 1960 s , structural functionalism began to lose its status as dominant sociological paradigm • The 1960 s was a period of social protest and activism, the sociologists began to question the accuracy of describing society and harmonious social system • There emerged a number of different paradigms • Particularly important to the sociological study of gender has been development of the feminist paradigm

Feminist theory • Although it’s roots/ beginning are in the 18 th century, has established in the academic discourse in the 1960 s-1970 s • Feminist theory is bound with feminist movement of the 1960 s-1970 s – the projects of women’s emancipation and social changes

Feminist movement • What do we know about women’s life? • Why are women in a lower position in society? • Why the power is concentrated in men’s hands? • Why these issues are not investigated , why they are not included to the academic curriculum?

Feminist critique of Malestream Sociology • Sociological theories do not ask questions or do research in areas of concern to women: ‘Most of what we have formerly known as the study of society is only the male study of male society’ • Sociological theories have often taken for granted, rather than challenged, the view that the biological differences between women and men are sufficient to explain and justify the sexual division of labour Sociology is seen, at best, sex-blind at worst sexist

Alice Rossi ‘Equality between the sexes’ (1964): • critical evaluation of the position of women and men in society • investigation of the social phenomena and human relations from women’s perspective • women should be considered not as passive objects, but as active individuals, able to behave independently and make decisions

Simone de Beauvour ‘The Second Sex’ (1949) : • Sets out a feminist existentialism • As an existentialist, Beauvoir accepted Sartre's precept that existence precedes essence; hence One is not born a woman, but becomes one. • Her analysis focuses on the Hegelian concept of the Other. It is the (social) construction of Woman as the quintessential Other that Beauvoir identifies as fundamental to women's oppression. • Beauvoir argued that women have historically been considered deviant, abnormal. This attitude limited women's success by maintaining the perception that they were a deviation from the normal, and were always outsiders attempting to emulate "normality". • She believed that for feminism to move forward, this assumption must be set aside.

Feminist perspectives: central question The defining characteristic of feminism is the view that women’s subordination must be questioned and challenged: • It’s important to understand, to explain how and why men oppress women [to understand patriarchal relationships that exist in the institutions and social practices of society] • Feminist theory must also enable us to understand how we come to see ourselves as individuals - how we come to accept that women’s role is in the home, that women are capable only for certain jobs, etc.

Feminist perspectives Feminism starts from the view that women are oppressed and that their oppression is primary: • This involves critical examination of the present and past situation of women and • challenging the dominant patriarchal ideologies that seek to justify women’s subordination as natural, universal and therefore inevitable • challenging knowledge that is put forward as universal and demonstrating that this knowledge views the world from the perspective of men What is necessary is a view of the world from the position of women, who have been excluded from the production of knowledge

However: • It is important to recognize that different women have different experiences of reality • Feminist theory has tended to be developed by white, middle-class women • These theories have been criticized for neglecting the experience of working-class and black women

Feminist theory is also political • It sets out not just explain society but to transform it. • Feminist theories are concerned to analyse how women can transform society so that they are no longer subordinated • Women’s movement and feminism are concerned with understanding women’s lives and developing strategies that will enable women to liberate themselves from oppression

Interdisciplinary approach • Feminists have sought to break down artificial – man-made – barriers between disciplines and to develop interdisciplinary studies • These studies recognize that we cannot divide knowledge or women’s lives into separate areas: a women’s studies syllabus would include, for example, women’s literature, feminist social science, etc. • Feminists have been interested in many areas that concern sociologists, and many female sociologists would regard themselves and the work they do as feminist

Collecting feminist evidence • The main research methods used in sociology are usually divided into ‘quantitative’ (questionnaire surveys and statistical analysis of secondary-source data) and ‘qualitative’ (in-depth interviewing, participant observation, etc. ) • Most feminists have argued that feminist researchers in sociology must use qualitative methods, so that women (and men) who are subjects of research area can be ‘heard’ • They also rejected the view that feminist researchers can be objective in the sense of being uninvolved, because as researchers they are part of what is being researched • This means that reflectivity is essential

Feminist perspectives • Feminism is a theory – a world view. • It is not a unified theory – feminists do not agree on the ways in which we can explain women’s subordination or how the women can be emancipated • There are many attempts to classify feminist theories ‘The label feminism is one that creates more confusion than clarity’ (Liz Clarke and Tony Lawson)

Classification presented by British sociologists Pamela Abbot and Claire Wallace • • They have identified four feminist perspectives: Liberal/reformist Marxist Radical Socialist The main distinction between feminist theories lies in their basic understanding of the causes of women’s oppression

Liberal/reformist theory (Equal rights feminism) • Can be identified clearly in the work of Mary Wollstonecraft (‘Vindication of the Rights of Women’, 1792 ) and John Stuart Mill (‘On the Subjection of Women’, 1869 ) • It is based on woman’s common humanity with man • The differences between men and women are explained in terms of the influence of the environment

Liberal/reformist theory (Equal rights feminism) • Further encouragement to equal rights feminists was provided by the American Revolution, and more specifically, the Declaration of Independence. • Equal rights feminists made progress in the fields of legal rights of women, and education. • This culminated in the Married Women’s Property Act of 1882, which gave women the right to their own property and earnings. • By the end of 19 th century it was possible for women to be educated to the same standard as men

Liberal/reformist theory (Equal rights feminism) • Historically has been concerned to argue for equal rights for women • Have fought against laws and practices that give rights to men and not to women • Recognizing that mere formal equality is insufficient, they have also advocated for passing of laws to outlaw discrimination against women and to give women rights in the workplace such as maternity leave • In sociology have been concerned to demonstrate that the observable differences between the sexes are not innate but a result of socialization

Marxist feminism • Has developed out of the attempts by women to develop Marxist theory so that it provides an adequate explanation for the subordination and exploitation of women in capitalist societies • The defining feature of contemporary society is capitalism, within which women are subject to a special form of oppression which is mainly the effect of their exclusion from wage labour • A major problem for Marxist feminists – Marx himself was not concerned with the position of women in capitalist society • They seek to analyse and explain the relationships between the subordination of women as well as forms off class exploitation, and which overcomes theoretical marginalization of women in Marxist theory • Michelle Barrett ‘Women’s Oppression Today’ (1980)

Radical/revolutionary feminist theory • Originates in the 18 th century – owes much to revivals in evangelical Christianity which swept the USA and to lesser extent, Britain in the late 18 th and early 19 th centuries • Religious enthusiasm encouraged many towards social reforms - many women became involved in charitable works • The closest links between the evangelical movement and feminism were provided by the anti-slavery movement • The involvement of women in such political activity led to the gradual emergence of specifically feminist demands

Radical/revolutionary feminist theory • Central idea – gender inequalities are the outcome of a system of patriarchy and that gender inequalities are the primary form of social inequality • Patriarchy is a universal system in which men dominate women • Primarily a revolutionary movement for the emancipation of women • Theory is not a separate area of activity, but is an integral aspect of feminist practice • Every aspect of women’s lives currently accepted as ‘natural’ has to be questioned and new ways of doing things found

Radical/revolutionary feminist theory Is not a unified area. There are three major issues within it: • The relationship between feminist politics and personal sexual conduct – a key question being whether women can continue to live with men, or whether separation is essential • Whether sex differences are biologically or socially constructed • The political strategy that should be adopted – withdrawal or revolution

Radical/revolutionary feminist theory Shulamith Firestone ‘The Dialectic of Sex’ (1974): • ‘Sex class is so deep as to be invisible’. The aim – to make this visible • The difference between genders structures the whole life – women are not only differentiated from men, but subordinated to them. ‘Man is the main enemy’ • Division between women and men has biological base (women are physically weaker because of their reproductive physiology) • This leads to male domination • Advances in reproductive technology make it possible to eliminate the biological basis of women’s subordination

Radical/revolutionary feminist theory • More radical feminists have rejected the view that women’s subordination is anything to do with women’s biological inferiority • Male biology is to blame: men are naturally aggressive and use their aggression to control women • Mary Daly ‘Gyn/Ecology’ (1978) • Women are encouraged to create a new identity founded on ‘true’ femaleness • ‘Sisterhood’ – solidarity between women • Ideal – women must live separately from men

Radical/revolutionary feminist theory • Radical feminists are concerned to reveal how male power is exercised and reinforced in all spheres of life, including personal relationships such as child-rearing, housework and marriage and in all kinds of sexual practices including rape, prostitution, sexual harassment. • Women’s subordination is seen to be universal and primary, as not having changed significantly over time and place • Men benefit as a class (and as individuals) from women’s subordination

Radical/revolutionary feminist theory • Radical feminists did not explain adequately the ways in which women are subordinated and exploited by men • They fail to take sufficient account of the different forms that patriarchal relationships have taken in different societies • They tend to discount the differences that exist in the experiences of women from different social classes • Radical feminist biological explanations, while very different from those developed by malestream sociologists, are equally reductionist and fail to take into account ideology and culture

Social feminism • Recognizes two systems: the economic and the sex-gender • Patriarchy is seen as trans-historical – men exercise power over women in all societies • Patriarchy takes specific form in capitalist societies • Gender, class, race, age, nationality – all shape women’s oppression • These specific forms of women’s subordination in capitalist society are seen as specific to that particular socio-economic system

Social feminism • To understand women’s oppression fully is necessary to examine the sexual division of labour not only in the labour market, but also in domestic sphere, also the relationships between the two • Women’s reproductive labour limits their access to wage labour, but the limited range of wage labour available to women is what drives many of them into marriage • Sylvia Walby argues that in capitalist society the key sets of patriarchal relations are to be found in domestic work, paid work, the state, and in male violence and sexuality. • Patriarchy pre-dates capitalism, but takes new forms with capitalist development

All four feminist perspectives address the question of what constitutes the oppression of women, and suggest strategies for overcoming it: • Liberal feminism is concerned with equal gender opportunities, women’s discrimination and fight for legal reforms to overcome it • Marxist feminism argues that the major reason for women’s exclusion from public sphere and that a struggle for emancipation is an integral part of class struggle

• Radical feminists see male control of women (patriarchy) as the main problem and argue that women must fight to free themselves from this control • Social feminists argue that women’s oppression is both the aspect of capitalism and class relations