Liberal feminism is one of the directions of feminism aimed at freedom of choice and individual freedom of women in general.
Liberal feminism began during french revolution, it was then that feminists began to speak out, when it finally became clear that only men have the right to individual freedom and the right to choose.
In 1792, an article entitled “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” was published in London, authored by Mary Wollstonecraft, who was clearly not happy with this development of events. Later, essays were published that said that a woman is also a person and is quite capable of thinking rationally and expressing her ideas, therefore women should have equal rights, which any man on the planet has long had.
The authors, one after another, began to express their opinion that a woman’s weakness, a high degree of curiosity, irrationality and other “weak” qualities are all signs that women have always been dependent on the opinions of men, as well as on the fact that they had no freedom of speech or other privileges.
Since the development of feminism was predictable, it was decided to formulate a whole list of goals and ideas that remain relevant today.
The principle of equal opportunities and equal rights is perhaps the basis of the ideology of liberal feminism. Women who adhere to the liberal school of feminism believe that it is the inability to give them equal rights with men that is the center of the problem in the oppression of women.
Liberal feminism includes consideration of problems with gender equality in social, political, legislative and civic areas. The struggle began to end women’s dependence on men, so that every woman could freely manage her rights, choose and receive an education, invent and enact new laws, and much more. All this will help a woman improve her status in society.
A special emphasis is placed on education and the social sphere, since this is what helps shape personality at an early age. Liberal feminists are confident that early age It is possible to raise children in such a way that discrimination is gradually eradicated.
Liberal feminism began to emerge in the 1960s, in some places previously created organizations were used to promote it, and in others it was necessary to create new ones so that its ideology would not “mix” with others.
Since the capitalist world was beginning to develop at that time, liberal feminism went through a difficult evolution, and this evolution was similar to how liberalism developed, although it was not an exact copy of it. And the main difference was that liberalism was aimed specifically at the individualization of men.
In the 1960s, the works of many authors were published, one of whom was Betty Friedan with her book “The Mystic of Femininity”, after the publication of which the organization “KNIFE” was created - the National Organization of Women, which united in a fairly short time more than three hundred thousands of followers who declared their goal to be the fight for equal rights in self-realization for men and women.
The image of a happy housewife, which attracted a huge amount of criticism, was recognized as a myth. Gradually, a woman ceased to be a “passive being”, who was perceived only thanks to a man, and they stopped comparing her with a child, incapable of rational thoughts and actions.
After the war, women again found themselves in the same position as before - they abandoned education, career and personal growth in the direction of starting a family, or more precisely, raising offspring.
However, over time, liberal feminism regained its strength and women began to move towards their goal - independence from men. Now many of the fair sex have high position, a stable income, participate in elections and even nominate themselves for president.
Therefore, it is impossible to assume that liberal feminism was useless. Perhaps it was he who was the main impetus for what women are now. But all this is thanks to those liberal feminists who were not afraid to express their opinions in those difficult times.
Do you consider yourself a liberal feminist or do you adhere to other directions? We are waiting for your comments!
02:19 am - Liberal feminismThis movement is one of the oldest feminist movements, which to this day has not lost its significance and relevance. Its theoretical foundation was formed by the ideas of liberalism and democracy, the concept of the “natural contract” developed by enlightenment philosophers, the theory of natural rights, as well as the principles of equality, freedom and representative democracy, which are an integral part of liberal ideology.
Back in the 17th century, C. Agrippa, in his “Declaration on the Nobility and Superiority of the Female Sex over the Male,” expressed the idea that the birthright to freedom is an inalienable right of both men and women _1_.
Representatives of the liberal trend in feminism chose the main goal of their activities to fight for the right to education and work, the right to property, as well as the right to elect and be elected to government bodies. According to the ideologists of this trend, the dependent status of women in society can only be changed by the establishment of formal legal equality, which, among other things, will benefit society as a whole. Being among the most vulnerable social groups of the population, women will only be able to realize themselves when they receive equal civil and political rights with men.
Traditionally, the history of the development of liberal feminism is divided into two stages: the so-called “first wave” of feminism, which covered the period from the mid-19th century to the first third of the 20th century, as well as the “second wave”, which began in the 60s of the last century.
Characteristic feature The first stage is that gradually, among other demands, the demand for voting rights for women begins to come to the fore, which became the main goal of the suffragette movement that arose in America and Great Britain. Representatives of this movement were also the main ideologists of the liberal trend in the feminist movement. In the USA these were Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815 - 1902), Susan Anthony (1820 - 1906), Lucy Stone (1818 - 1893); in England - Barbara Ley Smith Bodichon (1827 - 1891), Josephine Butler (1828 - 1906), as well as the family of the famous philosopher and liberal theorist John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) - his wife Harriet Taylor (1806 - 1858) and stepdaughter Helen Taylor (1831 – 1907).
Elizabeth Stanton was the author of the famous "Declaration of Positions and Resolutions", adopted at the equally famous women's rights convention, which took place in Seneca Falls (USA) in 1848. In essence, this declaration was a turning point in the development of liberal feminism. It reflects all the basic demands that will be placed at the forefront of this feminist movement: the right to vote, the right to property, education, active participation in the socio-economic and political life of society. At the same time, according to many of E. Stanton’s contemporaries, the ideas contained in the resolution adopted at Seneca Falls contain certain contradictions.
Firstly, representatives of American liberal feminism did not take into account the fact that the legal norms existing at that time reflected the interest of men in maintaining their dominant position in society.
Secondly, according to critics of liberal feminism, its supporters did not understand that
the fact that the position of men and women in the family significantly limits the opportunities for women to take a more active and equal participation with men in all spheres of society. _2_ At the same time, we should not forget that for women’s activists movements XIX century (particularly American), the desire for equality was not just a desire to have equal rights with men as such, but a desire to have in one’s hands a real tool with which one could improve one’s position both in public and everyday life.
As for John Stuart Mill, his views on the issue of gender equality flowed directly from his political and ethical convictions. Firstly, as the largest ideologist of liberalism, Mill recognized the value of the human person and the basic equality of all people, regardless of their gender. Secondly, being an adherent of Bentham's philosophy of utilitarianism, he believed that the preservation of a system of gender inequality is a serious obstacle to the path of human society to its perfection. From Mill's point of view, this is absolutely impractical and unprofitable for everything
of humanity - to exclude half of it from the process of creating a perfect society. Addressing the problems of family, marriage and divorce, J. S. Mill, insisting that marriage for a woman is just a form of slavery, believed that the family in this case has a harmful moral effect on all its members. However, a significant drawback of Mill's work is the fact that, considering in detail issues related to
marriage, he almost completely ignores widows and single women.
One of the main reasons that, according to Mill, led to the fact that women found themselves in a subordinate position is rooted in the system of women's upbringing and education. The system of female education diligently weaned women from all those activities that were traditionally assigned to men and were considered only a male prerogative. Moreover, for most of the 19th century, until 1870, English women were denied access to higher education. educational establishments. Mill explains such a depressing situation, however, not so much by the imperfection of female education, but by the political helplessness of women, and he sees the solution not in reforming the education system, but in giving women the right to vote _3_.
Thus, liberal feminism of the “first wave” focused mainly on the struggle for formal legal equality of men and women, which to a certain extent had a negative impact on the subsequent history of the development of this feminist movement. Having achieved equal rights with men, liberal feminism fell into a state of certain stagnation during the period between the two world wars.
The set goals were achieved, but new ones have not yet been identified, which allowed some
to say that as a movement and ideology, feminism has exhausted itself. As a consequence, the “second wave” of liberal feminism, which began in the USA and France, took the form of a protest against the uncertainty of the previous stage. The main ideological developments of the new wave were contained in the works of Simone de Beauvoir “The Second Sex” (1949) and Betty Friedan “The Feminine Mystique” (1963). "The Second Sex" de Beauvoir subsequently served theoretical basis for radical feminism, and “The Feminine Mystique” by B. Friedan became the fundamental work of the second wave of liberal feminism. The main goal of liberal feminism at this stage is to protest against all the obstacles that society puts on the path of women to self-realization and gaining independence. The new wave of feminism was an attempt by women to break out of the narrow confines of the family, from this “cozy concentration camp” _4_.
Like S. de Beauvoir, B. Friedan believed that main goal is the need to show women the possibility of freedom and self-realization outside the family. Friedan believed that education was the main tool for achieving this goal. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the activity of representatives of liberal feminism of the “second wave” was aimed, first of all, at the right to receive education, at social support state in raising children, etc. In addition, one of the points of the program of action of liberal feminists of the new wave is the search for possible ways to include men in housekeeping, equal (or at least partial) distribution of household responsibilities, equal participation in raising children _5_.
The methods chosen by liberal feminism to achieve its goals were traditional to the principles of representative democracy, within the framework of which this feminist movement has always operated. These were participation in election campaigns, the creation of pressure groups within various government structures, lobbying tactics for one’s interests, etc. At the same time, liberal feminism (both its theoretical concepts and practical activities) never questioned the concept of liberal democracy, created by men and for men, and in which the patriarchal principle of inequality between men and women was initially enshrined. At the same time, it cannot be denied that it was liberal feminism that was essentially a real factor in the growth of women’s self-awareness as an independent social group, developing women’s activity and cohesion, and contributing to an increase in their self-esteem.
1 - Theory and history of feminism. Course of lectures / Ed. Irina Zherebkina. HCGI: F-Press, 1996. p. 129.
2 - Bryson V. Political theory of feminism: Introduction. M.: Idea-Press, 2001. p. 46 – 47.
3 - Shkolnikov I. A. Theory and practice of English feminism (works of J. S. Mill, Harriet Taylor and Helen Taylor) // Women's issue in the context of national culture. Proceedings of the international scientific conference. St. Petersburg, 2000.
4 - Friedan B. The Mystery of Femininity. M., 1994. p. 380.
5 - Bryson V. Political theory of feminism: Introduction. M.: Idea-Press, 2001. p. 166 – 171.
6 - Theory and history of feminism. Course of lectures / Ed. Irina Zherebkina. Kharkov Center for Gender Research: F-Press, 1996. p.
Thus, the main goal of liberal feminism is the desire to obtain equal rights in different spheres of life, to gain access to the state apparatus, the desire to make choices without submitting to the will of a man.
History of origin
The current of liberal feminism can be divided into two waves. The first wave arose in the middle of the 19th century and lasted until the first third of the 20th century. The main demand of the women's movement of this wave was the opportunity to obtain higher education. Also the main thing an important condition was a labor issue.
During the second wave, liberal feminism is gaining popularity. There are more adherents of this movement than in any other feminist movement. This direction gained development due to the influence of the views of suffragettes fighting for equal voting rights.
Representatives
Criticism of direction
Critics of liberal feminism argue that individualist views do not do a very good job of explaining what social structures and values work against women's interests. They argue that even if a woman is not dependent on specific men in her life, she is still dependent on the patriarchal state. These critics believe that institutional changes are not sufficient to liberate women.
The theory of feminism is a theory that, in connection with the political and social changes of the 1960-70s. challenged traditional concepts of femininity and gender. The theories "describe the historical, psychological, sexual and racial experiences of women" not only in an academic manner, but also demonstrating that "feminism can be a source of strength."
The article briefly describes: liberal feminism, radical feminism, Marxist and socialist feminism, psychoanalytic feminism, feminist separatism, anti-racist feminism, postmodern feminism.
Liberal feminism
Early liberal feminists attempted to correct misunderstandings about women. Mary Waltoncraft's (1759-1797) A Vindication of the Rights of Women (London, 1792) vigorously defended women's rights. Fifteen years later, Harriet Taylor Mill (1807–1858), along with her colleague John Stuart Mill (1806–1873), published a series of essays justifying women's emancipation.
The Dependency of Woman, first published in 1851, characterized traditional conventions concerning work and family as oppressive to women and denying her freedom of choice. Both Wollstonecraft and Milly noted that woman is a human being capable of rational thought, and that she deserves the same natural rights that are guaranteed to man. Since a woman was perceived primarily as a sexual object, it was precisely qualities such as gentleness, obedience, and continence that were emphasized during her upbringing. Thus, the so-called "natural" weakness of a woman, her irrationality and curiosity, are in reality the result of a lack of education and lack of freedom of choice, the result of her dependence on men, and also the result of her defective socialization.
Foreshadowing the development of feminism, these authors articulate goals that are still relevant to the feminist agenda today. Among them are the end of legal, economic and social dependence on men; ensuring freedom and opportunity to receive and improve education; supporting the open competitive functioning of the economic market and protecting it from interference and interventions; accelerating the modernization process; the introduction of laws that would lead to an improvement in the status of women.
Liberalism changed as the capitalist world developed, and the status of liberal feminism also changed. Liberalism in the classical sense, which meant the state protecting civil liberties and creating equal opportunities to act in the market, is a thing of the past. It was replaced by egalitarian liberalism, which implied the state protecting economic justice, providing social, medical care and family assistance, etc. Liberal feminism has undergone a similar evolution, although it is not a simple copy of liberalism. Moreover, liberals extended individualism and personal freedom only to men. The development of liberal feminism has taken it beyond the boundaries of formal equality, raising new issues of assistance in raising children and personal freedom in the reproductive sphere.
In the 1960s, the American Betty Friedan was recognized as a classic of this trend, setting out her views in the book “The Mystic of Femininity” (1963). The image of the happy housewife has been criticized as a non-existent myth. Social norms hindered a woman’s personal development: she was expected to comply with “infantile” patterns of behavior, she was perceived only through a man, only as a passive being, having much in common with a child.
In the late 1950s in America, the ideal was considered to be a beautiful, educated woman, busy with her husband and children, with a house in the suburbs, a car, etc. However, women who achieved this ideal found themselves dissatisfied, without understanding the reasons - the problem had no name. Many felt a sense of disappointment and dissatisfaction, and at the same time the words “emancipation” and “career” sounded strange to them. The post-war period saw widespread notions of femininity as new opportunities for personal growth opened up. It was at the moment when new career and educational opportunities opened up that women began to leave educational institutions, preferring to perform only one, traditional role. The stereotypes turned out to be so strong that women even lost the idea of their capabilities. This led to a crisis of identity and personal growth - the same problem that many people have and which was then considered masculine. A woman's destiny was seen as determined by biology, and therefore it was not assumed that a woman could have problems of identity and growth.
According to B. Friedan, such ideas about femininity created psychoanalysis, which interprets the neurotic envy of a woman towards a man, and functionalism, which considers the status of a woman as a wife and mother, and gender equality as non-functional for society. Society teaches girls primarily how to “perform the role of a woman.” The author saw a liberal solution to the problem in the education and involvement of women in the public sphere, in ending discrimination against women in labor, in combining family and work.
It was supposed to be necessary to break the stereotypes that associate women exclusively with education, care, service, and men with management (that is, those stereotypes of public consciousness, according to which voters voted for men, and employers preferred to hire men).
The position of a woman is associated with traditions and laws that block the path to success. There are societal beliefs that women are naturally less developed, intellectually and physically, and these beliefs prevent them from achieving their potential. If women receive equal rights with men, then gender equality will be established.
The liberal-classical direction of feminism, based on the fact that society as a whole favors men, focused on changing laws and policies that discriminate against women. It was assumed that as a result of changing laws, women would be able to compete on equal terms with men.
In contrast, egalitarian liberal feminists believed that women should have advantages. It is necessary to move from gender-neutral laws to gender-specific ones, allowing widows, single mothers, and divorcees to get real chances.
This direction includes B. Friedan’s second book, “The Second Stage” (1981), which was published almost twenty years after the first, when new difficulties in combining women’s roles were revealed. If in the 1960s. women were victims of the feminine mysticism (the idea of femininity), now they have become victims of the “feminist mystique” (the idea of feminism). If earlier it was discovered that women housewives were not satisfied with their lives, then a quarter of a century later there was disappointment among women who were successfully making careers. The “superwoman” became dependent on both her husband and her boss.
Feminist criticism of liberalism is aimed at revaluing individual freedom, advocating gender-neutral humanism, focusing on universal human values that are equal to male values, as well as the desire to act within the existing system without aiming to radically transform it.
Radical feminism
In a certain sense, radical ideology is the opposite of liberalism. If liberalism in the dilemma “similarity - difference of the sexes” solves the problem through similarity, equality, sameness, then radicalism builds its theory and practice based on difference. At the center of radical ideology is female biology. Feminism identifies the cause of women's oppression through the structures of traditional heterosexual relationships and social institutions. This ideology arose in the 60s of the 20th century. Organizationally, radical feminism grew in the United States from the New Left movement and the campaign for civil rights of black Americans. This ideology denied the idea of equality with men and proclaimed the liberation of all oppressed. The organizing activities of radical ideology movements have led to the creation of feminist alternatives in literature, music, spirituality, medicine, sexuality, even in the fields of employment and technology. The new branch of the movement consisted of a network of heterogeneous organizations connected in certain “connections”.
Radical feminism as a phenomenon of the 20th century is closely related to such modern trends as increased attention to interpersonal relationships, feelings and sensations, and with changing attitudes towards sexuality, contraceptives, and motherhood. Radical feminism was represented by relatively small groups of mostly white, middle-class, female students. In radical feminism, there is no single theory. As it developed, the ideology became more and more differentiated. The theoretical understanding gradually included not only the experience of white educated women (who remained the core of the movement), but also the experience of colored, working-class women.
Radical ideology agrees with the following points: women have historically been the first oppressed group; The oppression of women is the most widespread and most powerful form of oppression. Radical feminism usually calls for an end not only to capitalism, but also to change the family, at least as an economic institution and an institution for raising children. The separatist movement (lesbian feminism) proposes to add to this the denial of heterosexuality.
In general, radical feminism stands for social, economic, political, psychological experiments. Feminists wanted to create their own future, their own identity and their own destiny. Such ideologies and movements arose and developed in the mood of general radicalism, “leftism” and the search for a new way of life in the 60s. They looked for new explanations, challenged bourgeoisism, stereotypes of roles and behavior. The radical ideology of feminism gave birth to mass women's communities, influenced the liberalization of public consciousness in relation to the sexes, and created new interpretations of sexuality and physicality.
Radical feminists analyze through what means and institutions (including medicine, religion, reproduction, racism, ecology and political theory) male dominance is exercised. The most important form of control is the control of female sexuality (sexual harassment, battering of women, violence, pornography, sterilization, abortion, contraceptive laws, forced heterosexuality).
One of the foundations for the development of radical feminism is Simone de Beauvoir's book Second Sex.
As Fireston argued in one of the most famous works of this movement, The Dialectic of Sex (1970), patriarchy is based on the biological division of the sexes. The proposed concept of “sex class” allows us to consider the division of society into two biological classes that are in struggle. The basis of exploitation lies in the ability to bear children. Giving birth and raising a child makes a woman less mobile and therefore more dependent on a man. Gender is the basis for exploitation (in this regard, the provisions of Marxism are significant, in particular Engels’s provisions on the first division of labor in marriage between a man and a woman).
Another mechanism for suppressing women is love. Because standing in the way of free love are the traditions of a “double standard”, according to which a woman is less interested in sex than a man and is more inclined to be monogamous. Under the conditions of a “double standard,” love is a kind of transaction in which a woman must be recognized by a man in order to legitimize her existence. In exchange for her love, a woman receives emotional and economic security. Women exist for love, and men for creativity, as a result, women find themselves excluded from art and science, they do not have the opportunity to express their own experience, which differs from men's.
The issue of motherhood is the focus of radical feminism. It is proposed to change the very interpretation of motherhood, in which the “biological” mother is not identical to the “social” one, although society insists that the best mother is the biological one. At the same time, a woman should not refuse to have a child, which not only brings satisfaction, but also plays an important role in her personal development. However, a woman needs to be freed from the motherhood that patriarchy imposes on her, and given the opportunity to control her own body.
Marxist and socialist feminism
Movements of the 1960s developed in the context of a general critique of capitalism and the powerful rise of the leftist movement that spread from France in 1968, in a situation of widespread fascination among intellectuals with Marxism, the growth of anti-bourgeois sentiments and intentions. Socialist and Marxist feminists saw themselves as participants in this struggle. And in this they differed from the radicals, who held men, not capitalism, responsible for gender oppression. Marxist and socialist feminism were greatly influenced by close ties to the New Left. It was precisely where leftist protests were strong in the 60s and 70s that the women's liberation movement developed especially actively.
The main provisions of Marxist and socialist feminism are based on the relationship of gender and class inequalities with the institutions of private property. The difference between the directions was that the former believed class inequality to be the main and primary form of social hierarchies in society, while the latter considered class and gender as relatively autonomous systems, each of which creates its own hierarchy.
This direction goes back to the works of K. Marx, F. Engels (primarily “The Origin of Private Property, Family and State”), A. Bebel, who emphasized the economic dimension of inequality, and to the works of utopian socialists (R. Owen and C. Fourier ), insisting on the moral superiority of women.
The Marxist direction of feminism emphasizes the specifics of the capitalist system, which generates class inequality as well as the economic dependence of women on men. Gender inequality can only disappear with the disappearance of capitalism and classes.
Following Marx and Engels, feminists believe that the beginning of the oppression of women was laid by the introduction of private property. The concentration of the means of production in the hands of a small number of people, mostly men, marked the beginning of a class system that shaped the causes of inequality and injustice in the world. According to Marxist feminists, women are oppressed not so much by sexism as by capitalism. Gender inequality will disappear only when capitalism is replaced by socialism. And once the economic dependence of women on men disappears, the material basis for the oppression of women will also disappear. From their point of view, capitalism greatly influences the oppression of women. Firstly, capitalism is characterized by a division of labor along gender lines. A woman who works at home tends to be responsible for producing products and services that do not have much exchange value. And women's housework is not seen as "real" work because it doesn't bring in money. Secondly, associating a woman with the home gives her work a secondary status.
There is no unified system of views within the Marxist movement. Approaches vary depending on which aspects of Marxist analysis are used and why. Ideologically and organizationally, the relationship between feminism and Marxism is quite complex and at times conflicting. Marxists criticize feminism for being bourgeois, for focusing on feelings and assessments, feminists accuse Marxists for shifting emphasis from gender to class, for not going beyond the male vision of the world.
One of the most heated debates in the Marxist direction of feminism was caused by the question of “wages for housewives.” Women's domestic work can be interpreted as participation in production, and women as a class producing surplus value in domestic labor. The marginality of housework under capitalism generates the marginality of women in society. One way out is to pay for housework. Since housework is interpreted as the main means of suppressing women, a woman should at least receive a salary. Then the woman will not be economically dependent on her husband, but will receive a salary from the state for housework. “Wages for housewives” as a slogan of struggle reflected the feminist idea that relationships between men and women in the family have the same social meaning as relationships in the workplace.
The roots of the socialist trend lie in political, intellectual and socio-economic changes. which took place in the second half of the nineteenth century in Western Europe and North America. The spread of industrial capitalism, rapid industrialization, urban poverty, shifts in family structure, and a shift away from standard economic roles gave rise to both liberal and socialist responses.
While the liberal view of the problem identifies dogmatization of gender roles and refusal of opportunities as the main reasons for the oppressed position of women, social feminism considers the involvement of women in the economy as the main reason for the oppression of women. Social feminists consider the individual in the context of his social existence, involved in a network of specific social and economic relations. Capitalist relations actually force people to compete with and exploit each other in the struggle for economic survival.
Socialist pressures on capitalism remind feminists to pay attention to the mechanisms through which the economy produces choice and opportunity. The destruction of exploitative structures mitigates (social consequences, such as the feminization of the poor, wage inequality and unpaid work. Social feminists, who made social class the leading category of analysis, focused on the social and economic organization of labor in the capitalist system, on the relations between paid and unpaid work. All women have a common experience that relates to motherhood and sexuality. All women do housework and have less freedom than men. Women work long hours, receive less material and emotional rewards than men. they participate less in decision-making, have less sexual freedom and receive less sexual satisfaction. Women's liberation requires not only a change in economic conditions, but also a reorganization of the "reproductive" sphere. In this sense, equality expands not only for women, but also for men. This principle subsequently became widespread in Scandinavia, where many men take parental leave.
At the end of the 60s. Socialists were strongly impressed by the work of Fireston and Kate Millett. The suppression of women turned out to be connected not only with capitalism, but also with gender, race, etc. Power and oppression came to be seen as a consequence of the material and ideological conditions of patriarchy, racism and capitalism.
Classical Marxist feminism views women's oppression as directly resulting from capitalism, in which women are defined as the property of men, and also as deriving from the general benefit that is contained in the exploitation of women's labor. Newer social feminists criticize traditional Marxist feminists for focusing only on the economic sources of gender inequality.
Contemporary social feminism tends to focus analysis on the following five issues. The first is to explore the role of the housewife. In 1969, Margaret Benston in " Political Economy Women's Liberation" identified domestic work as a critical form of women's labor because it is at once unpaid, low-value, and almost invisible. All the numerous studies that Benston's work gave rise to were aimed at recognizing and legitimizing traditional women's responsibility to the home. Research into domestic work has had a major impact on shaping public opinion regarding women's unpaid work.
A second area of increased attention is devoted to debates about women's relationships as paid workers. A number of studies have found that defining women as primarily wives and mothers has a direct impact on the formation of women’s secondary status as workers
The third problem node is related to the relationship between women and social class. The question arises what social class women belong to.
The role of the family in the ideological socialization of women, men and children represents the fourth block of the problem. To a greater extent, social feminists considered family employment strategies with the aim of highlighting traditional values and lines of behavior.
And, the fifth block is practice, consciousness-raising and ideology are central to researchers in the field of social feminism. These questions form the basis of feminist methodology. Social feminists insist on the need to develop alternative structures (crisis centers for victims of violence, small businesses, kindergartens) that stimulate other types of thinking and behavior.
Marxist and socialist ideology became the ideology of many groups in the new women's movement of the 60s. By the mid-70s, socialist feminists began to lose their strength, and many Marxist women left socialist organizations and the women's movement in general.
Psychoanalytic feminism
Psychoanalysis in its feminist interpretation, unlike other ideologies, did not become the basis for a separate direction of feminist struggle, with the exception of France. However, in a theoretical sense it was important for both radicals and Marxists. It served as a bridge to the transition to the new postmodern ideologies of feminism of the 1980s and 1990s.
Because psychoanalysis provides access to unconscious areas human psyche, it can help women better understand both the personal and political dimensions of lives. This direction of feminism, called psychoanalytic feminism, focuses on the hidden psychodynamics, the nature of which leaves an imprint on the nature of personal, interpersonal and social relationships, on the dynamics of the unconscious that shapes our thinking, emotions and actions. Feminist interest in psychoanalysis is partly justified by the analysis of gender constructs that psychoanalysis provides. The results of this analysis can be used to understand and transform women's position as subordinates.
In the 1960s, some feminist theorists on the left turned to psychoanalysis, finding that class analogies were insufficient to explain the hierarchy of sex ratios in society, and that deeper structures of the human psyche needed to be included in the analysis. Julia Mitchell's works "Woman: The Longest Revolution" (1966) and "The Female Class" (1971) are considered classics in this direction of feminism.
The psychology of a woman, generated by a certain passage of stages of psychosexual development, is quite stable in a patriarchal society. Therefore, liberal reforms can change the external manifestations of “femininity”, but cannot change the woman. Economic reforms will also not transform men and women into equal partners, since inequality is hidden in the deep layers of the human psyche. "For Mitchell, patriarchy is human society, to destroy patriarchy means to destroy the only human society we know." Patriarchy and capitalism are two autonomous systems. Using Marxism, capitalism can be destroyed. However, it remains unclear whether it is possible to destroy the rooted in psychological sphere patriarchy, using psychoanalysis, and whether a “revolution of the unconscious” is possible.
Turning to psychoanalysis was not easy, since feminism was initially ambivalent about it. Freud was criticized for his theses about a woman's envy of a man, about a woman's feeling of inferiority, and about biological determinism. Freud viewed women as dependent, irrational, emotional, passive, and masochistic.
The most influential feminist psychoanalytic theory in the United States is the theory of Dinnerstein's Road (1976) and Nancy Chodorow's (1978). They both emerged from a school of psychoanalysis called "object relations theory" that was formed by Melanie Klein (1957). D. V. Vinikotg (1965) and others. Object relations theorists criticize Freud's bias regarding the role of the father, which psychoanalysis focuses on more than the early mother-child relationship. Dinnerstein and Chodorov understand gender as the effect of the sexual division of labor, which arises as a consequence of the fact that a woman is the first educator of a child. According to both researchers, the imaginary fear of an omnipotent mother determines, at least for some men, their rejection of women.
Feminist theory used psychoanalysis in search of an answer to the question of the underlying causes of gender inequality in society, trying to identify those layers of the unconscious, emotional, and sexual that exist in all people. Psychoanalysis was understood by feminists as a method and theory aimed at exploring how we develop and use our unconscious fantasies and how we construct and reconstruct our past experiences in the present.
Feminist separatism
Lesbian feminism and cultural feminism are two types of feminist separatism that advocate the creation of some kind of feminine world where women are “attached” to each other. “The emergence of lesbian separatism defines lesbianism not only as a personal decision between two women, but also as an outward sign of an internal rejection of patriarchal forms of sexuality.” Another popular strategy of resistance to patriarchy, as P. Elliott and N. Mendell write, is aimed at redefining social relations through the creation of types of cultures that would place women at the center. Feminist art, spirituality, cuisine, ecology, reproduction, motherhood, women's cooperatives, clubs, etc. - all this is a product of the women's movement.
Anti-racist feminism
Critiques of radical feminism have asked the questions of who and what are radical feminists referring to when they talk about women, experience, and the politics of the self? Feminism leaves behind the idea of a unified female identity and the idea of female singularity and moves towards the idea of different female points of view.
Women of color were among the first to conceptualize the diversity of women's experiences and criticized liberal, social, and radical feminism for ignoring race as a category of oppression and analysis. Previous feminist theories started from the premises of the so-called "white" man. The experiences of middle-class white heterosexual women are accepted as the norm in this model, while the specific experiences of black, indigenous and other ethnic groups are ignored.
Feminism claims to liberate all women, but takes into account the white woman's experience as a universal social norm. Thus, feminist theories remain incomplete without an analysis of the intersections of race and sexuality.
Postmodern feminism
Much of the debate in contemporary feminism concerns whether, and if so to what extent, feminism should integrate itself with postmodern theory, culture, and politics.
Since the mid-1980s, an increasing number of feminists who have explored the implications of postmodernism for the sake of feminism have discussed the problem of their common ground and even described their own theories as postmodern. Linda Nicholson, in her edited anthology Feminism/Postmodernism, argues that feminism generated its own critique of scientific rationality, objectivity, and the autonomous individual as masculine constructs. Moreover, women of color and women from developing countries tendencies in "white" feminism that tended to generalize from a limited perspective were criticized. Such criticism, also from lesbians, disabled and working-class women, led to a redefinition of the core concepts of feminism, which in turn led to the work being carried out in a historically and culturally specific manner.
Many feminists are hostile to postmodernism, calling it a patriarchal device designed to silence women when they are better equipped to speak up than ever before.
In her critique of postmodernity, Christina Di Stefano cites four main feminist claims against postmodernity. Firstly, postmodernity expresses the position and needs of the main part of voters (white, privileged men of the industrialized West), secondly, objects various types critical effort was the same specific group of voters. Thirdly, in its main course, postmodernity turned out to be blind and insensitive to issues of gender; fourthly, it is impossible to imagine that the postmodern project, taken seriously, would give shape to the politics of feminism.
The women's movement as such only emerged in the last century, although women's protests had occurred before. The protests were of an individual nature: the woman behaved differently than prescribed by social convention, and this was considered a deviation (often mental): for example, lesbianism, a conscious refusal to give birth to children, deviant behavior, etc.
I saw an article from cat_gekata, the source is also given there, but the site is strange and has auto-playing music, I recommend going in with caution.
Liberal feminism puts men and their needs at the center, leaving women in the background; it ceases to be a movement for the advancement of women, becoming a movement for the benefit of individuals.
To be honest, I can’t say exactly when I began to embrace the philosophy of liberal intersectional feminism. It was just part of methought process and life (online and offline) in general. I subscribed to blogs and pages. I left comments and reposted. I invited people to check their privileges, argued that men need feminism too. Liberal feminism was the only feminism I knew about. In fact, I have never called myself a liberal feminist. I called myself a “Feminist”, having no idea that any other types existed.
While the memory of this experience is fresh, I will try to describe the position of liberal feminists using my own example, and then tell how and why I changed my mind.
The Mindset of a Liberal Intersectional Feminist
- Choice as Empowerment
Any choice is good and correct if you make it yourself. Agency is the most important thing. We should never question another person's choices. We will defend to the last the inalienable right of everyone to make their own choice and condemn anyone who tries to subject this choice to analysis in a broader context. Any choice we make is feminist by default, because we are women and we choose. Therefore, [the choice] to wear heels and become a sex worker is feminist. Anyone who attempts to address the issue systemically must be silenced to protect individual choice.
And since any choice is good and feminist, I am infallible, no matter what I choose. This is my right and no one can take it away. It is an act of individual empowerment and affirmation.
- Self-identification
Every person has the right to self-identification, and no one has the right to doubt the identity of another. Identity is internal and innate and cannot be changed. Identity is who you really are and who you have always been; it is unchangeable.
Doubting the identity of another is unacceptable under any circumstances. Everyone must believe in the existence of identities and acknowledge them. Those who categorically deny identities will be silenced.
I am who I say I am. I am who I feel like I am. Everyone else should accept me. I feel empowered.
- Privileges and their verification
There is a huge and complex system of privileges. We are all privileged in some ways and not privileged in others. It is each person's job to become aware of their own privileges and to help recognize the privileges of others. The privileged should not judge the less privileged. For example, white woman should not question the experiences or choices of a black woman. Types of privilege include (but are not limited to): male privilege, white privilege, hetero privilege, thin privilege, non-disabled privilege, economic privilege, cis privilege.
I am aware of my privilege and acknowledge it. If people don't realize their privilege, I point it out to them. I feel superior, I am very pleased with myself, because I protect the most vulnerable. I consider those who have less privilege than me and do not allow anyone to criticize them or doubt their experiences. Because I am cis, I cannot question anything about the experiences of trans people. I'm better than people who don't acknowledge their privilege.
- Feminism is for everyone
Feminism excludes no one. We have a place for everyone. We believe that men need feminism too. Anyone who believes in equality is a feminist, even if they don't know it or call themselves that. Women's issues are not central to feminism and should not be. We should all be equal.
I'm a more open person than most people, and yes, I feel superior. I feel like I help everyone, even if they don't know they need my help.
- Gender
A person's gender is internal and inviolable. This is the basis of our omnipotent identity. Gender is simply your innate knowledge of who you are. Gender identity is considered immutable. Gender and sex are not necessarily the same. The gender that a trans person currently identifies as is their only gender, even if they have lived their entire life up to that point in a different gender. Transwomen are women. Trans women are the most vulnerable women, they are killed and oppressed more than others. Therefore, we must protect them first and then other women. Cis women should under no circumstances exclude trans women or question [their existence]. This is as unthinkable as white women excluding black women.
I accept everyone. I am a good and open person. I am tolerant, unlike other people.
Everything is falling apart
I supported these ideas until last spring. I felt good, I was counting my privileges and looking for the less privileged. I made a choice and defended the right of others to do so. But one thing didn't give me peace of mind. There was something I couldn't understand:
"What is a woman?"
I couldn't stop thinking about it. I asked my friends privately and found that many were equally puzzled. I kept hearing that “transwomen ARE WOMEN” and tried to understand what that meant. I thought there was something wrong with me because I couldn’t immediately understand. Maybe deep down I'm not tolerant? I felt like I was doing the wrong thing even just thinking about it, but I couldn't stop.
I asked this question with trepidation at every opportunity, but the answers I received did not satisfy me. People responded, “well, how do YOU know you’re a woman?” Instead of helping, these answers made me even more confused. I had the answer, but I was taught never to talk about it: “I know that I am a woman because of my body: I have a vulva, a uterus, breasts. I know because I get my period and I can get pregnant.” I could not find a single sign, other than physical, that makes a person a woman.
A woman has the right to be who she wants, wear what she wants, and love who she wants. She may or may not be feminine. A pink dress does not add femininity, just as comfortable shoes do not reduce it.
At the time, I was looking at trans women in the news and thinking that if being a woman meant conforming to a female gender role, then maybe they were women and I wasn't. Laverne Cox certainly fits the stereotypical feminine mold much more than I do. However, I did not want to change my body and be considered a man. It took me years to accept and love my female body for who it is. Accepting my body has been a truly liberating moment in my life, and yes, I have feminine parts in my body. And suddenly it turned out that out of respect for trans women it is forbidden to say that you are a woman. And since I was “cis”, that is, the oppressor, I was forbidden to ask questions.
But I decided to figure it out anyway. I started asking questions on intersectional feminist Facebook pages whenever I came across something I didn’t understand. “If a woman can be whatever she wants and also have a penis, doesn’t that mean that the word itself becomes meaningless?” What does it feel like to “feel like a woman inside”? “If a female person feels like a man at heart, doesn’t that make the idea of pregnancy unthinkable?” I asked these and many other questions. I asked innocently, sincerely, without malicious intent, trying to be tactful. I really wanted to understand. I wanted to understand my cis privilege.
Shortly after I started asking questions, the following happened to me. I have been called a “TERF” (trans-exclusionary radical feminist). Back then I didn’t know anything about radical feminism. They told me: “a woman is one who calls herself a woman!” This only made me more confused. I thought about the word “cis” and decided that this word did not apply to me, because I do not identify with a gender. I was told that denying the word “cis” is like “swiping a cheese grater across a trans woman’s face.” I was told to educate myself. “We’re not here to teach you.” My comments were deleted and my profile was blocked on many pages, some of which I had been following for years.
Despite this, I continued to search for answers to questions, but now I was looking for something new. I searched for information on the term “radical feminism.” I was looking for discussion groups. I learned about the idea of gender as a social construct, and everything fell into place. It made sense. I finally found people who answered my questions and recommended books, blogs, articles. I finally understood.
I was fine. I was no longer a liberal feminist.
Filling in the blanks
I'm still in the process of making sense of it all. I'm not going to expound radical feminist philosophy now, because there are more knowledgeable women who are already doing that. There are books. I will say that after talking with liberal feminists, I expected radical feminists to be angry bigots. But that's not true. Almost every radical feminist I've met wants to make the world a better place for everyone, but especially for women. They don't silence women about their experiences.
Looking back, I understand why liberal feminism betrayed women and betrayed me. Liberal feminism puts men and their needs at the center, leaving women in the background; it ceases to be a movement for the advancement of women, becoming a movement for the benefit of individuals.
Liberal feminism practically does not recognize the works of its predecessors. I had no answer to another question that bothered me: “why is everything the way it is?” The answers were available all this time and were waiting to be read. There is so much left behind by our feminist predecessors, but instead of being studied, their works are ignored and not considered. I learned more from reading Gerda Lerner than I have learned in the entire time I have been a liberal feminist.
Liberal feminism does not recognize the existence of systems of oppression at all and does not consider women as a class. Each person exists in his own separate, unique bubble and cannot unite with others on any group basis and cannot be considered in a historical context. The focus is always on differences rather than our shared experiences as women in a society that views women as inferior to men.
Liberal feminism is never about who benefits from the system. Male privilege is simply something that men need to check; but no one says that male privilege is associated with the subordination of women. No one is saying that everyone cannot become equal to men. A class analogous to that of men cannot exist without the labor and support of the inferior class, which is now women.
Liberal feminism does not recognize that choices are not made in a vacuum. We have to do the best we can in the world we live in today, but that doesn't mean every choice is a good one. Women constantly choose the lesser evil, and often we don't want to be proud of it. In many cases, if we had another option, we would choose it. Liberal feminism fails to view our choices in a larger context, so while it is great for the individual in the short term, it cannot change the system as a whole. Liberal feminism betrays the most vulnerable, needy women for the sake of individual agency.
And most importantly, liberal feminism betrays women because it forces us to remain silent. We are not allowed to talk about our bodies and our experiences. Instead, we must consider others, especially men.
There was a moment when I almost lost faith in feminism. One day I said: “Enough!” - and deleted all pages and blogs from bookmarks. But this was not the end. Now I am surrounded by educated women who are a source of knowledge and experience. They sometimes confuse me with the depth of their understanding. But I feel inspired. I am no longer a lonely woman in a world of meaningless rules.
I explore ways of understanding the world that offer a broader explanation. I woke up and I have a lot to read.
My feminism will never silence women.
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