Sociological Theory - Feminism (Sociology Theory & Methods)

Summary

This sociology video explores feminism as a conflict theory, highlighting its evolution from early focus on women's political rights to contemporary issues like intersectionality. It discusses the four waves of feminism, their key concerns, and branches like liberal, Marxist, and radical feminism. The video also touches on feminism's impact on sociology, including its contributions to methodology and ongoing relevance in addressing global gender inequalities.

Takeaways

• 📚 Feminism is a conflict theory focusing on gender-based power imbalances and patriarchal oppression across society.
• 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Feminism criticizes male-stream sociology, which has traditionally centered on male concerns, leading to a more inclusive study of gender issues.
• 👩‍🏫 The four waves of feminism have addressed political, social, and economic equality, with each wave building on the progress of the previous one.
• 📜 The first wave of feminism focused on political rights and suffrage, leading to women's right to vote in 1928.
• ⚖️ The second wave highlighted social and economic equality, addressing equal pay, women's roles, and work-family dynamics.
• 🌍 Third wave feminism expanded the scope by focusing on intersectionality, acknowledging the diverse experiences of women based on class, race, and sexuality.
• 🌐 Fourth wave feminism has leveraged digital technology and social media to empower women and tackle global issues like the #MeToo movement.
• ⚖️ Liberal feminism seeks to improve gender equality through legal reforms, influencing laws such as the Equal Pay Act and the Sexual Discrimination Act.
• 🛠 Marxist feminism critiques both capitalist and male oppression, focusing on women's labor, the gender pay gap, and domestic exploitation.
• 🚨 Radical feminism views patriarchy as pervasive across society, advocating for structural changes and challenging superficial gestures towards equality.

Q & A

What is the fundamental premise of feminism as a conflict theory?

Feminism as a conflict theory suggests that power in society is divided on the basis of gender and that patriarchal oppression of women exists in all sections of society, including employment, home, education, and media.

How has feminism evolved over time to address contemporary issues?

Feminism has evolved to deal with contemporary issues surrounding gender differences, with a particular focus on intersectionality, examining differences based on social class, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, age, religion, and geographical location.

What were the key concerns of the first wave of feminism?

The first wave of feminism was concerned with political equality of women and their rights for representation in society, fighting for universal suffrage, the right to vote for women, which was achieved in 1928.

What were the main goals of the second wave of feminism?

The second wave of feminism, commencing post-World War II, focused on social and economic equality of women, championing equal rights and pay in the workplace, and addressing female emancipation from traditional gender roles.

How does third wave feminism differ from its predecessors?

Third wave feminism emerged from criticisms of second wave feminism, examining the different experiences that women face globally, with a focus on changing social perceptions in Europe and reproductive rights and tackling issues like female genital mutilation and forced marriage in the developing world.

What is the focus of fourth wave feminism?

Fourth wave feminism focuses on the empowerment of women using digital technologies and social media to encourage and support female achievements, with the hashtag me too campaign being a notable movement of this era.

What are the key objectives of liberal feminism?

Liberal feminism aims to address gender inequality by utilizing existing systems and structures, pressing for legal changes to address inequality, such as the Equal Pay Act, the sexual Discrimination Act, and the Equality Act.

How does Marxist feminism view the role of women in society?

Marxist feminism examines the dual exploitation that women face from males and capitalism, focusing on gender roles at home, the domestic division of labor, and the patriarchal nature of employment, challenging the notion that women should stay at home and look after the family.

What is the stance of radical feminism on patriarchy and societal structure?

Radical feminism suggests that patriarchy is ingrained in all aspects of society and that the only solution is to restructure society to gain equality, often advocating for more extreme measures such as female supremacy and separatism.

How have feminists contributed to the methodology of social research?

Feminists have contributed to social research methodology by rejecting the cold and objective nature of mainstream sociology, advocating for interpretivist ideas and unstructured interviews that focus on empathetic understanding and offering practical advice.

What are some criticisms of feminism in terms of its effectiveness and approach?

Criticisms of feminism include the argument that it has not gone far enough in addressing global gender inequalities, can be fragmented with internal disagreements, and sometimes overlooks the intersectional nature of women's experiences, focusing more on the needs of Western middle-class women.

Outlines

00:00

📚 Introduction to Feminism in Sociology

This paragraph introduces the topic of feminism within the field of sociology, highlighting its role as a conflict theory that addresses gender-based power divisions and patriarchal oppression. It traces the evolution of feminism, from its early focus on women's issues and societal representation to its contemporary emphasis on intersectionality, considering various aspects such as social class, ethnicity, sexuality, and more. The paragraph outlines the historical waves of feminism, starting with the first wave's fight for political equality and suffrage, through the second wave's advocacy for social and economic equality, to the third wave's global examination of women's experiences, and finally the fourth wave's use of digital platforms for empowerment. The paragraph also touches on different branches of feminism, including liberal, Marxist, and radical feminism, each with its unique approach to gender inequality.

05:00

🌟 Feminist Contributions to Sociological Theory and Methodology

The second paragraph delves into the contributions of feminism to sociological theory and methodology. It discusses how Marxist feminism views women's dual exploitation by both men and capitalism, focusing on domestic labor and its benefits to capitalism. The paragraph also addresses radical feminism's stance on the pervasive patriarchy and its call for societal restructuring for gender equality. It critiques the traditional, detached approach of positivist sociology, advocating instead for a feminist methodology that employs empathetic and interpretivist methods, such as unstructured interviews, to better understand and support the women studied. The paragraph concludes by evaluating feminism's effectiveness in tackling inequality, noting the progress made in Western societies versus the ongoing struggles in the developing world, and acknowledges the internal disagreements within the feminist movement while recognizing its significant impact on sociological understanding and women's lives globally.

10:01

🌐 The Ongoing Relevance of Feminism

The final paragraph emphasizes the ongoing relevance of feminism, acknowledging its continuous evolution to address contemporary challenges such as postmodern and post-structuralist thought, intersectional feminism, and digital empowerment movements. It highlights the legal changes, increased educational and employment opportunities, and reproductive rights advancements that feminism has facilitated, particularly in the UK and globally. While recognizing criticisms that feminism has not achieved complete gender equality, the paragraph asserts that the scale of inequality ensures feminism's continued relevance. The video concludes by summarizing the key points discussed and thanking viewers for their attention.

Keywords

💡Feminism

Feminism is a social and political movement advocating for gender equality and the rights of women. In the context of the video, feminism is presented as a conflict theory that addresses patriarchal oppression and gender-based power divisions in society. The video outlines the evolution of feminism, from its early focus on women's suffrage to contemporary issues like intersectionality and digital empowerment.

💡Patriarchal Oppression

Patriarchal oppression refers to the systemic discrimination and marginalization of women based on the societal structures that favor men. The video discusses how feminism views this oppression as pervasive across all sectors of society, including employment, education, and the media, and how it has historically been a central issue for feminist movements.

💡Intersectionality

Intersectionality is a concept that recognizes the complex and intersecting aspects of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender, which influence the experiences of individuals. The video highlights how contemporary feminism emphasizes the intersectionality of women's experiences, examining how various social identities can create unique and compounding forms of discrimination.

💡First Wave Feminism

First Wave Feminism is characterized by its focus on women's political rights, particularly the right to vote. The video mentions key figures like Mary Wollstonecraft and Harriet Martineau, and the long struggle for universal suffrage, which was eventually achieved in 1928. This wave set the foundation for women's rights and representation in society.

💡Second Wave Feminism

Second Wave Feminism emerged in the post-World War II era, concentrating on social and economic equality for women. The video points out that this wave advocated for equal rights and pay in the workplace and challenged traditional gender roles, such as the expectation for women to be housewives or mothers. It also references the Women's Liberation Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

💡Third Wave Feminism

Third Wave Feminism is distinguished by its global perspective and focus on the diverse experiences of women. The video notes that in Europe, it aimed to change social perceptions, while in developing countries, it focused on reproductive rights and issues like female genital mutilation and forced marriage. This wave also began to address the criticisms of second wave feminism for not being inclusive enough.

💡Fourth Wave Feminism

Fourth Wave Feminism is the most recent iteration discussed in the video, characterized by the use of digital technologies and social media to empower women. A notable example provided is the #MeToo movement, which has brought attention to historical sexual abuse of women and has become a significant force in contemporary feminism.

💡Liberal Feminism

Liberal Feminism is an approach that seeks to address gender inequality by working within existing systems and advocating for legal changes. The video outlines the successes of liberal feminism in introducing legislation like the Equal Pay Act and the Equality Act, as well as its role in improving educational opportunities and challenging media representations of women.

💡Marxist Feminism

Marxist Feminism examines the dual exploitation of women by both patriarchy and capitalism. The video discusses how Marxist feminists have contributed to understanding gender roles in the home, the concept of women as a 'reserve army' of labor, and the patriarchal nature of employment. It also mentions how Marxist feminism challenges traditional gender roles and employment issues like the gender pay gap.

💡Radical Feminism

Radical Feminism is portrayed in the video as a branch that believes in the pervasive and ingrained nature of patriarchy, suggesting that only a complete restructuring of society can achieve gender equality. It is associated with more extreme views, such as female separatism and political lesbianism. The video also notes the influence of radical feminists on societal understanding and the criticism they face for potentially overlooking progress made towards gender equality.

💡Feminist Methodology

Feminist Methodology is an approach to social research that emphasizes empathy and interpretivist ideas. The video discusses how feminists have critiqued traditional, 'malestream' sociology for its lack of empathy and have advocated for methods like unstructured interviews that focus on understanding the lives of women. This methodology aims to be more collaborative and action-oriented, although it has been criticized for potential bias.

Highlights

Feminism is a conflict theory that suggests power in society is divided on the basis of gender.

Patriarchal oppression of women exists in all sections of society, including employment, education, and media.

Early feminism focused on studying female issues and the representations of women in society.

Contemporary feminism focuses on the intersectionality of women's experiences, examining differences based on social class, ethnicity, sexuality, and more.

The first wave of feminism was concerned with political equality and women's rights for representation.

The second wave of feminism focused on social and economic equality, championing equal rights and pay for women.

Third wave feminism examines different experiences that women face globally, including reproductive rights and issues like female genital mutilation.

Fourth wave feminism uses digital technologies and social media to empower women and support achievements.

Liberal feminism seeks to address gender inequality by utilizing existing systems and pressing for legal changes.

Marxist feminism examines the dual exploitation of women by both males and capitalism, focusing on gender roles at home.

Radical feminism suggests that patriarchy is ingrained in society and the only solution is to restructure for equality.

Feminist methodology has been developed to create a more empathetic and engaged approach to social research.

Feminism has made significant contributions to sociology by illuminating gender differences and challenging traditional perspectives.

Feminism has influenced legal changes, access to education, employment opportunities, and control over reproductive rights for women.

Critics argue that feminism can be fragmented and does not always address the intersectional nature of women's experiences.

Feminism continues to evolve, meeting contemporary challenges and remaining relevant for addressing gender equality.

Transcripts

welcome to this cheater tu sociology

topic video on theory and methods

focused on feminism we've looked at

feminism throughout the specification

where it's been applied to certain areas

of study such as crime education family

and beliefs among dollars but it's worth

reminding ourselves of some of the key

ideas behind feminism before looking at

the approach in more depth

feminism is a conflict theory that

suggests that power in society is

divided on the basis of gender they

suggest that patriarchal oppression of

women exists in all sections of society

in employment at home education and

media they also suggest that the study

of sociology has enlarged being male

stream in other words male theorists

focusing on the issues that are of

concern to males and certainly early

feminism focused on the study of female

issues and the representations of women

in society

however feminism has evolved over time

to deal with contemporary issues

surrounding gender differences and has a

particular focus in contemporary society

on the intersectionality of women's

experiences examining differences based

upon social class ethnicity sexuality

disability age religion and geographical

location which gives feminism a broad

appeal into looking it are gender

differences in the 21st century feminism

as an approach has consistently evolved

to tackle the issues that women face in

contemporary society the first wave of

feminism was concerned with the

political equality of women and their

rights for representation in society

from writers such as Mary Wollstonecraft

and Harriet Martineau through to the

suffragettes and suffragists the first

wave of feminism consistently fought

over a period exceed in a hundred years

to gain universal suffrage the right to

vote for women which came about in 1928

the second wave of feminism commenced in

the post-world War two period and was

focused upon the social and economic

equality of women in society it

championed equal rights and equal pay

for women in the workplace and addressed

issues of female emancipation from

social norms of what of women being the

housewife or mother

leading figures in the second wave

feminism what Ann Oakley who examined

gender differences at home and the

philosopher Simone

to move wire this is also the period

associated with women's liberation

movement in the late 1950s and early

1960s which typifies the attitude of

social change in post-war USA in Europe

however critics of second wave feminism

stated it did not do enough to address

the differences of all women often

ignoring those of lower social classes

minority ethnic backgrounds or LGBTQ

women from the criticisms rose third

wave feminism examining the different

experiences that women face globally

whilst in Europe this was focused on

changing social perceptions of women in

areas of the developing world this was

focused on giving women reproductive

rights and tackling issues such as

female genital mutilation and forced

marriage more recently fourth wave

feminism has emerged focusing on the

empowerment of women using digital

technologies and social media to

encourage and support female

achievements perhaps the most notable

movement of this era has been the

hashtag me to campaign tackling

historical sexual abuse of women there

are different branches of feminism and

each takes a different approach to the

issues that women face in society

liberal feminism looks to address gender

inequality by utilizing the existing

systems and structures in place and

pressing for legal changes to address

inequality in society this approach has

been successful in introducing

legislation such as the Equal Pay Act

the sexual Discrimination Act the

legalization of abortion availability of

contraception on prescription the

removal of the marital rape exclusion

clause and the Equality Act to name but

a few

it is also addressed issues such as

educational underachievement breaking

down barriers to education for girls

particularly in male-dominated domains

and influenced girls to aim higher and

pursue careers that were once seen as

reserved for males this has had numerous

impacts on gender equality in society

addressing education family life work

and social stratification whilst liberal

feminism has had notable success critics

would suggest that inequality remains

but for liberal feminists there is a

march of progress towards equality and

this continues with liberal feminists

tackling newer forms of exploitation

such as media representations of women

being challenged

Marxist feminism examines the dual

exploitation that women face in society

both from males and from capitalism much

of our understanding of Marxist feminism

has come from examining gender roles at

home particularly when discussing the

domestic division of labor and that is

one of Marxist feminist lasting

contributions Benson's description of

women being kept out of the job market

so they may be used to the reserve army

of labour taking on in times of economic

growth and let go in times of recession

highlights difficulties that women face

in employment finances colorful

descriptions of the way that women

absorb the frustrations of workers

highlights the dual exploitation of

women by men and capitalism

a further contribution comes from

Delphian Lanyrd who suggested the unpaid

labor women to at home greatly benefits

capitalism and their husbands Marxist

feminism also looks at the patriarchal

nature of employment and the assumptions

made about women's ability and

commitment to their careers Marxist

feminism as a challenge the notion that

women should stay at home and look after

the family and examine concepts in

employment such as a glass ceiling in

the gender pay gap however critics would

suggest that there have been changes in

women's employment with a decline of

traditional manufacturing growth

industry such as a service sector have

become feminized as as the workplace

however Marxist feminist would suggest

that the existing wage gap and the

under-representation of females and

positions of power would suggest there

is still some way to go a third branch

of feminism to consider is radical

feminism and this is perhaps the most

maligned in society often parodied and

linked to negative stereotypes of

feminism radical feminists suggest that

the patriarchy is present in all aspects

of society and is so ingrained into the

consciousness of society that the only

solution is to restructure in a bid to

gain equality they protest that many of

the recent developments in employment

education and home life are merely token

gestures and superficial in comparison

to the oppression of women that is still

carried out there are more extreme

branches of radical feminism such as

female supremacy and female separatism

that advocate lack of contact with males

and political lesbianism in order to

create a society that puts women's needs

at the forefront

radical feminism had a huge influence on

our understanding of society with

theorists such as Millett suggesting

that males will use physical

psychological and ideological force to

keep women in a position of subservience

and with the emergence of alt-right of

men's rights groups it can be suggested

that Millett is correct so too with the

negative stereotyping of feminism in the

media the little in an ideology that

promotes equality as radical and

dangerous critics of radical feminism

would suggest that they often neglect

the progress that has been made and they

have been criticized for ignoring the

intersectional nature of women's

experiences one of the contributions of

families and that often goes unnoticed

is their contribution towards the

methodology that is used in social

research feminists have often rejected

the cold and objective nature of

Maelstrom sociology suggested that it

shows a lack of empathy for those that

it studies treating them little better

than Lab Rats Oakleigh in her research

suggested adaptation of interpretivist

ideas to create feminist methodology

using unstructured interviews that

focused on empathetic understanding of

the lives of the women they studied as

well as offering practical advice in

dealing with their issues locally

contended that the role of a sociologist

is to offer help when needed rather than

the detached role of positivist methods

tended to convey furthermore feminist

interviewing encourages those who were

interviewed to move the conversation

forward and to engage in the issues

present this form of interview then

becomes a call to action which some

sociologists will criticize for its

objective nature and potential for

interviewer bias when evaluating the

impacts of feminism a simple evaluation

is the extent to which feminism has been

effective the primary aim of feminism

has been to tackle inequality but

inequalities between women's experiences

on a global scale remain whilst progress

has been made in the West the position

of women in the developing world remains

precarious with patriarchal oppression

lack of control over reproductive rights

inability to choose a partner or display

sexual preferences come in place the

intersectional nature of women's

experiences are not always address

with critics stating that the needs of

Western middle-class women are given

precedence in the media over those in

the developing world while women in the

West are fighting for a seat in the

boardroom women in the developing world

are fighting for their lives

a further criticism is that feminism can

be seen as quite fragmented approach

there are many examples of disagreements

within the feminist movement that

detract from the progress that has been

made recent examples of disagreements

over the position of trans women have

highlighted some of these ideological

differences and led to different

branches of farrell ism being in

conflict with one another however there

is much evidence to suggest that

feminism has made a huge contribution to

the field of sociology it's introduced a

greater understanding of the gender

differences that exist in society and

introduce new perspectives that have

challenged the boys club of mail stream

sociology home and family life women's

experiences of crime religion education

and poverty have all been illuminated by

feminist thought whilst closer analysis

of media stereotyping of women has been

advanced by the feminist movement unlike

some other theories feminism has and

continues to evolve to meet the

contemporary challenges including

postmodern and post-structuralism

intersectional feminism and female

empowerment movements such as digital

feminism of all evolved with society and

feminism has changed the lives of many

women both in the UK and globally

through legal changes access to

education greater employment

opportunities and allowing women to have

control over their reproductive rights

while some may criticize feminism for

not going far enough the scale of gender

equality means that feminism will remain

relevant for many years to come

that concludes his 230 u sociology topic

video on theory methods focused on

feminism thanks for watching