Ayush Raj Roll No.-22 BA (Hons.) History Q. How Would You Understand The Role of Radical Feminism in Understanding Gender Inequality ?

Ayush Raj
Roll No.- 22
BA(Hons.) History
Q. How would you understand the role of radical feminism in understanding
gender inequality ?
A distinguishing feature of the radical feminist conception of human nature is
its attention to human reproduction. Reflection on modes of organizing pro-
creation generates radical feminist insights on the basic structure of society,
prompts radical feminist ideas for changing that structure 'and even suggests
new social values for radical feminism.
Because human beings reproduce sexually, and because babies are extremely
immature at birth, radical feminism points out that one of the fundamental
tasks of every society must be to organize sexual activity and the rearing of
children. Almost universally, societies organize these activities by allocating
them according to sex. Men impregnate women, of course, but women are.then
assigned to perform most of the work required to rear infants and
young
children. Radical feminists claim that the sexual division of labor established
originally in procreation is extended into every area of life. Even when pregnancy
is not desired, women are expected to provide sexual gratification to men and
they are expected to tend men's daily physical and emotional needs, just as
they tend the needs of their children. Even those radical feminists who regard
the distinction between the sexes as being ultimately a social construct claim
that, in contemporary society, as in all other known societies, an individual's
sex is the single, most influential factor in determining her social position, her
life experiences, her physical and psychological constitution, her interests and
her values. The distinction between the sexes, a distinction defined originally
by reference to procreative function, is used to structure every aspect of human
nature and human social life.
According to radical feminists, the bifurcation between male and female
experience means that every society in fact has two cultures—the
visible,
national, or male culture and the invisible, universal, female culture. "There
is always a women's culture within every culture."
Males define and control all the institutions of all "national" cultures
including every purportedly socialist nation that has ever existed.
Because the male culture is dominant and in control in every nation,
the "national" culture becomes synonymous with, and in fact is, the male
culture. The female culture exists "invisibly", in subjection to the male-
defined "national" culture.
What appears as one national culture, due to male propaganda, is in
reality the male culture setting itself up as the national culture through
the subordination of the female. The male army, the male government,
the male religion, the male-run economy, the male-defined institution of
the family, along with the male culture in the "narrower" sense—i.e., the
male arts, sciences, philosophy, and technology—are defined as the national
c ul t ur e w he n i n f a ct t he y r e pr e se nt n ot hi ng b ut t h e m al e vi ew a nd
interests.'
Radical feminism had its start in small, leaderless, women-only consciousness-

raising groups, where the topics of intense discussion came out of women's daily
lives -- housework, serving men's emotional and sexual needs, menstruation,
pregnancy, childbirth, menopause. From these discussions came a theory of gender
inequality that went beyond discrimination, to oppression, and a gender politics of
resistance to the dominant gender order. Radical feminism's theoretical watchword
is patriarchy, or men's pervasive oppression and exploitation of women, which can
be found wherever women and men are in contact with each other, in private as
well as in public. Radical feminism argues that patriarchy is very hard to eradicate
because its root -- the belief that women are different and inferior -- is deeply
embedded in most men's consciousness. It can best be resisted, radical feminists
argued, by forming nonhierarchical, supportive, woman-only spaces where women
can think and act and create free of constant sexist put-downs, sexual harassment,
and the threat of rape and violence. The heady possibilities of creating woman-
oriented health care facilities, safe residences for battered women, counseling and
legal services for survivors of rape, a woman's culture, and even a woman's
religion and ethics forged the bonds of sisterhood and the rationale for separation
from men. Radical feminism turns male-dominated culture on its head. It takes all
the characteristics that are valued in male-dominated societies -- objectivity,
distance, control, coolness, aggressiveness, and competitiveness -- and blames
them for wars, poverty, rape, battering, child abuse, and incest. It praises what
women do -- feed and nurture, cooperate and reciprocate, and attend to bodies,
minds, and psyches. The important values, radical feminism argues, are intimacy,
persuasion, warmth, caring, and sharing -- the characteristics that women develop
in their handson, everyday experiences with their own and their children's bodies
and with the work of daily living. Men could develop these characteristics, too, if
they "mothered," but since few do, they are much more prevalent in women.
Radical feminism claims that most men have the potential to use physical violence
against women, including rape and murder. They point to the commonness of date
rape and wife beating, of murders of ex-wives and former girl friends. The
commercial side of this systemic misogyny, or women-hating, is the way women
are depicted as sex objects in the mass media and as pieces of meat in
pornography, and the global exploitation of girls and young women in prostitution.
Even more insidious, they argue, sexual exploitation is the common downside of
romantic heterosexual love, which itself is oppressive to women. The threat of
violence and rape, radical feminism theorizes, is the way patriarchy controls all
women. Radical feminism's political battlefield has been protection of rape victims
and battered women and condemnation of pornography, prostitution, sexual
harassment, and sexual coercion. Since all men derive power from their dominant
social status, any sexual relationship between women and men is intrinsically
unequal. Consent by women to heterosexual intercourse is, by this definition,
always coerced unless it is explicitly agreed to by a fully aware, autonomous
woman. This viewpoint led to an expansion of the parameters of rape, and to
making date rape visible and legally actionable. The radical feminist political
remedies -- women-only consciousness-raising groups and alternative
organizations -- were vital in allowing women the "breathing space" to formulate
important theories of gender inequality, to develop women's studies programs in
colleges and universities, to form communities, and to produce knowledge, culture,
religion, ethics, and health care from a woman's point of view. But they alienated
many working-class women, especially those of disadvantaged ethnic groups, who
felt that their men were just as oppressed as they were by the dominant society.
Radical feminism's critique of heterosexuality and its valorization of mothering
produced a schism among feminists, offending many of those who were in
heterosexual relationships or who didn't want children. Its praise of women's
emotionality and nurturing capabilities and condemnation of men's violent
sexuality and aggressiveness has been seen as essentialist -- rooted in deep-seated
and seemingly intractable differences between two global categories of people.
This concentration on universal gender oppression has led to accusations that
radical feminism neglects ethnic and social class differences among men and
among women, and that it downplays other sources of oppression. By pitting
women against men, radical feminism alienates women of color and working-class
women, who feel torn between their feminist and their ethnic and class loyalties.
Bibliography
 Feminist Politics and Human Nature by Allison Jaggar

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Ayush Raj

Radical feminism had its start in small, leaderless, women-only consciousness-

 Feminist Politics and Human Nature by Allison Jaggar

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