FEMINISM

Various Principles and Waves of Progress

◦ First used by a French philosopher Charles Fourier (feministe).

◦ Waves of Feminism:
1. First wave: 1792- 1963
2. Second wave: 1963-1980
3. Third wave: 1980- now
Liberal Feminism
◦ Evolved in 18th Century. (Equal Rights Feminism)
◦ Focus on legal and political rights of women.
◦ Deborah l.Madsen~” It champions improvement in patriarchy”
◦ Based on the principal of Individualism. Force on individual empowerment
◦ Motives: Voting rights of women, political equality, right of citizenship,legal reforms,
equality in equal opportunity, economic equality, higher education
◦ Basically talked about rights to involve women in public spheres.
◦ Criticism: Couldn’t find the co-relation among sexual spoliation, gender specific
division of labour and economic spherical frame. Couldn’t succeed wholly. Instead
of talking with female centred perspective, it accepts male values.
◦ Scholars:
Mary Wollstonecraft, Betty Friedman, John Stuart Mill, Rebecca Walker,Jeremy
Bentham
Radical Feminism
◦ Evolved in 1967 during the 2nd wave of Feminism.
◦ Wanted to create a space far apart present politics to let women express there
thoughts with their derealization and creativity. “Personal is political”
◦ Presented evocative( ) scrutiny ( )over violence, Cyesis ( )control
and sexuality
◦ Highlight gender biasness prevalent in personal life, culture, mentality and public
spheres of employment
◦ Motives:Control of women on their bodies and freedom from men at all levels.
Freedom from maternity and sex servitude( ). Supports homosexuality and
found it a way to challenge ideological, Political individual and economic base
of male hegemony.
◦ Criticism: turned into political lesbianism movement, went periphrastic( )
and descriptive ( ) instead of analytical ( ), not accessible to
women of all strata.
◦ Scholars: Kate Millet,Shulamite Firestone .
Marxist Feminism
◦ Talks about basic relation between subjugation and situation of
women with the ways of economic production. Focus on cessation of
capitalism to free women.
◦ Private property, economic inequality, dependency, and political
delusion creates unhealthy social relation between men and women.
◦ Comparisons of women in a family structure with labourers both facing
exploitation and subjugation.
◦ Women tend to forget their identity in household and progeniture
errands.
◦ Subjugation of women and division of classes both are historically
considered to be evolved from the development of private property.
◦ Cricism: Covers economical aspect only.
 Socialist Feminism
◦ Talks about SOCIAL REVOLUTION by changing the foundational structure
system of society where there’s no contestation of class, gender and sexuality
and women are provided freedom from subjection and class struggle.
◦ Where both genders are socially irrelevant with trivial value of supporter
gender.
◦ Patriarchy can be understood under Social and Economic factors ONLY.
◦ Women are exploited by both men and capitalist private institutions of
property.
◦ Feminist movements must be about labour ( ) nd no separate
movement is needed.
◦ Used mixed theoretical and pragmatic approach for women equality
◦ Wanted to work with men to eradicate social and economical disparity
◦ Scholars: Johanna Brenner, Barbara, Emma Goldman
Post-Modern Feminism
◦ Started in 1980, in initial days of 3rd wave of feminism
◦ Taking any principal into consideration towards the solution of
subjection of women and other stuff by taking all crucial debates
such as class, religion, ( ) carnalism, identity, gender,
homosexuality and conclude of having no chief points ( )
◦ Related to utmost Socio-personal and special cultural issues.
◦ Scholars: Simone D. Bouevir, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida,
Jacques Lacan.
Cultural Feminism
◦ Behold positive features and attributes of women as personality.
◦ Tends to redefine negative meanings of feminine qualities i.e endurance, to
nurture, sentimentality and dependant attitude into positive.
◦ Forces on natural biological difference
◦ Cultural aspects of women I.e Music, art, dance, Culture nourishment etc. Are
studied.
◦ Started by Margaret Fuller.
◦ Freedom of women through the establishment of women – centred culture
and by redefining masculinity and feminity.
◦ Focus on Sentimentality of knowledge, decent and simple aspect of womem
wiith illuminated rationalism.
 Eco Feminism
◦ A pedagogical movement ( )evolved in mid 1970s, with
other environmental campaigns during the second wave. First
used by Francoise D’ Eaubonne (talked about women’s role in
leading ecological revolution).
◦ Co-relate between predominance on nature and exploitation of
women.
◦ Both women and nature are historically exploited in patriarchal
society.
◦ Women are more creative, sensitive and patient than men.
Hence women are deeply connected with nature in many
aspects .
◦ Agenda: Peace March, Anti- nuclear protest, environmental
conservation, animal liberation movement, hunger etc.
◦ Scholars: Sallie Mc Fague, Vandana Shiva(who ran
), Wangari Mathani (initiated Green Belt Movement)
 Black Feminism
◦ Evolved during 1970 against gender inequality, class spoliation
and racism
◦ Exploitation of black women were more severe than white
◦ Combahee River Collective- 1974-1980 – an active black
homosexual institute
◦ Scholars and their books:
1. Gloria Hull, Patricia Bell Scott and Barbara Smith “ All the
women are white, all the blacks are men, but some of us are
brave”
2. Alice Walker- The color purple
3. Rebecca Walker- Black, white and Jewish: Autobiography of a
shifting self
Post-Colonial Feminism
◦ Centred on colonialism in the context of economical, social and
political aspects of coloured and non-western women.
◦ An exploration of crossroads of New – Colonialism with
colonialism, gender, nation, caste,class, life of women and their
erotism in all aspects.
◦ Had discussion on various topics related to women i.e migration,
servitude, representation, spoliation and resistance etc.
◦ Scholars: Arunadhati Roy, Gaytri Spivak, Chandra Talpade, Uma
Narayan, Kumkum Sangari, Lata Mani
Concept of Glass Ceiling
◦ Invisible barriers that block women from top jobs or biasness
faced by them in hierarchical ( ) institutions.
◦ 1991- Federal Glass Ceilings Commision was established to
discuss these issues.
◦ Women success was later considered as ‘crack in glass Ceilings’.
◦ An American concept which tells about salary and income
dissimilarities among gender.
◦ In India, after 1991, it was used for least presentation of women in
Hight court, civil services and Indian police Services