PLS-2300- Feminism and Liberalism

Feminism and Liberalism

Waad Abdulkareem
What are the core themes of Feminism, its mail strands and how does it connect to the
Philosophy of Liberalism?

Feminism abd Liberalism

Feminism and Liberalism
Feminism is the advocacy of womens rights in relation to political, social, and economic
equality to men. In past we had restricted things women can do. Like their ability of being our,
having jobs, their right to vote. But over the years we were able to get women to do more things,
which is good. But in my opinion I think some people are taking it way too far to where they
want women to be exactly like men which makes it different and makes women lose their
feminism. Over the years though we had some women taking awesome roles in the government
and as political activists, like the great women in our reading; Mary Wollstonecraft,

Betty Friedan, Jean Bethke and others. (Andrew Heywood, 2012).

As it was mentioned in our text book, the two basic beliefs of feminism are
that women are disadvantaged because of sex and is that this disadvantage should
be overthrown. The diversity of opinion within feminism is revolutionary and
reformist strategies for change which draw on various political philosophies
(Andrew Heywood, 2012). In our reading it talked about the main core themes: the

political of the personal.

By 190, the idea that womens issues could be subsumed under conventional
ideologies such as socialism, liberalism was dismissed as INDEQUATE. Thus,
feminism needed to become its own distinct ideological family. (Andrew Heywood,
2012).

We all know that men and women have almost always been unequal and
oppressive, also all known societies have been patriarchal. And almost all major

Feminism abd Liberalism

social institutions have been characterized by male dominance: The Economy,

Political system, Family, and Religion.
Both socialist feminism and radical feminism can be distinguished from the
main theoretical strand in first wave feminism - equal rights feminism or liberal
feminism. This version of feminism continued to exist into the 1950s and 1960s.
Early activists in the WLM tended to ignore it or be dismissive of it, but in many
ways liberal feminism was reinvigorated as a result of the emergence of second
wave feminism. The emphasis of liberal feminism is on inequality between men
and women in the public sphere of life - employment, education and politics. Many
liberal feminists explain women's exclusion or inequality with reference to ideas of
female inferiority or incapacity that inform the upbringing and education of both
men and women. Liberal feminists seek to challenge ideas and practices that treat
women as second class citizens while leaving relatively unchallenged other areas
such as sexuality, reproduction and domestic labour. (Feminist ethics)
This is where the label 'liberal' comes from. Liberalism can be seen as the
dominant ethos of contemporary society and so it indicates that liberal feminists
are not challenging capitalism or patriarchy or any other fundamental structures of
society, but rather looking for the removal of barriers that prevent women
operating effectively in the public sphere on equal terms with men. To this end,

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they will work with both women and men, quite often in formal pressure-group
type organizations and quite often aiming their tactics at changes in legislation.

Feminism abd Liberalism

Reference
Heywood, Andrew (2012) Political Ideologies,5th edition
SFE,April 04,2016, feminism.
Williams, Nancy, May 04,2009, Feminist Ethics
William, Susan, 2004, Feminist Theory