The Theory of Feminism and The Role of Feminists in Presenting Inequalities Between Men and Women in Society

Feminism is a conflict theory that seeks gender equality in society; feminists believe that society is dominated by ideas that are oppressive to women. Feminism first began to influence sociology and society in the 1970’s and formed from there. The feminist theory holds several groups who all share the same view that men dominate society. Feminists campaign for women’s rights in society, including the right to vote, earn fair wages, receive an education and equal rights within marriage. Gender roles in society have changed significantly from the 19th century to contemporary society. In the 19th century women’s roles included marrying young, bearing children and being a housewife. However in society today women are able to work and be educated, they’re not forced to marry at all and some women never bear children, this is due to society’s boundaries becoming more and more blurred in postmodern society. However, feminists argue that society isn’t completely equal and women still, endure in day-to-day life in a patriarchal society.

Feminism is divided into 4 waves that are continuing throughout history, each wave dealt with different aspects of the same feminist issue. The first wave focused on the legal and social form, meaning feminists set out to change the law. We see this clearly when women’s right to vote became legal in the 1920’s. The ‘Suffragettes Movement’ campaigned for women’s rights to an education as well as their right to vote. The dedication of this the campaign won women the right to vote, the rights to an education, professional jobs for women and women’s right to owning property.

The second wave was associated with the separate types of feminism: liberal, radical and Marxist. These emerged alongside other movements such as gay rights, civil rights and the anti-war movement. In the second wave feminism increased in popularity due to the increase in awareness produced by feminists, women were starting to realize that they could do something about the way they were being treated. This movement focused on equal pay for both men and women, gave women access to contraception, equal rights in jobs and education, free childcare and freedom from domestic violence.

Liberal feminism focuses on the false belief that women are less intellectually and physically capable than men, this ideology is portrayed throughout many societies all over the world. Liberal feminists fight for gender equality in society, including equal pay, women’s access to education, ending job sex segregation and better working conditions for women.

Liberal feminists strive to achieve important goals, their main focus however is women being paid and promoted equally in traditionally male dominated occupations.

Radical feminism seeks to abolish patriarchy by challenging existing social norms rather than political protests. They challenge aspects of society that are traditionally presented with specific behaviors, consumer goods and expressions. Radical feminists raise public awareness about issues such as rape and domestic violence against women.

Marxist feminism is another division of feminism that focuses on the way women are oppressed through capitalist systems. Karl Marx showed how the bourgeoisie gain wealth and profit by paying workers bare-minimum and exploiting the working class. Marxists feminists’ the argument is that men own major companies and organizations. For example, they claim that male media owners control the media. In 2000, Whelehan studied magazines such as Loaded and FHM; he found that these magazines promote a world where women are seen as sex objects. The beauty myth’ is promoted throughout the media; the beauty myth is a ‘look’ that is promoted in the media that all women should strive to look like. This supports capitalism as it encourages women to consume beauty and dietary products, which boosts the ruling class’ profit.

The third wave developed in the 1990’s and focuses on abolishing traditional gender roles in society and in the media. Women began to focus on individuality and their own desires rather than the general experiences for women. Women were now able to express themselves in unique ways through fashion and cosmetics, their jobs, education choices and social relationships.

The fourth wave developed in 2010, much more recently than the previous waves. This wave looks at how sexism in society can be challenged by the use of technology. An example of how this works is Fem TechNet; this is a network of scholars and students who study science, feminism and technology. They use technology to inform women of structures such as trafficking. Units such as this one help women who may be oblivious or uneducated on problems that are occurring in society. In some countries women are not aloud to have an education or express themselves, otherwise known as the multed group. The fourth wave offers support and advice for women who live in those societies; this is done through the use of chat rooms or forums. The fourth wave allows women to build strong and reactive movements online, examples of these movements are girlsguide and mumsnet, where half of the users are feminists.

Society socially constructs men and women into specific genders. This is done through the agents of socialisation: family, peers, religion, media and education. An example of this is within education; in UK schools children have to wear specific uniforms to attend school. Female students are required to wear skirts and blouses, whereas male students are required to wear pants and shirts as part of their uniforms. Skirts are seen as ‘feminine’ clothing and in some schools females aren’t aloud to wear pants. Schools tell children what they should and shouldn’t wear from a very young age which socialises them into thinking they should only wear feminine clothing if a girl and only masculine clothing if a boy. Family also socialises children into their specific gender roles. This is done through parents buying certain toys for the gender of their child, for example, girls would play with dolls and boys would play with footballs. From a young age women are taught how they should behave and are shown how to cook and clean, things that would represent women in traditional society.

The media teach children how they should and shouldn’t look. Women are highly sexualized in the media, in 1975 Mulvey conducted a study called “The Male Gaze’, he found that the media seek to sexualize and objectify women, cameras Zoom and focus on women’s assets in films and TV shows to satisfy males desires and fantasies. Women are exposed to this and think if they look like how women are portrayed in media then they will get attention from men.

Liberal feminists produce evidence of change in contemporary society, they argue that women now have equal access to education to men; women are now aloud to access higher education and perform the same jobs as men. However, Marxist and radical feminists think very differently, they argue that due to traditional stereotypes women aren’t able to perform the same jobs as men and don’t get equal opportunities within the workplace. Marxist feminists argue that women are still being exploited in the workplace due to their sexuality and don’t have the same chances as men when it comes to competition in the workplace, such as promotions.

Criticisms include: the feminist theory pushes for practices that favor women. Feminists ignore the problems for men in society, they argue for women’s rights but are unaware of the problems with men’s rights. The importance of other concepts that are attached to patriarchy, such as social class and ethnicity, are downgraded. Radical feminists overlook the fact that the general position of women in society has shifted significantly overtime.

In conclusion, feminism is a theory that is well supported within society and has had a significant affect on how women are portrayed. Feminists have played an important role in highlighting the inequalities between men and women; this has lead to a change in laws throughout history. Although, women are still experiencing aspects of social construction some women are able to express their identities in ways that suit them.

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