Three Feminist Theories - Essay Example

Feminist Theories al Affiliation) Breathe Feminism is a movement developed to promote an equal system for men and womenin all social political and economic spheres. Advocates for feminism believe that female gender is oppressed simple because their sex because of the strong patriarchy ideology. Cleansing the society of patriarchy will form the basis for liberation for men, women, gays and minorities. Patriarchy is an ideology that oppresses women socially, economically and politically in all institutions. Men throughout history have wielded the most power in all spheres of life both public and private. To maintain this power, men set up obstacles and boundaries for women, therefore making it difficult for women to clinch power positions. Today, there are as many definitions of feminism as there are feminists. Each definition of feminism depends on a number of factors including ones own beliefs, history and culture (Sylvester, 1995). Radical Feminism: Radical feminists ideally believe that for society to eradicate patriarchy it needs change at its core in order to, not just through legal processes. Their mission is to counter the system by any means possible and to do this, sometimes-radical feminists go on to rage a war against men, all aspects of patriarchy, and the gender system that traps them within rigid social roles. They completely turn against these roles; patriarchy and sometimes, they go on to reject the men as well. Radical feminists stress upon their difference from men. They establish groups that eliminate the need of males. This form of feminist demonstrates the importance of individual feelings, relationships and experiences. Liberal Feminism Another form of feminism is called liberal feminism. Liberal feminists develop and push for acts of legislation that bring down the barriers for women. Liberal feminists are the force behind most landmark acts of legislation that have positively influenced the status of women. The legal acts include the reforms in welfare, health and education. Sadly, Liberal feminism has only been known to focus on the legal aspect in the struggle against patriarchy. Liberal feminism is focused on equal rights. This form of feminism began in eighteenth and nineteenth century and has been in existent until now. Throughout the liberal feminism, its movement has continued to focus in eliminating the subordination of female. Liberal feminism is rooted in a collection of legal and customary constraints that block the entrance of women and the success of the public world. Its history is a testament on how perfect is has been able to change and adapt to issues that confront women. Socialist Feminism: Another form of feminism is socialist feminism. The society acknowledges men because they work and produce real and resourceful goods. Womens work, in contrast, is in a much lower domain and has no value in the western society because unlike men’s work, theirs does not produce any real and resourceful goods. This gives men power and subsequent control over women. Socialist feminists are antagonistic to the idea that biology is responsible for predetermining ones gender and believe that social roles are not inherent Depth Professor Alison Jaggar is a perfect example of a Social feminist. This is because one can tell from her numerous achievements that she really makes an effort to walk her talk. Social feminists like her believe that in order to empower women, they need to work together with men and eliminate the notion that female work is not productive work. Alison Jaggar published another informative book, Feminist Politics and Human Nature in 1983, where in her definition of the four feminist theories she demonstrated a very high understanding of the ideologies behind liberal, Socialist, and radical feminism. Although her analysis was not entirely new, the types of feminism had begun to differentiate in the early 1960s. Her vast knowledge and understanding about liberal feminism leads me to think that despite being a self-proclaimed social feminist, she is also a believer of liberal feminism to an extent as portrayed in some of her books. Jaggar’s application of the feminist theory she so much believes in is documented in the numerous books and widely cited papers she has written concerning this issue. Using Marxist and feminist theory, Professor Alison Jaggar describes herself as an “activist” and “socialist feminist” seeking to tear down “the male-dominant structure of everyday life.” She says in one of her books the “The standpoint of women is discovered through a collective process of political and scientific struggle,” Written close to two decades after the beginning of the women’s movement in the 1960’s, Feminist Politics and Human Nature is an analysis of that movement’s writings and goals as some form of political theory. Alison M. Jaggar tries to sort the different and often contradictory statements of the feminist movement into coherent systems of thought. In so doing, she finds the relationship between the assumptions about human nature and the undelaying explicit or implied “solutions” to women’s inequality presented by the socialist feminism approach. Jaggars 1983 book added up well the manner in which feminists were using socialist and Marxist ideas to comprehend the way women were subjected to exploitation and how their labor and reproductive efforts are devalued and unpaid, for capitalism to thrive. In her two introductory chapters, Jaggar pushes for the acceptance of feminism as political philosophy since feminism focuses with questions of freedom, equality, justice, and concepts as presented by political philosophers for years. She says feminists of the most recent part of the twentieth century have merely widened the debate, by pushing for such questions to be asked in areas outside the traditional “public square”. These questions include; the ways family life is organized, and about the dynamics of intimate relations. Jaggar winds up the introductory chapters by explaining the purpose of the book, which is, to sort most of the accumulated feminist statements and analyses of women’s situation into countable fundamental paradigms or theories. She looks into four basic feminist paradigms: Marxist feminism, liberal feminism, socialist feminism, and radical feminism. I particularly connect Alison Jaggar to the Socialist Feminism theory, based on her views on the aspect of the Socialists paradigm as having originating from its theory of human nature. She examines both in detail. According to her, Socialist feminism is a “sibling” of these other feminist philosophies. In her book, Jaggar views Socialist feminism theory as a paradigm that is still in its initial stages. It combines elements of both Marxist and radical feminism, yet possesses the potential to do much more. She believes it has the ability to reconcile many “either-or” conflicts and map out the way to a more concrete theory that would be more an effective means of making necessary changes in the society. Jaggar clarifies that she prefers this mode of feminist thinking to any other, despite it also having some conceptual and practical problems she goes ahead to highlight in the book. Jaggar says in her book that it is true to say that this paradigm aims to recapture elements of the two theories regarding the prime source of conflict in society, which Marxism defines as class and radical feminism sees as sex. This will, to Jaggar, involve at minimum, accounting for the females’ subordination both at the marketplace as well as in the procreative and maintenance responsibility of family life. Jaggar goes ahead to say that Marxism’s historical approach works in tandem with the passionate value reversals of radical feminism. For instance, it proves that traits used currently to devalue women would be meaningless in other settings, that is, “Emotionality” in feudal cultures, was considered a virtue during the Renaissance, while being “dependent” just means being a part of society. According to Jaggar, the Social feminism approach is the way to go, since it is starting to go past these insights derived from Western history and looks deep into the various patterns of women’s subordination in other cultures, which might be quite different. Jaggar concludes by saying that socialist feminism is on its way to having a coherent theory and she expects it to encompass parts of the radical feminism movement in future. We can connect Jaggar to Socialist feminism’s theory because according to her book, the ultimate goal of feminism is to eradicate class and abolish gender distinctions. To do so, she gives recommends the following changes in all social systems: attaining real reproductive freedom (the means of which alter with changing technology), the equitable involvement of both men and women in family life, readjusting of wage levels in relation to gender, and the continuity of a few separate women’s organizations as provisional, experimental institutions. Jaggar’s anticipates that her agenda will form a source of dramatic, antagonistic, social turmoil, but she also considers it both achievable and desirable. Application Professor Alison Jagger has clearly demonstrated the fact that females have the same mental capability as the males and therefore qualify to get the same opportunities in all spheres political, economic, and social. Jagger demonstrated this by demanding equality, and rights for women including equal jobs opportunities and pay altogether. According to Alison’s books, eliminating the barriers to social equality automatically liberates women through challenging the ideologies of patriarchy. Jaggars numerous works have contributed to enhancing clarity of the ideologies. Her material is in plenty on the internet and this has helped in widening and extending the reach of the theories to the whole world. Her works have helped in solidifying most definitions, so that as the many interested parties are dissecting them today, they remain intact and not over- analyzed into meaningless definitions and contradictions.   This socialist feminist, Professor Alison Jagger has been very vocal in challenging the ideologies supporting capitalism and patriarchy. Her articles and books openly criticize the traditional Marxism for over emphasizing the need for waged labor away from home. She has inspired many more women to join in the movement and push for reforms in the way jobs are distributed between men and women, adding that their needs to be a balance in social class. No particular individual should be allowed to amass vast amounts of fortune at the expense of others because this is the cause of oppression in the world. It is in light of this matter that Alison Jaggar collaborated with Iris Marion Young to appropriate Marxist categories in regards to labour and economic structures, and highlighting the need for shunning the Marxist approach. According to Jagger, socialist feminism may be a more consistent Marxism Just like the radical feminists, in socialist feminists view, although women are categorised by race, ethnicity, class and religion, they collectively face the same kind of oppression. Socialist feminist know that the only way to deal with this vice is through putting an end to gender and class. Women must work in the midst of men in all spheres. In order to accomplish anything, women must be willing to work alongside men, not ostracizing them. They should push for some form of a coalition between them and ensure that they are seen as equals in all spheres of life (Jaggar, 1988). Contrary to liberal feminist ideals that tend to dwell on the individual woman, this feminist theory looks into the broader perspective of social relations in the society and encompasses all other aspects of life including race and ethnicity. Jaggar headed a massive campaign in 1995 to remove Women’s Studies under the American Studies program, terming the American Studies designation as “increasingly inappropriate.”In her view, the female gender is analogous to the proletariat in Marx’s class schema. In one of her publications, she claims that the political economy of socialist feminism is clear that, in any given society, the female gender suffers a special form of exploitation and oppression and goes on to explain what she means by their stance on feminism issues. The professor’s socialist feminism is deep rooted in her antagonism with Marxist class analysis, which seems not to respect the female gender. In her view, nearly all undesirable social conditions, like the women oppression of women, traced back to the doorstep of capitalism. Jaggar writes that although the standpoint of the ruling class is a reflection of the interests of just a single section of the entire population, the standpoint of those oppressed by the system reflects the interests of the whole community in that throughout the period. In simpler words, the viewpoint of the revolutionary agent is wholesome and is in tandem with historical truth. In her documentations, she proposes the elimination of all social, political, and economic foundations in society, most importantly; education wise, in relation to work, sexuality, and parenting. According to Professor Alison Jagger, these areas must undergo complete transformations. For example, she advocates for the stopping sexual division of labor, which stereotypically traps both men and women into occupational groups. Jagger demands that women be respected for all forms of work they take up, within fields that were traditionally for both males and females, and adequately remunerated for their work. They should all be free from economic and gender biased constraints. Female need to reunite with the fruits of their labor, by putting an end to the alienation resulting from being forced to adjust our goals, personalities, and very lives to the perception of others. According to Professor Alison Jagger, men and women are not gender-biased in nature but their selection socially constructs. While attending "Conference on Feminism, Epistemology, and Ethics," in 1995 Jagger released a document titled "One Is Not Born a Man," (Jaggar, 1988) which put forward the notion that the biological gender roles are not fixed and that the roles of men and women can be changed. According to her, God created people equally and therefore they deserve equal rights. She believes that there is oppression because of the manner in which men and women socialize, claiming that it supports patriarchy and is the main reason men remain in power positions. Reference Sylvester, C. (1995). Feminist theory and international relations in a postmodern era. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Madsen, D. L. (2000). Feminist theory and literary practice. London [u.a.: Pluto Press. Jaggar, A. M. (1988). Feminist politics and human nature. Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Littlefield. Smith, D. E. (1987). The everyday world as problematic: A feminist sociology. Boston: Northeastern University Press. Jackson, S., & Jones, J. (1998). Contemporary feminist theories. Edinburgh: Edinburgh Univ. Press. Parati, G., & West, R. J. (2002). Italian feminist theory and practice: Equality and sexual difference. Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. Read More