To what extent is women’s liberation being hindered by disunity amongst feminists?

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TO WHAT EXTENT IS WOMEN’S LIBERATION BEING HINDERED BY DISUNITY AMONGST FEMINISTS?

This paper will attempt to discuss what feminism is, what the movement has achieved in recent years and whether the discord between the various factions within the feminist movement is having a detrimental effect on women’s fight for equality.

        “Feminism is the political theory and practice to free all women: women of color (sic), working-class women, poor women, physically challenged women, lesbians, old women, as well as white economically privileged heterosexual women.  Anything lees than this is not feminism, but merely female self-aggrandizement(sic).” (Barbara Smith 1979; quoted in Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua eds 1981, 61: Kramarae C. & Treichler, 1985, A Feminist Dictionary, Pandora Press, London)

The Women’s Movement is not a new phenomenon, the first written documentation dates back to the 16th Century but the first wave of feminism was seen between approximately 1850 and 1930.  The most widely known feminist movement was that of the suffrage campaign which started in the 1860’s when the first petition was presented to parliament demanding the right for women to vote on equal terms with men.  By 1918 women were allowed to vote but only those over the age of thirty years old who owned property or were married to a property owner.  The suffragettes famously won the right for all women to vote on equal terms with men in 1928.  The struggle to gain the vote for women was a united mass movement, however the women’s movement has since broken down into factions, each seemingly with their own ideologies and their own approach to tackling the issues.

Although there are many factions now to the Women’s Movement, such as Black Feminists, Lesbian Feminists and Marxist Feminists, the three main tendencies could be said to be Radical Feminists, Socialist Feminists and Liberal Feminists during the 1960s and 1970s, which saw a lot of unrest amongst the feminist movement.

Radical Feminists believe the root of women’s oppression was men.  They identify “the social system as a patriarchal structure premised on competition, power over others, and male superiority.” (Ryan B, 1992, Feminism and the Women’s Movement, p55)  The system of male power over women is what oppresses and discriminates against them.  Radical Feminists take the social constructionists view that gender differentiation is not defined by biological differences.  Biology does not equal destiny.

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Socialist Feminists, sometimes called Marxists feminists, believe that it is the system that is the problem.  They believe that whilst a small minority of people, mainly male, have the majority of the wealth and power equality is impossible. They could be associated with anti-imperialist groups and left wing political parties.

Liberal Feminists favour reform rather than complete change.  They are known for adopt a much more formal strategy in the fight for women’s liberation such as lobbying governments and trying to change legislation through influence rather than direct action like the Radical Feminists who they thought went too ...

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