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1.11: Feminist Family Theory

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    308788
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    Feminist theory is a theoretical perspective that is couched primarily in Conflict Theory assumptions, but has added the dimension of sex or gender to the study of society. Feminist theorists focus on the inequality of power between men and women in society and in family life. The feminist perspective is about choice and about equally valuing the choices individuals make. \({ }^{26}\) Feminist theories are a group of theories which focus on four important themes: recognition of women's oppression; an examination of what contributes to the maintenance of that oppression; a commitment to ending the unjust subordination; a futuristic vision of equality. \({ }^{27}\)

    Women's subordination appears in works of Plato, who believed that men were more virtuous by nature, and others who believed men had more intellectual and reasoning capabilities. Following the industrial revolution, the women's movement emerged in the 19th century. Elizabeth Cady Stanton established the National Organization of Women (NOW). Susan B. Anthony was chosen to represent the Suffragists (women who worked for the vote for women) because of her less radical views. By the 1880s there was widespread support for obtaining the vote. Many believed women deserved the vote due to their maternal virtues while others believed women and men were equal in endowments. Women won the right to vote in 1920. In the 1960s there was a resurgence of the feminist movement which grew from the movement for the rights of African Americans. This wave of the feminist movement focused on equal pay for equal work, dissatisfaction and depression among American housewives, and power as central to the social construction of gender. \({ }^{28}\)

    The major assumptions of feminist theories are that women are oppressed; a focus on the centrality, normality, and importance of women's experience; gender is socially constructed; the analyses of gender should include the larger socio-cultural context; and the term "family" supports women's oppression because it contains class, cultural, and heterosexual biases. \({ }^{29}\)

    Liberal feminists believe gender should not be a barrier since men and women are endowed with the same rational and spiritual capacities. They are committed to social and legal reforms that will create equal opportunities for women, ending sex discrimination, and challenging sex stereotyping. \({ }^{30}\) Social feminists believe women are oppressed by capitalism. Their focus is on redefining capitalism in relation to women's work. Radical feminist theories insist the oppression of women is fundamental. Radical feminists believe the current patriarchal system must be eliminated. Attention is directed towards issues of the body such as men's control over women's sexuality and reproduction, and men's use of rape and violence to violate women. \({ }^{31}\)

    The strengths of feminist theories are that they can be applied to a broad range of issues and they provide valuable critique of other theories and perspectives that lack a focus on gender and power. These theories are limited in that research and practice are often emotionally charged and there can be an overemphasis on gender and power. \({ }^{32}\)


    Footnotes

    26. http://hhd.csun.edu/hillwilliams/542.../Theory.htm
    27. Avis, 1986
    28. http://hhd.csun.edu/hillwilliams/542/Feminist/Family/Theory.htm
    29. http://hhd.csun.edu/hillwilliams/Feminist/Family/Theory.htm
    30. Osmond \& Thorne, 1993
    31. http://hhd.csun.edu/hillwilliams/542/Feminist/Family/Theory.htm
    32. http://hhd.csun.edu/hillwilliams/542/Feminist/Family/Theory.htm


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