Marxist, Feminist And Postmodernist Ideologies

For many decades, women have experienced all forms of oppression and constant violence that threatened their existence in the male-dominated society. Various forms of discrimination and oppression have been directed to women for decades. Violence directed at women such as rape and battery were seen and treated as isolated scenarios. However, as the need to foster gender equality took pace, such oppressive actions are now perceived as elements of a wider system of dominance in the society that that needs to be addressed as a whole rather than in singularity

The futuristic society that Huxley imagines revolves around class. Its these class issues that cause most of novel’s, A Brave New World, internal conflicts. I will be looking at this novel trough the Marxist Lens. Humans are categorized into different castes, for their birth it is determined what they would be and what they can achieve when they go out invoiced. The classes are forced to be able to be distinguished as they are dressed per their class, “Alpha children wear grey …Gammas and Deltas… all wear green, … Delta children wear Khaki.” (Huxley, 27). We also learn later in the novel that Beta wear maroon and Epsilons wear Black. The different classes are taught through hypnopaedia that they are good at their place, “I’m really awfully glad I’m Beta, because I don’t work so hard” (Huxley, 27), this prevents the proletariat from rebelling against the aristocrats. The reason this system is in place because the elite were concerned that opportunities were given to those who were less influential. Therefore, the Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon embryos are poisoned. This results in them being not as intelligent as the Alphas, and Betas. Which means that the proletariats are there to severe and they can’t even change that because they like where they are in society.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO,2010) a key element to preventing gendered violence is achieving gender equality. Similarly, the Senate report on Domestic Violence and Gender Inequality (Commonwealth of Australia, 2016) recognises that gender inequality in all aspects of life is a main contributor to the prevalence of domestic violence in Australia (p. 3). The United Nations’ (UN) likewise argues that Violence against women is rampant throughout history because of unequal power relations between men and women (UN,

The Modern era is classified as the period that started as the World War I ended. There where huge changes in technology. International corporations began to rise in power. They began to “westernize” with values, such as the appeal to industrialization, personal political rights, democracy, a background of knowledge in mass and education, private ownership of the means of production, the scientific method, public institutions, a questioning in God, and the independence of woman. Then by the year 1939 the Second World War took place and as it ended a new literary period began to form. A new period that dates from around the year 1945 to the present day is called Postmodernism. Postmodernism is difficult to define since there are not so

Feminism is a very popular and controversial concept in today’s world. Feminism is a range of ideologies as well as social and political movement all aiming for a common goal to define, establish and achieve equal rights and position to women legally as well as socially. The people with these ideologies are commonly known as FEMINIST. Feminism theory is not only about understanding but also to take action. Naturally people expect women to be related to the idea of feminism and be a feminist rather than men. Men have taken part as significant cultural and political responses within each wave of feminism movements.Feminist men have also argued alongside scholars that liberation of men from the socio cultural constraints of gender roles and sexism is a significant part of feminist activism and scholarship.

For years, women have fought to gain the same rights and treatment as men. Those women that have been fighting to gain equality have been held back and their opportunities have been stripped away from them due to the simple fact of being women. “Feminism is the belief in social, political, and economic equality of the sexes” (Scholz 2013). The feminist movement has been the key factors in helping women gain equal rights for those who have been underprivileged of their rights and equivalence that society refuse to give to them. A woman has every right to be treated equally to men and feminism is accomplishing this slowly. Feminism is not only beneficial to women, it helps both men, women, and children because it is allowing the communities

By evaluating the situation and lives of women in society, the feminist perspective is defined as a source of social inequality, group conflict and social problems. For feminist, patriarchal society is the foundation of social problems. The patriarchal male dominated society where women are meant to justify the rule through devaluation; however, the definition of patriarchy has dominated the powerful group expanded to include the social devaluation of the power rating (Leon-Guerrero, Anna, 2015).

A worldwide movement encompassing all disciplines, postmodernism arose in response to the dominant idea of modernism, which is described as the social condition of living in an urban, fast-changing progressivist world governed by instrumental reason.

To fully appreciate the differences and similarities between Postmodernism and Modernism, it is required to understand exactly what they are. Modernism is the term we give to the accumulated creations and activities of designers in the early 20th century, who had the theory that traditional forms of literature, religion, social organization, and most of all, art and architecture, had become outdated in the new social, political, and economic environment of a fully industrialised world. One of the main characteristics of Modernism is self-consciousness, which typically caused exstensive experimentations of form and function. The creative process of generating work was also explored, forming new techniques in design. Modernism rejected all ideology of realism and prefers to reference and parody works of the past. Postmodernism, on the other hand, is a radical rejection of Modernist design. Taking place in the late 20th century, it is a movement in art, criticism, and architecture that disputes the majority of modernist tendencies. The Postmodernist analysis of society and culture lead to the expansion of critical theory and advanced the works of architecture, literature, and design. This entire re-evaluation of the western value system of popular culture, love, marriage, economy, that took place from the 1950s and 60s, leading to the peak of the Social Revolution in 1968, is commonly referred as Postmodernity which influenced postmodern thought, as opposed to the term

As reported by, feminist criminologists, their perspective of rape and sexual assault differ between liberal and radical feminists. Liberal feminists’ viewpoint in regards of rape as a gender-neutral assault on a persons’ autonomy and mainly focusing on the harm that rape can do to an individual. In contrast, radical feminists describe rape as a subject to be recognised and understood as a major pillar of patriarchy; a social system in which men claim the positions of dominance and control of the central norms and values that are linked with masculinity (Johnson, 2005: p. 4-15). The radical feminists believe that rape is a patriarchal structure within male power, thus displaying the harms that rape can do to an individual and as a group of women. Furthermore, the radical feminists approach view rape as male have the control and authority over the use of women’s bodies, which involves the sexual and reproductive. Hence, this is the core element of patriarchy, Radical feminist believe that rape is one of many forms that connects men’s sexual exploitation and violence, as well as, reinforcing women’s oppression (Whisnant, 2013).

Feminism and feminist social theory unlike other theoretical perspectives is woman-centered and inter-disciplinary, hence promotes methods of achieving social justice. The feminism and feminist social theory takes into consideration three questions, what of the women? Why is the present social world as it is today? Additionally, how can the social world be changed to make it more just for the women and all people alike? In recent developments, feminist theorists have begun questioning the differences between women. The areas under question include race, ethnicity, class, age intersect, and gender. In summation, the feminist theory involves the concern with giving women world over voice, and highlighting how they have contributed to the

In this paper, we will analyze Catharine MacKinnon’s work Feminism, Marxism, Method, and the State: An Agenda for Theory, and the unique way in which she tries to form a metaphorical parallel between Marxist theory and relate this to her stance on feminism. She uses this distinctive technique to develop her feminist theory of law. While most would agree that she is very innovative in her approach, we will try to examine the problems with looking at feminism and feminist theory in this manner. While not completely discrediting MacKinnon, the purpose of this paper will be to shed light on the dangers of trying to hijack Marxist theory, stifle it into a corner, and cover it in feminist theory, much like An Agenda for Theory does. We will then look at ways in which we can liberate Marxist theories form MacKinnon’s tight associations and give ideas to help them guide modern feminism as a helpful resource, instead of making it a clear cut metaphorical dictator to truthfully understanding Feminism and feminist theory.

The word “feminist” has caused turmoil wherever it is uttered. It has gained a negative connotation, and is often mistaken with misandry. While these claims may be true for a minimal number of feminists, the truth is that in order to get an accurate representation on what feminists actually believe one would have to go to the source. The two main problems with that, are that first of all, it is “not rigidly structured or led by a single figure or group”, and most importantly there is not just one kind of feminism, there are hundreds in each aspect of our life (Tavaana, 2014). The most under represented group within feminism is the kind that is in the government. Not all have the same theories, and therefore, do not have the same

Postmodernism was a reaction against the modernism philosophical values and assumptions. Although many agree that there is a thin line between modernism and postmodernism, postmodernism is not modernism. In modernism, scientific theories were used to determine what is true. However, postmodernism allows individuals to question the theories and not take them as facts (Duignan, 2014). While modernism emphasized on objectivism, postmodernism allows extensive subjectivism in all aspects of life.

Postmodernism refers to a broad term used to explain movements in philosophy, art, music and critical theory. Postmodernism is viewed as a reaction to the pioneering modernist movement. In literature and art, postmodernism responds against classical ideas. With respect to post-structuralism and structuralism, there is a great difference between postmodernism