What Are The Basic Traits Of Liberal Feminism? Essay

Gender can be defined as “sex roles” which are conditions that one considers to be for men or women. People tends to mistake it with sex or thinks that they are both the same. We discussed about the patterns of gender which how the authors of The Kaleidoscope of Gender describes it as “regularized, prepackaged ways of thinking, feeling, and acting” (Spade and Valentino,2017). It becomes an identity for us. We believe that there is and can only be two genders, being masculine for men and feminine for women. These roles has been forced onto us since birth: blue for boys, and pink for girls. You can see the roles being push onto a person throughout one’s life, but we don’t notice it since it’s “normal” to us.

Until the 1960s, feminism was widely regarded as a sub-set of liberalism and socialism, rather than as an ideology in its own right. Today, however, feminism can be considered a single doctrine in that all feminists subscribe to a range of ‘common ground’ beliefs, such as the existence of a patriarchal society, and the desire to change gender inequalities. Then again, it can be argued that feminism is characterised more by disagreement than consensus, as three broad traditions: liberal feminism, Marxist or socialist feminism, and radical feminism, which often contain rival tendencies, are encompassed within each core feminist theme. This essay will argue that, despite tensions between its

Both Deborah Blum’s The Gender Blur: Where Does Biology End and Society Take Over? and Aaron Devor’s “Gender Role Behaviors and Attitudes” challenges the concept of how gender behavior is socially constructed. Blum resides on the idea that gender behavior is developed mainly through adolescence and societal expectations of a gender. Based on reference from personal experiences to back her argument up, Blum explains that each individual develops their expected traits as they grow up, while she also claims that genes and testosterones also play a role into establishing the differentiation of gender behavior. Whereas, Devor focuses mainly on the idea that gender behavior is portrayed mainly among two different categories: masculinity and

Gender is actually a set of rules, customs and traditions assigned to people of a particular sex. Gender is not biological but sex is. Rather, according to Lorber, it is influenced by our society and our culture. By proving this claim, Judith Lorber has put forth the example of the man and this example is efficient in distinguishing “gender” as a practice than as an innate attribute.

What does it mean to be a woman or man? Whether we a man or a woman, in today’s society it is not determined just by our sex organs. Our gender includes a complex mix of beliefs, behaviors, and characteristics. How do you act, talk, and behave like a woman or man? Are you feminine or masculine, both, or neither? These are questions that help us get to the core of our gender and gender identity. Gender identity is how we feel about and express our gender and gender roles: clothing, behavior, and personal appearance. It is a feeling that we have as early as age two or three. In the article, “Becoming Members of Society: Learning the Social Meaning of Gender,” the author, Aaron Devor, is trying to persuade his readers that gender shapes how we behave because of the expectation from us and relate to one another. He does this by using an educational approach, describing gender stereotypes, and making cultural references. He gets readers to reflect on how “Children’s developing concepts of themselves as individuals are necessarily bound up …to understand the expectations of the society which they are a part of” (389). Growing up, from being a child to an adult is where most of us try to find ourselves. We tend to struggle during this transition period, people around us tell us what to be and not to be, Jamaica Kincaidt in her short story, “Girl” tells just that, the setting is presented as a set of life instructions to a girl by her mother to live properly. The mother soberly

Liberal feminism is grounded in the ideological framework of liberalism and therefore shares a commonality with liberal themes of human nature. Whilst acknowledging the biological differences between sexes, early liberal feminists argued that prevailing liberal ideas should also be applied to women. Therefore, both men and women possesses natural rights, they should have equal rights under law and share equal opportunity (Beasley 1999).

The main view of liberal feminism is that all people are created equal by God and deserve equal rights. These types of feminists believe that oppression only exists because of the way men and women are socialized by society, which supports patriarchy and keeps men in powerful positions. Liberal feminists believe that women have the same mental capacity as males and should

Liberal feminism wanted to integrate women into modern day society. The argument was that social problems were mostly caused by the ignorance and social constraints of freedom of choice for women. The inequality in gender resulted from the socialization that forces everyone to grow up with the wrong ideas that men and women cannot choose how to live their own lives. They have been taught from the beginning of life that men and women are

Firstly, Liberal feminist are focused on human and civil rights and freedom of individuals, to summarise, they believe that all humans should have equal rights within their society. They believe that society changing itself to help women does not happen. Liberal feminists believe the status of women changing can become a reality if laws that are oppressing for women change because it would create more opportunities for women to prove that they are equal to men. Oakley explains a difference between sex and gender. Oakley believes sex differences are set

Liberal feminists-is all about maintaining their equality and this is judged on the way they act as a person or the choices they choose to

Secondly, liberal feminism has been criticised because it tends to assume that all women accept their gender identities in a passive way. Liberal feminism also does not take race or class into consideration. Marxist feminists believe women's subordination is down to the influence of capitalism. Women are seen as a reserve army of labour.' Companies only hire them when they really need them, and they do less important jobs than men, making them more disposable. Women change jobs more frequently than men, so are more vulnerable at times of redundancy, they tend to be less skilled, and capitalist ideologies locate women in the home.

Feminism is the movement that promotes equality for men and women in political, economic and social issues. Feminists believe that women are oppressed due to their sex based on the dominant ideology of patriarchy. Going against social norms of patriarchy will result in liberation for women, men, minorities, and gays. There are many different types of Feminism, which includes Liberal, Radical, and Social Feminism. Liberal feminism is reformist who believes in the viability of the present system, which includes education and employment. These types of feminists believe that oppression exists because of the way in which men and women are socialized, which supports patriarchy and keeps men in power

In Lorber article she talks about how gender roles are socially constructed “gender is constantly created and recreated out of human interactions, out of social life, and the texture and order of the social life”(Lober,65 ) and how gender is something that we see everywhere and anywhere that we already have an idea on how males and females have to act. Every time I went to visit my family they would ask me if I knew how to cook and take care of babies the way I was ready to get married. In spring break I went to visit some family and when I was there they question me why my daughter had a boys car seat and how she was not wearing girl color clothes.

5. The feminist theory is a wide-range of ideas centered from a woman perspective. Within this theory, there are many different spin offs. To begin the liberal feminist, focuses on gender differences and gender inequality. Specifically, how men benefit more in society than women. This theory keys in o the differences that are so evident in society. Gaining a lot of momentum in the 1960’s, this theory sees the inequality as a result from patriarchal and sexists patterns within institutions. Specifically, In Patricia Lengermann’s chapter she claims a lot of this inequality established from injustice in labor, but it is also seen in other institutions of society like marriage, households, and government. Therefore, this theory called for change in law and custom to allow women to have their deserving equality in society. They see change for equality by the use of the state. Specifically, according to Lengermann, they fight change for equal educational and economic opportunities, and eliminate the sexist message in many public and private institutions. Another big element is liberal feminist believe inequalities between men and women are socially constructed. Although liberal feminist seek change through policy, they are often criticized of being overly optimistic. It also misses the fact that there deep structural causes to women oppression, and laws can’t always just fix these problems. Some will also argue the theory benefits white women more than any other racial group.

Liberal feminists believe society does not have to be completely restructured to achieve empowerment for women and to incorporate women into meaningful and equitable roles. An example of this characteristic from the liberal branch is seen in the political system in the United States. It is harder for women to advance in politics due to the fact that it is a realm that has been dominated by men for a long period of time. In today’s day and age, we see more female politicians coming to the forefront, and are dissolving the notion that politics only involves men by showing that they too are knowledgeable and interested in the political processes. This demonstrates liberal