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feminism essay

Decent Essays

Asses the influence of feminist perspectives to our understanding of society and sociological research methods (33 marks)
Feminism is a structural perspective; it uses the macro approach to try and particular areas of the world from a woman’s point of view. It also aims to understand the structure and organisation of society which appears to keep women as a disadvantaged, subordinated and dominated group overall in most aspects of life.
Feminism is a second main conflict theory, which is similar to Marxism in its views (exploitation/domination), but unlike Marxism which is the exploitation of the, proletariat by the Bourgeoisie, Feminism focuses on the dominance of women by men. Walby helps us in our understanding of society today, …show more content…

As a result, men become more powerful. Most societies appear to have been patrilocal, and evidence to support this is that this practice was found in 69% of the world 's cultures that have been described ethnographically. However, in criticism of this, it is n6FfüTJn our understanding of male dominance in society today as it is not prevalent in the modern world anymore.
Liberal Feminism recognises the increased equality achieved between men and ( women. Oakley 's study in particular is useful to our understanding of why there is male dominance in society today. She says that the position of women — varies greatly between societies and over time. Women have always worked, but during the industrial revolution, married women and mothers were taken out of the paid workforce. Before this time, both men and women worked inside and outside the home producing agricultural goods or cloth. During the 1800s, children started to work in factories along with men after moving from the countryside to towns. However, the Factory Act (1819) banned children under 9 from being employed. Because married women and mothers were already taken out of the workforce previously, it meant that the women were more likely to stay at home to care for the children, leading to their primary role becoming a 'housewife ', while the family became reliant on the wages of the husband alone. Although historically, the reliance on men for finances was only short lived, it had a long lasting psychological

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