FEMINIST CRITIQUES OF SOCIAL THEORY

Feminist Critiques of Social Theory

Feminist Critiques of Social Theory

Although there are many arguments about the way feminism has been defined (some even say it cannot and should not be defined), feminism is basically about the disparities regarding how society treats men and women, with women mostly being unable to fully participate in all of society's institutions. Feminists believe that society considers male point of views as the norm, and women's' as inferior. Consider, for example, how, for the longest time, females are always ridiculed for being able to express their feelings freely (tagged as being emotional). Feminists wish to change this long-standing approach and move towards a different belief of how women are viewed and treated. Feminists believe that their way of thinking will give the world a new standpoint on how everything around us is seen and done.

Although it seems as if there are varied types of feminism, there really are no boxed-in qualifications for it. Let us think of feminism as different flavors that can be mixed together to make the best taste.

Nevertheless, I would like to discuss three "types" of feminism, liberal, Marxist, and radical feminism, which I believe would help us understand feminist studies.

Liberal feminism was a movement that started in the 1960s. These feminists believe that society (specifically males) has treated women unfairly since time immemorial and they intend to obtain equal rights this oppressed group by changing women's public image (Littlejohn). This view mostly serves women who already have a dominant position in society. Liberal feminism is concerned with obtaining equal rights through legislation and adopting existing norms and structures for their own purposes. In media, this is generally concerned with the invisibility and misrepresentation of women but does not challenge the structure.

Marxist feminism stems from Marxist theories. Although it was just initially concerned with class differences, it eventually moved its interest to patriarchy as an oppressive force affiliated with capitalism. Marxist feminism views the media as accessories in the patriarchal and capitalist practices and is concerned about pornography and its issues.

Radical feminists believe that changing women's public image is just the tip of the iceberg. They believe that there is a need to change the patriarchal social structure of society. They do not want equal rights because this means the women are still conforming to the rules of the male. They want to have an identity separate from the man (Littlejohn) and to glorify women. Radical feminism promotes alternative media.

Stemming from these schools of thought are feminist studies, which examine gender with respect to society. Many aspects of our lives are "gendered". Let us look at the English language for example and compare it to Filipino. Although we do have terms such as babae and lalake for woman and man, we do not differentiate from man or woman when it comes to our pronouns: siya for he or she. In Japan, not much thought was put into women's names, because only the first-born son carried on the ...