Feminism, the belief in equality amongst the sexes, politically, socially, and financially. A simple term so anger-inducing, so often misconstrued, villainised. Yet, feminism is but a way to ensure that all humans are equal to others regardless of sex or gender, a small stepping stone in all the factors that cause inequalities that exist in society. Feminism is not for man-hating women who aim to be superior to men –that would be misandry— nor is it lunacy, ‘too political’, or only for women; feminism is for everyone.
Our society’s patriarchal structures have rendered it a necessity, prompting feminist revolts to come in waves, each addressing a different issue after some have been solved. The First Wave of feminism took place in the nineteenth to twentieth century as women protested for political rights, particularly the right to vote by the likes of Emmeline Pankhurt and the suffragettes, followed by the Second Wave in the 60s to the 80s continued the objectives of the first wave and targeted workplace and societal discrimination with Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. In the 1990s, the Third Wave considered intersectionality in feminism, and now we find ourselves in the Fourth Wave of feminism with the internet being employed to advance the empowerment of women and justice for mistreatment with the #metoo movement.
Liberal feminism was the first of the three main branches of feminism to arise, where references to the political-economic system known as liberalism. This strand of feminism focuses on addressing the issue of gender inequality through reforms. Liberal feminism is most concerned with individuals and equal opportunities, working to integrate women into mainstream society’s structure. Its origins date back to the First Wave of feminism in the nineteenth century as the feminist movement centred around women’s suffrage and access to education.
Liberal feminism’s principles follow from the belief that the disparity between the sexes originates from the division of labour between men and women which in turn emerges due to the housewife’s reliance (homemaker) on her husband (provider). From these ideas, the liberal feminist view follows that women are not of inferior ability to men; rather, they are merely not given the same economic opportunities because of their sex. Once these issues are resolved, women will then be able to achieve economic independence and gender equality will come about naturally after that.
The problem with liberal feminism is due to its prevailing ties to the capitalist aspects of liberalism and patriarchal structures. Due to evolving ideas, laws, and social practices, liberal feminism cannot be narrowly defined, nevertheless, it promotes a reformation of the division of labour amongst the sexes which translates to disregarding domesticity and engaging in the labour market in practice. However, despite claims seen in the media, the advancement of gender equality cannot simply be evaluated by an increase in the number of female executives. Additionally, currently, the women who primarily benefit from a more open work force are white, educated, middle-class women who have knowingly or not chosen to adhere to the same system that oppresses and throws women in hazardous and low-paid positions.
Its ties to capitalist liberalism lead liberal feminism to encourage individual empowerment rather than that for the entire female community. Liberal feminism ultimately ends up adapting and maintaining social inequality by claiming niches inside the patriarchal capitalist structure with hierarchies forming on the basis of disparities within class, gender, race, etc. As a result, it benefits the elite 1% who naturally have access to greater opportunities that move them closer to being on an equal footing with men.
Furthermore, liberal feminism’s superficiality can be critiqued. While many liberal feminist principles are correct, they do not tackle the real problem of the patriarchy but mere symptoms of it. Its fundamental goal is to reform our current society to make males equal to females, but such an approach will never achieve gender equality due to the deeply embedded patriarchal institutions in our world that view women as inferior. This system, rather than liberating women, strives to make the discussion superficial by fostering ideas of ‘girl power’ that only obliquely reference the major concerns of the feminist movement. This reduces feminism to nothing more than an illusion designed to prevent women from realising the oppression and exploitation to which they continue to be subject.
Another aspect that liberal feminists advocate for is the legalisation of sex work as a way of challenging the stigma that revolves around it in order to reduce discrimination towards the profession. They demonstrate how, when carried out skillfully, sex work can be a respectable occupation with substantial social significance. Liberals support the idea that women should be free to choose what they do with their bodies since such labour may be empowering. Nonetheless, this viewpoint overlooks the serious psychological and physical harm that women in this field endure as well as how deeply entrenched patriarchal norms are in such employment. Sex work, be it prostitution or on online platforms, promotes the patriarchy and the dominance of men over women in its most fundamental form, which works against the goal of establishing gender equality.
The antifeminist nature of sex work has been disguised by presenting it as a common industry, leading to its current popularistion through online sites as a form of self-empowerment and exercise of bodily autonomy. This in turn leads to the strengthening of patriarchal ideas as it reinforces that women are mere objects available for men’s pleasure. While women who find power in the choice to objectify themselves to men are not mistaken for doing so, the issue arises when men begin to view all women as objects, not just those who choose to do so. Women partaking in the industry are not in the wrong, as it is the last resort for many, however, it is the institution of sex work which innately in the incorrect for its patriarchal values. So long as the problem of gender inequality is addressed at the root, sex work will always intrinsically be an exploitation of women as the practise encapsulates broader patriarchal structures.
But if liberal feminism doesn’t present solutions that will solve gender inequality, then what will?
The answer lies in radical feminism which aims to dismantle the patriarchal structures of our society so as to tackle disparities between sex and gender at its origin. In contrast to liberal feminism, radical feminism focuses on men’s oppression of women, both privately and politically, rather than individuals and equal opportunities. Men are viewed as the historical perpetrators of the subordination of women, hence in order to combat gender inequality must be through addressing the power and violence of men. This viewpoint aims for transformation rather than merely reformation in order to create a new social structure so that women and men are intrinsically equal, and where anyone else is equal to the other regardless of their sex, gender, sexual orientation, or ethnicity. Radical feminists acknowledge that no meaningful change can come about without radical change from the oppression of patriarchal and capitalist frameworks to minorities. Women’s liberation won’t have taken place until all women are free.
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