Feminist Family Theories PDF

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Feminist Family Theories History  Theory has its roots in the feminist movement  Modern feminist movement (2nd wave of feminism): 1960s  Betty Friedan, Gloria Steinem, NOW  Movement toward resolution of issues such as equal pay, job training for women, reproductive choice, maternity leave, subsidized child care, end to sexual discrimination  Several branches of feminists  Liberal feminists  Marxist feminists  Radical feminists  Socialist feminists  Most feminists in the U.S. have most closely aligned themselves with the liberal branch of feminism  By 1980s distinctions between the feminist branches have melted away  Feminists focused on issues relating to:  women’s second class status in society and in families  Reproductive rights  Discrimination in the workplace  How a gendered society affects socialization of women  1972: Jesse Bernard’s The Future of Marriage  His and her marriage  Male power and dominance were the result of socialization and challenged the concept that male power was natural and inevitable  1981: bell hook’s Ain’t I a Woman. Examines the historical impact of sexism and racism on Black women, devaluation of Black womanhood, media roles and portrayal, the idea of a white-supremacist-capitalist-patriarchy.  bell hooks def of feminism: a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression  1980s: Carol Gilligan’s In a Different Voice  Relational identities  1990s: The 3rd wave of feminism  Feminist scholars combined individual perspective of oppression with societal perspective

 Focus on the multiple forms of oppression that might be experienced on an individual basis as the result of societal oppression  MRF (Multiracial Feminism)  A “matrix of domination”  Gender  Class  Race  Ethnicity  Sexual orientation  Religion  Physical ability Basic Assumptions  Women’s experiences are central to our understanding of families  Gender is a socially constructed concept  Social and historical contexts are important  There are many forms of families  Emphasis is placed on social change  There is no objective, unbiased observation of humans Primary Terms and Concepts  Sex  Gender  Categorization  Stratification  Privilege  Social Deconstruction  Social Discourse  Praxis Feminist Family Theory  Definition: an analysis of women’s subordination for the purpose of figuring out how to change it (Gordon, 1979)  3 themes  The emphasis on women’s experience  The identification of oppression  The emancipatory purpose of feminist theory

Focus and Scope Assumptions  Women’s experience is central  Feminist theory has many voices  Feminist theory is emancipatory Concepts  Gender and sex  Sex: biological distinction between male and female  Gender: cultural and learned component of being male and female  Family and household  Public and private  Sexism  Inequality/oppression Propositions  Gender structures our experience  Gender structures all societies  Women as a class are devalued and oppressed  As a result of sex, gender beliefs, and historical and continuing sexism and oppression, there exists a “female culture”  The family is not monolithic  The family is a central institution for the reproduction of oppression Empirical Applications  Gendered division of labor  Measuring diversity in feminism Common Areas of Research Application  Division of labor within the family  Family violence Implications for Intervention  Family policy  Feminists working toward policy reforms (wage discrimination, sexual and physical violence, sexual harrassment, reproductive freedom, quality daycare…)

 Family therapy  Attempt to correct the conservative political stance inherent in traditional family therapy  Family scholarship  Aims to address, uncover oppression, include voices of marginalized groups  Advocates of “reflexive” methodology (subjective values are acknowledged and incorporated into the research process) Critiques  Oppressive to men by focusing only on issues that affect women  Theory works outside the parameters and paradigms of traditional scientific base of knowledge  Activist position  Working against the traditional nuclear families  Pays too much attention to the oppression of women vs. other oppressed groups  Feminist family theory is not a theory, but an ideology  Can women’s experiences (ideas) be subject to disconfirmation?  Which feminist values determine “true liberation” (e.g., Marxist, Radical etc.)?  Theory needs more emphasis on family rather than men vs. women  Core concepts of feminism need more development...