Introduction
Feminism is a general term used to describe a very broad and complex
ideology. There are lots of different feminist theories and approaches, as well as several different types of feminists. The most straightforward meaning however describes it as ‘a movement advocating the rights of women and of their social, political and economic equality with men’ (Scruton 150). Feminism views the personal experiences of women and men through gender identity (how people think of themselves), gender roles (how people act), and gender stratification (each sex’s social standing) are all rooted in the operation of society.
Certainly, as long as women have been subordinated, they have resisted that subordination. Sometimes the resistance has been collective and conscious. Despite the continuity of women’s resistance, however, only within the last two or three hundred years has a visible and widespread feminist movement emerged that has attempted to struggle in an organized way against women’s special oppression (Jaggar, 49).
There are two types of feminism, the liberal and radical feminism. Liberal feminism is the dominant ideology of modern society and is grounded in classic liberal thinking that individuals should be free to develop their own talents and pursue their own interests and should be treated according to their individual merits rather than on others basis’s such as in the feminist’s case, sexual characteristics (Oakley 85). But because liberalism evolved in a context in which the private sphere of the family was excluded from political demands for equality, in which traditional social arguments remained strong, and in which the Church upheld women’s subordinate role in the family, liberal feminism developed.
Radical feminists, meanwhile, find the reforms called for by liberal feminism to be inadequate and superficial. The main goal for radical feminists is not to introduce equal rights, (they do not want women to become like men) but to free women from patriarchal control, the main challenge to patriarchy being in the form of separatism. While liberal feminists wish to create equality in society and are quite happy to live with men so long as they are not treated as lesser citizens, some radical feminists wish to see a policy, which would see women, cut themselves off from men entirely both socially and sexually (Fuss, 111).
In spite of the clear context of feminism, there are still some questions which arise regarding the feminism theory. Hence, different social leaders have been able to focus on understanding feminism and try to answer the questions that are being attached to feminism. These three social groups include the socialists, the social democratic and the communist groups. Primarily, the main goal of this paper is to determine whether socialist, communist and social democratic leaders address the question of feminism. The first part of the discussion includes the evolution of feminism and the second part will focus on the main topic of this paper.
Evolution of Feminism
In the mid-1800s the term feminism was used to refer to the qualities of females, and it was not until after the First International Women’s Conference in Paris in 1892 that the term, following the French term feministe, was used regularly in English for a belief in and advocacy of equal rights for women, based on the idea of the equality of the sexes. Although the term feminism in English is rooted in the mobilization for woman suffrage in Europe and the US during the late 19th and early 20th century efforts to obtain justice for women did not begin or end with this period of activism (Rendall, 2002).
Other notable 19th-century feminists include, Emma Goldman, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Margaret Sanger. Feminism is not a new concept. Women have defended their rights, as they perceived them, on various battlefields throughout history. Even so, in the modern sense, Feminism can be said to have begun around 1830′s with the women’s movement for suffrage. Women, as a collective unit, stood together asserting their rights as members of society, to take equal part in the government that supposedly represented them. This movement is now known as the First wave of Feminism. Some forty years later women began mobilizing again and hence The Second Wave of Feminism arose out of the demand of equal pay for equal work.
In a sense, feminism has always existed. Certainly, as long as women have been subordinated, they have resisted that subordination. Sometimes the resistance has been collective and conscious. Despite the continuity of women’s resistance, however, only within the last two or three hundred years has a visible and widespread feminist movement emerged that has attempted to struggle in an organized way against women’s special oppression (Jaggar, 96).
One of the most important features of second wave feminism was the recognition that power was found in private as well as public life, and that for many women it was oppression in the private sphere that in fact harmed them the most. The popular political slogan of the day, The Personal is Political reflected the newfound importance of exploring the exercise of power in a variety of settings. As Arneil concludes, that each of the various forms of feminism developed its own ideas about how to break through this oppression of women in the private sphere (195).
Feminist theory is still a well – known and widely supported ideology, however, its high point was during the 1960′s and 1970′s in which many
of the goals that were sought, particularly by the liberal feminists, for instance the vote, equal opportunities at work and so forth have been more or less achieved. Some radical feminist ideas too, such as the legalization of abortion etc have also now been accomplished, although the other recommendations, concerning reproduction outside the female body have more or less been dismissed as too radical. The basic goal however for feminists from the beginning of the movement had been to emancipate women from society’s patriarchal order and this on the surface seems to have been achieved. More and more women are being employed in influential posts at work, men are seen to do more domestic and child associated activities and women of course now have the same access to education as men. However, it can also be seen that the majority of women in today’s society are still playing the
stereotypical female role in society.
Socialist Leaders and Feminism
As mentioned, one of the groups which gives emphasis about the context of feminism are the Socialists groups which is headed by Karl Marx. It can be said that socialist feminists have spent much time thinking about issues regarding feminism, leading to the development of a rich body of feminist thought and practice. There are six central features of socialist feminism: class/capitalism, revolution, patriarchy, psychoanalysis, subjectivity and difference. These six features suggest a wide-ranging and eclectic mixture of ideas and influences which minimally include Marxism, radical feminism and psychoanalysis. This mixture of influences together with the tensions over class versus gender all combine to make socialist feminism a fascinating and very complex set of ideas and practices. Additionally, the fortunes of the politics of socialism around the world over the last couple of decades (especially with the demise of the Soviet Union) have necessarily impacted on all forms of theoretical socialism, including socialist feminism. This all adds to the complexity of contemporary socialist feminism.
Clearly socialist feminism has been deeply influenced by Marxism, but, the term ‘socialist feminism’ more accurately captures the breadth and numerous strands of this form of feminism. Nevertheless, it was Marxist theories of class and capitalism that initially inspired socialist feminists. However, their concern with women’s specific experiences within capitalism led them in a variety of directions. Initially a classic argument was that women were second-class citizens within systems of capitalism and patriarchy. Such systems depended on the exploitation of working people and the special exploitation of women (Humm :213). Marxist principles were applied to analyse how women’s work in the home was crucial to the functioning of capitalism and yet how it was not regarded as ‘real work’ as it was not part of the market economy.
Given socialist feminists’ commitment to analysing class as well as gender, it’s not surprising that other forms of difference began to be impossible to ignore. Ignoring differences around race and sexuality was a major criticism levelled at socialist feminists. In 1984 a group of black feminists took over editorial control of the socialist feminist journal Feminist Review, in which the claim was made that ‘a particular tradition, white, Eurocentric and Western, has sought to establish itself as the only legitimate feminism in current political practice’ (Amos and Parmar, 3).
Socialist view for feminism have had to deal seriously with charges of racism and Western bias in their construction of theories which are predicated on the relationship between class and gender hierarchies, to the outright neglect, or at best, the marginalization, of other axes of oppression (Marshall, 86). The issue of sexuality too, much of it stemming from radical feminism, caused major problems for socialist feminism. For some feminists, it was the issue of sexuality, rather than race, which produced the fundamental rift between feminists at the end of the 1970s and which ‘shattered any potential unity about the nature, direction and goal of feminism’. Briefly put, the existence of lesbianism and the concomitant issues of political lesbianism and/or separatism combined with the radical feminist insistence on the reality of men’s violence added further tension and complexity to socialist feminist theory and practice.
A flavour of that complexity can be found in this list of socialist feminist aims outlined by Alison Jaggar in 1983, namely: to reconstruct knowledge (Jaggar, 377); to abolish class and gender (ibid.: 317); to better material conditions (ibid.: 318); to abolish workerhood and womanhood as social categories (ibid.: 343); to construct a political economy of women’s subordination (ibid.: 134); and the material over-throw of male domination (ibid.: 384). All this was to be achieved by material and psychic revolution. A liberal feminist in the 1990s might turn to a socialist feminist and remark on the lack of success in achieving all these aims.
Social Democratic and Feminism
Briefly, since the experience of the great economic depression with its severely high levels of unemployment in the 1920s there is possibly no single aspiration with which social democratic parties in Europe have identified themselves more closely than the achievement or maintenance of full employment. In fact, social democratic theory has been primarily concerned with searching for and applying a strategy which viewed the welfare state and full employment policies (i.e. social and economic citizenship) as necessary preconditions for a socialist transformation of society that was envisaged to be based on a modified efficient capitalist economy (Esping-Andersen & van Kersbergen, 188). In line with the questions of feminism, regarding the role of women in the society, social democratic parties give emphasis about the freedom from oppression.
The main goal of the Social Democratic is to help the society build an alliance which will promote freedom from oppression. The social democratic has been the key for the emergence of independent women’s liberation movement. The oppression of women as a sex involves the objective basis for the mobilization of women in struggle within their organisation. With the women’s movement, more women are being enlightened with their right against oppression. The social democratic supports the development of women’s movement for the liberalization. Such commitment are based on the nation that women must be considered as an essential component of the working class, and like men they can be a potential ally of the working class in the struggle to eliminate capitalism.
Communists and Feminism
In modern times, a Communist party is also regarded as a political party which supports communism. Communism means a political theory which favors collectivism in classless society. Communist Parties first began to be universally established throughout the world in the early 20th century. Communists are duty bound to discover, comprehend, engage, where appropriate, integrate insights from the different feminist perspectives, be they liberal, left or radical perspectives. In line with the question about feminism and the role that women must play in the society. Communist party pays attention for the concept of equality for women. Communist party clearly notes that men and women are distinct beings and the experiences of men are different from the experiences of women. However, communist part is against the notion of individualistic-subjectivistic which implies that women and men exist in separate realities. Accordingly, the communists believe that individual and society, including the subjective and objective emerge in relation to one another, in a whole, dynamic and single reality.
Thus, the communists are against the notion that the theories on gender, race and other singular aspects either confront the notion of Marxism or alters it as a universal theory of value and political practice and application. In France and in Italy, the communist parties have led in battles for reform of women’s status. The Eurocommunist CPs, have been able to show that they give importance to women by allowing them to be engage in public discussion and promote scornful condemnations of the responsibility of capitalism for the miserable treatment of women. However, in line with Eurocommunist CPs program and action, the approach to the freedom of women is like the opposition to a class-struggle fight for other demands of the working class.
Reason for Differences
Feminism can be best explained as the support for the social equality of the sexes, leading to opposition to patriarchy (social organisation in which males dominates females) and sexism. In concept and procedure feminism is highly variable. Those who see themselves as feminists advocate differing levels of criticisms of patriarchy and advance according alternatives to the status quo.
It can be said that Socialist, Social Democratic and Communist leaders and parties have a common ground in terms of adhering to the questions of feminism and the role of the women in society. However, each has their own way and concepts on how to address the issue about feminism. Such differences are caused by the different goals of each leaders and parties. The socialist group gives more emphasis about the capitalism issue about women, on the other hand, the social democratic highlights the freedom of oppression while the communist groups gives value to right of women to be part of the labour market and to see the capabilities of women equally with men.
The differences of the perception of the three groups about feminism can also be attributed to the variety of approach they use in order to enlighten women about their rights and roles within the society.
Conclusion
It shows that with the emergence of feminism theory and ideologies, different groups of people from the society have been able to contribute to this movement. Socialist, social democratic and communist parties are able to provide support to make the society realise the importance of women and the role that they play within the society. It can be concluded that although the approach of the three parties and leaders about feminism and the whole concept of womanhood are different from each other and their focus are not the same, the three only shows one objective and that is to understand better feminism and make other people realise the importance of women in the society.
Reference
Amos, V. and Parmar, P. (1984) ‘Challenging Imperial Feminism’, Feminist Review, vol. 17, pp. 3 – 19
Arneil, Barbara. Politics and Feminism. An Introduction, 1999.
Esping-Andersen, G. and K. van Kersbergen, ‘Contemporary research on social democracy’, Annual Review of Sociology, 18, 1992, pp. 187-208.
Fuss, Diana. Essentially speaking: Feminism, nature and difference. New York: Routledge, 1989.
Humm, Maggie, Feminisms and Women’s Movements in the 1990s. 1999
Jaggar, Alison M. Feminist politics and human nature. Sussex: Harvester, 1983.
Marshall, Barbara L. Engendering Modernity: Feminism, Social Theory, and Social Change. Northeastern Univ. Press, 1994.
Oakley, M. What is Feminism? Basil Blackwell, 1986.
Rendall, J Women’s politics in Britain 1780-1870:Claiming citizenship, York, 2002.
Scruton, R. A Dictionary of Political Thought. Harper & Row, New York, 1982.
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