Book No. –  3 (Political Science – Western Political Thought)

Book Name Western Political Thought (OP Gauba)

What’s Inside the Chapter? (After Subscription)

1. What is Feminism?

1.1. Nature and Origin of Feminism

1.2. Distinction between Sex and Gender

2. Spheres of Discrimination Against Women

2.1. Political Sphere

2.2. Economic Sphere

2.3. Cultural Sphere

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Basic Tenets of Feminism

Chapter – 27

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Harshit Sharma

Alumnus (BHU)

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Table of Contents

What is Feminism?

Nature and Origin of Feminism

  • Feminism is a mode of thought focused on the condition of women in society, causes of their suffering and deprivation, and measures to restore their due share in prestige, power, and wealth.

  • Feminist political theory demands redefining the concept of ‘political’ to include relations between men and women, which were traditionally excluded as they were considered part of the private sphere (domestic, workplace, school, street).

  • The public-private dichotomy has distorted political theory and needs rectification.

  • Feminism asserts women suffer injustice because of their sex, seeking redressal of this injustice, rooted in the institution of patriarchy, not reason.

  • Early feminism emerged post-Enlightenment, aiming to extend ‘rights of man’ to women.

  • Pioneers like Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792) and Harriet Taylor advocated equal rights.

  • John Stuart Mill, influenced by Harriet Taylor, argued for women’s competence and equal rights (The Subjection of Women, 1869).

  • Friedrich Engels highlighted patriarchy in women’s subjugation (The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, 1884).

  • Engels noted that before monogamy, lineage was reckoned through the female line, and women had respect; monogamy led to erosion of respect and patriarchal family dominance where women became subordinated and exploited.

  • Patriarchy literally means ‘rule of the father’, now broadly signifies male domination and oppression of women in all spheres of life.

  • Patriarchy includes control over reproduction, violence, sexuality (including pornography), and work culture.

  • Modern theories postulate a fundamental division of interests between men and women due to gender relations social structuring.

  • Some attribute patriarchy to biological differences (men’s strength in warfare, women’s reproductive roles).

  • Others see sexuality or male violence as instruments of control over women.

  • Feminists highlight men’s benefit from women’s unpaid domestic labour and low-paid labour in the workforce.

  • Feminist sociologists provide three main accounts of patriarchy:

    1. Cultural dominance of male-origin symbols (influenced by French psychoanalysts and structuralists).

    2. Household economic, sexual, and cultural domination of men over women, viewing marriage as a labour contract exchanging unpaid domestic work for upkeep.

    3. Marxist feminism sees patriarchy and capitalism as mutually supporting systems, where men’s exploitation of unpaid domestic labour reduces capitalist labour costs; women are segregated into low-wage jobs outside the home.

  • These different accounts highlight various facets of women’s exploitation and should be integrated to understand the full situation.


Patriarchy

Literally, Patriarchy means ‘rule of the father’. Originally this term was used to describe a social system based on the authority of male head of the household. Now it is applied to denote male domination in general, including its occurrence in labour market as well as domestic division of labour.

Enlightenment (The Age of Reason)

Enlightenment refers to an intellectual movement of eighteenth-century France, Germany and Great Britain. It was a period when people’s religious and political life was set free from obscure and orthodox beliefs and new light was shed on the conduct of human affairs. This led to the growth of a new outlook informed by reason and committed to the authority of scientific research and discovery. Old superstitions were discarded, old fears were dispelled, and new faith in the knowledge obtained by scientific method was developed.

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