Chapter 3: Theories
3.1. Feminist Theories
There are three major trajectories that can be detected within western feminism: radical, liberal and cultural feminism.
Radical Feminism
Radical feminism holds that patriarchy is a universal phenomenon that has existed across time and cultures, and it oppresses all women, irrespective of race, class or ethnicity in varying degrees (Siegel 2007; Clifford 2001; Willis 1990; Daly 1978). This system, radical feminists believe, allows systematic domination of women by men, where men exploit women, and men are chief beneficiaries of this exploitation, whilst women are victims. With radical feminists, the family institution is identified as the primary source of women‟s oppression in society.
(Mackinnon 1989) They posit that men exploit women in families through denying them (women) access to positions of power and influence, and also by relying on the free domestic labour that women provide in the home (Siegel 2007; Gilligan 1990). Most radical feminists in their interpretations of the basis of patriarchy agree that it involves the appropriation of women‟s bodies and sexuality; they argue that men control women‟s roles in reproduction and child-rearing (Giddens, 2005, p.115). Radical feminists claim that because women are biologically able to give birth to children, they become dependent materially on men for protection and livelihood (MacKinnon 1989). Siegel (2007, p.41) and Firestone (1971, p.95) describe this as a socially organised „biological inequality‟ which leads to „sex classes‟ in families. Some radical feminists have picked up male violence against women as central to male supremacy. They submit that domestic violence, rape and sexual harassment are all part of the systematic oppression of women, rather than isolated cases with their own psychological or criminal roots (Giddens 2005). Furthermore the radical feminists find popular conceptions of
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beauty and sexuality as being imposed on women by men so that men can produce a certain type of femininity that will serve their interest (Giddens, 2005 p.114). Hence, some radical feminists according to Clifford (2001, p.24) are critical of traditional romantic love because man is the initiator, and the woman is expected to be submissive or at least passive. Giddens substantiates this observation through an example of social and cultural norms which emphasize a slim body and a caring and nurturing attitude that perpetuates women‟s subordination. The “objectification” of women, as he prefers to call it, through media, fashion and advertising also turns women into sexual objects whose main function is to please and entertain men (Giddens, 2005, p.115).
Walby (1990) in her book Theorizing Patriarchy advances that a variety of institutions and practices, including media, religion and education (formal and informal) produce representations of women “within a patriarchal gaze” (Walby, 1990, p.20) These representations influence women‟s identities and prescribe acceptable standards of behavior and action (Daly 1978). She further distinguishes two distinct forms of patriarchy: private patriarchy and public patriarchy. Private patriarchy is domination of women in the family, at the hands of an individual patriarch, whilst public patriarchy is the subordination of women in public realms such as politics and the labor market, where women remain segregated from wealth, power and status (Walby, 1990, p.21).
According to these theorists, in patriarchal societies men are expected to work outside the home while women are expected to care for children and clean the house. They find this traditional dichotomy to favour men because it enables them to maintain males as economically more powerful than females (Gilligan 2000; Mackinnon 1978); hence the traditional family structure should be rejected, according to radical feminists. Furthermore, radical feminists suggest
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changes, such as finding technology that will allow babies to be grown outside of a woman's body, to promote more equality between men and women. This will allow women to avoid missing work for maternity leave, which radical feminists argue is one reason women are not promoted as quickly as men within the workplace.18
There are also theories that pertain to a feminist radical theological perspective, most eloquently articulated by Mary Daly (Hinga, 1990, p.37). In the same spirit with secular radical feminists that women are oppressed by societal systems, and hence they must be overthrown, she has come to the conclusion that the Bible is useless, and it cannot benefit women in their struggle against oppression. According to Daly “the Bible is not only inherently patriarchal, both in its doctrines and statements about women, but it has also been used as a tool to keep women down” (Hinga, 1990, p.38). She disputes the identification of the male with divinity, whilst she finds the so-called women‟s role models in the Bible to be perpetrating the glorification of the male sector (Daly 1973:45). For example, Jesus Christ as the women‟s role- model was a sacrificial lamb that could not protest against his crucifixion, and so should women silently suffer oppression. Mary the mother of Jesus also had humility virtues, and the attitude “be it done unto me according to thy will” (Hinga, 1990, p39). According to Daly, imitation of such submissiveness is detrimental to women who wish to break out of their submissive status (Hinga, 1990, p.39). She does not leave out the biblical narratives and the Genesis accounts of creation, which seem to proclaim that the suffering of women, through child-birth, domestication and subjection by men, is their just desert for the role they played in the fall of humanity (Daly, 1973, p.19). Daly therefore advocates a total rejection of the Bible
18http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/724633/feminism/216007/The-suffrage-movement [accessed 08 September 2014].
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as an irredeemably patriarchal text, and she finds attempts by feminist hermeneutics to re-read it “to be useless if not a destructive task” (Ruether, 1983, p.94).
Liberal Feminism
Liberal feminists share some common beliefs with radical feminists in that they argue that oppression is a product of socialisation that keeps men in power positions; hence they are concerned with sexism and discrimination against women in all social units. They believe that women have the same capacity as men for moral reasoning and agency, but that patriarchy, particularly the sexist patterning of the division of labor, has historically denied women the opportunity to express and practice this reasoning19. Subsequently, women have been secluded from active participation in both the private and public spheres of life; thus, they whimper in low voices at the background (Gilligan 2009:10). Even after the daring women enter the public sphere, they are still expected to perform household responsibilities and nurture their children.
Liberal feminists find marriage to exacerbate gender inequalities in families and as such women do not benefit from being married as men do (Siegel 2007). With regards to the skewed sexual division of labor in both the public and private spheres, they advocate that it needs to be overhauled in order for women and men to be equal. Hence, they create and support acts of legislation that remove barriers for women, where they demand equal job opportunities and equal pay between women and men.20 Where liberal feminists differ from radical feminists is that they seek to work through the existing system to bring about reforms in a gradual way (Giddens, 2005, p.115) rather than through a radical overthrowing of the entire system.
19 http:www.academicroom.com/topics/what-is-feminist-movement [accessed 09 September 2014]
20http://www.caragillis.com/LBCC/Different%20Types%20of%20Femini.htm [accessed 10 September 2014].
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Just as we have shown above a feminist radical theological perspective that is a branch of the radical secular theory, there is also a liberal or reformist feminist theological theory. Some of the leading reformist scholars are Rosemary Ruether, Phyllis Trible and Elizabeth Schüssler Fiorenza. On the less extreme side of radical western feminist theological discourse, they represent the view that “social institutions are not distorted beyond repairs…aspects of culture and religions are salvageable, theology can help women in their struggle for emancipation and justice”.(Hinga, 1992, p.185) Hence they propose the reconstruction of the Bible with the view of emphasizing the central the role of women in it. (Hinga, 1990, p.44).
Cultural Feminism
The cultural feminist approach to gender differs from the earlier highlighted theories in that it addresses women's social locations in society by focusing on gender differences between women and men. Cultural feminism is sometimes called “romantic feminism” or “reform feminism”
(Clifford, 2001, p.22). It mostly concentrates on the liberation of women through individual change, the recognition and creation of a “women-centered” culture, and the redefinition of femininity and masculinity.21 Whilst cultural feminists find the essentialist understandings of male and female differences to be the major source of women‟s oppression, they argue that values that are traditionally associated with women, like nurturing and compassion can greatly contribute to the survival and betterment of societies.(Clifford, 2001, p.22). According to cultural feminists, society constructs human traits and then labels them feminine and masculine. Both women and men would often underrate “feminine” traits like nurturing, empathy, and caring for others, whilst they overate the “masculine” traits, such as autonomy, aggression, and being unemotional. (Ritzer and Goodman 2003). They further assert that most women, unlike most
21http://education-portal.com/academy/lesson/feminism [accessed 10 September 2014]
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men, continue to spend significant portions of their lives as primary caretakers of dependents, work of great value but either unpaid (within the family) or underpaid (Gilligan 1982). They stress that women are inherently nurturing, kind, gentle, egalitarian, and non-violent (Young 1993), and so women should reclaim and redefine their femininity through identifying, valuing and celebrating their unique characteristics (Giddens 2005).
Appropriation of the Three Feminist Trajectories
What the above overview of the three feminist trajectories has shown is that although feminism has evolved over time, and its approaches differ according to context, its concern is mainly to eradicate gender inequalities, whilst advocating equal opportunities, respect of dignity and social rights for both women and men. Hence, this study on the relationship between fertility and the construction of women‟s identities and personhood draws partially from each of the trajectories. Radical feminism highlights the „ugly‟ face of patriarchy that brainwashes women to think that their ability to bear children is what makes them „real‟ women. All three trajectories shared a common belief, which is central to my study, that the patriarchal family as a socialising agent is the primary source of women‟s exploitation, whilst men are beneficiaries.
While I share many of the views expressed within the three trajectories, my study resonates most with liberal feminism. This is because within radical feminism it is believed that women cannot be liberated from sexual oppression through reforms or gradual change; rather gender equality can only be attained by completely overthrowing the patriarchal order with its power relations that characterise it. Cultural feminists too argue that women‟s power resides within their biological essentialisms, reproduction being one of them. Since my study is concerned with women‟s lack of access to power when they cannot reproduce, this theory is lacking.
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African feminist theories provide more appropriate lenses through which to view my study phenomenon and it is to this discussion that we now turn.