We know feminism is calling for equality between the sexes. However, there are different groups of feminists that want the same thing but take different approaches. Jess Bourne speaks to Kiana Baker-Sohn about the different theories within feminism
Liberal feminism is widely seen as the origin of the feminist movement and the origin of integrating women into society. It’s somewhat unknown that women played a massive part in ending the slave trade in the UK. Once they managed to achieve this, women started to question where their place in society was.
At its core, liberal feminism was used to ask the questions of how do we get women to be recognised and have the same legal rights as men.
“It’s essentially this idea of still fighting to have those same rights and same participation in society. We see women wanting to become integrated into the structures that exist so they have equal footing, equal rights, equal opportunity and equal chances that are afforded to men,” says Kiana Baker-Sohn, a feminist writer.
Liberal feminists are also working with pre-existing structures, such as legal, social or economic structures and the fight is hopefully to bring cultural change.
“The idea is if we bring enough women into university, if we have enough women that are CEOs, if we have enough women that are running for prime minister, hopefully we can start changing the idea of what women are capable of,” adds Kiana.
Radical feminism is a counter to the idea that gender equality can be achieved if women are given the same chances as men.
Radicals recognise that women are still oppressed and there is gender-based violence, but they argue that the structures in society are the problem. Even if women do become CEOs, they believe that the female is just at the top of a system that reinforces and reproduces dynamics that are harmful to women.
“You may find that radical feminism is how feminists approach the issue or what they see as a problem, rather than the content of things. Radicals focus on institutions just as much as how we socialise with each other and how we’re conditioning people,” says Kiana.
At the core of radical feminism is the concept that we need to tear down the entire patriarchy, long-standing institutions and governmental systems.
Radical feminists look beyond the differences and look into what the aspects are that are keeping women unequal and oppressed.
For example, feminist radicals see porn as a real issue that needs to be resolved. “Looking at pornography is a huge issue. It’s something that is conditioning boys into violence and viewing women as sexual objects, instead of partners,” Kiana explains.
Intersectional feminism was coined between the late 70s and early 80s and its proponents strive to acknowledge and address that different aspects of your identity, especially marginalised identities, don’t exist separately – instead they have their own unique experiences.
This type of feminism understands that females from minorities may face racial oppression that is combined with gendered oppression. When it was first coined, it was used to explain the distinct misogyny that particularly black women were faced with.
“Saying I’m an intersectional feminist is often used as a signifier that the person knows the history of feminism and has been very exclusionary on behalf of white women. There is a history of putting white voices on a pedestal,” Kiana explains.
“Even being able to say that I’m a feminist that is capable of considering identities that aren’t personally mine. Feminism doesn’t start and stop with people’s personal identities.”
Trans feminism and queer feminism also fall under the intersectional feminism theory, as again, the concepts acknowledge that individuals have different and distinct, but still valid experiences.
Socialist feminism stems from socialist thinkers looking into how capitalist societies oppress the worker and they then started to think about how they oppress women and subsequently the female worker.
As women are the ones to reproduce the working class, it’s in the best interest of the capitalist class to ensure women are subservient and not give them any sort of economic independence.
Socialist feminists recognised that women were stereotypically the ones to stay at home to be a housewife and decided that socialist programs needed to include feminism.
Socialist feminists see the need to implement a new socialist government which takes out the patriarchy as the middleman and create measures that allow for women to thrive. They are striving for greater economic independence, greater education possibilities, better work-life balance, social welfare, and social housing programs.
“They connect the class struggle to their gender struggle,” Kiana says.
