18.1.4

Difference, Egalitarian & Intersectionality

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Difference and Egalitarian Feminism

Equality or egalitarian feminists seek equality for men and women in society whereas difference feminists argue that men and women have a fundamentally different nature from one another.

Egalitarian feminism

Egalitarian feminism

  • The main goal of egalitarian feminism is to achieve full equality with men.
  • Liberal feminists have emphasised the goal of equal legal and political rights in the public realm.
  • Radical feminists extend demands to full equality in the domestic sphere, including sexual equality.
  • Socialist feminists believe equal rights have no meaning without full social and economic equality.

Difference feminists

  • Difference feminists disagree with these egalitarian goals and argue that women should not desire to be "like men".
  • They argue that men are often associated with aggression, competitiveness and dominance, whilst women are often associated with empathy, cooperation and creativity.
  • They should adopt a pro-woman position instead and celebrate these differences separately e.g in a “sisterhood".

Intersectionality

Intersectionality, a newer strand of feminism, argues that black and working-class women’s experiences of patriarchy are different from white, middle-class women.

Post-modern thinking

Post-modern thinking

  • Recent post-modern thinking criticises earlier feminists for giving too little attention to the plight of the most vulnerable groups of women e.g. Black, LGBTQ+ and poor women.
  • This led to the notion of “intersectionality”, a term developed by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, which focuses on multiple identities and complex social experiences.
bell hooks

bell hooks

  • bell hooks (intentionally uses lowercase) is a prominent writer on intersectionality.
  • She argued that issues of racism and sexism are inextricably linked.
  • This has influenced other strands of feminism e.g. Black feminism, LGBTQ+ feminism, and class-based analysis, though some argue this risks further fragmentation of feminism.
Identity

Identity

  • Intersectionality has been argued to shift focus away from a single unified women's identity.
  • Rather, it seeks to modernise thinking to better represent the diverse experiences and identities of women in contemporary society.
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