Feminist movements and ideologies
A variety of movements of feminist ideology have developed over the years. They vary in goals, strategies, and affiliations. They often [|overlap], and some feminists identify themselves with several branches of feminist thought.
Groupings
Traditionally feminism is often divided into three main traditions, sometimes known as the "Big Three" schools of feminist thought: liberal/mainstream feminism, radical feminism and socialist or Marxist feminism. Since the late 20th century, a variety of newer forms of feminisms have also emerged, many of which are viewed as branches of the three main traditions. Many of these forms of feminism have developed due to intersectionality. Women regardless of race have faced challenges, but more often than not women of color have faced greater challenges because of their intersectionality. The article "Intersectional power struggles in feminist movements: An analysis of resistance and counter-resistance to intersectionality" by Mariana Munoz-Puig describes intersectionality as important because in order to create a movement based on solidarity, it is necessary to include other women's issues and experiences to create true solidarity amongst all groups. Despite the aim for inclusivity the group who often leads the feminist movement are white, middle-class, cisgender, heterosexual, and able-bodied women which leaves out other women who may not fall into any of these categories and their goals for the movements Although simply discussing the different identities of women is not enough as women view their intersectionality separately, so it is important for feminist to engage in thoughtful discussions to engage intersectionality into their movement.Judith Lorber separates three main categories of feminist discourses: gender revolution, gender resistance, and gender reform feminisms. According to her typology, liberalism—a political philosophy that strongly emphasizes individual rights—is the foundation of gender reform feminisms. Gender-resistant feminisms concentrate on particular actions and group dynamics that maintain women's subordination even within subcultures that profess to be pro-equality. Gender revolution feminisms aim to upend the social order by dissecting its categories and concepts and examining how inequality is reproduced in culture.
Movements and ideologies
Mainstream feminism
"Mainstream feminism" as a general term identifies feminist ideologies and movements which do not fall into either the socialist or radical feminist camps. The mainstream feminist movement traditionally focused on political and legal reform, and has its roots in first-wave liberal feminism of the 19th and early-20th centuries. Liberal feminism in this broad traditional sense is also called "mainstream feminism", "reformist feminism", "egalitarian feminism" or historically "bourgeois feminism", and is one of the "Big Three" schools of feminist thought alongside socialist and radical feminism.In the context of third-wave and fourth-wave feminism, the term is today often used by essayists and cultural analysts in reference to a movement made palatable to a general audience. Mainstream feminism is often derisively referred to as "white feminism", a term implying that mainstream feminists do not fight for intersectionality with race, class, and sexuality.
Some parts of third-wave and fourth-wave mainstream feminism has also been accused of being commercialized, and of focusing exclusively on issues that are less contentious in the western world, such as women's political participation or female education access. Radical feminists sometimes criticize mainstream feminists for not articulating the depth to which the state is part of "a system of patriarchy". Nevertheless, some argue that major milestones of the feminist struggle—such as the right to vote and the right to education—came about mainly as a result of the work of the mainstream feminist movement, which emphasized building far-reaching support for feminist causes among both men and women.
Liberal
asserts the equality of men and women through political and legal reform. Traditionally, during the 19th and early 20th century, liberal feminism had the same meaning as "bourgeois feminism" or "mainstream feminism", and its broadest sense, the term liberal feminism overlaps strongly with mainstream feminism. Liberal feminists sought to abolish political, legal and other forms of discrimination against women to allow them the same opportunities as men since their autonomy has deficits. Discriminations of gender, either in the workplace or in the home, and the patriarchal mentality in inherited traditions constitutes some cause for the liberals women's movement. Liberal feminists sought to alter the structure of society to ensure the equal treatment of women. The first and the second feminist waves were led by liberal feminists and they managed to formally and legally obtain many of equal right for women, including the right to vote, right to be educated, as well as the elimination of many other patriarchal paternalistic and moralistic laws.One of the earliest well-known liberal feminist, who had a huge influence with her writings was Mary Wollstonecraft. In her book 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman", she encouraged women to use their voices in making their own decisions and ignore the choices which previously others had made for them.
Liberal feminism includes many, often diverging branches. Individualist feminism or libertarian feminism emphasises women's ability to show and maintain their equality through their own actions and choices and uses the personal interactions between men and women as the place from which to transform society. This use of the term differs from liberal feminism in the historical sense, which emphasized political and legal reforms and held that women's own actions and choices alone were not sufficient to bring about gender equality. For example, "libertarian feminism does not require social measures to reduce material inequality; in fact, it opposes such measures... in contrast, liberal feminism may support such requirements and egalitarian versions of feminism insist on them."
Issues important to modern liberal feminists include reproductive and abortion rights, sexual harassment, voting, education, "equal pay for equal work", affordable childcare, affordable health care, elimination of prejudices and stereotypes and bringing to light the frequency of sexual and domestic violence against women.
Libertarian
According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, "Classical liberal or libertarian feminism conceives of freedom as freedom from coercive interference. It holds that women, as well as men, have a right to such freedom due to their status as self-owners." There are several categories under the theory of libertarian feminism, or kinds of feminism that are linked to libertarian ideologies. Anarcha-feminism combines feminist and anarchist beliefs, embodying classical libertarianism rather than contemporary minarchist libertarianism. Wendy McElroy has defined a position, which she labels "ifeminism" or "individualist feminism", that combines feminism with anarcho-capitalism or contemporary minarchist libertarianism, and she argued that a pro-capitalist and anti-state position is compatible with an emphasis on equal rights and empowerment for women. Individualist anarchist-feminism has grown from the United States-based individualist anarchism movement.Individualist feminism is typically defined as a feminism in opposition to what writers such as Wendy McElroy and Christina Hoff Sommers term political or gender feminism. However, there are some differences within the discussion of individualist feminism. While some individualist feminists like McElroy oppose government interference into the choices women make with their bodies because such interference creates a coercive hierarchy, other feminists such as Christina Hoff Sommers hold that the political role of feminism is simply to ensure that everyone's, including women's right against coercive interference is respected. Sommers is described as a "socially conservative equity feminist" by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Some critics have called her an anti-feminist.
Multiracial
Multiracial feminism offers a standpoint theory and analysis of the lives and experiences of women of color. The theory emerged in the 1990s and was developed by Dr. Maxine Baca Zinn, a Chicana feminist, and Dr. Bonnie Thornton Dill, a sociology expert on African American women and family.Though often ignored in the history of the second wave of feminism, multiracial feminists were organizing at the same time as white feminists. Not only did they work alongside other women of color and white feminists, but multiracial feminists also organized themselves outside of women only spaces. In the 1970s women of color worked mainly on three fronts, "working with white dominated feminist groups; forming women's caucuses in existing mixed-gender organizations; and forming autonomous Black, Latina, Native American, and Asian feminist organizations" The perspective of Multiracial Feminism attempts to go beyond a mere recognition of diversity and difference among women, to examine structures of domination, specifically the importance of race in understanding the social construction of gender.