The Sceptical Feminist Rle Feminist Theory

Author : Janet Radcliffe Richards
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136194207
Total Pages : 316 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (361 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Sceptical Feminist (RLE Feminist Theory) written by Janet Radcliffe Richards and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-11-12 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A systematic and original study of feminist issues, The Sceptical Feminist fights a battle on two fronts: against the view that little or nothing is wrong with women’s position, and at the same time against much current feminist dogma. It is written by a philosopher who, in the tradition of John Stuart Mill’s classic The Subjection of Women, avoids the psychological and sociological speculation characteristic of much recent feminism and concentrates on the analysis of arguments. By these means she constructs a powerful and often unexpected case for radical change in the position of women, as well as for a change of attitude among many feminists. From her analysis, Janet Radcliffe Richards argues that positive discrimination in favour of women is essential for justice, that traditional sexual roles never had anything to do with beliefs about each sex’s capabilities, that current abortion practice reflects a disguised wish to punish women’s sexual activity, that ‘women’s work’ is rightly little valued, and that traditional ideals of femininity are inherently pernicious. But she also argues that a movement for sexual justice cannot ‘take the woman’s side in everything’, that feminism should not be thought of as the primary struggle, that dismissing ‘male’ logic and science will undermine feminists’ own intentions, that the state should not subsidise motherhood, that ever available crèches would be disastrous for women, that there is no inherent degradation in prostitution, and that contempt for beauty and adornment has nothing to do with feminism. This is a book for feminists, for their critics, and for students of moral, political and social philosophy.

Author : Roberta Hamilton
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136194274
Total Pages : 117 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (361 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book The Liberation of Women (RLE Feminist Theory) written by Roberta Hamilton and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-11-12 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Liberation of Women, Roberta Hamilton explores two of the key questions that have been systematically raised by the Women’s Liberation Movement: why have women occupied a subordinate position in society and how can the variation in the forms and intensity of their exploitation and oppression be explained? Within the Women’s Liberation Movement there have been seen to be two different and opposed answers to these questions: a feminist answer and a Marxist one. The feminist analysis has addressed itself to a patriarchal ideology, locating the source of male domination and female subordination in the biological differences between the sexes. Marxists, on the other hand, have seen the origins of female subordination in the growing phenomenon of private property, which, in their view, has made possible and necessary the exploitation of these biological differences in the modern world. This new work attempts to examine this debate in specific analytical terms through a study of the changing role of women during a particular historical period – the seventeenth century. In the course of less than one hundred years the rise of capitalism and the acceptance of Protestantism had separately and together radically altered every aspect of a woman’s life. Can both a feminist and a Marxist analysis account for these changes? Do such accounts conflict with each other, making a choice inevitable? Do they overlap to such an extent that retaining both would be redundant? Or, finally, are they complementary, can they usefully coexist? To answer these questions Roberta Hamilton tries to work out the changes that can be attributed to the emergence of capitalism (a Marxist explanation) and those that stemmed from the transformation in patriarchal ideology (a feminist explanation). The Liberation of Women will be of particular interest to students of history, sociology and Women’s Studies and to those who have been involved in the Women’s Liberation Movement. In particular, it will prove essential basic reading for an ever-growing number of courses on sexual divisions in society and the role of women.