feminist view on education gcse sociology

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The Feminist View of Education: An Outline, Explanation, and Analysis

Introduction

In sociology, the feminist view of education is a perspective that examines how education systems perpetuate gender inequalities and reinforce traditional gender roles. This viewpoint analyzes various aspects of education, including curriculum, teaching methods, and institutional practices, to understand how they impact gender socialization and contribute to the overall gender imbalance in society.

The Patriarchal Nature of Education

Feminist theorists argue that education systems are inherently patriarchal, meaning they favor and promote the interests of men over women. This bias is evident in several ways:

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• Curriculum: The curriculum often reflects a male-dominated perspective, with limited representation of women’s achievements and contributions. This omission reinforces the perception that women’s experiences and accomplishments are less valuable or significant.
• Gender Stereotypes: Education perpetuates gender stereotypes by assigning certain subjects, such as science and math, as more suitable for boys, while relegating others, like home economics and childcare, to girls. These stereotypes limit the choices and opportunities available to students based on their gender.
• Teacher Bias: Teachers may unknowingly exhibit bias by giving more attention and encouragement to male students, leading to disparities in academic achievement and self-esteem.

Gender Socialization in Education

Feminist scholars argue that education plays a crucial role in the socialization process, where individuals learn societal norms, values, and behaviors. In this context, education reinforces traditional gender roles and expectations, contributing to the perpetuation of gender inequalities. Some key points include:

• Reproduction of Gender Roles: Education often reinforces traditional gender roles by teaching students to conform to societal expectations. For example, girls are encouraged to be nurturing and passive, while boys are encouraged to be assertive and dominant.
• Hidden Curriculum: The hidden curriculum refers to the unspoken lessons and values that students learn through the educational system. This includes implicit messages about gender, such as the idea that boys are naturally better at certain subjects or that girls should prioritize their appearance over academic pursuits.
• Gendered Career Aspirations: Education can influence students’ career aspirations by directing them towards gender-specific professions. For instance, girls may be steered towards careers in nursing or teaching, while boys are encouraged to pursue careers in engineering or finance.

Challenges and Progress

While the feminist view of education highlights the inequalities and biases within the system, it also recognizes the progress made towards gender equality. Some challenges and advancements include:

• Gender Pay Gap: Despite improvements, women continue to face a gender pay gap, which is influenced by educational attainment. Feminist scholars argue that addressing gender inequalities in education is crucial to reducing this gap.
• Representation in Leadership: Women are underrepresented in leadership positions within educational institutions. Advocates for feminist education argue that increasing female representation in decision-making roles is essential for promoting gender equality.
• Intersectionality: The feminist view of education acknowledges the importance of considering intersectionality, which recognizes that gender intersects with other social identities, such as race, class, and sexuality. This perspective highlights the unique challenges faced by individuals who experience multiple forms of oppression.

The feminist view of education provides a critical lens through which to analyze how educational systems contribute to gender inequalities. By examining the curriculum, socialization processes, and institutional practices, feminists aim to challenge and transform the patriarchal nature of education. While progress has been made, ongoing efforts are necessary to create a more inclusive and equitable educational system that empowers all individuals, regardless of their gender.

Mr Edwards has a PhD in sociology alongside 10 years of experience in sociological knowledge

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Quick Revise - Perspectives on Education | AQA GCSE Sociology Revision Blast Video (Paper 1)

Last updated 28 Aug 2023

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This revision blast tests your knowledge and understanding of perspectives on education, which is part of the Education unit on Paper 1 (AQA GCSE Sociology).

It includes the functionalist, Marxist, feminist and interactionist theories, which are covered through a series of interactive quizzes and activities, with a bit of explanation thrown in.

You can also download the ppt file used to make the video so you can use the activities as part of your revision lessons.

Download your Perspectives on Education Revision Blast PowerPoint here.

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GCSE Sociology - Theories and theorists (student focused)

These resources cover Marxist, Feminist, Socialist and Interactionist theories, theorists and perspectives

Not seeing what you want? Is there are problem with the files? Do you have a suggestion? Please give us feedback, we welcome all correspondence from our users.

Feminism examines society from the point of view of and interests of women. They argue that mainstream sociology has been focussed on the consensus of men and has failed to deal with the concerns and interests of women.

• Feminist sociologists explore gender inequality, sexism and discrimination in society.
• They see sex and gender as different categories.

Sex and gender

• Sex refers to the biological differences between males and females.
• Gender is seen as different cultural expectations, ideas and practices linked to masculinity and femininity.

• Some feminist approaches see society as patriarchal, where men have power over women and dominate them.
• There are three main feminist approaches: Marxist, Radical and Liberal feminism.

Marxist feminism

• Marxist feminism takes a Marxist approach to the study of women, seeing them as doubly exploited in term of both workers and women.

Radical feminism

• Radical feminism focuses on the problem of men and male domination under patriarchy, where males dominate in every area of society.

Liberal feminism

• Liberal feminism focuses on measures to ensure that women have equal opportunities with men within the current legal system.

1 The Sociological Approach

1.1 Introduction to Sociology

1.1.1 What is Sociology?

1.1.2 Culture & Socialisation

1.2 Sociological Approaches

1.2.1 Marxism

1.2.2 Marxism 2

1.2.3 Functionalism

1.2.4 Feminism

1.3 The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.1 The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.2 End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach

2.1 Functions of Families

2.1.1 Functionalist Views on Family

2.1.2 Marxist Views on Family

2.1.3 Feminist Views on Family

2.2 Family Forms

2.2.1 What is a Family?

2.2.2 Nuclear Family

2.2.3 Families in a Global Context

2.2.4 The Rapoports & Family Diversity

2.2.5 Causes of Family Diversity

2.2.6 End of Topic Test - Family Forms

2.3 Conjugal Role Relationships

2.3.1 Conjugal Roles

2.4 Changing Relationships Within Families

2.4.1 Timeline

2.4.2 Domestic Abuse

2.4.3 Symmetrical Family

2.5 Criticisms of Families

2.5.1 Functionalist Views of Families

2.5.2 Marxist Views of Families

2.5.3 Feminist Views of Families

2.5.4 Declining Marriage Rate

2.5.5 End of Topic Test - Criticisms of Families

2.6 Divorce

2.6.1 Reasons For Rise in Divorce Rate

2.6.2 Consequences of Divorce

2.6.3 Functionalist Views

2.6.4 Marxist Views

2.6.5 Feminist Views

2.6.6 End of Topic Test - Divorce

3 Education

3.1 Roles & Functions of Education

3.1.1 The Functionalist Approach

3.1.2 Evaluating Different Perspectives

3.1.3 Types of School

3.1.4 Alternative Education

3.1.5 State & Private Schools

3.2 Processes Within Schools

3.2.1 Internal Processes

3.2.2 External Processes

3.3 Educational Achievement

3.3.1 Measuring Educational Success

3.3.2 Social Class & Education

3.3.3 Social Class & External Factors

3.3.4 Gender & Education

3.3.5 Ethnicity & Education

3.3.6 Parental Choice

3.3.7 History of UK Education Policy

3.3.8 Recent UK Education Policy

3.3.9 End of Topic Test - Education

4 Crime & Deviance

4.1 The Social Construction of Crime

4.1.1 Defining Crime & Deviance

4.1.2 Sociological Explanations of Crime

4.1.3 Interactionist Explanations of Crime

4.1.4 Alternative Explanations of Crime

4.2 Social Control

4.2.1 Informal Social Control

4.2.2 Formal Social Control

4.2.3 End of Topic Test - Social Construction of Crime

4.3 Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

4.3.1 Explanations of Crime

4.3.2 Social Class & Crime

4.3.3 Gender & Crime

4.3.4 Ethnicity & Crime

4.3.5 Age & Crime

4.3.6 Criminal Responsibility

4.3.7 The Prison System

4.3.8 Media Reporting of Crime

4.3.9 Functionalist Explanations of Crime

4.4 Data on Crime

4.4.1 Measuring Crime

4.4.2 End of Topic Test - Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

5 Social Stratification

5.1 Social Stratification

5.1.1 What is Social Stratification?

5.1.2 Functionalism

5.1.3 Socio-Economic Class

5.1.4 Socio-Economic Class 2

5.1.5 Life Chances

5.1.6 The Affluent Worker

5.1.7 End of Topic Test - Social Stratifictaion

5.2 Poverty as a Social Issue

5.2.1 Defining Poverty

5.2.2 Factors Affecting Poverty

5.2.3 Explanations of Poverty

5.2.4 Impact of Globalisation

5.2.5 End of Topic Test - Poverty as a Social Issue

5.3 Power & Authority

5.3.1 Weber

5.3.2 Sociological Perspectives

5.3.3 Power Relationships

5.3.4 End of Topic Test - Power & Authority

6 Sociological Research Methods

6.1 Research Methods

6.1.1 Research Design

6.1.2 The Scientific Method

6.1.3 Other Considerations

6.1.4 Primary Sources

6.1.5 Secondary Sources

6.1.6 Surveys

6.1.7 Sampling

6.1.8 Questionnaires

6.1.9 Interviews

6.1.10 Observation

6.1.11 Statistics

6.1.12 Case Studies

6.1.13 Longitudinal Studies

6.1.14 Ethnography

6.1.15 Experiments

6.1.16 Small Scale Research

6.1.17 End of Topic Test - Research Methods

Jump to other topics

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Functionalism

The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

GCSE Sociology - Theorists & Theories

Marxist, Feminist, Socialist and Interactionist theories, theorists and perspectives cover requirements for the teaching of both components in GCSE Sociology.

This resource suggests activities that will be appropriate for learning and teaching these units, however, teachers may wish to adapt and amend these to suit their particular circumstances.

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Feminist Theory in Sociology: Deinition, Types & Principles

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

On This Page:

Feminist theory is a major branch of sociology. It is a set of structural conflict approaches which views society as a conflict between men and women. There is the belief that women are oppressed and/or disadvantaged by various social institutions.

Feminist theory aims to highlight the social problems and issues that are experienced by women. Some of the key areas of focus include discrimination on the basis of sex and gender, objectification, economic inequality, power, gender role, and stereotypes.

Feminists share a common goal in support of equality for men and women. Although all feminists strive for gender equality, there are various ways to approach this theory.

Some of the general features of feminism include:

An awareness that there are inequalities between men and women based on power and status.

These inequalities can create conflict between men and women.

Gender roles and inequalities are usually socially constructed.

An awareness of the importance of patriarchy: a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate, oppress, and exploit women.

Goals of Feminism

The perspectives and experiences of women and girls have historically been excluded from social theory and social science.

Thus, feminist theory aims to focus on the interactions and issues women face in society and culture, so half the population is not left out.

Feminism in general means the belief in the social, economic, and political equality of the sexes.

The different branches of feminism may disagree on several things and have varying values. Despite this, there are usually basic principles that all feminists support:

1. Increasing gender equality

Feminist theories recognize that women’s experiences are not only different from men’s but are unequal.

Feminists will oppose laws and cultural norms that mean women earn a lower income and have less educational and career opportunities than men.

2. Ending gender oppression

Gender oppression goes further than gender inequality. Oppression means that not only are women different from or unequal to men, but they are actively subordinated, exploited, and even abused by men.

2. Ending structural oppression

Feminist theories posit that gender inequality and oppression are the result of capitalism and patriarchy in which men dominate.

4. Expanding human choice

Feminists believe that both men and women should have the freedom to express themselves and develop their interests, even if this goes against cultural norms.

5. Ending sexual violence

Feminists recognize that many women suffer sexual violence and that actions should be taken to address this.

6. Promoting sexual freedom

Having sexual freedom means that women have control over their own sexuality and reproduction.

This can include ending the stigma of being promiscuous and ensuring that everyone has access to safe abortions.

The Waves of Feminism

The history of modern feminism can be divided into four parts which are termed ‘ waves .’ Each wave marks a specific cultural period in which specific feminist issues are brought to light.

First wave feminism

The first wave of feminism is believed to have started with the ‘Women’s Suffrage Movement’ in New York in 1848 under the leadership of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

Those involved in this feminist movement were known as suffragettes. The main aim of this movement was to allow women to vote. During this time, members of the suffrage movement engaged in social campaigns that expressed dissatisfaction with women’s limited rights to work, education, property, and social agency, among others.

Emmeline Pankhurst was considered the leader of the suffragettes in Britain and was regarded as one of the most important figures in the movement. She founded the Women’s Social and Political Union (WSPU), a group known for employing militant tactics in their struggle for equality.

Despite the first wave of feminism being mostly active in the United States and Western Europe, it led to international law changes regarding the right for women to vote.

It is worth noting that even after this first wave, in some countries, mostly white women from privileged backgrounds were permitted to vote, with black and minority ethnic individuals being granted this right later on.

Second wave feminism

Second-wave feminism started somewhere in the 1960s after the chaos of the Second World War.

French feminist author Simone de Beauvoir published a book in 1949 entitled ‘The Second Sex’ which outlined the definitions of womanhood and how women have historically been treated as second to men.

She determined that ‘one is not born but becomes a woman’. This book is thought to have been foundational for setting the tone for the next wave of women’s rights activism.

Feminism during this period was focused on the social roles in women’s work and family environment. It broadened the debate to include a wider range of issues such as sexuality, family, reproductive rights, legal inequalities, and divorce law.

From this wave, the movement toward women’s rights included the signing of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which stipulated that women could no longer be paid less than men for comparable work.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 included a section which prevents employers from discriminating against employees on the basis of sex, race, religion, or national origin. Likewise, the famous Roe v. Wade decision protected a woman’s right to have an abortion from 1973.

Third wave feminism

The third wave of feminism is harder to pinpoint but it was thought to have taken off in the 1990s. Early activism in this wave involved fighting against workplace sexual harassment and working to increase the number of women in positions of power.

The work of Kimberlé Crenshaw in the 1980s is thought to have been the root. She coined the term ‘intersectionality’ to describe the ways in which different forms of oppression intersect, such as how a black woman is oppressed in two ways: for being a woman and for being black.

Since there was not a clear goal with third-wave feminism as there was with previous waves, there is no single piece of legislation or major social change that belongs to the wave.

Fourth wave feminism

Many believe that there is now a fourth wave of feminism, which began around 2012.

It is likely that the wave sparked after allegations of sexual abuse and harassment, specifically of celebrities, which gave birth to campaigns such as Everyday Sexism Project by Laura Bates and the #MeToo movement.

With the rise of the internet and social platforms, feminist issues such as discrimination, harassment, body shaming, and misogyny can be widely discussed with the emergence of new feminists.

Fourth-wave feminism is digitally driven and has become more inclusive to include those of any sexual orientation, ethnicity, and trans individuals.

Types of Feminism

Liberal feminism.

Liberal feminism is rooted in classic liberal thought and these feminists believe that equality should be brought about through education and policy changes. They see gender inequalities as rooted in the attitudes of social and cultural institutions, so they aim to change the system from within.

Liberal feminists argue that women have the same capacity for moral reasoning and agency as men, but that the patriarchy has denied them the opportunity to practice this. Due to the patriarchy, these feminists believe that women have been pushed to remain in the privacy of their household and thus have been excluded from participating in public life.

Liberal feminists focus mainly on protecting equal opportunities for women through legislation. The Equal Rights Amendment

in 1972 was impactful for liberal feminists which enforced equality on account of sex.

Marxist feminism

Marxist feminism evolved from the ideas of Karl Marx, who claimed capitalism was to blame for promoting patriarchy, meaning that power is held in the hands of a small number of men.

Marxist feminists believe that capitalism is the cause of women’s oppression and that this oppression in turn, helps to reinforce capitalism. These feminists believe that women are exploited for their unpaid labor (maintaining the household and childcare) and that capitalism reinforces that women are a reserve for the work force and they must create the next generation of workers.

According to Marxist feminists, the system and traditional family can only be replaced by a socialist revolution that creates a government to meet the needs of the family.

Radical feminism

Radical feminists posit that power is key to gender oppression. They argue that being a woman is a positive thing but that this is not acknowledged in patriarchal societies.

The main belief of radical feminists is that equality can only be achieved through gender separation and political lesbianism. They think the patriarchy can be defeated if women recognize their own value and strength, establish trust with other women, and form female-based separatist networks in the private and public spheres.

Intersectional feminism

Intersectional feminism believes that other feminist theories create an incorrect acceptance of women’s oppression based on the experiences of mostly Western, middle-class, white women.

For instance, while they may acknowledge that the work of the suffragette movement was influential, the voting rights of the working-class or minority ethnic groups were forgotten at this time.

Intersectionality considers that gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, and others, are not separate, but are interwoven and can bring about different levels of oppression.

This type of feminism offers insight that not all women experience oppression in the same way. For instance, the wage gap shows that women of color and men of color are penalized relative to the earnings of white men.

Feminist theory is important since it helps to address and better understand unequal and oppressive gender relations. It promotes the goal of equality and justice while providing more opportunities for women.

True feminism benefits men too and is not only applicable to women. It allows men to be who they want to be, without being tied down to their own gender roles and stereotypes.

Through feminism, men are encouraged to be free to express themselves in a way which may be considered ‘typically feminine’ such as crying when they are upset.

In this way, men’s mental health can benefit from feminism since the shame associated with talking about their emotions can be lifted without feeling the expectation to ‘man up’ and keep their feeling buried.

With the development of intersectionality, feminism does not just focus on gendered power and oppression, but on how this might intersect with race, sexuality, social class, disability, religion, and others.

Without feminism, women would have significantly less rights. More women have the right to vote, work, have equal pay, access to health care, reproductive rights, and protection from violence. While every country has its own laws and legislature, there would have been less progress in changing these without the feminist movement.

Feminist theory is also self-critical in that it recognizes that it may not have been applicable to everyone in the past. It is understood that it was not inclusive and so evolved and may still go on to evolve over time. Feminism is not a static movement, but fluid in the way it can change and adjust to suit modern times.

Some critics suggest that a main weakness of feminist theory is that it is from a woman-centered viewpoint. While the theories also mention issues which are not strictly related to women, it is argued that men and women view the world differently.

Some may call feminist theory redundant in modern day since women have the opportunity to work now, so the nature of family life has inevitably changed in response.

However, a counterpoint to this is that many women in certain cultures are still not given the right to work. Likewise, having access to work does not eradicate the other feminist issues that are still prevalent.

Some feminists may go too far into a stage where they are man-hating which causes more harm than good. It can make men feel unwelcome to feminism if they are being blamed for patriarchal oppression and inequalities that they are not directly responsible for.

Other women may not want to identify as a feminist either if they have the impression that feminists are man-haters but they themselves like men.

There are criticisms even between feminists, with some having values that can lead to others having a negative view of feminists as a whole.

For instance, radical feminists often receive criticism for ignoring race, social class, sexual orientation, and the presence of more than two genders. Thus, there are aspects of feminism which are not inclusive.

What is the main goal of feminism?

The goal of feminism is to reach social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. Feminists aim to challenge the systemic inequalities women face on a daily basis, change laws and legislature which oppress women, put an end to sexism and exploitation of women, and raise awareness of women’s issues.

However, the different types of feminists may have distinct goals within their movement and between each other.

How was feminist theory founded?

Although many early writings could be characterized as feminism or embodying the experiences of women, the history of Western feminist theory usually begins with the works of Mary Wollstonecraft.

Wollstonecraft was one of the first feminist writers, responsible for her publications such as ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’, published in 1792.

How does feminist theory relate to education?

Feminist theory helps us understand gender differences in education, gender socialization, and how the education system may be easier for boys to navigate than girls.

Many feminists believe education is an agent of secondary socialization that helps enforce patriarchy.

Feminist theory aims to promote educational opportunities for girls. It assures that they should not limit their educational aspirations because they may go against what is traditionally expected of them.

What are feminist sociologists view on family roles and relationships?

Some feminists view the function of the  nuclear family  as a place where patriarchal values are learned by individuals, which in turn add to the patriarchal society.

Young girls may be socialized to believe that inequality and oppression are a normal part of being a woman. Boys are socialized to believe they are superior and have authority over women.

Feminists often believe that the nuclear family teaches children gender roles which translates to gender roles in wider society.

For instance, girls may learn to accept that being a housewife is the only possible or acceptable role for women. Some feminists also believe that the  division of labor  is unequal in nuclear families, with women and girls accepting subservient roles in the household.

How does feminist theory relate to crime?

Feminists recognize that there is a disproportionate amount of violence and crime against women and that the reason may be due to the inequalities and oppression that women face.

Suppose the patriarchy posits that men are more powerful. In that case, this can lead them to abuse this power over women, resulting in harassment, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, and even murder of women.

Feminists point out that there is a lot of systemic sexism in the justice system which needs to be tackled. Female victims of sexual abuse from men may often feel as if they are the ones put on trial and even experience blame for what happened to them.

Thus, many women do not report their sexual abuse for fear of not being believed or taken seriously in a system that favors men.

Therefore, many feminists would aim to fix the system so that fewer men commit these crimes and that there is proper justice for women who experience violence from men.

How far would sociologists agree that feminism has changed marriage?

Feminists often believe that the meaning of marriage is deeply rooted in  patriarchy  and gender inequality. In modern times, it would, therefore, not make sense for a woman to get married unless she has a partner willing to overturn a lot of the traditional and sexist values of marriage.

Most feminists believe that women should have the choice over whether they want to get married or even be in a relationship. Marriage for feminists can be; however, they want it to be, including their vows and values that make them and their partners equal.

A study found that having a feminist partner was linked to healthier heterosexual relationships for women (Rudman & Phelan, 2007).

They also found that men with feminist partners reported more stable relationships and greater sexual satisfaction, suggesting that feminism may predict happier relationships.

There are  differences between radical and liberal feminism  regarding ideas about the private sphere. Liberal feminists are generally not against heterosexual marriage and having children, as long as this is what the woman wants.

If the woman is treated as an equal by their partner and chooses how to raise their family, this is a feminist choice.

Even in modern marriage, radical feminists argue that women married to men are under patriarchal rule and are still made to complete much of the unpaid labor in the household compared to their husbands.

What is meant by the term malestream?

Feminists use the term malestream to highlight the need for more inclusive research methodologies and theoretical perspectives that better represent and address the experiences and issues of women and other marginalized groups.

It’s a call to move beyond the male-centric biases in various academic disciplines, including sociology.

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Rudman, L. A., & Phelan, J. E. (2007). The interpersonal power of feminism: Is feminism good for romantic relationships?.  Sex Roles, 57 (11), 787-799.

Srivastava, K., Chaudhury, S., Bhat, P. S., & Sahu, S. (2017). Misogyny, feminism, and sexual harassment.  Industrial psychiatry journal, 26( 2), 111.

Thompson, D. (2001).  Radical feminism today . Sage.

Theoretical perspectives of education: Feminist

Feminist perspectives on education.

• Gender Bias in Curriculum : Feminists argue that the curriculum often presents men’s experiences as universal, while women’s experiences are ignored or marginalised.
• Hidden Curriculum : Schools indirectly perpetuate gender stereotypes through the hidden curriculum. This includes teacher expectations, learning materials, and division of labour in schools.
• Patriarchal Structures : Feminists point to the patriarchal nature of the education system, which may contribute to the underachievement of girls. This includes more male headteachers, lack of female authors in the curriculum, and schools discouraging girls from pursuing typical “male” subjects.

Key Feminist Theorists

• Liberal Feminism : Liberal feminists, like Sue Sharpe, argue for equal opportunities for boys and girls. They believe changes in socialisation and the culture of schools can reduce gender inequalities in education.
• Radical Feminism : Radical feminists, like Dale Spender, suggest that schools produce patriarchal values. They argue for more women in positions of power and separate schooling for girls.
• Postmodern Feminism : Postmodern feminists, like Judith Butler, argue the binary concept of gender limits opportunities for both genders. They advocate a more fluid approach to gender in schools.

Feminist Criticisms

• ‘Boys Crisis’ : Some argue that feminist critiques of education overlook the underachievement of boys, especially those from working-class or minority ethnic backgrounds.
• Overemphasis on Gender : Not all educational issues can be attributed to gender. Other factors, such as social class and ethnicity, also play a significant role.
• Diversity of Female Experiences : Many critics argue that feminist theories often generalise women’s experiences and do not consider the intersection of gender, race, and class.

Feminist Contributions to Education

• Gender Equitable Policies : Feminist critiques have led to policies such as the Gender Equality Duty 2007, promoting gender equality in education.
• Breaking Down Stereotypes : Initiatives like the WISE campaign (“Women into Science and Engineering”) challenge gender stereotypes and encourage girls to pursue these subjects.
• Greater Awareness : Feminist perspectives have made society more aware of the subtle ways schools can reinforce gender inequalities.

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GCSE Sociology

• Specification
• Planning resources
• Teaching resources
• Assessment resources
• Introduction
• Specification at a glance
• 3.1 The sociological approach
• 3.2 Social structures, social processes and social issues
• 3.3 Families
• 3.4 Education
• 3.5 Crime and deviance
• 3.6 Social stratification
• 3.7 Sociological research methods
• Scheme of assessment
• General administration
• Appendix A: key terms and concepts

Appendix B: texts and summaries

This is a list of readily available classic and seminal texts that will help introduce students to sociology, stimulate their 'sociological imagination' and develop their ability to compare and contrast different sociological perspectives.

These are not the only texts that can be studied. We encourage teachers to discuss examples of more up to date research with their students whenever possible, but it's not expected.

Delphy C and Leonard D, Familiar Exploitation, Cambridge, Polity Press, 1992

Writing from a feminist perspective Delphy and Leonard emphasise the importance of work. In their view it is men, rather than capitalists as such, who are the prime beneficiaries of the exploitation of women’s labour. They believe that the family has a central role in maintaining patriarchy; the family is an economic system involving a particular set of labour relations in which men benefit from and exploit the work of women. Women are oppressed because their work is appropriated within the family eg when wives have paid employment outside the home they still have to carry out household tasks which are not equally shared with their male partners.

Oakley A, ‘Conventional families’ in Rapoport et al. (eds), Families in Britain, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982

Writing from a feminist perspective, Oakley addresses the idea of the conventional family which she defines as ‘nuclear families composed of legally married couples, voluntarily choosing the parenthood of one or more children’. She explores the power of this idea, including its origins and explanations; reviews contemporary research; examines the ‘strains’ of being conventional and social control. Her paper predates civil partnerships and same sex marriages; however, she concludes that ‘there are signs that official stereotypes are being felt to be increasingly archaic and that ... certain groups in the community may be moving towards a more open appraisal of other ways of living – both in and without families’.

Parsons T, ‘The social structure of the family’ in Anshen R N (ed.), The Family: its Functions and Destiny, New York, Harper and Row, 1959

Writing from a functionalist perspective Parsons held the view that the American family retained two basic and irreducible functions which are common to all families in all societies, these are the primary socialisation of children and the stabilisation of adult personalities eg to give and receive emotional support. Later authors have criticised his work as presenting an idealised picture of family life centred on the middle-class experience.

Rapoport R and Rapoport R N, ‘British families in transition’ in Rapoport et al. (eds), Families in Britain, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1982

Pioneering family researchers working in both Britain and America, they described five different aspects of family diversity: organisational (eg internal divisions of domestic labour), cultural (beliefs and values), class (eg how the family’s position in the social class system affects the availability of resources), life course (stage in the family life cycle) and cohort (historical period). Their work predates the emergence of gay and lesbian households as a more open and accepted feature of society.

Willmott P and Young M, The Symmetrical Family, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1973

Writing from a functionalist perspective and based on a large scale social survey (nearly 2,000 people were interviewed in Greater London and surrounding areas) Young and Wilmott used the term symmetrical family to describe the Stage 3 (home centred) nuclear family. In such families ‘symmetry’ refers to the similar contributions made by each spouse to the running of the household eg shared chores and shared decisions. Conjugal roles are not interchangeable but they are of equal importance, an arrangement that they found to be more common in working class families; they advanced the theory that this reflected the nature of work as often boring and uninvolving leading manual workers to focus on family life. The ‘Principle of Stratified Diffusion’ is the theory that what happens at the top of the stratification system today will diffuse downwards tomorrow. The ‘managing director family’ (Stage 4) cited in their research was work-centred rather than home-centred, with the wife responsible for home and children. The theory has been criticised by feminists who saw little evidence of either ‘symmetry’ or a move towards Stage 4 amongst working class families.

Zaretsky E, Capitalism, the Family and Personal Life, London, Pluto Press, 1976

Writing from a Marxist perspective Zaretsky takes the view that modern capitalist society has created an illusion that the ‘private life’ of the family is separate from the economy. Zaretsky does not believe that the family is able to provide for the psychological and social needs of the individual. Whilst cushioning the effects of capitalism it perpetuates the system and cannot compensate for the general alienation produced by such a society. He believes that the family has become a prop to the capitalist economy (eg the system depends on the domestic labour of housewives who reproduce future generations of workers) whilst also serving as a vital unit of consumption. In his view only socialism will end the artificial separation of family and public life, and make possible personal fulfilment.

Ball S J, Beachside Comprehensive. A Case Study of Secondary Schooling, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1981

Ball gives an account of the experience of schooling based on three years fieldwork as a participant observer in a south coast comprehensive school; this is a participant observation study in the tradition of Colin Lacey’s Hightown Grammar and David Hargreaves Social Relations in a Secondary School . The study, based on Ball’s doctoral thesis, describes a school in the process of change and raises questions about the selection and socialisation experienced by two cohorts moving through the school, one banded by ability and the other taught in mixed ability classes.

Ball S J, Bowe R and Gerwitz S, ‘Market forces and parental choice’ in Tomlinson S (ed.), Educational Reform and its Consequences, London, IPPR/Rivers Oram Press, 1994

A study of fifteen schools in neighbouring LEAs with different population profiles (eg class and ethnicity). The study evaluates the impact of parental choice and the publication of league tables, eg the pressure to reintroduce streaming and setting and the tendency for some schools to focus on the more able.

Bowles S and Gintis H, Schooling in Capitalist America, London, Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1976

Writing from a Marxist perspective Bowles and Gintis argue that the major role of education in capitalist societies is the reproduction of labour power. They argue that there is a close correspondence between the social relationships which govern interactions in the work place and social relationships in the education system eg the creation of a hardworking, docile, obedient, and highly motivated workforce, which is too divided to challenge the authority of management. They reject the view that capitalist societies are meritocratic and believe that class background is the most important factor influencing levels of attainment.

Durkheim E, Moral Education, Glencoe, Free Press, 1925 (republished 1973)

Durkheim saw the major function of education as the transmission of society’s norms and values. He believed that it is a vital task for all societies to weld a mass of individuals into a united whole. Education, and in particular the teaching of history, provides the link between the individual and society – children will come to see that they are part of something larger than themselves and will develop a sense of commitment to the social group. He believed that the school provides a context in which children learn to cooperate with those who are neither their kin nor their friends, in his view rules should be strictly enforced in order for children to learn self-discipline and to see that misbehaviour damages society as a whole.

Halsey A H, Heath A and Ridge J M, Origins and Destinations, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1980

• the service class (professionals, administrators and managers)
• the intermediate class (clerical or sales workers, the self-employed and lower grade technicians and foremen)
• the working class including manual workers in industry and agriculture.

The authors found that an individual from the service class, as compared to one from the working class, had four times as great a chance of being at school at 16, eight times the chance at 17 and ten times the chance at 18. Whilst the chance of an individual from the service class attending university was eleven times greater than one from the working class. It should be noted that the research excluded females and this might have made a significant difference to the findings.

Parsons T, ‘The school class as a social system’ in Halsey et al., Education, Economy and Society, New York, The Free Press, 1961

Writing from a functionalist perspective Parsons believed that the school acts as a bridge between the family and society, taking over as the main agency of socialisation and preparing children for adult life. Parsons argued that the schools operate on meritocratic principles: status is achieved on the basis of merit. In this way the school represents the wider society where, Parsons believed an individual is judged on universalistic standards, which are applied to all members regardless of kinship ties (within the family particularistic standards apply – the child is not judged on standards that can be applied to every individual in society). He believed that schools socialise children into the basic values of the wider society, maintaining a value consensus that emphasised achievement and equality of opportunity. Moreover, Parsons believed that schools functioned as an important mechanism for the selection of individuals for their future role in society. His functionalist perspective has been criticised by those who argue that the values of the education system may simply be those of the ruling elite, or that equality of opportunity is an illusion in an unequal society where wealth and privilege are more important than individual merit.

Willis P, Learning to Labour, Farnborough, Saxon House, 1977

Writing from a Marxist perspective, Paul Willis focused on the existence of conflict within the education system. He rejects the view that there is a direct relationship between the economy and the way that the education system operates. Unlike Bowles and Gintis he believes that education is not a particularly successful agency of socialisation, he also holds the view that education can have unintended consequences that may not be beneficial to capitalism. His book is based on a study of a school in the Midlands situated in a working class housing estate; he used observation and participant observation, recording group discussions, informal interviews and diaries. Willis attempts to understand the experience of schooling from the students’ point of view. He described the existence of a counter culture, which was opposed to the values of the school. The members of this counter culture felt superior both to the teachers and to conformist students. Their main objective was to avoid attending lessons and they resented the school's attempts to control their time. They neither deferred to authority nor were they obedient and docile. However, Willis concluded that their rejection of the school made them suitable candidates for male dominated, unskilled or semi-skilled manual work (relatively easily obtained in the 1970s).

Crime and deviance

Becker h s, outsiders, new york, the free press, 1963.

Writing from an interactionist perspective Becker argued that an act only becomes deviant when others define it as such. Whether the ‘label’ of deviancy is applied depends on who commits the act, when and where it is committed, who observes the act, and the negotiations that take place between the various actors involved in the interaction. If, for example, the actions of young people are defined as delinquent and they are convicted for breaking the law, those young people have been labelled. The agents of social control, for example the police and the courts, have the power to make the label stick. The label applied to the individual becomes a master status; the young people have become criminals and this label will affect how others see them and respond to them. Assumptions will be made that the individuals concerned have the negative characteristics normally associated with the label. As a consequence the individuals will begin to see themselves in terms of the label, producing a self-fulfilling prophecy. The individual who has been publicly labelled as deviant is rejected from certain social groups on the basis of various negative assumptions about their future behaviour; this may well encourage further deviance, which in turn begins what Becker describes as the deviant career. This career is completed when the individual joins an organised deviant group which develops a deviant subculture, this subculture develops beliefs and values which rationalise, justify and support deviant identities and behaviours.

Carlen P, Women, Crime and Poverty, Milton Keynes, Open University Press, 1988

Written from a feminist perspective, Carlen studied a group of mostly working class women aged between 15 and 46 who had been convicted of one or more crimes. She carried out in-depth, unstructured interviews with each of the women, a number of whom were in prison or youth custody at the time. Carlen uses control theory as the basis for her approach, this starts from the assumption that human beings are neither naturally good nor bad but will make a rational decision to turn to crime when the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. In Carlen’s view, working-class women have been controlled through the promise of rewards. They make a class deal which offers respectable working class women consumer goods in return for their wage. They make a gender deal for the psychological and material rewards offered by male breadwinners in return for their love and domestic labour. When these rewards are not available or prove to be illusory, then criminality becomes a viable alternative. Carlen’s work was based on a relatively small sample (39 women) but it supports the view that criminal behaviour becomes more likely when social control breaks down.

Cohen A, Delinquent Boys, Glencoe, The Free Press, 1955

Writing from a functionalist perspective Cohen argues that working class boys hold the same success goals as the wider society, but that as a consequence of educational failure and poor employment prospects, they have little or no opportunity to realise those goals. Cohen holds the view that cultural deprivation accounts for working class boys’ lack of educational success. They become stuck at the lowest level of the stratification system and as a consequence of their lack of opportunity, they suffer from status frustration. They turn to criminality as an alternative route to success, becoming members of a criminal subculture which values activities such as stealing, vandalism and truancy. Those who perform well, in terms of the values of the subculture (the successful thief for example), are rewarded by recognition and prestige in the eyes of their peers. Cohen’s ideas have been criticised by, for example, those who hold the view that working class youths do not necessarily accept mainstream success goals, but rather that they exhibit delinquent behaviour out of resentment against those whose values they do not share eg teachers and successful middle class students.

Heidensohn F, Women and Crime, London, Macmillan, 1985

Writing from a feminist perspective Heidensohn also uses control theory (see above) as the basis for her explanation of why women commit fewer crimes than men. She argues that male-dominated patriarchal societies control women more effectively than men, making it difficult for women to break the law. Women in such societies are closely controlled in the home, where they are expected to spend the majority of their time on housework and childcare. Women who challenge these assumptions risk male violence as an assertion of patriarchal authority. Men as the main or sole breadwinner also have financial power over their wives. Daughters are more closely controlled than sons, they have more limits on when they may leave the home and they are expected to contribute more time to domestic tasks. In public, women are controlled by the threat of male sexual violence and by the idea that inappropriate behaviour may bring loss of reputation and shame upon their families. The idea of separate spheres emphasises women’s place as being in the home, those who attempt to raise concerns in public are subject to ridicule and told to return to where they belong. At work women are controlled by male-dominated hierarchies and workers organisations. They are subject to intimidation by various forms of sexual harassment. Heidensohn has been criticised for making generalisations that do not apply to all women and for not always supporting her claims with strong research-based evidence.

Merton R K , Social Theory and Social Structure, New York, The Free Press, 1938 (republished in an enlarged edition in 1968)

Writing from a functionalist perspective Merton argued that deviance results from the culture and structure of society. He starts from the standard functionalist position of value consensus – all members of society hold the same values (see above). However, because members of society have different positions in the social structure, for example in terms of social class, Merton believed that they did not have the same opportunity to realise their shared goals. He also believed that American society was unbalanced because greater importance was attached to success, than to the ways in which that success was achieved. In the search for success by almost any means the danger is that the usual rules governing behaviour in society are abandoned, a situation of anomie results, where ‘anything goes’ in pursuit of wealth and material success.

• Conformity: this describes individuals who work towards achieving success by conventionally accepted means, eg by gaining educational qualifications which in turn give them access to secure, well paid employment. Other conventional routes to success include talent, hard work and ambition.
• Innovation: this describes individuals who are unable to succeed using conventionally accepted routes and turn to deviant means, usually crime. Merton believed that this route was most likely to be taken by individuals who came from the lower levels of society and who are denied the usual routes to success because they are, for example, less likely to gain the necessary educational qualifications.
• Ritualism: this describes middle class individuals who are deviant because they abandon conventional success goals. They are unable to innovate because they have been strongly socialised to conform, but they have little opportunity for advancement and remain stuck in low paid, low status ‘respectable' jobs where they may exhibit an enthusiasm for rules and petty bureaucracy.
• Retreatism: this describes individuals from any social class position who are deviant because they abandon both success goals and any means of achieving them. They ‘drop out’ of society; this response can be applied to explain the behaviour of social outcasts of all kinds including vagrants and drug addicts.
• Rebellion: this describes those individuals who reject success goals and the usual means of achieving them, but then replace those that they have rejected with different goals and means. They are deviant because they wish to create a new society, in Merton’s view they are typically members of a ‘rising’ social class who may well attempt to organise a revolution.

Merton has been criticised for not taking into account power relations in society, for example by failing to consider who makes the laws and who benefits from them. He has also been criticised for his assumption that there is such a thing as a ‘value consensus’ in American society. Furthermore, it has been suggested that his ‘deterministic’ view fails to adequately explain why only some individuals who experience anomie become criminals and that his theory exaggerates working class crime and underestimates middle class, ‘white collar’ crime.

Social stratification

Davis k and moore w e, ‘some principles of stratification’ in bendix r and lipset s m (eds), class, status and power, 2nd edition, routledge and kegan paul, 1945 (republished 1967).

• all roles must be filled
• they must be filled by those best able to perform them
• necessary training must take place
• roles must be performed conscientiously.

The ‘mechanism’ that allows these things to take place was, in their view, a system of social stratification that attached unequal rewards and privileges to the different positions in society. They believed that this system served to match the most able people with the functionally most important positions in society, those that required the highest levels of skill and/or the greatest responsibility to direct and organise others. By attaching the high rewards to those functionally important positions, those with ambition will be encouraged to compete for them with the most talented achieving success.

The theory is open to a number of criticisms, for example, occupations which carry less prestige or lower economic rewards can also be seen as functionally important to society (are lawyers more important than nurses?). Differences in status and pay between different occupational groups may be due to differences in their power (are Members of Parliament worth more than nurses?). Furthermore there is no proof that exceptional talent is required for important positions in society, nor for that matter is there an agreed method of measuring talent and ability, for example there is no formal educational requirement for Government ministers. The number of talented individuals in society may be far greater than Davis and Moore suggest and unequal rewards may not be the best method of harnessing that talent. The Prime Minister, for example, is paid far less than the chief executive of a typical major corporation.

Devine F, Affluent Workers Revisited, Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press, 1992

Devine tested Lockwood’s idea that ‘privatized instrumentalism’ would become typical amongst the working class. This term refers to social relationships centred on the home with work only as a means to an end, when affluent workers joined with their workmates Lockwood believed that they did so as self-interested individuals to improve their wages and working conditions rather than as an act of collective solidarity.

During the late 1980s Devine interviewed a sample of male manual workers employed at the Vauxhall car plant in Luton and their wives. By returning to Luton she was able to make a direct comparison with the work of Goldthorpe and Lockwood in the 1960s ( The Affluent Worker in the Class Structure , 1969). She did not find evidence to support the idea of ‘privatized instrumentalism’, whilst the lifestyle of her sample was not as communal as that of the traditional working class neither was it as home centred and privatized as had been predicted. She also rejected the idea of the ‘new working class’ and denied that affluent workers had been persuaded to accept capitalism uncritically. Amongst her sample she found evidence of rising living standards and of aspirations as consumers, but many of those she interviewed continued to resent the privileges of inherited wealth and held a sense of injustice at the existence of extreme class inequalities. However, whilst they retained many of the values of the traditional working class her respondents had generally lost faith in the ability of the Labour Party to deliver a more just and equal society.

Marx K, (selected writings 1857–1867) in McLellan D, Karl Marx Selected Writings, 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000

Marx saw social stratification as a mechanism which allows a privileged few to exploit the many. Marx believed that systems of stratification arose from the relationships of social groups to the means of production (land, capital, labour power, buildings and machinery). His theory of history described Western society as developing through four main epochs: primitive communism, ancient society, feudal society and capitalism. Marx believed that as agriculture developed it produced surplus wealth and the accumulation of private property, the precondition for the emergence of a class of non-producers (a ruling class) who gained control of the means of production thereby obliging others to work for them (a subject class).

Marx held the view that political power came from economic power, the power of the ruling class is rooted in its ownership and control of the means of production. Ruling class ideology seeks to justify ruling class domination through the use of ideas such as ‘the free market’ which distorts reality to create a positive image of capitalism as normal and natural. To a Marxist those members of the subject class who accept this status quo are victims of false class consciousness. Marx believed that class struggle was the driving force for social change. Furthermore he believed that capitalist society was by its very nature unstable, as at its heart lay a basic conflict of interest between the workers whose labour is exploited and the capitalists who exploit that labour.

Marx believed that as a consequence of the natural development of capitalism, the gap between the workers (the proletariat) and the capitalist class (the bourgeoisie) would become greater and the differences more extreme (polarisation). Writing in 19 th -century Britain, Marx hoped that this process would produce a proletarian revolution and an ideal communist society. Some sociologists believe that his theories still provide the best explanation of the nature of capitalist society. Alternatively New Right theorists are critical of Marxist theory and emphasise, for example, the benefits of capitalism and the opportunities for social mobility.

Murray C, Losing Ground, New York, Basic Books, 1984

Murray argued that American society had a growing underclass. He believed that government policies have encouraged the members of this underclass to become dependent on benefits. In his view American welfare reforms which resulted in increased levels of benefit, discouraged self-sufficiency and led a growing number of single parents and young people to lose interest in getting jobs. According to Murray the growing membership of the underclass posed a threat to the economic and social fabric of American society because its members were a burden on tax payers and responsible for a rising crime rate.

Murray visited Britain at the end of the 1980s (after the publication of this book) and argued that Britain too was developing an underclass. He identified rising rates of illegitimacy, a rising crime rate and an apparent unwillingness amongst some of Britain’s youth to seek employment as signs of the development of an underclass. He believed that traditional values such as honesty, family life and hard work were being undermined by the members of the underclass, to be replaced by an alternative value system that tolerated crime and various forms of anti-social behaviour.

Murray’s cultural definition of the underclass (in terms of their behaviour) largely ignores any economic reasons that may create such a class. His work has been criticised for its poor evidence base, for example, much of the research evidence suggests that the benefit system does not have the effect that he claims and that many of the so-called underclass actually have conventional attitudes and want stable relationships and paid employment. Viewed more sympathetically members of the underclass can be seen as the victims of social inequality rather than the cause of social problems. Murray’s analysis of the underclass is closely associated with New Right theories which also blame the benefits system for producing groups who are unable or unwilling to earn their own living.

Townsend P, Poverty in the United Kingdom, Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1979

• The state’s standard of poverty on which official statistics are based. This was calculated on the basis of an individual entitlement to claim certain benefits and Townsend believed this to be arbitrarily determined by the government of the day.
• The relative income standard of poverty based on identifying those households whose income falls below the average for similar households. Again he believed this measure to be arbitrary, potentially misleading (it did not account for the level of welfare payments available) and inadequate (it did not account for the lifestyles available to those who are relatively materially disadvantaged).
• Relative deprivation, his preferred measure. Townsend believed that individuals, families and groups fall into relative poverty when they lack the resources to obtain the types of diet, participate in activities and have the living conditions that are widely available in the society in which they live.

Townsend used his preferred definition to measure the extent of poverty in the UK. His research was based on questionnaires issued to over 2,000 households and more than 6,000 individuals located in various geographical areas in the UK. He devised a deprivation index covering a large number of variables including diet, fuel, clothing, housing conditions, working conditions, health, education and social activities. Each household was given a score on this deprivation index and Townsend then calculated a threshold for levels of income below which the amount of deprivation rapidly increased. On this basis he believed more than 22% of the population to be living in poverty in 1968–69, this compared to just over 6% using the state standard and a little over 9% using relative income.

Townsend’s methods and conclusions have been criticised by those who argue that his index was inadequate and produced potentially misleading results, for example the absence of fresh meat and cooked meals might not be an indicator of poverty but of individual choice.

Walby S, Theorizing Patriarchy, Oxford, Blackwell, 1990

• Paid work: whilst in theory the state supports equality between men and women (the Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Acts ) women continue to be disadvantaged in the labour market with their opportunities restricted by cultural values (eg expectations regarding the roles of wives and mothers).
• Patriarchal relations of production: men exploit women by gaining benefit from their unpaid labour in the home.
• Patriarchal culture: whilst women have gained more freedom they continue to be subject to social expectations which apply different standards to the behaviour of men and women.
• Sexuality: whilst women have greater freedom to express their sexuality they do so whilst subject to double standards (for example men with multiple partners are often admired by other men whilst women with multiple partners are frequently condemned).
• Male violence towards women: the use or threat of violence discourages women from challenging patriarchal authority.
• The state: whilst the state is not as patriarchal as it used to be it continues to do relatively little to protect women from patriarchal power in society eg women still generally receive lower wages than men and equal opportunities laws are seldom enforced.

Walby argued that the nature of patriarchy in Western society has changed, in the past private patriarchy involved the direct control of women by their fathers or husbands. Whilst in contemporary Western society a form of public patriarchy exists, women have access to public life but they are generally segregated into low paid, low status jobs where they are collectively exploited by male-dominated society.

Weber M, The Theory of Economic and Social Organizations, New York, Free Press, 1947 (republished 2012)

Weber provides a more complex picture of social stratification than Marx. Writing in the early part of the 20 th century (the book was translated into English after his death in 1920) Weber argued that classes develop in market economies in which individuals compete for economic gain. He defined a class as a group of individuals who share a similar position in a market economy (their market situation) and he believed that those who share a similar class situation also share similar life chances.

Like Marx, Weber argued that the major class division lay between those who owned the forces of production and those who did not. However, Weber also saw important differences between the various groups who lacked control of the forces of production, for example professionals who received higher salaries because of the demand for their services. He also differed from Marx in that he saw no evidence to support the polarisation of classes; he argued that the middle class expands rather than contracts as capitalism develops. He rejected the view that a proletarian revolution was inevitable and that political power derives only from economic power. Weber distinguished between three different sources of power: charismatic (devotion to a leader who has exceptional qualities), traditional (based on established customs and inherited status) and rational legal (based on the acceptance of shared impersonal rules).

Collective action, Weber argued, was not only possible as a consequence of class but could also result from a shared status situation (level of prestige or esteem) resulting from individuals shared occupations, ethnicity, religion or lifestyles. Weber also described the process of social closure whereby some individuals can be excluded from membership of a status group (eg the caste system). When groups are specifically concerned with the acquisition of political or social power Weber defined them as parties (he used this term to include groups who could be defined as pressure or interest groups as well as political parties). He did not see the relationship between political groups and class and status as simple and clear cut, party membership he believed could cut across and divide classes and status groups.

There is a longstanding debate between those sociologists who adopt a Marxist perspective on class and those who follow Weber. Both groups have been criticised by New Right theorists who accuse them of bias, ignoring the social mobility and opportunities created by capitalist societies.

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The feminist movement?

What are the ideals and history of the feminist movement?

Feminism is the ideology of women’s liberation centred on the belief that women suffer injustices because of their sex.  One pioneer of feminism in the late 18 th  century was Mary Wollstonecraft.  In 1792, she published A Vindication of the Rights of Women .  It was probably the first great feminist treatise.  In it, Wollstonecraft preached that intellect will always govern.  She addressed the legal, economic and educational disabilities of women and believed that women had the right to an education and that the progress of society relied upon the equal education of men and women.  Wollstonecraft was critical of marriage and stated that it was nothing more than “legalized prostitution”.  She paved the way for modern feminism.

The first wave feminists were those who worked for the reform of women’s social and legal inequalities in the 19 th  century. In the 1850s, at Langham Place in London, a group of middle-aged women, led by Barbara Bochidon and Bessie Rayner Parkes, met to discuss issues and published the English Women’s Journal.  The issues that they addressed were largely based upon injustices they themselves had experienced.  These included education, employment, marriage and the plight of intelligent middle-class women.  The term first wave feminism also applied to the feminists who fought for suffrage in the United States and beyond.  The first wave feminists succeeded in securing many rights for women, including higher education, secondary education reforms, and the widening of access to professions, particularly medicine.  The first wave ended with women gaining the right to vote, which varied from country to country.

Second wave feminism refers to the increase in feminist activities that occurred about 1963 through to the 1980s.  These feminists founded organisations and raised the awareness of women’s inequality.  They focused on winning equal pay for women, better access to jobs and education, and the right to have abortions.  In Britain, feminism was based more strongly on working-class women, as demonstrated by a strike by women workers at the Ford car plant in 1968.  Not only did second wave feminists strive to extend the range of social opportunities open to women, but they endeavoured to change their domestic and private lives through the intervention of reproduction, sexuality and cultural representation.  Second wave feminism didn’t just make an impact on western society, but has provided the foundation to continue to inspire the struggle for women’s rights, especially in developing countries.

 Third wave feminism began when Rebecca Walker founded in 1992, the Third Wave Foundation, an American non-profit organisation that aims to cultivate young women’s leadership and activism.   The third wave consists of many of the daughters and sons of the second wave. These feminists grew up with many of the advantages that the second wave fought for   and see women as fundamentally strong, confident and brave individuals.   They seek to establish that image of women within the public consciousness, and they look for greater integration of women into politics, economics, and social forums.

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Feminism has succeeded in securing many rights for women over the years it has developed, and the Western world has become close to a gender equal society.  However, women in developing countries still struggle for rights and feminism is helping to bring equality into these areas.

How did this movement impact on the world or society in which it was conceived?

Feminism has greatly impacted society, especially in the Western world.  As Western society has become increasingly accepting of feminist principles, some of these are no longer seen as specifically feminist, because they have been adopted by all or most people.  Almost no one in Western societies today questions the right of women to vote, a concept that seemed quite strange 200 years ago.  Feminism has enabled women to vote, obtain equal pay for equal work, the right to divorce, obtain birth control devices, have abortions, and many other rights.

Feminism can be said to have impacted upon modern day English.  Many feminists insist on using non-sexist language.  For example using “Ms.” to refer to both married and unmarried women, “humanity” instead of “mankind” and “he or she” in replace of “he” when the gender is unknown.  Most feminists justify their desired use of language to promote a respectful treatment of women, rather than in the belief that language actually affects people’s perception of reality.

The feminist movement has also had an impact on religion.  In Christianity and Judaism especially, women are becoming more equal with men by obtaining positions of power.  Women are now ordained as clergy in Protestant Christianity and rabbis and cantors in Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist Judaism.  Islam, however has not followed this trend and still forbid women to be recognised as religious clergies and scholars.

Perhaps the most notable impact that feminism has had on society is the impact on heterosexual relationships.  The power relationship between men and women has shifted markedly.  In the past, the male was the more dominant person in the relationship.  Nowadays, females are more assertive.  It is not uncommon for women to initiate a relationship, or even a marriage.  This change has brought about confusion about roles and identities for some.  Some women have struggled to live up to the socially accepted identity of “superwoman” i.e. being able to juggle family and a career successfully.  Men are now more involved with the family and are expected to assist in managing family matters more than in previous times.

Feminism has also brought about criticism, particularly from masculists, who suggest that social change and legal reform has gone too far and are now disadvantaging men.  Nowadays, women have been shown to be more intelligent and communicative than men, meaning they are doing better at school, and gaining high paying executive positions.  Another argument for masculists is that much of society is now biased towards women, for example, custody hearings are biased towards the mother due to the belief that the mother-child bond is the strongest in the family, even though women are saying that men should be equally involved in family matters.  The point has gotten to where it is becoming quite hypocritical and double standards are being revealed.  Some feminists, especially third wave, generally agree that a greater equality between the sexes is necessary to improve society.

How can a text be said to have a feminist reading?

A text can be said to have a feminist reading when it is criticised by feminists for having the traditions and conventions of patriarchy.  Patriarchy is the ideology that sees as ‘natural’, the dominance of men and the marginalising of women politically, economically and psychologically.  Feminist literary criticism attempts to eliminate the notion of men’s superiority over women in literary, historical and critical contexts.

Feminist literary critics explain that gender inequalities exist in three levels: in the production of texts, the structure and language of texts and through our reading practices.

Because the majority of publishing houses and printing presses are owned by men, feminist literary critics believe that through their editorial practices, they portray negative stereotypes of women and prefer to exemplify masculine views of life.

For some feminist readers, their project of interpretation is to expose patriarchal nature of language itself.  This includes usage that denigrates or ignores women.  The most common example is the use of the word man to describe the all people.  Feminist literary critics believe this is sexist and set out to replace sexist language with more politically correct examples.  This interpretation also includes the deeper view that a masculine style of language has suppressed a feminine one.

Feminist readings have revealed that male and female readers bring very different perspective and interpretations to texts, even in the act of reading.  Men and woman write differently, read differently and think about texts differently.  Feminist literary criticism makes space for and listens to women’s voices previously drowned out by patriarchal literary critics.

In practice, feminist readings are not limited to texts written and read by women.  Its interest is not only how women have been treated in such texts, but also how the notions of gender and sexuality have determined or enforced an inferior place for the voices of women.

Analyse a fairy tale from a feminist point of view.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Firstly, why must the villain in this story be a girl?  Goldilocks is described as a nosy and naughty girl.  This is stereotyping that little girls are nosy and are always getting into trouble.

Sexism even exists in the bear family.  The father is described as big and gruff while the mother is described as soft and gentle.  This is the most overused stereotype involved with any family.  The mother bear is the one who cooks the porridge.  Why must the mother be the one who always does the house duties?  The father must be expected to be able to cook.  Mother bear is also the one who forgets to close the door properly.  This suggests that women are forgetful and unreliable, which is totally untrue.

Goldilocks’ temptation to enter the house suggests that women are blinded by their curiosity.  Her naivety and immaturity is also shown by how she unthoughtfully enters a house without permission.  When Goldilocks says how nice it was that someone had left her breakfast, the story implies that women are always thinking that they must be the centre of attention.  This is farfetched because, generally, men are just as self-centred as women.

The fact that Goldilocks says that the porridge is too hot and too cold, that the chair and bed is too hard and soft, gives the impression that women are perfectionists; that everything must suit them.

When the bears come back, the father bear speaks in a gruff voice whilst the mother bear speaks with a soft, gentle voice.  This seems to suggest that women are submissive whilst the male is more dominant.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears is a fairy tale that contains many politically incorrect things from a feminist perspective.  A feminist reading of the text would change a lot of its context.    

Phillip Le        

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GCSE Sociology – Introduction to Feminism

Subject: Sociology

Age range: 14-16

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

25 October 2023

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• explores sex, gender, gender roles, patriarchy, gender inequality as a way to introduce students to the main feminist views of society and ideas.
• Includes answers for main activities
• 3 marker with a success criteria and student friendly mark-scheme
• Resources can be found at the end of the PPT (worksheet is in folder).** Made to meet the AQA spec but can be used (and edited if needed) for other exam boards

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GCSE AQA Sociology INTRO LESSONS & QUIZ

Detailed and differentiated (up and down) student-led lessons that help students to develop their knowledge and understanding from previous lesson(s). Includes **6 lessons** (the last being a quiz lesson) and a **key term sheet** that covers the key terms in these lessons: **L1 – Intro to GCSE AQA Sociology: ** * an overview of the course, exam and curriculum * An activity on how to create and maintain a safe space for discussions * suggested revision websites and youtube channels that students can use to develop their knowledge and understanding of key ideas and concepts. * activities to introduce students to Sociology and sociological thinking/ inquiry. * Expectations **L2 – How might sociologists explain behavior?** * Explores, norms, values, socialisation (primary/secondary) and social control, agencies and agents of socialisation and social control as an introduction to Sociology. * Also looks at the importance of primary socialisation and the consequences of it inadequately performed. * 3 marker with a success criteria and student friendly mark-scheme **L3 – Intro to functionalism** * Explores value consensus, social order, biological/ organic analogy, structuralism, consensus theories and social cohesion as way of introducing students to the key main functionalist views and ideas. * 3 marker with a success criteria and student friendly mark-scheme **L4 – Intro to Marxism** * explores capitalism, profit, social class, ownership, interests, structuralism, conflict theories, exploitation, false consciousness and social relations of production as a way to introduce students to the main Marxist views and ideas. **L5 – Intro to feminism ** * explores sex, gender, gender roles, patriarchy, gender inequality as a way to introduce students to the main feminist views of society and ideas. * 3 marker with a success criteria and student friendly mark-scheme **L6 – Quiz lesson ** * small revision activity –that looks at the similarities and differences between functionalism, Marxism and feminism25 min quiz (on basic sociological concepts, key functionalist, Marxist, feminist’s ideas and terminology) answers/ mark-scheme for quizscaffolding for students to peer assess (but quiz can also be marked by teacher) * SAME as A-level intro quiz but excludes questions on the nature – nurture debate. **Made to meet the needs of the AQA SPEC but can be edited to meet the needs of any spec, e.g. key terms in L2-5 meet the AQA spec** **Answers included for main activities and quiz** **L2,3 & 5 include 3 marker, success criteria to answer this and student-friendly mark-scheme for self and/ or peer-assessment. **

GCSE Sociology - INTRO LESSONS, QUIZ & KEY TERM SHEET

Detailed and differentiated (up and down) student-led lessons that help students to develop their knowledge and understanding from previous lesson(s). Includes 6 lessons (the last being a quiz lesson) and a key term sheet that covers the key terms in these lessons: **L1 – Intro to GCSE AQA Sociology: ** an overview of the course, exam and curriculum An activity on how to create and maintain a safe space for discussions suggested revision websites and youtube channels that students can use to develop their knowledge and understanding of key ideas and concepts. activities to introduce students to Sociology and sociological thinking/ inquiry. Expectations **L2 – How might sociologists explain behavior?** Explores, norms, values, socialisation (primary/secondary) and social control, agencies and agents of socialisation and social control as an introduction to Sociology. Also looks at the importance of primary socialisation and the consequences of it inadequately performed. 3 marker with a success criteria and student friendly mark-scheme **L3 – Intro to functionalism** Explores value consensus, social order, biological/ organic analogy, structuralism, consensus theories and social cohesion as way of introducing students to the key main functionalist views and ideas. 3 marker with a success criteria and student friendly mark-scheme **L4 – Intro to Marxism** explores capitalism, profit, social class, ownership, interests, structuralism, conflict theories, exploitation, false consciousness and social relations of production as a way to introduce students to the main Marxist views and ideas. **L5 – Intro to feminism ** explores sex, gender, gender roles, patriarchy, gender inequality as a way to introduce students to the main feminist views of society and ideas. 3 marker with a success criteria and student friendly mark-scheme **L6 – Quiz lesson ** small revision activity –that looks at the similarities and differences between functionalism, Marxism and feminism25 min quiz (on basic sociological concepts, key functionalist, Marxist, feminist’s ideas and terminology) answers/ mark-scheme for quizscaffolding for students to peer assess (but quiz can also be marked by teacher) SAME as A-level intro quiz but excludes questions on the nature – nurture debate. **Can be edited to meet the needs of any spec – key terms in L2-5 meet the AQA spec** **Answers included for main activities and quiz L2,3 & 5 include 3 marker, success criteria to answer this and student-friendly mark-scheme for self and/ or peer-assessment**.

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Feminist Perspectives on the Family

A summary of liberal, marxist and radical feminist views on the traditional nuclear family

Table of Contents

Last Updated on October 4, 2023 by Karl Thompson

Almost all feminists agree that gender is socially constructed. This means that gender roles are learnt rather than determined by biology, and the family is the primary institution which socialises individuals into these gender roles.

The proof for gender being constructed (rather than biologically determined) is found in the sometimes radically different behaviour we see between women from different societies: i.e. different societies construct being a “women” in different ways (and the same can be said for differences between men in different societies as well).

Overview of Feminist Perspectives on the Family

This post summarises Feminist perspectives on the family covering:

• An overview of Feminism in general

Liberal Feminism

Marxist feminism.

• Radical Feminism

All sections include what different Feminists think about the role of the family in causing gender equality, their ideas about solutions to inequalities and criticisms.

The content below is primarily designed to help students revise for the AQA A level sociology paper 2, families and households option. 

Feminism and the Family

Feminists have been central in criticising gender roles associated with the traditional nuclear family, especially since the 1950s.  They have argued the nuclear family has traditionally performed two key functions which oppressed women:

• socialising girls to accept subservient roles within the family, whilst socialising boys to believe they were superior – this happens through children witnessing then recreating the parental relationship.
• socialising women into accepting the “housewife” role as normal, which limited women to the domestic sphere and made them financially dependent on men.

Essentially, feminists viewed the function of the family as a breeding ground where patriarchal values were learned by individuals, which in turn created a patriarchal society.

For the purposes of teaching A-level sociology Feminism is usually to be split (simplified) into three distinct branches: Liberal Feminists, Marxist Feminists and Radical Feminists . They differ significantly over the extent to which they believe that the family is still patriarchal and in what the underlying causes of the existence of patriarchy might be. Remember – all the theories below are discussing the “nuclear” family.

(See also – A Marxist Feminist Perspective on the Family  for more depth.)

Marxist feminists argue the main cause of women’s oppression in the family is not men, but capitalism. They argue that women’s oppression performs several functions for Capitalism.

• Women reproduce the labour force – women do most of the childcare within the nuclear family, part of which involves socialising them to accept the authority of their parents, which gets them used to the idea of being obedient to hierarchical authority more generally, which is what their future capitalist employers need. They are thus socialising the next generation of workers, and they do this for free because their domestic labour is unpaid.
• Women absorb anger – Think back to Parson’s warm bath theory in which women help men destress after a hard day at work and thus help keep industrial capitalism going. The Marxist-Feminist interpretation of this is that women are just absorbing the anger of the proletariat, preventing this anger from being directed towards the Bourgeois, and thus preventing revolution and the downfall of capitalism.
• Women are a ‘reserve army of cheap labour’ – the fact that women’s ‘normal’ role in the nuclear family restrictions them from working, but they are nonetheless there in the background, in reserve. This prevents men from striking to demand higher wages because the Bourgeois could potentially take on female employees at lower wages if male employees start to play up.

Key thinker – Fran Ansley (1972)

Ansley argues women absorb the anger that would otherwise be directed at capitalism. Ansley argues women’s male partners are inevitably frustrated by the exploitation they experience at work and women are the victims of this, including domestic violence.  

Ansley famously referred to women as ‘the takers of shit ‘ within the nuclear family under capitalism.      

Key thinker: Laurie Penny

Laurie Penny argues that neoliberal capitalism has encouraged women to seek self-empowerment and freedom through consumerism (by buying high heals and overt expressions of sexuality, for example).

The problem is that only a relatively few women earn enough to be able to ‘consume their way’ to liberation and so this isn’t a solution for the majority of women.

In reality many women work very long hours in unpaid domestic roles or low paid unskilled jobs, and it is mainly the exploitation of women which sustains both patriarchy and capitalism.

Feminists should be campaigning for better working conditions for women, and if women realised their power and just stopped working they could bring capitalism down, but this kind of activism is not very sexy or exciting and women remain ‘distracted’ with consuming their way to liberation.

You can read more about Laurie Penny’s views in this interview .

Solutions to Gender Inequalities within the family

For Marxist Feminists, the solutions to gender inequality are economic: we need to tackle capitalism to tackle patriarchy.

Two specific solutions include campaigning for better pay and conditions in jobs where mainly women work, such as cleaning and caring jobs.

Another solution is paying women for housework and childcare, thus putting an economic value on what is still largely women’s domestic work.

Evaluations of Marxist Feminism

• One criticisms is that women’s oppression was clearly in evidence before capitalism – if anything, women are probably more oppressed in pre-capitalist, tribal societies compared to within capitalist societies.
• If you look at the United Nation’s Gender Equality Index (2) there appears to be a correlation between capitalist development and women’s liberation – suggesting that capitalism has the opposite effect from that suggested by Marxist Feminists. This correlation isn’t perfect, but you can clearly see wealthy European countries such as Finland at the top and poorer sub-saharan African countries near the bottom.
• The idea that women act as a reserve army of labour is less and less relevant every year: the employment rate for men in the UK in December 2022 was 79% for men and 72% of women, only a 7% gap.
• However if we look at part time employment rates there is still more potential for women to do more work as women are more likely to employed than men: 38% of women worked part-time, compared to only 18% of men (1)

Radical Feminist Views of the Family

(See also –  A Radical Feminist Perspective on the Family  for more depth)

Radical feminists argue that all relationships between men and women are based on patriarchy, essentially men are the cause of women’s exploitation and oppression. For radical feminists, the nuclear family is where this system of oppression starts, it is the foundation on which patriarchy is based and thus should be abolished.

Against Liberal Feminism, they argue that paid work has not been ‘liberating’. Women’s lives within the family have not simply become better because they now have improved job opportunities and pay which is more equal to men’s.

Instead women have acquired the ‘dual burden’ of paid work and unpaid housework and the family remains patriarchal: men benefit from women’s paid earnings and their domestic labour. Some Radical Feminists go further arguing that women suffer from the ‘triple shift’ where they have to do paid work, domestic work and ‘emotion work’ – being expected to take on the emotional burden of caring for children.

Radical Feminists also argue that, for many women, there is a ‘dark side of family life’ –  According to the Crime Survey for England and Wales domestic violence accounts for a sixth of all violent crime and nearly 1 in 5 adults will experience domestic violence at some point in their lives, with women being more than twice as likely to experience it than men.

Kate Millett: On the sociology of Patriarchy

Key thiker – Kate Millet (see below) was one of the leading American Second Wave Feminists in the 1960s and 70s and is one of the best known radical feminists.

“Patriarchy’s chief institution is the family. It is both a mirror of and a connection with the larger society; a patriarchal unit within a patriarchal whole. Mediating between the individual and the social structure, the family effects control and conformity where political and other authorities are insufficient. As the fundamental instrument and the foundation unit of patriarchal society the family and its roles are prototypical. Serving as an agent of the larger society, the family not only encourages its own members to adjust and conform, but acts as a unit in the government of the patriarchal state which rules its citizens through its family heads.

Traditionally, patriarchy granted the father nearly total ownership over wife or wives and children, including the powers of physical abuse and often even those of murder and sale. Classically, as head of the family the father is both begetter and owner in a system in which kinship is property. Yet in strict patriarchy, kinship is acknowledged only through association with the male line.

In contemporary patriarchies the male’s priority has recently been modified through the granting of divorce protection, citizenship, and property to women. Their chattel status continues in their loss of name, their obligation to adopt the husband’s domicile, and the general legal assumption that marriage involves an exchange of the female’s domestic service and (sexual) consortium in return for financial support.

The chief contribution of the family in patriarchy is the socialisation of the young (largely through the example and admonition of their parents) into patriarchal ideology’s prescribed attitudes toward the categories of role, temperament, and status. Although slight differences of definition depend here upon the parents’ grasp of cultural values, the general effect of uniformity is achieved, to be further reinforced through peers, schools, media, and other learning sources, formal and informal. While we may niggle over the balance of authority between the personalities of various households, one must remember that the entire culture supports masculine authority in all areas of life and – outside of the home – permits the female none at all.

Although there is no biological reason why the two central functions of the family (socialisation and reproduction) need be inseparable from or even take place within it, revolutionary or utopian efforts to remove these functions from the family have been so frustrated, so beset by difficulties, that most experiments so far have involved a gradual return to tradition. This is strong evidence of how basic a form patriarchy is within all societies, and of how pervasive its effects upon family members.”

Solutions to gender inequality

Radical Feminists advocate for the abolition of the traditional, patriarchal nuclear family and the establishment of alternative family structures and sexual relations.

The various alternatives suggested by Radical Feminists include separatism – women only communes, and matrifocal households. Some extreme radical feminists also practise political lesbianism and political celibacy as they view heterosexual female relationships with men as “sleeping with the enemy.”

Radical feminists also argue for more support for female victims of domestic violence to help women out of abusive relationships.

Evaluations of Radical Feminism

• There is still evidence of the dual burden and triple shift on women. Women do twice as much childcare than men and spend 64% more time doing domestic chores.
• The ME TOO campaign and the Harvey Weinstein scandal both show that harassment and sexual abuse of women remain common.
• Ignores the progress that women have made in many areas e.g. work, controlling fertility, divorce.
• Too unrealistic – due to heterosexual attraction separatism is unlikely.
• Ignores domestic/emotional abuse suffered by men who often don’t report it.

(See also –  A liberal Feminist Perspective on the Family  for more depth)

Liberal Feminists do not emphasise the role of the family in perpetuating gender inequality in society as much as Marxist or Radical Feminists.

According to liberal Feminists gender inequalities are primarily caused by inequalities in the public sphere rather than inequalities in the home. Prior to 1972 the main problem was the lack of equal pay in work between men and women, and today two problems include:

• stereotypical subject domains in education steering women into lower paid jobs such as health and social care.
• unequal maternity and paternity pay encouraging the woman to take more time of work than the man following the birth of a new child.
• lack of free child care preventing women from returning to work earlier.

Solutions to Inequality

Liberal Feminists tend to focus on achieving greater equality of opportunity in the public sphere: focussing on achieving equal access to education, equal pay, ending gender differences in subject and career choice won primarily through legal changes.

In Liberal Feminist theory if women have an equal chance as men to pursue careers outside of the family, they are free to choose NOT to be housewives and mothers.

We have made enormous progress towards equality in the public sphere in recent decades, and all that remains is ‘tweaking’ in certain areas, such as improving equality in higher managerial positions: there are still very few women employed at the senior executive levels.

Two social policies liberal feminists would support include the 2015 shared parental leave act in which the mother and father can share the mother’s maternity leave between them and the forthcoming 2024 act which proivdes free childcare for children down to 9 months of age.

Key Thinker: Jenny Somerville

A key thinker who can be characterised as a liberal feminist is Jennifer Somerville (2000) who provides a less radical critique of the family than Marxist or Radical Feminists and suggests proposals to improve family life for women that involve modest policy reforms rather than revolutionary change.

Somerville argues that many young women do not feel entirely sympathetic towards feminism yet still feel some sense of grievance.

To Somerville, many feminists have failed to acknowledge progress for women such as the greater freedom to go into paid work, and the greater degree of choice over whether they marry or cohabit, when and whether to have children, and whether to take part in a heterosexual or same-sex relationship or to simply live on their own.

The increased choice for women and the rise of the dual-earner household (both partners in work) has helped create greater equality within relationships. Somerville argues that ‘some modern men are voluntarily committed to sharing in those routine necessities of family survival, or they can be persuaded, cajoled, guilt-tripped or bullied’. Despite this, however, ‘women are angry, resentful and above all disappointed in men.’ Many men do not take on their full share of responsibilities and often these men can be ‘shown the door’.

Somerville raises the possibility that women might do without male partners, especially as so many prove inadequate, and instead get their sense of fulfilment from their children. Unlike Germain Greer, however, Somerville does not believe that living in a household without an adult male is the answer – the high figures for remarriage suggest that heterosexual attraction and the need for intimacy and companionship mean that heterosexual families will not disappear.

However, it remains the case that the inability of men to ‘pull their weight’ in relationships means that high rates of relationship breakdowns will continue to be the norm which will lead to more complex familial relationships as women end one relationship and attempt to rebuild the next with a new (typically male) partner.

What Feminists thus need to do is to focus on policies which will encourage greater equality within relationships and to help women cope with the practicalities of daily life. One set of policies which Somerville thinks particularly important are those aimed at helping working parents. The working hours and culture associated with many jobs are incompatible with family life. Many jobs are based on the idea of a male breadwinner who relies on a non-working wife to take care of the children.

Somerville argues that in order to achieve true equality within relationships we need increased flexibility in paid employment.

For a more in-depth exploration of Somerville’s work you can read her book, published in the year 2000: Feminism and the Family: Politics and Society in the UK and the USA .

Evaluation of the Liberal Feminist Perspective on the Family

• Sommerville recognises that significant progress has been made in both public and private life for women.
• It is more appealing to a wider range of women than radical ideas.
• It is more practical – the system is more likely to accept small policy changes, while it would resist revolutionary change.
• Difference Feminists argue that Liberal Feminism is an ethnocentric view – it reflects the experiences of mainly white, middle class women.
• Her work is based on a secondary analysis of previous works and is thus not backed up by empirical evidence.
• Radical Feminists such as Delphy, Leonard and Greer (see further below) argue that she fails to deal with the Patriarchal structures and culture in contemporary family life.
• Despite policy changes which have made work more equal, slight gender inequalities remain in the UK!

A Level Sociology Families and Households Revision Bundle

If you like this sort of thing, then you might like my AS Sociology Families and Households Revision Bundle

The bundle contains the following:

• 50 pages of revision notes covering all of the sub-topics within families and households
• mind maps in pdf and png format – 9 in total, covering perspectives on the family
• short answer exam practice questions and exemplar answers – 3 examples of the 10 mark, ‘outline and explain’ question.
•  9 essays/ essay plans spanning all the topics within the families and households topic.

Related Posts / Find out More

• The Functionalist Perspective on The Family
• The Marxist Perspective on The Family
• The New Right View of The Family
• Feminist Theory – A Summary

Please click here to return to the homepage – ReviseSociology.com

Sources Used to Write this Post 

• Haralambos and Holborn (2013) – Sociology Themes and Perspectives, Eighth Edition, Collins. ISBN-10: 0007597479
• Chapman et al (2015) A Level Sociology Student Book One, Including AS Level [Fourth Edition], Collins. ISBN-10: 0007597479
• Robb Webb et al (2015) AQA A Level Sociology Book 1, Napier Press. ISBN-10: 0954007913
• (1) House of Commons library: Women in the UK Economy .
• (2) The Gender Equality Index .
• (3) The Guardian: The End of Lockdown and Domestic Chores .

(1) This division goes back to Alison Jaggar’s (1983) Feminist Politics and Human Nature  where she defined four theories related to feminism: liberal feminism, Marxism, radical feminism, and socialist feminism

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3 thoughts on “Feminist Perspectives on the Family”

Hi! We’re wondering if we can use this “Feminist Perspectives on Family” chart for our website? We’re FLIP (Female Leads in Partnerships), working to “flip the script on patriarchal views of gender and family,” and are hoping to use this image to help educate those visiting our website a little more and to help demonstrate that we are not a radical feminist group.

We can be reached at [email protected] . Thanks so much!

I would like to use your information about the functions of the nuclear family. Is there a way I can cite this? Is this your idea or someone else’s? Thank you!

I think it’s true coming from both sides of the fence male and female

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