Feminism - Equality

Although all feminists have been concerned with empowering women both in their private lives and in society as a whole, not all of them have sought equality in either the public or private sphere.

Liberal feminists, however, have been keen endorsers of formal equality in the public sphere. Claiming women are strongly discriminated against under the law - in terms of equal pay and, in the past, equal education and the right to vote - they have supported anti-discrimination legislation concerning the lives of women outside of the home. Originating with Mary Wolstonecraft’s “Vindication of the rights of women”(1792), they called for greater legal equality between men and women - most notably in Wolstencraft’s plea for an increase in the education of women. Hoping that by educating women they would cease to exist merely as sexual objects of male desire and gain a new found respect as individuals with valued minds. As women grew more educated a crusade for suffrage emerged, with J.S. Mill presenting the first petition to parliament in 1866 (although suffrage was only achieved in 61 years later in the UK in 1927). However, many (mainly middle-class) women still found themselves plagued by what Friedan dubbed “The Problem that Has No Name”, and the failure of suffrage to give sufficient equality to women resulted in a “second wave” of liberal feminists calling for the greater involvement of women in public life. Although liberal feminists clearly support public equality for women, radical feminists have criticised what they claim is a white, middle-class movement which does not cater for the needs of those women who are not equipped with a privileged enough background to allow them to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them in the public sphere. This is an opinion strongly echoed by black and Asian feminists, who have claimed that their struggle for equality on all levels, not just sexual, is greater and not addressed by other forms of feminism, particularly liberal feminism.

Radical feminists have therefore taken the liberal feminist ideas on equality in the public sphere much further, advocating complete equality in all areas of life - both in public and private spheres. Seeing the patriarchal structure of society and the sexual stereotyping that occurs in the family from an early age, they see equality in the private sphere as fundamental in ensuring the achievement of full equality in the public sphere. They have therefore sought to raise the consciousness of oppressed women in the home, awakening them to their unfulfilling predicament. This has most often articulated itself in their rejection of any “feminine” possessions such as high heels, hair dye and make up, their attempts at changing certain male-dominated words such as “women”, their supporting of the idea that rape is possible in marriage, and their attempts to act against domestic violence. Germaine Greer, in particular, has made bold claims that female oppression stems directly from the force and threat of force which men hold over women due to their superior physical strength, and has therefore inspired many radical feminists to take action, such as the “reclaim the night” marches of the 1970s. However, due to their key belief that men are the root of the problem, some radicals have pushed the bounds of their feminism by attempting to eliminate men from their lives, resorting to political lesbianism or feminist separatism - concepts which involve embracing differences between the sexes and therefore rejecting the quest for equality between both.

Socialist feminists have also supported equality in both the private and public spheres, however they have focused more particularly upon the overthrow of capitalism as a means to achieving this equality. Attacking the private lives of capitalist families, Engels was a pioneer of socialist feminism, with the three features of society which would need to be overthrown in order to establish equality between the sexes - primogeniture, monogamous