Typology of feminism

[altariel]

So, in undergraduate textbooks and so on, you tend to see feminism taught as being one of "three types": liberal feminism, socialist feminism, radical feminism. Does anyone have any idea where this typology came from? Rough date, origin(ator), etc.?

Comments

[gair.livejournal.com]

Gerald goes on about this typology a lot (mostly in terms of its lack of fit with her experience of the women's movement in the UK and Australia in the 70s) - I'll ask her about it tonight.

[communicator.livejournal.com]

This was the standard classification we used back in the late seventies/early eighties. For exampel I attende da lecture by Janet radcliffe-Richards which was based on this classification (she identified herself as liberal-f)

Liberal = 'human nature is a tabula rasa, let women be free to choose what they want', socialist = 'human nature is dependent on social context, let us offer support to women in various areas', radical = 'women and men are innately different, and the only route for women is separation from male-dominated society'.

Incidentally it amuses me that radical feminism is the one chosen by people who wish to bad-mouth feminism (Andrea Dworkin, 'all men are rapists' etc.) while simulataneously having been adopted as mainstream political belief - it is now widely held that men and women are innately different and anti-feminist say men are innately violent and misogynist. very complex area of course.

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

Interesting...we tend to often classify as first, second, third, which I first saw in Kristeva's Women's Time...I wonder how well the two align (though while the liberal lines up with first, I think socialist and radical might both be second with third being all about constructed gender, gender trouble, transgender theory etc)

[ok, weird icon, but it's the only kristeva i have :-)]

[oracne.livejournal.com]

AWESOME icon!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Not to mention: where does feministic theology come into the game?

Hmmm

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know who made the distinctions, but I've seen a fourth category added: Marxist feminism, as distinct from socialist feminism. I'm thinking of Alison Jagger here, since she was my introduction to the 'strands' of feminist thinking. I'll see if one of my friends knows, since her specialty is feminist philosophy.

Dwim