Category: Feminism
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Feminism and Malestream Sociology
Some Feminists argue that early sociology was ‘malestream’ – meaning it was mainly focused on studying boys and men and theorising about women’s roles by Functionalists (for example) was itself patriarchal. This post explores whether sociology is still malestream today.
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Angry Wimmin – A great Documentary on Feminism
Angry Wimmin, part two of the BBC’s series ‘Lefties’ is a good resource to use for teaching Radical Feminist Theory. Part 1 below is especially good for the families and households module for A-level sociology. It involves interviews with real women who were involved with Radical Feminism in the 1970s, and you get to hear…
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A Marxist-Feminist response to covid-19
A Marxist-Feminist response to covid-19 demands that the political response to the pandemic puts people, and especially essential-service workers, before the interests of capital. Below I summarise an article from Spectre, a Marxist-Feminist journal, based in the United States, which outlines seven ways we should be responding to the pandemic. I’ve re-worded some of the…
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A Marxist-Feminist Analysis of Coronavirus
I read a very interesting article called in Dissent online magazine which seems to be a ‘Marxist-Feminist‘ analysis of the Coronavirus. The article’s called ‘Social Reproduction and the Pandemic, and consists of a Q and A session with Tithi Bhattacharya, a professor of history at Purdue university and co-author of a book: Feminism for the…
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Radical Feminist Perspectives on Religion
Radical Feminists emphasize the patriarchal nature of some mainstream religions such as Catholicism and Islam. They argue that such religions have developed in patriarchal societies and have been ‘hijacked’ by men. Men have interpreted religious doctrines in order to justify their positions of power. Radical Feminists also believe that religion often serves to compensate women…
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Carol Christ’s Feminist Spirituality
Carol P Christ is a feminist theologian and foremother of the Goddess movement. One of her best known works is her 1997 essay ‘[Why Women Need the Goddess]( http://www.iupui.edu/~womrel/Rel433%20Readings/Christ_WhyWomenNeedGoddess.pdf)’ in which she argues that feminine spirituality is rooted in the concept of a supreme Goddess. Carol Christ is critical of any religion which is based…
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Feminist Perspectives on Religion: Karen Armstrong
Feminist Karen Armstrong argued that women were central to many spiritual traditions in early history. She pointed out that in early history, there were very few effigies of male gods, while symbolic representations of the ‘Great Mother Goddess’ were numerous. In the Middle East, Asia and Europe, for example, archaeologists have uncovered numerous symbols of…
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How equal are men and women in relationships these days? Student survey results
Women who do the lioness’s share of the housework, but men and women seem to have equal control over the finances, at least according to two surveys conduct by my A Level sociology students last week. This acts as a useful update to the topic of power and equality within relationships, especially the ‘domestic division…
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Domestic Abuse Trends
The topic of domestic abuse is relevant to the families and households and crime and deviance modules within A-level sociology, as well as providing some of the strongest supporting evidence for the continued relevance of Feminism more generally in contemporary society. It’s also one of those topics that’s good to teach (sensitively) for more ‘humanistic…
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Women of the World Festival
The Women of the World Festival (WOW), or to give it its full title – The Women of the World Festival for Women Who Can Afford a £20 Day Ticket, makes for a nice little day-trip for A-level sociology students, assuming they can afford the >£20 ticket for the day. The Festival allows students to…
