This document provides an overview of different types of feminism, including liberal feminism, radical feminism, cultural feminism, socialist/Marxist feminism, ecofeminism, black feminism, separatist feminism, I-feminism, psychoanalytic feminism, and Islamic feminism. It describes the key beliefs and goals of each type of feminism, such as seeking political, economic, and social equality through legal and social reforms (liberal feminism) or believing patriarchy is the root cause of women's oppression and a total social reconstruction is needed (radical feminism). The document aims to categorize feminism according to different perspectives on achieving the overall objective of gender equality.

1. KINDS OF FEMINISM
An Intro to the Basis if Feminism

2. ◦ As per Merriam-Webster ‘Feminism’ is the theory of:
◦ political,
◦ economic, and
◦ social equality of the sexes.
◦ However, it is not just a theory. It is a collection of
various ideas and actions taken which have had a similar
objective, which is to ensure equality between men and
women.
◦ Even before feminism rose as a movement across the
world decades ago, there have been women and men
fighting for women to have equal rights and status in
society.
“We cannot
all succeed
when half of
us are held
back."
Malala
Yousafzai

3. ..cont
◦ The term 'feminism' was first coined in 1837 by a French philosopher,
Charles Fourier.
◦ Though the goals and ambitions for each movement depended
considerably on society, culture, and the wants and needs of women in
that region; historians believe that the main, common objective between
all feminist movements was and continues to be trying to ensure equality
between men and women as far as:
◦ government,
◦ economic matters,
◦ socio-political matters, and
◦ all the different rights which were reserved for men, are concerned.

4. ◦ Feminist movements experienced three 'waves', or stages that
dealt with the same problems and issues, but with a different
perspective.
◦ The ‘first wave' of the feminist movement observed in the 1800s
and early 1900s concentrated on:
◦ women's suffrage,
◦ equal property rights,
◦ parenting rights,
◦ rights related to marriage, and
◦ their right to vote.

5. ◦ The ‘second wave' advocated for:
◦ legal equality between men and women,
◦ as also the women's liberation movement that was observed in the latter
part of the twentieth century.
◦ The ‘third wave' of feminism continues to:
◦ work for correcting the mistakes made and for
◦ failures faced during the second phase

6. KINDS OF
FEMINISM
◦ Why we need Feminism!
◦ It isn’t about telling women what to do, it is giving them
the ability and freedom to be able to choose to do
whatever they want to do, unapologetically.
◦ Because people are still blindly agreeing that women
don’t need to be paid for the same work as men, that
they are okay with the indifference and injustices so
ingrained in society that they have accepted it as a way
of life.
◦ As Joseph Gordon-Levitt says “I’m a believer that if
everyone has a fair chance to be what they want to be
and do what they want to do, it’s better for everyone. It
benefits society as a whole.”
According to different
aspects of the same
objective, feminism is
categorized into
several types, as we
shall see in this
section.
The listings of the
categorization are in
no particular order
(anywhere).

7. Liberal Feminism
◦ Liberal feminism advocates for equality between the sexes through:
◦ social and
◦ political reforms, and
◦ legal means.
◦ Liberal feminists stress on the importance of an individual, and believe
that every woman can assert her place in society and gain the rights she
deserves.
◦ Liberal feminism leans more towards 'sameness' perspective, and seeks to
bring about a change only in the present state of society, and not a
revolution as such.

8. …cont
◦ Some very important objectives of liberal feminism are:
◦ abortion rights,
◦ equal pay for male and female employees,
◦ educational rights,
◦ voting rights,
◦ childcare,
◦ health care, etc.

9. Radical Feminism
◦ Though many see radical feminism as an undesirable type of the concept,
it is actually responsible for development of many thoughts, ideas, and
actions that would otherwise be shunned or avoided by the other types of
feminism.
◦ Radical feminism takes its name from the Latin word, which means root.
◦ In context, radical feminism believes in 'going to the root' or source (of the
problem).
◦ Radical feminism believes that it is the male-dominated hierarchy (or
patriarchy) which is responsible for the oppressed status of women today.

10. …cont
◦ According to this branch of feminism, if changes are not brought about in
this hierarchy, there can be no equality between men and women
and
◦ that a total reconstruction of the society is necessary to bring about the
desired reforms.
◦ Over time, radical feminism has given birth to several sub-categories that
each focus on a particular issue with a similar approach.

11. Cultural Feminism
◦ Some experts feel that cultural feminism is a branch of radical feminism,
while others feel that the two differ considerably.
◦ Cultural feminism believes that the society needs a female 'essence' or a
female 'nature'.
◦ This kind of feminism believes that the qualities present in women are not
only unique, but also superior than those present in men.
◦ These qualities, say cultural feminists, are more of a psychological and
cultural nature than biological. These feminists believe that the female
essence should be celebrated, and infused with the male-dominated world
to provide the right balance to the working of society.

12. Socialist and Marxist Feminism
◦ This type of feminism believes that the oppressed status of
women can be attributed to the unequal treatment at both the
workplace, and in the house.
◦ Financial and personal exploitation, the institution of marriage,
childbirth and childcare, prostitution, and domestic work,
according to socialist feminists, are tools for degrading women,
and the work that they do, in a male-dominated society.
◦ They believe in work that causes reforms in the society as a
whole, and not on an individual or community level.

13. …cont
◦ Marx was of the opinion that the:
◦ capitalist system was to blame for the inequalities faced by the working classes,
◦ and the removal of the capitalist system would remove these inequalities, which would
ultimately reduce gender inequalities as well.
◦ This is the attitude adopted by Marxist feminism.
◦ Many socialist and Marxist feminists put these philosophies together to achieve
gender equality in both the professional as well as personal spheres.
◦ Socialist and Marxist feminism often considers itself to be a sub-category of
radical feminism, only referring to a different 'root of all problems', which is the
economic system.

14. Ecofeminism
◦ Ecofeminism is actually the combination of ecology, and feminism, that
dwells on the symbolic relationship between the oppression of women,
and the destruction of the environment.
◦ It is actually a little philosophical, and spiritual in nature, and hence has
been a target of critics for a long time.
◦ Ecofeminism believes that the destruction of environment and the
oppression of women in society are symbolically related to one another.
According to this theory, just like men control and destroy the
environment for their own benefit and pleasure, they control and oppress
women too, for the same reason.

15. …cont
◦Ecofeminism advocates that women should try to
reduce the destruction of the environment as much as
possible, and create and maintain a healthy
environment to repair social as well environmental
injustice.

16. Black feminism
◦ Black feminism believes that racism and gender discrimination are two
sides of the same coin.
◦ The liberation and freedom from oppression of black women would
ensure equality for everyone, according to Black Feminists, who refer to
themselves as 'Womanists'.
◦ Black feminism believes that
“if the liberation of black women is successful, it would mean the liberation
of all women, racial discrimination, as well as discrimination based on
economic classes.”

17. Separatist feminism
◦ Separatist feminism is against the concept of heterosexual
relationships.
◦ It says that it is not possible to solve the sexual differences that
exist between a man and a woman.
◦ Separatist feminists believe that no man can contribute
positively to the feminist movement, and hence it is just better
to shun relationships with men, as even the most radical of men
display signs of patriarchy somewhere or the other.

18. I-feminism
◦ I-feminism is a newer branch of feminism which focuses on the
individuality of women, as well as their individual choices.
◦ I-feminists account for freedom, peace, and harmony in society based on
individual choices, and support every personal choice, from heterosexual
relationships to homosexual relationships.
◦ Hence exonerating sex from the ideology of sex difference/ gender.
◦ I-feminism activists feel that each woman is responsible for her life, her
status, and her choices. They do not expect the government to help them
specifically to achieve these targets; they believe that each woman can
achieve her personal targets and be personally responsible for them.

19. So…
◦ Equality does not exist in a society where males feel they are superior to
females in any way, be it in driving, intelligence, at the workplace, in
handling finances, in making decisions, or even in handling an entire
country.
◦ Similarly, feminism does not exist when women believe they are superior
to men in any way. Feminism advocates for complete equality between the
two sexes― there should be no hierarchy, and no social pyramid.

20. Psychoanalytic Feminism
◦ Psychoanalytic feminists explain women’s oppression as rooted
within psychic structures and reinforced by the continual
repetition or reiteration of relational dynamics formed in
infancy and childhood. (Remember the four institutions??)
◦ Owing to these deeply engrained patterns, psychoanalytic
feminists wanted to:
◦ alter the experiences of early childhood and family relations, as well as
◦ linguistic patterns, that produce and reinforce masculinity and
femininity.

21. ..cont
◦ Critical of Freudian and neo-Freudian notions of women as biologically,
psychically, and morally inferior to men, psychoanalytic feminists
addressed political and social factors affecting the development of male
and female subjects.
◦ Like radical feminists, they see
◦ sexual difference and
◦ Women’s otherness
as key issues in relation to men.

22. ..cont
◦ The two major schools of psychoanalytic feminism are:
◦ Freudian and
◦ Lacanian.
◦ Freudian feminists, mostly Anglo-American, are more concerned with the
production of male dominance and the development of gendered subjects
in societies where women are responsible for mothering.
whereas
◦ Lacanian feminists, mostly French, analyze links between gendered
identity and language.

23. ..cont
◦ Later feminist appropriations of Freud critique the traditional family structure in which
primarily women mother and assume other care-taking responsibilities.
◦ In The Reproduction of Mothering, argued that differential experiences in infancy orient
girls and boys toward different developmental paths, with boys definitively separating
from their mothers to identify with the father’s social power and girls developing a more
symbiotic/continuous sense of self in relation to the mother.
◦ These relational dynamics that emphasize autonomy and separation for boys render men
emotionally stunted and less capable of intimate personal relationships, but better
prepared for public life and the world of work.

24. …cont
◦ Girls, who develop as subjects in closer relation with their mother, have
more fluid psychic boundaries that facilitate a greater capacity for
accomodativeness & intimacy but leave them less prepared to negotiate
the public sphere.
◦ Many theorists have advocated dual parenting as one way to eliminate
the characterological imbalances generated by gendered extremes, as
children would be able to view both parents as individuals-in-relation,
experience men and women as both self- and other-oriented, and view
both sexes as inhabiting private and public domains.

25. …cont
◦Psychoanalytic feminists in the Lacanian mode
privileged the analysis of self-construction through
discourse over the biological and psychosocial
implications of parenting, arguing that, in order to alter
gender relations, we need to change language.

26. Islamic Feminism
◦ It is a movement which attempts to promote gender equality and women’s
rights within Islam.
◦ Islamic feminism traces its roots back to the time of the Prophet himself,
asserting that the Qur’an bestowed previously unheard-of rights upon
women. Prior to the advent of Islam, the society that the Prophet
addresses treated women poorly, burying young females alive, compelling
women to perform, and regarding women as chattel.
◦ The Quran, stresses that women and men are granted equal rights in the
eyes of Allah:
"And for women are rights over men similar to those of men over
women. (2:226)"

27. …cont
◦ The Quran likewise admonishes believing men to treat women fairly:
“O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their
will. Nor should you treat them with harshness, that you may take away
part of the dowry you have given them - except when they have become
guilty of open lewdness. On the contrary live with them on a footing of
kindness and equity. If you take a dislike to them, it may be that you
dislike something and Allah will bring about through it a great deal of
good. (4:19)”
◦ Islamic feminists contend that, following the death of the Prophet, many of
the misogynistic cultural traditions reappeared and the Prophet’s desire
for equity was left by the wayside.

28. …cont
◦ Islamic feminism has recently had a resurgence in popularity when the
movement experienced a revival in Egypt at the close of the nineteenth
century.
◦ Though among Islam’s more liberal movements, it insists on defining itself
within the Islamic paradigm, often eschewing what it views as Western
interference.

29. …cont
◦ Islamic feminism does not wish to define itself by the views of Western,
particularly American, feminism, which it does not believe appreciates its
unique position and views.
◦ Islamic feminists are focused on gender inequality within Muslim Personal
Law, particularly those aspects which deal with marriage, divorce
and testation.
◦ Islamic feminists are also addressing social mores such as the dress code,
& honor killings which occur in parts of the Muslim world.