| What is sex? | biological aspects of an individual as determined by their anatomy, which is produced by their chromosomes, hormones and their interactions |
| What is gender? | a social construction relating to behaviours and attributes based on labels of masculinity and femininity |
| What was historically believed about sex and gender? | it was believed that gender differences in society are natural; that women and men fulfil different roles in society that nature designed them to do |
| what is this outdated idea of sex and gender called? | ‘biology is destiny’ |
| What does Simone de Beavoir claim about sex and gender? | Beauvoir was an equality feminist. She famously said “women are made, not born” but the problem is they were made by men. This has led them to be characterised as different, making them the Other. |
| What to most feminists believe about sex and gender? | Many feminists believe that human nature is androgynous (neither ‘masculine’ nor ‘feminine’). |
| What is essentialism? | the belief in the importance of biological differences as a way of explaining why women have been seen or are still seen as inferior. |
| What would radical feminists argue about sex and gender? | yes sex differences played a role in making women inferior in the past, but there is no reason this should continue today |
| What do most feminists claim about the link between sex and gender? | They claim that there is no necessary link between the two. |
| What did Bell Hooks have to say about sex and gender? | hooks was a difference feminist. She believed the patriarchy taught women to hate themselves and see themselves as inferior. Furthermore her analysis on equality as a whole, and not just on the basis of gender led her to be more intersectional. |
| What did Charlotte Perkins Gilbert have to say about sex and gender? | Gilman could be seen as an equality feminist, her attack on Darwinism which put men on a superior pedestal shows that she believed due to the change in economic activity there was no reason why women couldn’t play an equal part in modern economies. |
| What did Sheila Rowbotham have to say about sex and gender? | An equality feminist who believes a socialist future is the best hope of liberation for women. She does note that women are oppressed in the home too, and men need to relinquish their dominant positions. |
| What did Kate Millet have to say about sex and gender? | Millet doesn’t have a lot to say in terms of equality and difference feminism. However, it could be argued that she is a difference feminist as she does advocate for women’s equality in terms of work class women being neglected by the feminist movement. |
| Historically were sex and gender linked? | The dominant attitude os society was that sex and gender were linked to women's roles being biologically determined. women couldn't take on demanding jobs because they were seen as genetically weaker. it was also argued women had a more caring attitude so were better with children in the home, This made them seem less important than men as they were tied to the home without earning a wage |
| What are the areas of agreements along the three branches of feminism on sex and gender? | Socialist feminism is closely aligned with equality feminism, so thinkers such as Rowbotham and Gilman would agree with the idea that women are equal to men due to economic advancements men and women offer the same value. They are all seen in this sense as equality feminists as they all want some form of equality between the sexes. They see this discrimination as the fault of patriarchal attitudes in society. They want to liberate women from ‘difference’. |
| What is the response of liberal feminists? | No reason why sex differences should mean gender differences.
Change will happen through legislation and education to break the cycle |
| Response of radical feminists? | Gender differences are deeper rooted than liberal feminists believe. Juliet Mitchell believes that the male gender exists in all aspects of life - work home and personal relationships. There should be a cultural revolution to combat the patriarchy. Sulamith Firestone - believes we should remove all sex differences. Remove all sexual functions of women and all live in a state of androgyny. |
| What is the response of social feminism? | the oppression of women is bound up in capitalism, women are an oppressed class as patriarchal societies make women inferior so they can be used for cheap labour ( the gender pay gap, occupational crowding) they are dispensable and can be fired when times are hard. |
