Download criticisms

Sociological theory explained,
explored, evaluated.
The modern world has less moral
cohesion than earlier societies
had.
Durkheim 1858-1917.
FUNCTIONALISM
DURKHEIM SAYS:
* Society controls the
individual, we are
constrained &
controlled by it.
* We can study society
scientifically & this is
why his work is still
relevant.
* The opportunity to
carry out research is
what makes sociology
different from
philosophy, which just
sits around thinking
about life.
Society is an integrated system of
social structures and functions.
* We tend to think that racism, pollution &
recession are caused by individuals. Durkheim
says it’s actually society that causes things like
these.
SOCIAL FACTS are all the social structures (like
law), norms and values that exist to control us all.
These are external constraints that affect us all,
e.g. Tuition fees. MATERIAL SOCIAL FACTS are
directly observable, like demographics &
populations (Census). NON-MATERIAL SOCIAL
FACTS are things like culture, norms & values that
are put there by socialization.
* Durkheim identified types of NON-MATERIAL SOCIAL FACTS; MORALITY – society’s health depends on strong
morality; without it people would behave like animals & be at the mercy of their instincts. Durkheim said
morality sets people free. COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE – shared understanding of norms & beliefs which were
stronger in primitive societies. COLLECTIVE REPRESENTATIONS – ideas, myths, symbols & role models that
embody our cultural norms.
* The DIVISION OF LABOUR in society affects how we all get on. In earlier societies, everybody farmed & had similar lives &
experiences. In modern society, our lives are all quite different, but we still pull together because we depend on each other.
MECHANICAL SOLIDARITY is a term Durkheim used to describe earlier societies where people were unified through shared
experiences, similar activities & responsibilities, were very religious & rigid & had strict laws which meted out severe
punishments. ORGANIC SOLIDARITY describes societies with very different jobs & roles which encouraged co-dependence, moral
individualism (judged by your own standards – not everyone else), restitutive law (where offender pays for harm), less religious &
rigid.
* DYNAMIC DENSITY caused shift from MECHANICAL to ORGANIC solidarity – this means the population increased while there
were fewer resources (food & energy) to go round. This created more competition & the idea that some didn’t deserve to have
things. We had to find new ways to resolve conflict through co-operation and greater efficiency, so people took on a wider
variety of roles to give us what we needed.
* Durkheim thought sociology could diagnose whether a society was healthy or sick & he thought crime was normal & functional.
He blamed ANOMIE for sick societies – where people become isolated & badly behaved because they don’t feel any bond with or
loyalty to, their community.
* MORALITY, SOCIAL SOLIDARITY & JUSTICE were important to Durkheim because in societies where people have less in
common, it would be easy for people to be defined as superior over others. This is why we need social justice to make sure
everyone is treated equally.
* DURKHEIM studied SUICIDE not because he wanted to explain why it happened, but to explain the differences in rates between
different countries. He put this down to different countries having different levels of SOCIAL FACTS like integration & regulation
which produce different SOCIAL CURRENTS (a bit like a national atmosphere, if you like).
* CULT OF THE INDIVIDUAL. Durkheim thought we have two things going on in our heads; 1. isolated individuality – how we feel
about ourselves, on our own; 2. our social being – what others think of us. He called this Homo Duplex. This is the idea that
individuals have become sacred in our society – this is why we can’t get our heads around suicide. A defence of the rights of the
individual is a defence of our society – so where does this leave the French now that they’ve banned the burka?
CRITICISMS: 1. studying everything with scientific method is totally unrealistic, all studies are a series of interpretations by
the researcher.
2. There is no evidence to suggest that in the absence of collective conscience, humans become like cave people.
3. Durkheim’s functionalism is morally prescriptive and conservative which isn’t good for social change.
4. It doesn’t address conflict; what causes it and what to do about it.
5. Struggles to be relevant to modern society, which is far more complicated than in Durkheim’s day.
STRUCTURAL
FUNCTIONALISM
The social world is defined by
principles of reciprocity in giveand-take relationships.
A function is a complex of
activities directed towards
meeting a need or needs of
the system.
Parsons
Parsons said there are 4 main aims of social systems; A.G.I.P. (a greasy, indigestible pizza).
How we change to meet needs
of modern society.
How we use our personalities
to get what we want in life.
How we take on norms, values
and culture.
How we use the cultural
system (like schools) to pass on
culture from one generation to
the next.
* PARSONS focused on how societies EVOLVED over time.
* SOCIALIZATION & SOCIAL CONTROL allow the social system to maintain balance & equilibrium – to keep
us all on track.
* Divided functions up into LATENT & MANIFEST functions – LATENT functions related to what was the
intention behind an act and MANIFEST is what actually happened.
SO – banning the burka in France might have the LATENT
FUNCTION of integrating Muslim women more closely into
French culture, but it might have the MANIFEST FUNCTION
of making them feel excluded.
CRITICISMS: 1. Parsons doesn’t really examine the historical roots of society.
2. His theories are based on American society, so they’ll not be entirely applicable to British society.
3. Bless him, he can’t deal with conflict and just focuses entirely on harmonious relationships.
4. Parsons’ work has a really conservative bias because of what it ignores (conflict & inequality) and what it
focuses on (family values).
CLASSICAL MARXISM
Workers of the
world unite!! You
have nothing to lose
but your chains!
Capitalism has destroyed
our belief in any effective
power but that of selfinterest backed by force.
Karl Marx 1818-1883
* This is a STRUCTURAL,CONFLICT theory – it believes society is capitalist, full of conflict between the classes & one which affects
every bit of our lives.
* It’s still relevant to modern society because it provides an analysis of inequality under capitalism & the history of capitalism.
* CAPITALISM is a social & economic system based on making money.
* Marx used the DIALECTIC to explain how our history is full of contradictions between people, which are sorted out only to
produce new contradictions. Workers & capitalists have always had a scratchy relationship because it’s based on the exploitation
of the workers by the capitalists. It’s a bit like a marriage in a way, that goes through ups and downs; they build up into huge
rows and then are resolved until the next time.
* Marx started with LABOUR and how it is fundamental to our survival and our identity; through labour we all have a purpose.
How many times have your parents come in from work and asked you “What have you done today?”
1. Labour is the embodiment of our purpose in life; 2. there is a clear relationship between our needs & objects; 3. this results in
changes to human nature – we have new needs & a new language.
* ALIENATION is where the relationship between human labour & human nature is perverted by capitalism because our labour is
owned and controlled by capitalists & is no longer an expression of our principles and purpose.
* Our labour, under capitalism, becomes a means to an end – wages. We are
Conversation between a small
now alienated from our purpose & therefore alienated from our own human
boy & B&Q cashier: “I want to
nature. Capitalists employ workers & own their labour as well as everything
be a librarian when I grow up
they produce, so to survive, workers are forced to sell their labour. People
cos I love reading. What did you
feel only truly free in their animal functions – drinking, eating & sex. Is
want to be when you were
rampant capitalism to blame for ‘Binge Britain’, the obesity epidemic and the
little?” She replied “Well it
mess of prostitution, STIs & teenage pregnancy?
wasn’t to work ten hours shifts
* So our own labour is used not to satisfy our own needs but in making
on a cash till!”
money for capitalists, in boring, repetitive, low-paid, low-status work for
This woman is ALIENATED!!
many of us. We’re kept apart from our fellow workers – cube farms.
*Under capitalism, competition between workers is encouraged (commission for example), distracts us from our exploitation.
* Under capitalism, human potential is wasted, we are numbed & turned into drones; even the greetings & smiles of shop
assistants & MaccyD’s workers are scripted, programmed & completely controlled. SCARY.
* Capitalism is presented to us as if it’s normal & natural, not as the web of power & decisions made by rich & powerful people
that it is. For instance, the cuts. The links between human suffering & economic downturns are seen as irrelevant & trivial.
* COMMODITY FETISHISM is a term used by Marxism which means materialism. “The people recognise themselves in their
commodities; they find their soul in their automobile, hi-fi set, split-level home, kitchen equipment.” Marcuse, 1964. It’s how the
commodities (things) created take on greater value & enslave us as we work harder to be able to afford them. So we are
exploited both as workers and as consumers.
* A society dominated by objects whose value is inflated to derive more profit produces categories of people: the BOURGEOISIE
& the PROLETARIAT. The BOURGEOISIE benefit from the exploitation of the PROLETARIAT.
* Marx initially welcomed CAPITALISM’s promise to rid the world of hunger, rigid tradition & material deprivation but when it got
greedy and let the people down, Marx decided it must be overthrown and be replaced by COMMUNISM.
* The base or INFRASTRUCTURE of CAPITALIST society is unfair & exploitative. To keep it in place & prevent uprising of the
masses, the SUPERSTRUCTURE used law, religion, education and so on to implant capitalist values into our heads at a young age.
CRITICISMS: 1. Communism failed all over the world & of those that are still communist, they’ve embraced capitalism (China).
2. There’s a problem with relying on the PROLETARIAT to kick off the revolution; they’re not keen on leading & it’s always middle
class academics that call for class struggle – the PROLETARIAT tend to be very conservative (for example – the EDL). 3. It ignores
gender, in fact, Marx was a bit of a sexist pig; “Anyone who knows anything of history knows that great social changes are
impossible without feminine upheaval. Social progress can be measured exactly by the social position of the fair sex, the ugly ones
included.” Men’s labour depends on the unpaid labour of women; rearing & maintaining the future & present generations of
workers. 4. Marxism focuses entirely on production and not on consumption. Many people are employed in very creative jobs
that are there to come up with mad new products for people to buy. 5. Marx had this idea that humanity would improve the
more it exploited natural resources – this has resulted in a massive ecological crisis. 6. Marxist theory cannot be applied to
conflict in society based along racial & ethnic lines.
NEO-MARXISM
Antonio Gramsci
1891-1937
The challenge of modernity
is to live without illusions
and without becoming
disillusioned.
People create
the social
worlds that
ultimately come
to enslave
them.
HOW IT’S DIFFERENT FROM CLASSICAL MARXISM:
* It focuses less on the capitalist economy and more on capitalist culture
and how it keeps the PROLETARIAT in the dark about their exploitation.
* FALSE CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS is a key aspect of Neo-Marxist theory.
It refers to how the PROLETARIAT are kept unaware of their
exploitation under capitalism. The SUPERSTRUCTURE does a very
effective job of making us think capitalism is normal & fair, which stops
the PROLETARIAT from kicking off. The media, in particular, keeps us in
the dark about what’s really going on.
It’s amazing that the amount of
news that happens in the world
every day always just exactly fits in
the newspaper. Jerry Seinfeld.
Capitalism today is a way of life as well as an economic
system. Its concepts of commercialism, consumerism
& profit making permeate all aspects of everyday life,
from culture and sport to working life & leisure.
Making money, shopping & aspiring to the lifestyles of
the rich & famous are the very values & motivating
forces of life in Western society, while the giant
corporations of Ford, Sony & McDonald’s seek to
entice all of us to buy more & consume more as they
seek new markets & new profits. Ideological control,
argued Gramsci, not military might nor economic
dominance, is the highest form of hegemony, a form
of consent rather than coercion - & Western societies
today have taken capitalism to their hearts as well as
their heads & it will take a great deal of persuading to
convince them that socialism is a better way of life.
* We now have an IDEOLOGICAL BATTLEGROUND where those who want
to expose exploitation are pitted against those who want to conceal it.
* Gramsci saw revolution as absolutely essential to overcome this cultural domination & as a way
for the masses of ordinary people to live lives free from exploitation & deception.
Do you remember the big noise about
Wikileaks? It was because those in charge
didn’t want us to know what they’d been up
to; things like torture, for instance.
* Neo-Marxists use the term
HEGEMONY to refer to how the
BOURGEOISIE dominate our culture with
their norms & values. This makes sure
that the PROLETARIAT don’t challenge
them, ever, and that we accept their rule
without question.
CRITICISMS:
Losing an
illusion makes
you wiser than
finding a truth.
Ludwig Börne.
* Neo-Marxism is useful because it tries to make
classical Marxism relevant to the social world.
* It provides a useful platform for examining
conflict in relation to ethnicity and race in
modern, multicultural and global societies.
* BUT they reduce economic factors down too
much in favour of culture and ideology. We’re in
a recession and the economy has never been so
relevant to examining society.
WEBER’S THEORIES.
Max Weber 1864-1920.
The fate of our times is
characterized by
rationalization and
intellectualization and, above
all, by the disenchantment of
the world.
* Weber’s theory recognised both the value of STRUCTURAL & ACTION
theory. While society did have the power to control us all, ultimately, it
was created by us & can be destroyed by us, too. He liked to mix
MICRO & MACRO theory to see which external forces people are
vulnerable to.
The modern
world is an
iron cage of
rational
systems from
which there
is no escape.
* Weber is probably THE most influential sociologist. He fused history with sociology to come up with his ideas.
* He was really into the concept of VERSTEHEN which is where he said sociologists should use their empathy to understand
human action. They must put themselves in the shoes of the people they’re studying to understand why they behave as they do,
but absolutely NOT to judge.
* Weber was also really into CAUSALITY by looking at what’s caused our society to be the way it is by looking back in history. This
is why he fished around in religion to find out some of the factors in the development of modern capitalism. As a result he does
use a MULTI-CAUSAL approach. For example, Weber makes it clear that the Protestant Ethic of Calvinists was one causal factor in
the development of modern capitalism.
* IDEAL TYPES are another tool cooked up by Weber in order to organise social phenomena into categories so that sociologists
can take slices of social reality and compare them to real examples. For example, is Scientology a sect or a cult? See, it makes you
think...
* VALUE-FREE SOCIOLOGY – Weber thought it was completely wrong to bring your values into your research, but they could
shape what you decided to study in terms of what is considered important in your culture.
* SOCIAL ACTION is where individuals think about what they’re doing because they want to achieve a particular thing.
He identified four basic types of action: 1. RATIONAL ACTION is performed to achieve something material, like money.
2. VALUE RATIONAL ACTION achieves emotional or spiritual reward. 3. AFFECTUAL ACTION is emotional response.
4. TRADITIONAL ACTION is customary behaviour like marriage or Christmas.
(Really Vain And Tarty).
* CLASS, STATUS & PARTY is a really important aspect of Weber’s theorising. Categorising people into class groups is
not straight forward. If we define it using economic power, Katie Price is upper class. If we define it using education & status, she
probably wouldn’t be upper class. CLASS refers to a group of people in the same social situation. STATUS refers to a social
estimation of honour & rank. PARTY is concerned with how much power someone has. So, class is MULTIDIMENSIONAL.
* Weber didn’t like capitalism & wanted to see it dismantled. He thought we should question the legitimacy of someone’s right
to rule us and so came up with his STRUCTURES OF AUTHORITY in which he identified LEGAL, TRADITIONAL & CHARISMATIC
AUTHORITY. LEGAL AUTHORITY was exercised by OFFICERS in BUREAUCRACIES, which are working environments centred
around offices where work is carried out (administered) with high efficiency, rational authority over people, it’s precise, stable,
stringent, calculating & hierarchical. George Ritzer used these ideas to carry out an analysis of the Holocaust. IBM computers,
normally found in offices up and down the country, actually created a system to categorise & record prisoners. TRADITIONAL
AUTHORITY is centred around long-held beliefs, particularly religions, which Weber argued was a barrier to rationality. Finally,
CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY was held by a person whose followers thought they were exceptional.
CHARISMATIC AUTHORITY was a form of revolutionary force because it changes the minds of
people & he wanted to know what happened to movements when the leader dies.
* Weber was most interested in FORMAL RATIONALITY where we constantly think about
how we can earn more, be more and have more. But he saw FORMAL RATIONALITY as an
iron cage that enslaves us. FORMAL RATIONALITY is about calculating the best outcomes
for ourselves (saving money in the sales, for instance), efficiency, predictability, control &
using non-human technology to achieve all this.
* As a consequence of FORMAL RATIONALITY, the world is now less enchanting, less magical and less meaningful. We know
everything because of science. This is all completely different to SUBSTANTIVE RATIONALITY which is where everything we think
we know is based on values, magic & faith in the un-seen. FORMAL RATIONALITY has more or less eclipsed SUBSTANTIAL
RATIONALITY in the modern world (although Postmodernists wouldn’t agree, particularly over the New Age). Of course,
famously, he showed how FORMAL RATIONALITY eclipsed SUBSTANTIAL RATIONALITY in his study of The Protestant Ethic and
the Spirit of Capitalism.
CRITICISMS:
1. He wants us to use VERSTEHEN – but empathy is a conversation which is full of value judgements.
2. He criticises RATIONALITY & BUREAUCRACY but offers no alternative for how we could organised ourselves.
3. He’s really pessimistic! There are lots of benefits to RATIONALITY – a better standard of living, for one.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM
In their social lives,
people tend to put on
a variety of theatrical
performances.
GH Mead 1863-1931.
* SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM is an ACTION THEORY, a MICRO perspective, which argues that individuals shape society & that
sociologists must concentrate on MICRO interactions between people & to find out individual perceptions on life (reality).
* People use & interpret SYMBOLS to survive & communicate, such as language, gestures, clothing, body language etc..
* Every object & action is given meaning on the basis of individual perception. A wooden base with four legs on it could be a
chair, a weapon, a piece of art, a tool, something to prop a door open, a signal...it depends on how you see it.
* Our survival depends on our ability to classify everything in life in terms of food, non-food, threatening, non-threatening etc.
These classifications do need to be shared by everyone else in society in order for us to co-operate & safeguard each other’s
survival.
* We all have a ROLE in society, but this isn’t just about what role(s) we play in society. ROLE TAKING also involves
using empathy to get inside someone’s head so that we truly understand them. Signals such as crying, shouting,
swearing, being very quiet etc will tell the observer what they’re dealing with. But where does this leave someone on
the Autism Spectrum?
* THE SELF – our notion of our own self is developed during childhood. Our sense of self is what makes us different
from animals. It begins with the PLAY STAGE where children play roles that aren’t their own & take on their behaviour.
* This is followed by the GAME STAGE later on, where children become aware of their
relationship to other people & how they need to behave. An example would be in football or
netball.
* Being self conscious is an essential part in being human because it provides the basis for
thought (your inner conversation), survival & communication. Without it, you simply wouldn’t
understand what was going on & not understand what was expected of you. By being aware of
others’ reactions to us, we hold up a mirror to ourselves to understand what kind of people we
are & make changes if necessary.
* Our behaviour is controlled to a certain extent by a constant inner conversation between
ourselves and the ‘generalized other’ – our perception of the opinions & expectations of
everyone else. “What
will people think?”
* Throughout our lives, appropriate behaviour is suggested to us by our culture. This is why role models are so important.
* People will act according to expected roles in society, but people still have the choice of whether to
accept or reject it. This is because 1. cultural norms aren’t hugely specific (look at the variety of clothes);
2. there’s a huge choice of jobs & roles; 3. some roles encourage a diversity of behaviour; 4. people can
join subcultures if they want to & 5. sometimes people are unable to play an expected role so a new
solution has to be found.
People influence their society &
are influenced by it, in return.
CRITICISMS:
1. Interactionists examine face-to-face interaction without taking into account the historical & social
context. For instance, Asian people are being Stopped & Searched more regularly than ever before,
probably because of the current moral panic about terrorism.
2. They fail to look at why we have the norms we do & where they’ve come from.
3. They fail to look at why we conform to norms to the extent that they constrain us & make us
miserable.
This is a structural theory:
the life you have depends on
the gender you are born into.
FEMINISM
This is also a CONFLICT theory – it examines the
power struggle between men and women.
Get me
out!
•Feminism pays attention to the subordinate position of
women in society.
•There are five broad approaches or varieties of feminism which reflect
differences in feminist opinions (a lot like ‘mainstream’ sociological
perspectives like Marxism, Functionalism and Interactionism). We have:
Radical
Liberal
Marxist
Black
Postmodern
A sexual revolution begins with the
emancipation of women, who are the chief
of patriarchy,
andthe
also
with theof
Avictims
sexual revolution
begins with
emancipation
women,
are the chief victims
of patriarchy, and also
endingwho
of homosexual
oppression.
RADICAL FEMINSM
with the ending of homosexual oppression.
Patriarchy is the
Read more:
key issue in
radical feminism.
•Women are exploited by ALL men – the ones they know AND the ones they’ll never meet.
•Society is patriarchal: dominated and rules by and for the benefit of men.
•The family is the main institution of women’s oppression.
•Only revolution can release women from oppression.
•Some radical feminists think women are oppressed because of their biology. Shulamith Firestone
advocates the use of reproductive technologies that would allow babies to be grown outside the womb
and could allow women to have hysterectomies so their lives wouldn’t be blighted by periods.
•Some radical feminists see women’s oppression as due to a culture which advocates rape and male
violence as a way for men to maintain power.
•Separation from men socially & sexually (lesbianism) is the only way to achieve
independence & freedom from men.
•Some are female supremacists & want matriarchy to replace patriarchy. They
blame men for war, destruction of the environment etc.
•Radical libertarian feminists argue gender is a social construction and irrelevant.
Some have raised children in an androgynous way to prove the point.
CRITICISMS:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ignores other forms of oppression due to race and social class.
Ignores positive relationships with men & demonises marriage.
It isn’t workable to demand separation from men.
It sees men as just bad, that they can’t be trusted as dads and friends etc.
Liberal Feminism
Not only is the division of labour by sex not universal, but there is no
reason why it should be. Human cultures are diverse and endlessly
variable. They owe their creation to human inventiveness rather
than invincible biological forces. Ann Oakley, 1974.
•They argue that both men as well as women are oppressed by rigid gender
roles.
•No-one wins with gender inequalities, both men’s and women’s potential is
suppressed by rigid expectations of them. For example, really, men should be
encouraged to have close relationships with children instead of having the
word “PAEDO!!” screamed at them.
•Socialization and discrimination limits men and women to very narrow expressions of gendered behaviour.
If a bloke wants to have a long, blond perm – he should be able to do so without having his ‘masculinity’
questionned. Similarly, if a woman wishes to become a shot-putter, she should be able to do so without
having her femininity and sexuality questionned.
•The main aim of Liberal Feminism is the creation of equal opportunities for both men and women. They
don’t want a revolution, they just want society to be rid of sexism and limiting stereotyping.
CRITICISMS:
1. The beliefs of Lib Fems are based on male norms and values, such as competition and achieved
status – encouraging women to be like men.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/question_time/9379203.stm Just have a look at this link to
see what they mean. UN-believe-ABLE!!!
2. Emphasises public at the expense of private life, substitutes relationships for power. Katie Hopkins
(the famous man-eater from The Apprentice), famously argued that her job was more important than
her children.
3. It’s rejected by Black Feminists and Postmodern Feminists for assuming all women have the same
issues.
Marxist / Socialist Feminism
•Women are exploited by capitalism through their unpaid labour in families – home is where the
exploitation is. Workers & consumers are maintained (fed etc) and reproduced by women.
•Historically, this is caused by the development of private property – men took charge of this & married
women to guarantee the paternity of children who would inherit this property. Women lost power.
•Marxist Feminism sees women as having a lot in common with the working class and urge them to cooperate with working class men and women in order to challenge capitalist oppression.
•They also seek revolutionary change in the form of a communist society, where all property will be
communally owned and remove the power related to private property.
CRITICISMS:
1. Marxism is a male theory which doesn’t adapt well to women’s lives because it
ignores culture, violence and sexuality as well as neglecting issues around race
and ethnicity.
2. Communist societies have exploited women more than capitalist ones; they
never reached positions of authority and seriously had their fertility messed with
(think; China’s one child policy and Russia’s all out love affair with abortion).
Black Feminism
Well, children, where there is so much racket there must be something
out of kilter. I think that 'twixt the negroes of the South and the women
at the North, all talking about rights, the white men will be in a fix
pretty soon. But what's all this here talking about?
That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages,
and lifted over ditches, and to have the best place everywhere. Nobody
ever helps me into carriages, or over mud-puddles, or gives me any best
place! And ain't I a woman? Look at me! Look at my arm! I have
ploughed and planted, and gathered into barns, and no man could head
me! And ain't I a woman? I could work as much and eat as much as a
man - when I could get it - and bear the lash as well! And ain't I a
woman? I have borne thirteen children, and seen most all sold off to
slavery, and when I cried out with my mother's grief, none but Jesus
heard me! And ain't I a woman?
Sojournor Truth at a
Women’s Convention in
Akron, Ohio in 1851.
•Black and White women have different experiences due to the existence of racism as well as sexism – this
makes Black women’s lives twice as hard as White women’s.
•There are Black women role models, such as Sojourner Truth, who identified the idea that slavery was at
the root of the fundamental differences between Black and White women.
•This still happens today, where White women are able to go out into the corporate world while their
children are nannied by women from the developing world and their ironing is done by yet more women
from the developing world, whose race and ethnicity barrs them from full participation in an elitist world.
•Mainstream feminism has always focused on the experiences of White, middle class women.
•Black and Asian women in developing
countries have had barbaric issues to
contend with – such as female genital
mutilation, mass rape and the HIV
epidemic. Meanwhile, White, western
women are concerned with equal rights at
work.
•Masculine bias in Black social thought and
a racist bias in feminism has left Black and
Asian women with no alternative but to
create an academic discipline for
themselves.
•Race, class and gender impact on women’s
lives in the form of racism, poverty and
sexism and the disadvantages that come
with all of these.
CRITICISMS:
1. Black feminism emphasises race way over sex or class in its analysis of Black women’s lives (but
perhaps because that’s the most visible aspect of Black women’s identity??)
2. It fails to address the oppression of White women who are of a different ethnicity to the majority of
a population – for instance, it would be interesting to examine the experiences of Polish women in
Southport and look at how they struggle with poverty and discrimination in their everyday lives.
Postmodern Feminism
“
Up till now (once upon a time), female
embodiment seemed to be given, organic,
necessary; and female embodiment seemed to
mean skill in mothering and its metaphoric
extensions. Only by being out of place could we
take intense pleasure in machines, and then with
excuses that this was organic activity after all,
appropriate to females. I’D RATHER BE A CYBORG
THAN A GODDESS.
Donna Haraway.
“
•Women are exploited by many different things in
postmodern society because all women are very different
and have very different identities.
•There are different varieties of women all with different
pressures and different levels of power.
•The focus in postmodern feminism is very much on
language and in unravelling the sexist ways in which
language frames our thoughts. For example, why do we
curse by referring to genitals?
•This is potentially where the much maligned political
correctness movement comes from.
•Postfeminists argue that the English language is structured
in terms of opposites: male / female; white / black; good /
bad; true / false; beautiful / ugly.
•The word hysterical comes from the same semantic field
as ‘womb’. A hysterectomy is the surgical removal of the
womb. To be hysterical is to be illogically and irrationally
emotional and it is clearly shown to be a female state.
•Women are treated as the insignificant ‘other’. For instance,
women’s football.
•Helene Cixous (a French postfeminist), calls language phallocentric.
(Phallus is a generic word relating to the male genitalia). She argues
this shapes how we think about and express our experiences. Cixous
also believes this prevents women from fully speaking out, unlike
male comedians and politicians.
•Cixous says women naturally think and act in cycles, while men are
linear (in a straight line).
•However, Haste says women have become more sexually
autonomous (free) and can meet their desires. She also argues that
the feminine view of the world can blend with the masculine.
CRITICISMS:
1. What sexual autonomy?! Female chauvenist pigs; plastic surgery; laddism; the pill … women are
having a male view of their sexuality imposed upon them – the ‘male gaze’.
2. This perspective loses sight of actual and acute oppression such as that faced by self-immolating
women in Afghanistan, and reduces all of women’s woes down to phallocentric language.
Postmodernism.
Life was once predictable, things were well structured – mapped out for us, we knew who we were – a clear
identity, we had firm beliefs about the nature of things. NOT ANY MORE.
Modern age
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
production
Community life
Social class
Family
A belief in continuity and situation
A role of education
A one-way media
Overt social control
Nationhood
Science aided progress and finding
the truth
Structure/security/place/stability
YOU KNEW WHO YOU WERE
Post modern age
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
consumption
fragmentation (individualism)
Identity from other sources
Families (many options)
Breakage with the past/tradition
Education for what?
Duality of media (choice/interchange)
Covert control (CCTV etc)
Global
Science is only one source of
knowledge – plurality of truths now
Confusion/lack of structure/
incessant choice
YOU CREATE WHO YOU WANT TO BE
The key features of Postmodernism:
* Truth is relative – it’s just an opinion of what’s right.
* Consumerism is all – we construct our identity through our clothes, music etc.
* Transformation of the self (‘pick ‘n’ mix’) – we can concoct our image from
media inspirations; look at ASOS – they can help you dress like Mischa Barton.
* Disillusionment with the idea of progress – many people are turning their backs on
technology & going back to nature (e.g. number of applications for allotments have shot up).
* Uncertainty – trends shift and change all the time, we can’t be sure what life’s going to
be like in another ten years.
* Fragmentation of social life – community isn’t as solid as it used to be, we are more
private now (sitting in watching TV programmes about made-up communities) & people are
more different (multiculturalism / age / sexuality).
* Incessant choice – of media, products, careers,
identities…
* Globalisation – we live in the world, rather than
just the UK.
* The impact of ICT on social life – social
networking, email, internet etc.
LYOTARD: Science has
helped destroy the
metanarratives of religion and
ideology. They’re too simplistic
to explain life properly. We
should focus on playing
language games to explore the
many narratives that exist and
know that they are just stories
to help us see the world in
particular ways. Knowledge is
no longer a tool of the
authorities – we have
choice/freedom to believe
what we want. Actions and
ideas are now judged on how
useful they are..rather than
how true they are.
BAUDRILLARD:
‘we are constantly
surrounded by an ecstasy
of communication and
that communication is
sickening’. We are
now just customers
whose desires are
created by the media.
We pursue the images
attached to the products;
‘simulacra’ - make
believe goods which bear
no relationship to the
real world.
We live in hyper-realities
in which
appearances are
everything.
IMAGE IS EVERYTHING !
DERRIDA: argued that modernism was characterised
by logocentrism; an obsession with consumption. Postmodernists rejected this and argue that trying to tell the
‘big story’ now is impossible. Social structure is in a state
of flux where all meaning is now relative and socially
constructed. As a consequence reality is fragile and
confusing.