Assess the Contribution of Feminist Theorists and Researchers to an Understanding of Society Today.
Assess the contribution of feminist theorists and researchers to an understanding of society today. 33 Marks
Feminists are a political movement who focus on the oppression of women and the struggle to end it. They believe that sociology has traditionally taken a ‘malestream’ view which ignores women. Feminism is a fairly new concept and it examines the women’s experiences and study society from a female perspective. In many of the original theories of sociology women were invisible and didn’t appear in ideologies. Feminists believe society marginalizes the roles of women and that society adapts a male perspective and their theory has been developed since the 1960s and they have attempted to explain women’s struggles by trying to place them at the centre of sociological studies. In this essay I will be assessing the contribution of feminist theorists and researchers to an understanding of society today.
One of the contributions the feminists have provided us with in today’s society for women is freedom. Feminists such as Anne Oakley criticise the functionalist view of the nuclear family performing positive functions by carrying out her own research to provide evidence to prove this. Oakley carried out interviews in the homes of housewives to look into the lives and experiences of these women including domestic violence; by carrying out these interviews Oakley was able to gain reliable results. The women whom Oakley interviewed were all open and personal towards her which helped her to gain better results which contributed towards helping today’s society to gain a better understanding of issues such as Domestic Violence which were not looked into before feminism evolved and has helped women get help through charities which were not around before, this suggests that feminism has contributed to society today.
In the early 70’s Sue Sharp found that women’s priorities were factors such as ‘Love, marriage and family’, she also found that girls felt educational
Feminists are a political movement who focus on the oppression of women and the struggle to end it. They believe that sociology has traditionally taken a ‘malestream’ view which ignores women. Feminism is a fairly new concept and it examines the women’s experiences and study society from a female perspective. In many of the original theories of sociology women were invisible and didn’t appear in ideologies. Feminists believe society marginalizes the roles of women and that society adapts a male perspective and their theory has been developed since the 1960s and they have attempted to explain women’s struggles by trying to place them at the centre of sociological studies. In this essay I will be assessing the contribution of feminist theorists and researchers to an understanding of society today.
One of the contributions the feminists have provided us with in today’s society for women is freedom. Feminists such as Anne Oakley criticise the functionalist view of the nuclear family performing positive functions by carrying out her own research to provide evidence to prove this. Oakley carried out interviews in the homes of housewives to look into the lives and experiences of these women including domestic violence; by carrying out these interviews Oakley was able to gain reliable results. The women whom Oakley interviewed were all open and personal towards her which helped her to gain better results which contributed towards helping today’s society to gain a better understanding of issues such as Domestic Violence which were not looked into before feminism evolved and has helped women get help through charities which were not around before, this suggests that feminism has contributed to society today.
In the early 70’s Sue Sharp found that women’s priorities were factors such as ‘Love, marriage and family’, she also found that girls felt educational