The aims of feminism

Jordan Marsh, Emily Brown, and Dajon Williams

What are the aims of feminism?

Two of the overall aims of feminism are:
1. To raise consciousness about the oppression of women
2. To have equal rights, treatment and opportunities as men.

In society
In the economy
In the workplace

What is Consciousness Raising?

MacKinnon states: the process through which the
contemporary radical feminist analysis of the situation of
women has been shaped and shared.

Basically, it is showing that social attitudes and material

conditions are key to womens oppression.

Simply being, MacKinnons project is to show what it means

to be a feminist and bring awareness to the fact there is
male supremacy and there is oppression of women.

When does consciousness raising happen?

MacKinnon says it happens when you have shared

experiences:

When you talk to your friends

When you have a discussion in class
When you are part of a group

Consciousness raising was many womens first experience

with acknowledging feminism.
We need other women to:

Compare stories
Share our similarities and differences with one another

Essentialism in relation to oppression

Essentialism, according to MacKinnon is the notion that

women are inferior
The idea of male hegemony is that males have a dominant
social position

Shows that male power makes female inferiority self-enforcing; it

happens naturally.

Feminism uses this to look and see who a woman becomes by

growing up in a society that is male dominated

What is Oppression?
Oppression is the state of being
subject to unjust treatment or
control.
Macroscopic Perspective

How does Frye describe/explain oppression?

Frye Describes Oppression by saying:

It's like being a caged in bird

It's like being confined by unavoidable
situations

Frye Explains That Oppression is:

Targeted as a group

LGBT
People of Color
Women

Examples of oppression
Giving the Daughter Away at a Wedding
Door Opening
Blacks not being able to get a job when
theyre qualified

Sexuality-Social Construction of Oppression

Mackinnon explains,

Male dominance is sexual. Meaning: men in

particular, if not men alone, sexualize hierarchy; gender is one.
Mackinnon talks about the social idea of sex is a deeper construction of male
dominance. She goes on and discusses how men uses sex to make women second
class citizens.
Dominance eroticized denes the imperatives of its masculinity, submission
eroticized denes its femininity.

Ideas of sexuality

With men having the dominance over sex they govern who can
have sex with who, how they have sex, and when they have
sex.
Gender is also important when talking about sexuality.
Did you have a chance to choose your gender or due to the
social constraints of sexuality were you forced to check a
category?

Mackinnon says,...knowing that men author scripts to their own

advantage, women and men act them out; that men set conditions, women
and men have their behavior conditione.

The Key
Its very important to understand Conscious Raising when
understanding Feminism. Stemming from the desire to be equal
as men feminism has grown into a deeper process of thinking.
Revealing the day to day oppressions and making them known
and understood is what we currently face.