Sex, Gender and Sexuality

- Feminism- the term feminism was coined by a Utopian Socialist and Frech
philosopher, Charles Fourier in 1837. However, the history of western feminist theory begins
with the works of Mary Wollstonecraft. She wrote ‘A vindication of the Rights of Women’.
She is regarded as the mother of modern feminism. Feminism is a social, political and
ideological movement that tries to uplift the rights and the status of women. Feminism works
for getting equal treatment of men and women, they also try to eliminate discrimination and
violence against women.
- Feminism is about all genders having equal rights and opportunities. It’s about
respecting diverse women’s experiences, identities, knowledges, skills, etc. Therefore,
feminist believes in equal rights for all genders/sexes. It’s not about hating men and it’s not
about believing that women are better than men.
- Sex- In a very broad way the term sex refers to the biological and physiological
differences between male and female sex. Therefore, the term sex is use for a physical
differentiation between biological male and the biological female. When an infant is born, the
infant comes to be labelled ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ depending on their sex. The genital difference
between male and female is the basis of such characterization. Individuals are socialized
according to specific gender expectation and roles. Biological males should learn to take on
masculine roles, and they are expected to socialize, to think and act in masculine ways. As
such, biological females should learn to take on feminine roles and they are expected to
socialize, think an behave in feminine ways.
- According to famous feminist writer Simone de Beauvoir, ‘one is not born a man but
becomes one’. Besides the basic biological differences in the genitals and reproductive
organs, there is not much difference between the male child and the female child. Thus,
society makes the difference between boy or girl through gender construction. However, this
view is strongly criticised by one of the feminist writer Judith Butler by saying that sex is
natural and comes first. Gender is perceived as a secondary construct which is imposed over
the top of this natural distinction. Butler further explains sex is not just an analytical category.
It is a normative category as well. Sex specifies what men and women are. What men and
women ought to be. It also formulates rules to control the behaviour of men and women.
- Gender- (the concept of gender became popular in the early 1970) The term gender
explains the differences between men and women in social terms as man, what a man can or
cannot do, as woman, what a woman can or cannot do. Therefore, gender is an analytical
category that is socially constructed to differentiate the biological difference between men
and women. As such, gender differentiate numerous roles that should be played by both man
and woman. The term gender is also used to describe the differences in behaviour between
man and women which as described as, masculine and feminine. Feminists focuses on this
aspect by claiming that these differences are not biological but are social construction of
patriarchal society.
- Some theories suggest that the biological differences between men and women result
in their mental and physical differences. They are argued that biologically men are physically
and mentally superior to women. However, some reformers tried to eliminate the huge gap
between men and women. Other theorists suggest that the biological difference between men
and women are exaggerated. They believed that the differences are socially constructed by
the patriarchal system of society by which men are described as superior to women.
Therefore, women become subordinate to men in the society.
- Some feminists/thinker’s views on gender- Ann Oakley explore the term gender in
her book ‘Sex, Gender and Society’. She says that in many cultures’ women usually play the
role of ‘housewife’ and ‘mother’. These roles are played by women because of their biology.
The western culture believes that any effort to change the traditional systems or roles of men
and women in the society can cause damage to the social fabric of the society. Oakley
believes that this view regarding the roles of men and women helps to support and maintain
the patriarchal society.
- Simone de Beauvoir mentions the term gender in her book ‘The Second Sex’ as that
‘one is not born, but rather becomes a woman’. She explains that gender differences in the
society make the man superior because of his role as the bread winner. These differences give
him a position of power in the society and family. Further, these gender differences make
men are superior and women are subordinate.
- Shulamith Firestone in her book ‘The Dialectics of Sex’ suggests that patriarchy and
the gender differences exploit women’s biological capacity to reproduce as their essential
weakness. She also suggests that the only way for women to break away from this oppression
is to use technological advances of free themselves from the burden of childbirth.
- Different feminists have different viewpoints regarding the concept of gender. It is
difficult to pinpoint a firm distinction between sex and gender as either wholly biological or
cultural/social. The debates on sex and gender will continue as same will argue in favour of
biological differences while other feminist thinkers will favour the differences as socially
constructed, supported by social institutions like religion, caste, marriage, family etc.
- Sexuality- the concept of sexuality defines certain traits as typically male as so
masculine in nature as typically female as so feminine in nature. Sexuality is central to
feminist politics and theory. Sexuality refers to one’s sexual orientation and level of
familiarity with one’s biological sex. Many feminists especially radical feminists are highly
critical and highly opposed sexual objectification and sexual exploitation in society and
media.
Various feminist view on Patriarchy- the term patriarchy implies, male domination, male
prejudice or male power. The concept of patriarchy has been central to many feminist theories. It is
an attempt to explain the stratification of power and privilege by gender that can be observed by many
objective measures.

- Feminist views on patriarchy can vary, but many feminists generally argue that
patriarchy is a social/manmade system that privileges men and oppresses women. The term
patriarchy refers to ‘the absolute rule of the father or the eldest male member over his
family’. Thus, it means the rule of the father over all women in the family and also over
younger socially and economically subordinate males. Literally, patriarchy means rule by the
male who has legitimate power over others in the social unit. However, since the early 20 th
Century, feminist writers have used the term patriarchy as a concept to refer to the social
system of masculine domination over women. Since this time, patriarchy has been used
critically to explain the main components of authority and power in any social system.
Patriarchy privileges men over women such that women have little or no claims to material,
sexual and intellectual resources of the society. That is, in a patriarchal society women have
to struggle to be educated, to have property or to make choices regarding marriage and other
aspects of life. For men, these resources are a matter of right and can make choices that affect
their lives.
- However, patriarchy has been viewed as more than just the subordination of women.
It has been pointed out that not all men are powerful in a patriarchal system. Such men who
are oppressed and exploited by powerful men are denied access to resources of the society as
well as their own masculine identity. For instance, the lower class/ Dalit men. In spite of this,
that certain classes and category of men are the targets of patriarchal authority, the fact
remains that all men can claim resources and power more easily than women in their families
or communities.
- The socialist feminist Simone de Beauvoir argued that only man has freedom to
choose and set himself up as essential and subject. However, women are both inessential and
object. She addressed this problem by advocating a family structure centred upon a balanced
couple that displayed ‘equality in difference, and difference in equality’.
- The eco-feminist Carolyn Merchant also extends the critique of patriarchy towards the
damage done by men to the environment, advocating a more maternal relationship with
mother earth.
- Different areas of women’s lives are said to be under patriarchal control-
1. Women’s productive or labour power- men control women’s productivity both within
the household and outside, in paid labour. The work done by housewives is not
considered as work and in some families the service provided by women is not
appreciated. Women’s work outside the home is also control by men, they are usually
working in jobs with low wages and often excluded from better paid jobs. In some
countries women are not allowed to work outside of their home. This patriarchal
control and exploitation of women’ work mean that men benefit materially and
economically.
2. Women’s reproduction- men also control women’s reproductive power. In many
societies women have no control over their reproductive capacities. They are often
restricted to use contraceptives; they cannot decide how many children they want.
Male dominated social institutions and also numerous rules regarding women’s
reproduction capacity is laid down. In modern days, the patriarchal state tries to
control women’s reproduction through its family planning programmes.
3. Control over women’s sexuality- women are obliged to provide sexual services to
their husbands according to their needs and desires. Moral and legal regulations exist
to restrict women’s sexual activity outside marriage in every society, while male can
freely perform sexual activity outside marriage, male promiscuity is often condoned.
Women are not allowed to express their sexual desires etc.
4. Women’s physical movement/mobility- in patriarchal society, men control women’s
mobility. The imposition of purdah restriction on leaving the house, restriction
between the sexes is some of the ways by which the patriarchal society controls
women’s mobility and freedom of movement.
5. Property and economic- most property and other productive resources are controlled
by men and are passes on from father to son. Women hardly inherit family heirloom.
- Some perspectives of patriarchy within feminism include:
1. Radical feminism- RF have no interest in keeping/preserving the so-called natural
order or biological quo that subordinates women to men. Instead, their aim is to
question the concept of a natural order and to overcome the negative effects on
women.
 They do not believe that men are naturally superior to women. RF believes
that patriarchy is deeply rooted in society’s structure and advocates for radical
societal changes to eliminate gender-based oppression.
 According to radical feminism, patriarchy pervades all aspects of life. In
particular, patriarchy pervades sexuality. Women’s sexuality has been
controlled in direction that serve men. Some radical feminist believes that
male biology compels men to dominate. They see patriarchy as a result not of
biology but of social expectations about how men and women should act.
2. Liberal feminism- focuses on promoting gender equality through legal and policy
reforms, trying to change discriminatory practices within existing societal structures.
What liberal feminists wish to fulfil is to free women from oppressive gender roles.
Liberal feminists argue that patriarchal society thinks women are ideally suited only
for some particular occupations.
3. Intersectional feminism- recognizes that the impact of patriarchy is compounded
when considering intersecting factors like race, class and sexual orientation.
Intersectional feminism advocates for addressing multiple forms of oppression
simultaneously. People of colour, transgender, homosexual etc are likely to be the
victims of discrimination and inequality.
4. Marxist feminism/Socialist feminism- sees patriarchy as intertwined with capitalism,
arguing that women’s oppression is linked to economic structures calls for both
gender and class revolution. Marxists reject the liberal theory of nature. They
emphasized what makes us human is that what we do.
 The emphasis of MF/SF is on unity and integration. Socialist feminists
believe that gender and class play an approximate equal role in an explanation
of women’s oppression. However, Marxist/socialist feminists believe that
class ultimately better accounts for women’s status and functions. They invite
every woman whether proletariat or bourgeois, to understand women’s
oppression.
 Socialist feminism is largely the result of Marxists feminsts’ dissatisfaction
with the essentially gender-blind character of Marxist thought.
 To overcome the limits of traditional Marxist feminism and of radical and
psychoanalytical feminism, socialist feminism has developed 2 theories- dual
systems theory and unified-system theory.
 Dual systems theorists maintain that patriarchy and capitalism are distinct
form of social relation and distinct sets of interest, which, when their
intersect, oppressed women in particularly horrific ways. In contrast to dual
systems theorists, unified systems theorists attempt to analyze capitalism and
patriarchy together through the use of one concept. To them, capitalism is no
more separate from patriarchy than the mind is from the body.
5. Postmodern feminism- PF was referred to as ‘French Feminism’. They challenge the
ideas of a universal experience of patriarchy, emphasizing diverse and individual
perspectives. Postmodern feminism highlights the role of language and discourse in
shaping gender norms.
 The roots of postmodern feminism are found in the work of Simone de
Beauvoir’s work ‘The Second Sex’.
 Why woman is regarded as the Other?
6. Cultural Feminism- emerged in the early 1970 amidst the women’s liberation
movement. Its advocates problematised the cultural constructions and representations
of gender identities that allocate distinct social roles on the basis of sexual difference
as the root cause of women’s oppression.
 CF believe that it is only by destroying the cultural norms of the feminine and
the masculine, that women as well as men can be liberated.
 CF attempted to generate a new, patriarchy-free consciousness and engage in
radically different ways of living.
 The creation of women only space and women centres were motivated by the
need for spaces that were safe and free from patriarchal violence.
 - Feminism is not a monolithic movement, and individuals may identify with multiple
perspectives or none at all. These diverse views contribute to ongoing discussions and
debates within the feminist movements.
Types of Feminism and their rational for gender equality

The feminist perspectives of the last 35 years divided into three broad categories that reflect
their theories and political strategies with regard to the gendered social order. These are –
1. Gender reform feminisms
2. Gender resistant feminisms
3. Gender revolution feminisms.

Gender Reform Feminisms

The feminisms of the 1960s and 1970s were the beginning of the second wave of feminism.
They are liberal feminism, marxist and socialist feminisms, and development feminism.
Liberal Feminism
Theoretically, liberal feminism claims that gender differences are not based in biology, and
therefore that women and men are not all that different -- their common humanity supersedes
their procreative differentiation. If women and men are not different, then they should not be
treated differently under the law. Women should have the same rights as men and the same
educational and work opportunities. The goal of liberal feminism in the United States was
embodies in the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which was never ratified.
The main contribution of liberal feminism is showing how much modern society
discriminates against women. In the United States, it was successful in breaking down many
barriers to women's entry into formerly male-dominated jobs and professions, helped to
equalize wage scales, and got abortion and other reproductive rights legalized. But liberal
feminism could not overcome the prevailing belief that women and men are intrinsically
different. It was somewhat more successful in proving that even if women are different from
men, they are not inferior.
Marxist and Socialist Feminisms
Marx's analysis of the social structure of capitalism was supposed to apply to people of any
social characteristics. If you owned the means of production, you were a member of the
capitalist class; if you sold your labor for a wage, you were a member of the proletariat. That
would be true of women as well, except that until the end of the 19th century, married women
in capitalist countries were not allowed to own property in their own name; their profits from
any businesses they ran and their wages belonged to their husband. Although Marx
recognized that workers and capitalists had wives who worked in the home and took care of
the children, he had no place for housewives in his analysis of capitalism. It was marxist
feminism that put housewives into the structure of capitalism. Housewives are vital to
capitalism, indeed to any industrial economy, because their unpaid work in the home
maintains bosses and workers and reproduces the next generation of bosses and workers (and
their future wives).
Development Feminisms: Development feminism's theory is that in any society, if the food
women produce is the main way the group is fed, and women also control the distribution of
any surplus they produce, women have power and prestige. If men provide most of the food
and distribute the surplus, women's status is low. Whether women or men produce most of
the food depends on the kind of technology used. Thus, the mode of production and the
kinship rules that control the distribution of any surplus are the significant determinants of the
relative status of women and men in any society. In addition to gendered economic analyses,
development feminism addresses the political issue of women's rights versus national and
cultural traditions.
Gender Resistant Feminism
• Radical feminism
 • Lesbian feminism
• Psychoanalytical feminism
• Standpoint feminism.

Gender Revolution Feminism

• Multi- ethnic Feminism
• Men’s Feminism
• Social construction Feminism
• Post Modern Feminism and Queer Theory

- There are various types of feminism that focuses on gender equality. Such as,
1. Liberal feminism- focuses on legal and political reform to assure equal rights and
opportunities for women within existing societal structures. Liberal feminists
focus on achieving gender equality, recognition of women as equal citizens, right
to vote (suffrage), access to education etc.
2. Radical feminism- seeks to address the root cause of gender inequality by
challenging and transforming fundamental social structures, often criticizing
patriarchy and capitalism. A radical feminist aims to eliminate patriarchy rather
than making adjustments to the system through legal changes.
3. Socialist/Marxist feminism- examines the intersection of gender and class, arguing
that capitalism and class structures contribute to women’s oppression. The class
relations of capitalism enforced gender hierarchy that leads to women’s
oppression.
4. Black feminism- addresses the unique experiences of black women, considering
the intersectionality of race, gender and often class. They seek equality for all the
coloured women.
5. Intersectional feminism- recognizes and analyses the interconnected nature of
various social identities (race, gender etc) and their impact on individual. Its
allows women of all races, economic standings, religions, identities and sexual
orientations for their voice to be heard.
6. Cultural feminism- emphasizes the value of women’s unique qualities and
contributions, challenging social norms that devalue traditionally feminine
attributes.
7. Ecofeminism- argues that the domination and oppression of women and the
degradation of the environment are consequences of patriarchy and capitalism. Its
believe that we cannot end the exploitation of nature without ending human
oppression and vice versa.
8. Post-colonial feminism- examines how gender issues intersect with post-colonial
and colonial contexts, considering the impact on women in non-western societies.
It can be regarded as a response to feminism focusing solely on the experiences of
women in western cultures and colonials etc.
9. Queer feminism- focuses on issues related to gender and sexual minorities,
challenging heteronormativity and advocating for LGBTQ+ rights.
These types of feminism often overlap. However, the common goal is to promote
gender equality and challenge systematic forms of oppression.
- First wave of feminism- first wave feminism was a feminist movement and thought
that occurred during the 19th and early 20th Century. It was the first real political
movement for the western world. First wave feminists were influenced by collective
activism of women in various other reform movements.
- Olympes de Gouges wrote ‘Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female
Citizen’. In her article he declared that women are born free and are man’s equal in
law. Social distinctions can be founded solely on common utility. In her statement, she
mentioned the various rights that both men and women should possess. This
document and the collective activism of the women in the Frenche Revolution became
a source of inspiration for first wave feminists. The goal of first wave of feminism
was to open up opportunities for women, with a focus on suffrage (right to vote in
political elections especially for white women).
- first wave feminism focused on legal issues, mainly on securing women’s right to vote
- Second wave feminism- the second wave Feminism movement occurred during 1960s
to 1970s. The second wave feminism mainly focused on gender equality. It also
focused on the legal, economic, social rights of women, reproductive rights, what
women’s role in society should be? Etc.
- Three main types of feminism emerged- liberal, radical and cultural. Liberal or
mainstream feminism focused on institutional reforms such as reducing gender
inequality, giving women access to male dominated spaces, promoting equality.
Radical feminism wanted to reshaped society by removing patriarchal society. It still
promoted the equality of men and women. Cultural feminism promoted there’ s a
female essence that’s distinct from men.
- Third wave feminism- the issues of race, inclusion and diversity are central in third
wave feminism. It was emerged in the mid-1990s. Third wave feminism was
influenced by the postmodernist movement in the academy and sought to question,
reclaiming and redefine the ideas about womanhood, gender, beauty, sexuality etc.
- The third wave was much more inclusive of women of colours than the first and the
second wave. The third wave redefined women and girls assertive, powerful, and in
control of their own sexuality.