Radical feminism: Encyclopedia II - Radical feminism - Radical feminist theory and ideology

Radical feminism - Radical feminist theory and ideology

Radical feminists in Western society believe that their society is an oppressive patriarchy that primarily oppresses women. Radical feminists seek to abolish this patriarchy. They also believe that the way to deal with patriarchy and oppression of all kinds is to attack the underlying causes of these problems and address the fundamental components of society that support them.

Patriarchal theory is not always as single sided as the belief that all men always benefit from the oppression of all women. Patriarchal theory maintains that the primary element of patriarchy is a relationship of dominance, where one party (commonly males) is dominant and exploits the other party (generally women) for his own benefit. Patriarchal theory notes that dominant men use violent hierarchical social power to control non-dominant men as well as women. Overall, Radical feminists believe that eliminating patriarchy, and other systems which perpetuate the domination of one group over another, will liberate everyone, from an unjust society.

While Radical feminism posits that the root cause of all other inequalities is the oppression of women, some Radical feminists acknowledge the simultaneity or intersectionality of different types of oppression which may include, but are not limited to the following: gender, race, class, perceived attractiveness, sexuality, ability, whilst still affirming the recognition of patriarchy. [1] See also sex-positive feminism for a sex-positive feminist critique (though sex-positive feminism is often held up in contrast with radical feminism).

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Radical feminist theory and ideology", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki