Spawned from Enlightenment thinking, Liberal feminism focused on the rationality of the individual who is governed by reason and free will. Each person, including women, has free will and self-determination. This theory focused on individual rights, as opposed to collective freedoms and argued that women’s problems could be solved by utilizing the existing social reform outlets (such as the legal system). The Equal Rights Amendment – that no rights shall be denied on the basis of a person’s sex –is a prime example of Liberal Feminism at work. Because they believe that all women have the same potential for self-determination and free will as men, these feminists usually argue in favor of a hands-off governmental approach to issues of prostitution, abortion, and gay marriage, viewing these issues as personal choices that should be outside of governmental control.
Most Liberal Feminists focus on how gender roles are used to keep women from fully participating in all aspects of life, and how women’s roles are devalued by society. With no gender roles, they argue, men and women would truly be equal. They focus on social reforms that create opportunities for women within our current social system (i.e. affordable child care so women can participate equally in the workforce; challenging the negative stereotypes of women and femininity, etc.).
One of the major problems with this theory is that it ignores the fact that certain individuals and groups lack the social, political, and economic agency necessary to achieve true equality. It also implies that men and women are essentially the same, and therefore that women have no unique concerns or that women are not oppressed in ways different than men.
The sex trade is a good example for applying the different theories, as there is much disagreement about this issue within the feminist community.
To a true Liberal Feminist, sex trade activities (prostitution, pornography, stripping, etc) is an individual choice made by a free-thinking adult, and should therefore be legal. These women are in full control of their sexuality and of their bodies, and have the right to do with them what they please. Liberal feminists tend to argue for better rights of women within these industries to reduce the risks women face from violence, stigmas, and diseases.
Other feminists challenge the individual rights stance toward the sex trade, since it ignores the persistent social/political systems and individual circumstances of women who are employed in this industry. The true meaning of “free choice” is challenged by these alternate arguments: Is a woman who chooses to prostitute herself because she cannot find a job and will be evicted from her apartment truly making a free choice?
It is here that the issues of Experience and Difference become important - not all prostitutes and sex workers are the same. There are differences between these women in terms of race, class, and nationality, and these differences create very different experiences for these women. Some sex workers are arguably not oppressed. A girl I knew in high school posed for Playboy and paid off her college loans and went on to Law School. She, however, came from a middle-class, white background. She has very little in common with a woman who was sexually abused as a teenager, ran away from home, and is now stuck in the porn industry. High-priced call girls making $5,000 per night have little in common with a poor Black prostitute who has been subjected to violence on the part of her pimp and her customers.
29 December 2005
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High-priced call girls making $5,000 per night have little in common with a poor Black prostitute who has been subjected to violence on the part of her pimp and her customers.
Very true.... But isn't that a basic wealth issue rather than a feminist one? The more money a person has access to.. the more choices they have. Help to eliminate poverty.. and you eliminate the need for poor women (and men) to prostitute themselves so that they can eat.
CK: Yep, we'll get to economics later.
Basically at the root of all feminist theory are ways in which the world is experienced differently by people of different genders. In the Liberal Feminism case, it's the negative ways in which female expression of sexuality is categorized in our society vs. males. A man who was once a prostitute or a stripper has much less social stigma to overcome than a woman - that's the feminist perspective.
This is also where language is important... think of all the slang terms for sexually active people we have in English. How many of them that pertain to women are positive?
In the Liberal Feminism case, it's the negative ways in which female expression of sexuality is categorized in our society vs. males.
Again very true. I think that's a combination of many things. Amongst them are..
Historically women have normally been considered property - most probably because of their reproductive role.
Men have also, in general, had more power (physically, politically & economically) than women. Most of that has changed (at least in the West) but some attitudes persist.. It takes several generations for a culture to 'catch up' with social change.
To a true Liberal Feminist, sex trade activities (prostitution, pornography, stripping, etc) is an individual choice made by a free-thinking adult, and should therefore be legal. These women are in full control of their sexuality and of their bodies, and have the right to do with them what they please.
The problem with that is that a lot of call girls/porn stars are not women or adults at all--they're girls and underage. Some of them are missing from their families and the whole porn/call girl atmospere leads to all sorts of other illegal activities--it's a chew 'em up and spit them out industry. Agreed?
Sadie said: it's a chew 'em up and spit them out industry. Agreed?
I think the problem of the Sex Industry stems from two things:
We have a very unhealthy attitude towards sex & sex has become a comodity (like just about everything else) that can be bought and sold. Until these issues get address the problems associated with it will continue.
Sadie: This only applies to adults. I don't think any feminist would say that a child forced into the sex trade was making a free choice. Of course, you bring up another challenge to the "free will" argument - is a woman who as been taught her whole life that the only thing she is good for is a sex object and who 'chooses' to go into pornography really making a free choice?
Okay, so if you doubt that any feminist would say that a child forced (some are not forced) into a sex trade, was not making a free choice and if many "professionals" are underage, then why blanket this issue as it applies to adults? You're saying that many liberal feminists think sex trade activities should be legalized and I'm saying that their stance on the subject is flawed because of the fact that tons of business in the idustry is generated by teenage girls. It must remain illegal as long as porn still uses underage girls and as long as teens still walk the streets.
It's irresponsible for us adults to make something legal just because consenting adults practice it.
Your argument is one made by many people. The Liberal Fem. stance is that if the industry was legalized, such as it was for a long time in Thailand, then the women would have protections now not offered them. They would be regulated by the government, to ensure the health and well being and make sure the women had legal rights. In Thailand for a long time prostitution was legal, and the women got free health exams, had legal recourse if they were mistreated, and the government cracked down on illegal activities (such as underage workers). Now that it is illegal again, it has all been driven underground and women are subjected to more violence, have no legal recourse (lest they themselves want to also go to prison for prostitution), and AIDS has exploded because no one is providing health care and STD screenings anymore.
This is why I chose this topic to explore the different theories - there's so many ways to look at it.
That's always been my problem with the women's movement. There is no "one size fits all" solution, yet many of the movement's leaders have tried to make it this way. :(
Laura - To a true Liberal Feminist, sex trade activities (prostitution, pornography, stripping, etc) is an individual choice made by a free-thinking adult, and should therefore be legal. These women are in full control of their sexuality and of their bodies, and have the right to do with them what they please. Liberal feminists tend to argue for better rights of women within these industries to reduce the risks women face from violence, stigmas, and diseases.
I completely agree with the liberal feminists here. We have Life, Liberty, and Pursuit of Happiness, and love it or hate it, porn and prostitution are choices adults make. I'd rather see it legal, taxed, and regulated.
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