Non-core Political Ideas (Feminism), area 1: the core ideas of feminism (sex and gender, patriarchy, the personal is political, equality and difference feminism, intersectionality) and how they apply to human nature, the state, society and the economy.

What this dot point is asking

Edexcel wants you to explain the core ideas and principles of feminism (the distinction between sex and gender, patriarchy, the idea that the personal is political, equality and difference feminism, and intersectionality) and how they apply to human nature, the state, society and the economy. The Section B essay is worth 24 marks and you must apply the required thinkers (covered alongside the types in the paired page).

Core ideas and principles

The required core ideas, with how each applies to human nature, the state, society and the economy:

• Sex and gender. Sex refers to the biological differences between men and women; gender refers to the socially constructed roles a society assigns to them. Most feminists argue this distinction shows that gender inequality is socially constructed, not natural, and therefore changeable. (Difference feminists qualify this by stressing real differences in nature.)
• Patriarchy. The systematic, institutionalised and pervasive dominance of men over women across the state, society and the economy. Feminists differ on how central and how universal patriarchy is.
• The personal is political. The idea that all relationships, including private ones between men and women, are based on power and dominance, so the private sphere (the family, sexuality, domestic labour) is a proper subject of political analysis. Radical feminists see this as the essence of patriarchy; some liberals see it as dangerous.
• Equality and difference feminism. Equality feminists seek equal treatment and rights for women in society; difference feminists argue that men and women have a fundamentally different nature and that women's distinct qualities should be valued rather than assimilated to a male norm.
• Intersectionality. A newer strand arguing that black and working-class women experience patriarchy differently from white, middle-class women, so gender oppression intersects with race and class.

How the ideas apply

The internal debates

The core ideas immediately generate disagreement that the Section B essay rewards:

• Is patriarchy the deepest oppression? Radical feminists say yes; socialist feminists say class and capitalism are deeper; liberal feminists focus on legal and political inequality.
• Is the personal political? Radical feminists make it central; liberals fear politicising the private sphere.
• Equality or difference? Most feminists are equality feminists, but difference feminists argue that demanding equality on male terms devalues women's distinct nature.

Examples in context

• De Beauvoir's "one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman", the classic statement of the sex to gender distinction.
• The "personal is political" slogan, central to the radical feminism of the 1960s and 1970s.
• The gender pay gap and unpaid domestic labour, practical expressions of economic patriarchy.
• Intersectionality (bell hooks), the critique that mainstream feminism centred white, middle-class women.

Try this

Q1. Explain and analyse three core ideas of feminism. [9 marks]

• Cue. The sex to gender distinction, patriarchy, and the personal is political, each developed with a thinker.

Q2. To what extent do feminists agree about the role of the state in achieving gender equality? [24 marks]

• What the marker wants. A two-sided AO1 to AO3 essay weighing liberal reliance on the state and law against radical and socialist scepticism, applying thinkers and reaching a judgement.