Modern liberal feminism and its critics

Abstract

As we have seen in earlier chapters, liberal feminism has seldom been expressed in pure form, but has been entangled with other, sometimes contradictory, traditions and assumptions. Nevertheless it retains a clear central core of ideas based upon the belief that women are individuals possessed of reason, that as such they are entitled to full human rights, and that they should therefore be free to choose their role in life and explore their full potential in equal competition with men. In accordance with these principles, earlier liberal feminists demanded the right to education, employment, property and the vote; their goal became full legal and political equality with men, and they claimed that this would benefit not only women but also men and society as a whole. During the inter-war years, feminism based on such equal rights arguments had been in abeyance, as ‘mainstream’ feminist activities concentrated on supporting women in their traditional roles rather than on challenging their remaining legal inequalities.