Second-Wave Feminism: Liberal, Socialist, and Radical

This lesson examines second-wave feminism (c. 1960s–1980s) — a period of intense feminist activism and intellectual development that went far beyond the legal and political reforms of the first wave. Second-wave feminism addressed social equality, reproductive rights, workplace discrimination, domestic violence, and the underlying structures of patriarchy.

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Context

Second-wave feminism emerged in the context of broader social upheaval in the 1960s:

• The civil rights movement in the US inspired women to challenge their own subordination.
• Betty Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) articulated the frustration of educated, middle-class American women confined to the domestic sphere.
• The development of the contraceptive pill (1960s) gave women greater control over reproduction.
• Growing numbers of women were entering the workforce, but faced discrimination, lower pay, and limited opportunities.
• The New Left and the anti-Vietnam War movement, while progressive, often excluded or marginalised women.

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Three Strands of Second-Wave Feminism

1. Liberal Feminism

Liberal feminism applies the principles of liberalism — individual rights, equal opportunity, legal reform — to the situation of women. It is the most moderate strand and focuses on achieving equality within existing structures.

Key ideas:

• Women should have the same rights and opportunities as men.
• The focus is on legal reform — anti-discrimination legislation, equal pay laws, access to education and employment.
• The state should guarantee equal treatment and remove barriers to women's participation in public life.
• Gender differences are largely the product of socialisation, not biology.

Key thinker: Betty Friedan (1921–2006)

Friedan's The Feminine Mystique (1963) argued that the post-war ideology of domesticity — the idea that women should find fulfilment solely through marriage, motherhood, and housework — was a form of oppression. She called this "the problem that has no name."

Friedan co-founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) in 1966, which campaigned for equal pay, reproductive rights, and an end to sex discrimination.

Key achievements:

• Equal Pay Act 1970 (UK) — required equal pay for equal work.
• Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (UK) — prohibited discrimination on grounds of sex.
• Title IX (1972, US) — prohibited sex discrimination in education.
• Roe v Wade (1973, US) — established women's right to abortion (later overturned in 2022).

Criticisms:

• Liberal feminism has been criticised for focusing on the concerns of white, middle-class women — access to professional careers, equal pay in white-collar jobs — while ignoring the experiences of working-class women and women of colour.
• It does not challenge the underlying structures of patriarchy — it merely seeks to allow women to succeed within a system that remains fundamentally male-dominated.
• Radical feminists argue that liberal feminism is reformist, not transformative.

2. Socialist Feminism

Socialist feminism argues that women's oppression is inseparable from capitalism. It combines feminist analysis with Marxist class analysis.

Key ideas:

• Patriarchy and capitalism are intertwined — capitalism benefits from women's unpaid domestic labour (cooking, cleaning, childcare), which reproduces the workforce at no cost to employers.
• Women form a reserve army of labour — drawn into the workforce when needed (e.g., during wars) and pushed back into the home when not.
• The nuclear family is an institution that serves capitalism — it socialises children into acceptance of hierarchy and provides emotional support for (male) workers.
• Women's liberation requires the overthrow of capitalism and the socialisation of domestic labour (publicly funded childcare, communal kitchens, etc.).

Key thinkers:

• Friedrich Engels (The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State, 1884) argued that women's oppression began with the emergence of private property.
• Sheila Rowbotham (Woman's Consciousness, Man's World, 1973) linked women's oppression to capitalist exploitation.

Criticisms: