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Political Power: Theories of Political Power

Feminism, patriarchy and political power

  • 3 things to know
  • A2 Unit 2

Overview

Central claim of feminist theories of power, slogan that the personal is political and six structures of patriarchy identified by Sylvia Walby.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Explain the slogan that the personal is political.

Key term

How does radical feminism differ from liberal feminism on the location of power?

Key term

What is intersectionality, and who developed the concept?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    State the central claim of feminist theories of power.

    Model answer

    Feminist theories claim that power in society is systematically distributed along lines of sex, to the advantage of men. Political analysis that ignores this on their account misses the most pervasive structure of domination there is.

  2. 2

    Define patriarchy.

    Model answer

    Patriarchy means rule by the father and is used to describe a society in which men systematically hold power over women across its institutions. Feminists treat patriarchy as a structure rather than as the behaviour of individual men.

  3. 3

    What did Kate Millett argue in Sexual Politics?

    Model answer

    Millett argued that the relationship between the sexes is itself political, being a relationship of dominance and subordination sustained by socialisation and culture. Millett treated patriarchy as the most fundamental and universal form of power.

  4. 4

    Explain the slogan that the personal is political.

    Model answer

    The slogan, associated with Carol Hanisch and the women's liberation movement, holds that private matters such as housework, childcare, sexuality and domestic violence are shaped by unequal power and are therefore political. Confining politics to parliaments and parties conceals where much power actually operates.

  5. 5

    Why do feminists criticise the public–private divide in political theory?

    Model answer

    Feminists argue that treating the household as outside politics places the very relationships in which women are most subordinated beyond scrutiny. Carole Pateman argued in The Sexual Contract that the classical social contract was a contract between men that presupposed men's authority over women.

  6. 6

    Name the six structures of patriarchy identified by Sylvia Walby.

    Model answer

    Walby identified paid employment, household production, culture, sexuality, male violence and the state as the six structures through which patriarchy operates.

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