In this essay I will be talking about how feminist have contributed to our understanding of family roles and relationships. There are several different types of feminist theory, but all of them share certain characteristics in common; there is a fundamental division in society between men and women, that women are to some extent exploited by men and that society is male dominant or patriarchal this means “rule by the father” but is used by feminist to indicate that men have more power than women and the interest of men largely shapes how society is run. They believe that these theories are also critical of existing sociology arguing that it has a pro male bias. They call male-dominated sociology malestream sociology calming that most …show more content…

Delphy and Leonard argue that there are two roles within the family. One role is the head of the household and this is usually taken by the male. The other role is that of a dependent this role is usually taken by the wife who is at least semi-subordinate and owes her husband obedience and respect. The wife is responsible for domestic, sexual and emotional labour. Radical feminist solution to the exploitation of women is a Radical change for example female dominated society or separation of sexes. The third type of feminism is Liberal feminism the believe society is controlled by men who have more power than women, but women do have some power, they define society as democratic but it is also sexist with discrimination against women. Liberal feminist ideas are socialization into gender roles for example differences between boys and girls and sexist discrimination E.g. in the labour market restricts women’s opportunities. Liberal feminist have pointed to the family as the key source of male domination and female oppression. They point to the fact that in the past, fathers had the right to rule other family members this right is enshrined in custom, tradition and even in law like 2the ruled of thumb”, which in the past gave a husband the right to hit his wife with an impediment, such as a stick as long as it was no wider than his thumb. Just as women tend to be subservient in the workplace, so they tend to be subservient in the home. Garvon