Question

identify and discuss two ways the feminist theory aligns social work value.

Answer 1

Feminist theories explain the structure and dynamics ofwomen’s experiences within sociopolitical and interpersonal sexualhierarchies. To enhance flexibility and responsiveness in applying thetheories, social workers should be conversant in various branches offeminism. The five branches of feminist theory andapplies each one to social work practice, using group work examples.

LIBERAL FEMINISM

Liberal feminism is based, describes society as being composed of separate individuals, each competing fora fair share of resources. Liberalism’s dedication to individual libertydemands freedom from interference by the state. Of key importance toliberal feminism is that a dividing line is drawn between the publicrealm, which the state is expected to regulate, and the private realm,which is expected to be free from state control . Thetraditional liberal values of independence (vs. interdependence),equality of opportunity (vs. equality of outcome), and individualism(vs. collectivism) are so ingrained in Western society that they are nowaccepted as standard social functioning, rather than viewed as a partic-ular ideology. These traditional liberal values are central to liberalfeminist thought. Liberal feminists point out that society violates thevalue of equal rights in its treatment of women, primarily by restrict-ing women as a group, rather than treating women as individuals.. Battles for equal education,equal employment opportunities, and equal pay for equal work, havebeen the hallmark of liberal feminism. Successful campaigns in theseareas continue to support the separation between public and privatespheres, however. For example, in Roe v. Wade, the U. S. SupremeCourt upheld a right to privacy, that is, it affirmed the inappropriate-ness of state interference in the private decision between a woman andher physician regarding abortion. It did not provide equal access toabortion, nor require the states to ensure equality, for example, byfunding abortions for poor women. Besides its inadequate attention topoverty, liberal feminism often excludes the interests of women ofcolor by insisting that sex rather than race is the major source ofoppression of women

CULTURAL FEMINISM

Gender stands as a fundamental division among humans, privilegedover class, race, and other sources of inequality, according to culturalfeminist theory. Cultural feminists premise a profound and pervasive Christine Flynn Saulnier 11difference between women and men and celebrate those aspects as-cribed to womanhood that they consider superior to, or more valuablethan, opposing aspects in men. For example, women are said to benurturing and altruistic and these aspects are privileged over the com-petitiveness ascribed to men. The development of knowledge throughemotion and intuition is valued as is a sense of commu-nity among women Social workers such as JaneAddams, Crystal Eastman and Sophonisba Breckenridge, who prac-ticed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century are often con-nected with this branch of feminist thought