What Is Feminism?

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Feminism is a rather complex idea since it does not have just one simple definition, but it can be divided into different perspectives and ideas. This essay will explore those diverse strands of feminism, such as liberal feminism, radical and Marxist feminism, and also postmodern feminism. The main focus is to understand the origins of this movement, as well as the links it has with sociology and criminology.

As Hannam (2012) states, the word "féminisme" first appeared in political debates in the late 18th century in France with the meaning of women 's emancipation. Some women started to ask to be heard at the end of this century thanks to the political and economic changes. In 1804, the author continues, the Napoleonic Code was introduced …show more content…

According to Victoria Greenwood (1981) feminist criminology is a collection of researchers inspired by women 's movement which clarify the sexism in the criminal justice system. This type of criminology emerged in the 1970s with the aim of challenging the “male-centredness” within criminology, its explanations of crime and justice system practices (McLaughlin & Muncie, 2001). The various types of feminism have, indeed, different views on crime. Adler (1975) and Simon (1975) identified liberal feminism as the cause of female offending, they stated that feminism gave opportunities to women to commit crimes. On the contrary, Marxist feminism criminologists believe that the economic marginalization of women and their subordination to men are reflected in the types of crimes women commit (Renzetti, 2013). Therefore, the issue is the capitalism and in order to solve the crime problem, a new system is needed. In this new economic system, women should work with men, housework and childcare should be socialized, and marriage and sexual relationships should not be private property relations. Renzetti continues, declaring that radical feminism in criminology focuses more on women seen as victims. It studies the causes and consequences of violence against women and the failure of the criminal justice system to protect them. The attention is principally on the fact that perpetration of and victimization by violent

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