In my opinion, I think that socialist feminism is the most relatable. Socialist feminists use the insights of class analysis and seek to understand the workings of capitalist patriarchal institutions and societies. In simpler terms, this means that socialist feminists think the root of female subordination is a result of living and working in a male dominated society. They view this as an institutional problem, not just an individual one.
I think that this is easiest to relate to it looks at what is happening not only in the public realm, but the private as well. This theory is a combination of Marxist feminism and radical feminism, which places socialist feminism in the middle of the road, instead of being at one extreme or the other. The comic we saw in the slideshow during class was a perfect example of socialist feminism. It shows that a woman can rule the board room and be a good mother at the same time.
To me, the feminist theory that is hardest to relate to is radical feminism. This theory is very extreme, and in my opinion, a big part of what gives feminism a sometimes bad reputation. These feminists feel that women were the first people to ever be oppressed, that women are oppressed in all societies, the victims of violence, and are biologically oppressed in pregnancy and childbirth. I think this is borderline ridiculous. If radical feminists want their theory to be taken seriously they need to calm down a bit. Their theory involves too many heavy issues... violence, pregnancy, and childbirth, oh my!
When I first heard it I practically ignored it myself, so I cannot even imagine what men would say when they heard this theory. Don’t get me wrong, it would be nice to overthrow patriarchy, and I am in favor of anti-pornography as much as the next girl, but if that is what radical feminists are trying to accomplish I think they need to take it piece by piece, step by step. They currently have too much on their plate and it makes it all the easier to ignore. If they broke it down they would at least accomplish more and will be more likely to see results. Even if these results were minor, they would still be results, and in the end is that not what everyone is after?
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Your post is humorous, but also does a nice job of summarizing socialist feminism and contrasting it with radical feminism. While I think it can be argued that addressing the "heavy" issues is important, I think your bigger argument of incremental, institutional change comes through fairly well.
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