What is the Difference Between Gender Feminism and Equity Feminism?
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Gender feminism and equity feminism sometimes crop up in discussions of feminist thought, causing confusion to people who are not familiar with these terms. One important thing to know about gender feminism and equity feminism is that many feminists do not use these terms, and in fact they are more commonly used in anti-feminist rhetoric. Knowing this may frame your interpretation of these terms when you next encounter them.
The idea of gender feminism and equity feminism was coined by author Christina Hoff Summers in her book Who Stole Feminism?. In the book, she claimed that feminists break down into two main categories: gender feminists and equity feminists. Equity feminists are those concerned primarily with equal rights and treatment, while gender feminists question traditional gender roles and the role which society plays in these roles.
In an anti-feminist context, equity feminism is often painted as the “good” feminism, in the belief that everyone supports equal rights, making equity feminism a difficult thing to argue with. Gender feminists, on the other hand, are “bad” feminists, because they question the fundamental rules of society. You may hear gender feminism described as extreme or fringe feminism with the goal of discrediting the ideas behind this type of feminism.
The truth, as it often is, is a bit more complicated. There are indeed many different types of feminists, some of whom may identify with the gender feminism and equity feminism dichotomy. However, some feminists dislike this simplistic categorization of the women's movement, and they believe that the arguments of equity feminists may ultimately undermine the women's movement by refusing to recognize that women's rights are entangled in a complex social and cultural web. Gender feminism and equity feminism often come up in straw man arguments which lead women to reject feminism because they say that all they want is equal rights for women, not realizing that achieving equal rights can be a complicated and bumpy road.
Under equity feminism, the idea that women should be stay at home mothers and men should be breadwinners is not questioned, for example, and the sexes are viewed as fundamentally different. In gender feminism, these ideas are questioned, and the goal is to help build a world where girls and boys can grow up to be whoever they wish to be. This goes a step beyond a basic desire for things like equal pay and equal treatment under the law, and delves into the reasons why gender roles develop at an early age, and how negative gender stereotypes could be combated. Gender feminists support a de facto abolishment of sexism, while equity feminists tend to focus on de jure, or legal, issues.
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Article says:
"Gender feminists, on the other hand, are “bad” feminists, because they question the fundamental rules of society."
This is a bit misleading, as Hoff Sommers (nor other feminists of the opposite side)... do not define gender feminism as bad because it questions fundamental rules of society.
This is deceptive, and it implies that equity feminists would be against this type of questioning.
The main point of this classification is simply this (this is how equity feminists define the classification):
Equity feminists: Men and women are different but equal and we should judge equality by equality in opportunity.
If women and men are given the same chance in a field, they're equal, regardless of who achieves what, because men/women could have different goals.
If 20% of wrestlers are females, it *can* mean women are less motivated to wrestle or it can mean they're discriminated against. We need to investigate more closely before we jump to a conclusion.
Gender feminists: Men and women are the same and all differences except physical are learned. We should judge inequality by differences in outcome.
If in any field the ratio of men and women isn't 50/50, then it means that there is a gender inequality. If 20% of wrestlers are females, than that is the only proof you need that there is systematic oppression of females within wrestling. Case closed. - anon37814
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Awwwww... Quit your griping and get back in the kitchen! - anon32560
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Thanks for the update on the terminology. Very helpful!New terms usually share slightly evolved meaning - not just different words for the same thing, so I think it's important to update my understanding. I am odd lady duck, sometimes, on women's issues. May-born, I can be almost the female chauvinist - since girlhood, I love my family, fashion and interior decorating and am a pro artist. "I enjoy being a girl!" I tend to see my men as heroes. But then, it gets "interesting". I have my own dichotomy to deal with. However we feel about feminism, we have come along quite a bit. Mother was one of only half the women on the block with decent paperwork/ID, money and property of her own, and a great driver. And so my easy path was easier and being an oldest, I seem to be able to self-direct more easily, without so much noise - and I have done just that, for upgrades in college, business and personal issues, and all in fine health at 62 tomorrow. My "men as heroes" is not silly in source or expression: it comes from a loving Sci-Tech Father and Wonderful late Husband, whose Grandmother had been a Suffragette. Both men were great partners and team players and encouraged the women to be involved and share their thoughts and desires. My husband's Mother was educated and careerish too - he never spoke poorly of the roles of women or men, and never impeded my initiatives - never - not even in the way many of even the happiest men still do, as an expression of their own confusion on the issues - so subtle and yet so profound! I closed my mouth and observed in awe, as my daughter, more easily found her path in career and personal life, as she grew up - she would not begin to be able to understand why I might be concerned. What issues? :-) For the rest... "There is no answer - seek it lovingly!" - ellefagan
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As an old lady who grew up with the women's movement, I would have put it a little differently. I would say that equity feminism is the old-fashioned feminism, in which we were saying we ought to be able to choose whether or not we wanted to stay home as mamas and homemakers or go to work, back in the day when working wasn't yet so common. Then, as working became more and more common and more and more necessary for the average family to make ends meet, the problems of pay and promotion inequities grew into bigger issues, so the issue of choice dropped from the picture. Then in the new feminism, the very notion of distinct gender roles was questioned more and more since that was what men usually used to prevent women from getting the good jobs, the good promotions, and equal pay. It's because we're weak, we're stupid, and we're hysterical, apparently. It ain't so, but we still don't have equal rights, not really, not de facto and not de jure. - Diwiyana
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