The radical feminist theory refers to a perspective in the feminism which mainly focuses on patriarchy as the system of power which is responsible for organizing the society into a complex of relationships, which are normally based on the assertion that male supremacy oppresses women. The main aim of this theory is geared towards challenging and overthrowing patriarchy. This is achieved through opposing oppression and standard gender roles of the women. It calls for the intention of reordering the society. The early types of radical feminism arose within the second-wave feminism in around the 1960s. It viewed patriarchy as being a transhistorical phenomenon, more badly than the other sources of oppression. Patriarchy was viewed as the oldest and the most universal kind of domination and the model for the others. Radical feminism later derived politics which ranged from cultural feminism to syncretic politics. Through this, issues of economics and class were placed at par with patriarchy as the source of oppression (Renzetti et al, 34).
This theory locates the root cause of the problem that women face in the patriarchal gender relations. This is as opposed to the legal systems such as the liberal feminism or the class conflict. An important thing to note about this theory is that it was mainly developed as a critique of the Marxist theory.
Radical feminists claim that the society has been made in such a way that men have become the oppressors of women. They therefore try to abolish this form of patriarchy. The feminists assert that it is due to patriarchy that the women in the society have been viewed as subordinate to the men. As such, they claim that they have been marginalized and oppressed. One way they have proposed of dealing with this is through addressing the underlying causes through revolutions. Men, as they claim, benefit from the oppression that women are subjected to.
However, some radical feminists acknowledge the intersecting simultaneous effect of the interdependent categories of oppression. Some of these categories may be based on issues such as race, gender identity, social class and sexual orientation among others.
All men, according to the propositions of this theory, benefit from the oppression of women in the society. The main issue is therefore as regards to the relationship dominance. This happens in situations whereby one party is predominantly dominant and as such, exploits the other party for its own benefits (George et al, 49). The feminists argue that the men use the societal systems and other control methods to keep non-dominant men and all the women suppressed. By eliminating patriarchy, the radical feminists believe that everyone will be liberated from the unjust society.
Works Cited
Renzetti, Claire M. Feminist Theories. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.
George R, Jeffrey S. M. Contemporary Sociological Theory and its Classical Roots, 2013. Print.
