THE HISTORY OF FEMINISMS
Today, Professor Hannah Dawson of King’s College London takes us into the early history of women, passionately reflecting on their condition and pointing out its wrongs, which have lasted for centuries. For her, the history of feminism is a history of trying to make visible things that are completely apparent to some, and yet remain invisible to others.
IN THIS LESSON
Our learning objectives today are:
To identify the blind spots in the history of feminism.
To discover key historical figures in the first wave of feminism.
To explore gender as a social construct.
To describe the meaning of women’s work through the lens of Marxism.
KEY POINTS
I leave you with the key points of ‘A History of Blind Spots’.
The history of feminism is a story of women repeatedly pointing out truths about their oppressed condition, truths that should be obvious not only to men but to each other.
Left-leaning feminists stress that women’s work – whether reproductive or caring - is labour and needs to entail a wage.
Middle and upper class, often white women, have been blind to the condition of other women, whether from a different class or colour, and have exploited them and failed to recognise their rights. Gender bias, class bias and colour bias all need to be taken into account.
