Liberal feminism: history, theory, and contemporary applications

Liberal Feminism

The philosophy of liberal feminism stems back to the writings of John Stewart Mill in the 1800s, believing that personal "rights" should predominate over concerns for the social good and that government should stay out of the private affairs of its citizens. The liberal feminist wants to free women from oppressive gender roles. This focus bears a similarity to the existentialist position that seeks equality of rights and freedoms between women and men.

In liberal feminism, prostitution is thought of as an inherent political right and a private business transaction with the right to enter into contract. Yet, this does not necessarily mean that all liberal feminists approve of prostitution in a moral sense. Radical feminists, to the contrary, view a prostitute as a human being who is reduced to a piece of merchandise. Similarly, radical feminists do not believe that a prostitute's desire to enter into a contract is done of her own free will. Instead, prostitution is recognized as an exploitative relationship where the customer is interested only in the woman's services and not her personally (Bromberg, 1997).

Liberal feminism is also when the claim of women for equal rights is seen in the context of a general opposition to various forms of oppression and discrimination, independently of other political convictions. It tends to emphasise social policy to provide better opportunities for professional, higher-paid and prestigious jobs to women and the elimination of laws discriminating against the political, property and social rights of women. On the other hand, radical feminism places emphasis on the "celebration" of femininity, rather than seeing femininity as a social construct that merely constitutes a form of oppression and discrimination (Encyclopedia of Marxism).