A Critical Examination of the Radical Approach in Second Wave Feminism

This essay critically examines the radical approach of the second wave of feminism, focusing on its key tenets and historical context. The essay begins by introducing the second wave of feminism and its primary focus on women's rights, equality, and the fight against discrimination, sparked by Betty Friedan's "The Feminine Mystique." It highlights the radical approach's emphasis on equality, racial discrimination, domestic subjugation, and the critique of male dominance in marriage, family, and societal systems. Drawing on Shulamith Firestone's work in "The Dialectic of Sex," the essay explores the radical feminist view that women's oppression stems from their biology, particularly reproductive structures, and the patriarchal institutions that reinforce this. It then discusses the separatist approach and the focus on biological oppression, along with its drawbacks, such as the persistence of the issues it addressed and the rise of lesbian relationships. The essay concludes by acknowledging the significant impact of the second wave of feminism despite its limitations.

Running head: SECOND WAVE OF FEMINISM: RADICAL APPROACH
Second Wave of Feminism: Radical Approach
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1Second Wave of Feminism: Radical Approach
The second wave of feminism was initiated as late as the 1960s with its prime focus on the
women rights and equality and discrimination. “The feminine Mystique”, a book by Bettie
Friedan, had triggered the women’s movement. It was indeed one of the most significant
movement in the history, however, it had certain critical aspects as well.
The second wave of feminism was radical in its approach and had, primarily, talked about,
the equality and racial discrimination among the women and also the domestic subjugation of
the women and it sprouted with its prime focus on contest against the men of the society and
first introduce the idea of “sex role” (Devereux, 2014). Moreover, it viewed the male
dominance in the systems of marriage and family and male-female relationship.
Although the second wave of feminism contributed positively in the history and made people
to view the problem of stereotyping, however, it attacked the ‘male’ and the ‘patriarchal
system’ of the society. Shulamith Firestone, in her book, The Dialectic of Sex, published in
1970, illustrated that the subjugation of women was due to their biological, especially
reproductive structures. She viewed that pregnancy and child rearing is the prime cause of
women’s subordination and this barbaric process, as stated by her, is imposed through the
patriarchal institution of marriage. Such accusation is to some extent, an absurd one, since, it
was the biological conditioning of the women where men had no part to play (Dworkin,
1981). Though, it is partially true that men have often used it as a tool for subjugation. They
believed the testosterone presented among the men is the sole source of their dominance but
to view scientifically, women also own the same hormone though on a lesser level. They also
believed that fertility is a weaker aspect of women and hence they roared for the right of
abortion, but in true sense fertility gains women the power of dominance and make them the
stronger sex (Humm, 2015). Therefore, the radical feminists were more concerned with
accounting the biological oppression that they did not focus upon the ways to reach a solution
regarding the same. Moreover they took a separatist approach with elimination of men from

2Second Wave of Feminism: Radical Approach
the society which in turn gave rise to and provided validation for Lesbian Relationship
(Allen, 2018). Lastly, one major drawback of this particular wave of feminism was that, all
the aspects they talked about, still exist in the society and are very much visible across
America, where the revolution initially had started.
However, as a concluding point. It must be mentioned, that along with all the drawbacks,
second wave of feminism was indeed a path-breaking incident in the human history.

3Second Wave of Feminism: Radical Approach
References:
Allen, D. (2018). Social constructions of self: Some Asian, Marxist, and feminist critiques of
dominant Western views of self. In Culture and Self (pp. 3-26). Routledge.
Devereux, C. (2014). Hysteria, feminism, and gender revisited: The case of the second
wave. ESC: English Studies in Canada, 40(1), 19-45.
Dworkin, A. (1981). Men possessing women. New York: Perigee.
Humm, M. (2015). A readers guide to contemporary feminist literary criticism. Routledge.