Eyvonne's Theory - Essay Example

Part 1 Radical feminist theory is focused directly on women’s relation to men as politically problematic. It brought sexuality and reproduction into the political arena and transformed women’s political consciousness. This theory allows women to make sense of their own lives as part of common experiences in male-dominated societies. This theory helps to identify the main social forces and gender differences which affect women and me. Applied to masculinity, this theory helps to define social problems which turn rape and other forms of male violence into public political issues. Radical feminism focused political attention on patriarchal oppression in every area of women’s lives, from the most private to the most public. This theory attempts to explain different masculinities by questioning what was taken for granted in existing understandings of nature and society, they revealed such knowledge as male knowledge which gave a spurious legitimacy to women’s inferiority. This theory could help to change the role of men as national leaders and sports stars. By redefining the most intimate of human relations as political, rather than private, radical feminists politicized sexuality and exposed men’s normal, everyday behavior as a widespread social problem. The approach is to revise the status of women in society and gives them more freedom and independence in political and social spheres (Reinharz and Davidman 23).

Social constructivism allows a researcher to explain and examine how social processes develop in social environments. Applied to masculinity, this theory helps to examine gender differences as socially constructed phenomena and social interaction. This theory attempts to explain different masculinities to explain how people make sense of experience in everyday interaction or in problem-solving activities. Social constructivism ought to be useful in predicting how any given set of circumstances might be changed to improve the opportunities of persons who wish to learn in such situations. Masculinities can be thought of as a social process of making sense of experience in terms of what is known. To improve social relations, therefore, an individual might consider how to improve the quality of each of the four components (i.e., social process, making sense, experience, and extant knowledge). Social constructivism might offer a solution to such problems as socialized gender roles and health-related problems. This theory can help men to think in terms of improving the quality of their health, providing a range of meaningful experiences to each learner, and making it possible for each one to become aware of their relevant prior knowledge and apply it to the process of healthy lifestyle. The solution is to change traditional gender roles based on real-life experience and knowledge (Reinharz and Davidman 38).

Part 2 “Fear of Falling” vividly portrays social and personal problems faced by middle-class women in modern society. Liberal feminism could help to analyze and examine the problems and roots of social identity and professional development. Many women have followed a long tradition of campaigning for improved rights and opportunities for women without seriously questioning the existing organization of society (Orenstein 53). Gender socialization of adolescents is influenced by modern social relations which are concerned primarily with concepts of justice and equality. Women suffer injustices because of their sex and are organized around campaigns for equality and redistribution: equal pay, equal civil rights, equal access to education, health, and welfare, and equal access to the democratic political process (Reinharz and Davidman 102).

A research plan would aim to test the main concepts and notions which influence the professional life of women and their social relations. The hypothesis would be based on the idea that women are widely discriminated against because of their gender, but does not identify the relations between the sexes as specific power relations. The hypothesis would be tested: (1) using women's experiences as an indicator of social life and social problems and (2) using qualitative methods. It would be based on critical thinking towards existing methodologies and a crucial impact on gender relations (Reinharz and Davidman 87). Also, the research would be based on the empowerment of women and possible problems caused by male oppression. The aim of the research is to create a social change and find approaches to overcome male oppression and the traditional social role of women in professional spheres. The main difference from traditional methodologies is that feminist methodology is based on real experience and gender relations, social change, and sexual identities. They use tools and methods from other methodologies to test hypotheses. Liberal feminism involves women fighting for health, work, education, legal rights, decent housing, and an improved standard of living for women in general.