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Gender feminism and equity feminism are two terms used to categorize different types of feminists. Equity feminists focus on equal rights and treatment, while gender feminists question traditional gender roles and societal norms. These terms are often used in anti-feminist rhetoric, with equity feminism being portrayed as “good” feminism and gender feminism as “bad” feminism. However, the reality is more complex, and many feminists do not identify with either category. Gender feminists aim to abolish sexism, while equity feminists focus on legal issues.
Gender feminism and equity feminism sometimes crop up in discussions of feminist thinking, causing confusion for people unfamiliar with these terms. One important thing to know is that many feminists don’t use these terms, and in fact they are more commonly used in anti-feminist rhetoric. Knowing this can frame your interpretation of these terms when you encounter them again.
The idea of gender feminism and equity feminism was coined by author Christina Hoff Sommers in her book Who Stole Feminism?. In the book, you argued that feminists fall into two main categories: gender feminists and equity feminists. Equity feminists are those primarily concerned with equal rights and treatment, while gender feminists question traditional gender roles and the role society plays in these roles.
In an anti-feminist context, equity feminism is often portrayed as “good” feminism, in the belief that everyone supports equal rights, making equity feminism a difficult thing to discuss. Gender feminists, on the other hand, are “bad” feminists, because they question the fundamental rules of society. You may hear gender feminism described as extreme or fringe feminism with the aim of discrediting the ideas behind it.
The truth, as is often the case, is a little more complicated. Indeed, there are many different kinds of feminists, some of whom may identify with one side or the other of this dichotomy. Some feminists dislike this simplistic categorization of the women’s movement, however, and believe that feminist arguments for equity can ultimately undermine the women’s movement by refusing to acknowledge that women’s rights are entangled in a complex social and cultural web. Gender feminism and equity feminism often surface in straw man arguments that lead women to reject feminism because they say all they want is equal rights for women, not realizing that getting equal rights can be a complicated and bumpy road.
In equity feminism, the idea that women should be mothers at home and men should be breadwinners is not challenged, for example, and the genders are seen as fundamentally different. In gendered feminism, these ideas are challenged and the goal is to help build a world where girls and boys can grow up to be whoever they want to be. This goes one step beyond the basic desire for things like equal pay and treatment under the law and delves into why gender roles develop at an early age and how negative gender stereotypes might be combated. Gender feminists advocate a de facto abolition of sexism, while equity feminists tend to focus on de jure or legal issues.
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