Abstract

This chapter characterizes feminism as a rejection of the ideology of patriarchy. Feminism rejects two patriarchal tenets, the fetishism of choice and the prison of biology, by which patriarchal ideology in Western liberal societies insists that gender inequality is inevitable yet unproblematic. Against this patriarchal story, feminism insists that women are neither imprisoned by biology nor liberated by individual choice. Instead, feminists hold three theses: the entrenchment of gender, the existence of patriarchy and the need for change. Gender remains one of the most salient social cleavages, one which advantages men and disadvantages women. However, it can and must be disrupted by social action.