Radical Feminist Theory In The 1970's

Radical feminist theory emerged in the 1970’s in an effort to address the “micro-inequalities in women’s daily lives” and began with the assumption that there is a power imbalance between men and women (Chesney- Lind & Faith, 2001, p. 292). It mainly focuses on the notion that society requires a radical change in order to remove the widely held notions of male supremacy (Ringrose et al., 2013). Proponents of this theory advocate that men are systematically and purposefully privileged while women are oppressed and dominated through social institutions. They call this oppression ‘patriarchy’. Patriarchy is defined as “ a system of social structures, and practices in which men dominate, oppress and exploit women” (Lumsden & Morgan, 2012, p.15). This theory further implies that men hold power in all the important institutions of society and women are thus deprived of access to such power. Essentially, radical feminists support …show more content…
For example, individuals without social bonds are more likely to commit crimes. It is possible that on top of the lack of social bonds, an individual’s deviant behavior against women is bolstered through the presence of patriarchal themes in society (Ringrose et al., 2013). Thus, the portrayal of male dominance and oppression of women in society can be seen as a mediating factor that adds to the understandings provided by age-graded informal social control theory. If we can account for the weaknesses of age-graded informal social control theory by explaining it through the lens of radical feminist theory, then we can produce a single set of integrated concepts that provide for a coherent explanation of criminality. As such, only by using a combined and integrated theoretical, will we be able to fully understand the factors behind Tim and Lionel 's deviant