Liberal Feminism

Liberal feminist, in the criminology system, believe that women deserve equal treatment within the criminal justice system as well as in everyday life. These feminist focuses on gender discrimination throughout our society, as women we are discriminated against in the work place, as victims, and as criminals. I chose to look it liberal feminism because I don’t understand feminists. I am a woman and yeah I get that we’re not equal to men but what these feminists are asking is that we, as women, be considered 100% equal, but it is not possible. They feel we should get equal pay and share the same level of duties but as a woman I know that it is not physically possible to be able to do everything a man can do. It’s not that we don’t try it’s that we are not built to do things the men can do and they aren’t built to do what we do. So I wanted to learn more about liberal feminism and feminism in general. There are a few key points that I found within the articles I read for what this theory is all about. The biggest point is gender inequality. They feel gender inequality is associated with greater levels violence. They also believe “that greater levels of gender inequality leads to elevated homicide victimization rates by placing women at a structural disadvantage relative to men and thus gender equality may have an ameliorative effect on violence” (Vieraitis). One of the arguments that liberal feminists make is that the obstacles to a women’s success and freedom from domestic violence are found primarily in our legal system (Vieraitis). Most feminists believe that men get more acknowledgements for the work they do, then women, because of the social rules we’re taught growing up. Another key point that they make is that “within criminology they view women’s offending as a function of gender role socialization as well; that is, women offend at a lower rate than men because their socialization provides them with fewer opportunities to engage in deviance”

Cited: Burgess-Proctor, A. (2006). Intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Crime: Future Directions for Feminist Criminology. Feminist Criminology, 1(1), 27-47. Hopkins, C., Koss, M. (2005). Incorporating Feminist Theory and Insights Into a Restorative Justice Response to Sex Offenses. Violence Against Women, 11(5), 693-723 Vieraitis, L., Kovandzic, T., Britto, S. (2008). Women’s Status and Risk of Homicide Victimization: An Analysis With Data Disaggregated by Victim-Offender Relationship. Homicide Studies, 12(2), 163-176.