Social work theory · Volume D: Critical, Structural & Emancipatory

Feminist and gender theories

Feminist and gender theories examine how gender organises social life, distributes power and resources, and shapes identity and experience.

1. What it is

Feminist and gender theories examine how gender organises social life, distributes power and resources, and shapes identity and experience. Feminist theory begins from the observation that women have been systematically disadvantaged and that this disadvantage is socially produced (Tong & Botts, 2018). Gender theories extend the analysis to the construction of masculinity and femininity, to sexuality, and to identities that do not fit binary categories. For social work, a profession whose workforce and clients are largely women and whose core concerns include caring, family violence and poverty, these theories explain how private troubles are linked to gendered structures. They support the principle that the personal is political (Dominelli, 2002; White, 2006).

Liberal, radical, socialist and intersectional feminism. These four strands differ in how they explain women’s subordination and what change they seek. Liberal feminism, traced to Wollstonecraft (1792/2004) and Friedan (1963), argues that women are held back by unequal rights and opportunities. It seeks reform through law, education and equal access to employment and public life. Radical feminism identifies patriarchy, the systematic dominance of men over women, as the root of oppression (Millett, 1970). It focuses on sexuality, reproduction and male violence, and it originated consciousness-raising groups and women’s refuges. Socialist feminism links patriarchy with capitalism, analysing how women’s unpaid domestic and caring labour supports the economy (Hartmann, 1979). Intersectional feminism, grounded in Black feminist thought, argues that gender cannot be separated from race, class, sexuality and other relations of power (Collins, 2000; hooks, 1984). In Australia, Moreton-Robinson (2000) showed how white feminism had overlooked Indigenous women’s experiences of colonisation and race.

Feminist social work theory (Dominelli & McLeod, Orme, White). Feminist social work applies feminist analysis to practice, policy and the profession. Dominelli and McLeod (1989) set out its core principles: valuing women’s experiences, recognising the links between personal problems and social structures, building egalitarian relationships, and working collectively for change. Dominelli (2002) later extended this to men, children and diverse groups. Orme (2001, 2002) analysed the gendered character of care, showing how community care policy relied on women’s unpaid labour and arguing for an ethic of care linked to justice. White (2006) examined the “state of feminist social work” in managerial welfare systems, finding that feminist commitments survive in practitioners’ everyday decisions, often in tension with agency demands. Feminist social work also applies an ethic of care, which treats care and interdependence as central to human life and as public responsibilities. Together these writers show feminist social work as both a critique and a practice framework.

Gender and sexuality theories. Gender theories distinguish biological sex from socially constructed gender and examine how gender is produced in interaction and institutions. West and Zimmerman (1987) described “doing gender”: people continually perform and are held accountable to gender norms in everyday interaction. Connell (1987) described a “gender order” in which labour, power and emotional relations are organised by gender at the level of whole societies. Theories of sexuality examine how desire and sexual identity are regulated. Foucault (1976/1978) argued that modern sexuality is produced through discourses of medicine, psychology and law. Rubin (1984) analysed hierarchies that rank some sexual practices as normal and others as deviant. Hicks (2008) argued that social work often treats sexuality as a fixed identity category and called for analysis of how sexuality is produced through everyday practice. These ideas inform social work with LGBTIQA+ people, including attention to minority stress, family rejection and service exclusion.

Masculinity studies (Connell, hegemonic masculinity). Masculinity studies examine men and masculinities as gendered and plural. Raewyn Connell, an Australian sociologist, developed the concept of hegemonic masculinity: the culturally dominant form of masculinity in a given setting (Connell, 2005). It legitimates men’s dominance over women and subordinates other masculinities, such as those of gay or gender non-conforming men. Few men embody the hegemonic ideal, but many gain a “patriarchal dividend” from it. Connell and Messerschmidt (2005) later refined the concept, stressing that hegemony is historically changeable and locally specific. In Australian social work, Pease (2010) has applied masculinity studies to men’s violence, privilege and the work of engaging men in gender equality.

Queer theory (Butler). Queer theory challenges the assumption that sex, gender and sexuality are fixed, natural or binary categories. Butler (1990) argued that gender is performative: it is produced through repeated acts that create the appearance of a stable identity. On this view, gender is an ongoing accomplishment of repeated acts. Sedgwick (1990) showed how the distinction between homosexual and heterosexual structures modern Western thought. Queer theory questions “heteronormativity”, the assumption that heterosexuality and binary gender are the norm against which others are measured. For social work, it encourages attention to fluid identities, critique of categories in assessment forms and policy, and affirming practice with trans and gender-diverse people.

2. Historical development

Feminist theory grew from political movements for women’s rights, and later from the women’s liberation movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It became an independent body of theory because existing social theories, including Marxism (D1), treated gender as secondary. Gender, masculinity and queer theories developed in the 1980s and 1990s, drawing on feminism, social constructionism (G3) and Foucault (D5).

Feminism entered social work through practice before it entered theory. Women’s refuges, rape crisis centres and women’s health services were established by activists in the 1970s, and social workers adopted their collective, non-hierarchical methods. Feminist social work texts from the late 1980s gave these practices theoretical form (Dominelli & McLeod, 1989). Today feminist and gender analysis informs family violence practice, sexual assault services and work with LGBTIQA+ communities in Australia.

3. Practical guidance

Feminist and gender theories guide workers to recognise gendered power in clients’ lives, services and their own practice.

• Analyse gendered power in assessment. Ask how caring responsibilities, financial control, violence and gender expectations shape the situation. In family violence work, apply a gendered analysis of coercive control.
• Validate women’s experiences. Listen to and believe women’s accounts, and connect individual experiences to shared patterns, reducing self-blame (Dominelli, 2002).
• Build egalitarian relationships. Share information, minimise hierarchy and make decisions collaboratively, consistent with feminist principles (Dominelli & McLeod, 1989).
• Engage men accountably. In men’s behaviour change and fathers’ work, address harmful norms of masculinity while keeping women’s and children’s safety central (Pease, 2010).
• Practise inclusively with LGBTIQA+ people. Use people’s names and pronouns, avoid assuming heterosexuality, and review intake forms for binary categories.
• Apply an intersectional lens. Consider how gender interacts with race, Aboriginality, disability, migration and class. Aboriginal women’s priorities may differ from those of white feminist services (Moreton-Robinson, 2000).

4. Critical evaluation

Strengths. Feminist theory has transformed social work’s understanding of family violence, sexual assault, care and poverty. It has produced distinctive practice principles, including collaboration, validation and collective action. Masculinity studies and queer theory have widened the analysis to men and to sexual and gender diversity, supporting more inclusive practice.

Limitations. Early feminist theory was criticised for universalising the experience of white, middle-class women (hooks, 1984; Moreton-Robinson, 2000). Radical feminist analysis can understate men’s diverse positions and women’s agency. Queer theory has been criticised as abstract and difficult to apply in services that rely on categories for funding and eligibility. There are also continuing debates between some feminist and trans-inclusive positions, which workers must approach with care and respect for each person’s identity.

Overall importance. Feminist and gender theories are central to critical social work and to fields such as family violence and sexual assault practice. Connell’s work on masculinities is a significant Australian contribution to international scholarship. Intersectional and queer developments have kept the family responsive to diversity and linked it closely with anti-oppressive practice (D4).

5. References

• Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge.
• Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). Routledge.
• Connell, R. W. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics. Allen & Unwin.
• Connell, R. W. (2005). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Allen & Unwin.
• Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 19(6), 829–859. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243205278639
• Dominelli, L. (2002). Feminist social work theory and practice. Palgrave.
• Dominelli, L., & McLeod, E. (1989). Feminist social work. Macmillan.
• Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality: Vol. 1. An introduction (R. Hurley, Trans.). Pantheon. (Original work published 1976)
• Friedan, B. (1963). The feminine mystique. W. W. Norton.
• Hartmann, H. I. (1979). The unhappy marriage of Marxism and feminism: Towards a more progressive union. Capital & Class, 3(2), 1–33.
• Hicks, S. (2008). Thinking through sexuality. Journal of Social Work, 8(1), 65–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468017307084740
• hooks, b. (1984). Feminist theory: From margin to center. South End Press.
• Millett, K. (1970). Sexual politics. Doubleday.
• Moreton-Robinson, A. (2000). Talkin’ up to the white woman: Indigenous women and feminism. University of Queensland Press.
• Orme, J. (2001). Gender and community care: Social work and social care perspectives. Palgrave.
• Orme, J. (2002). Social work: Gender, care and justice. British Journal of Social Work, 32(6), 799–814.
• Pease, B. (2010). Undoing privilege: Unearned advantage in a divided world. Zed Books.
• Rubin, G. S. (1984). Thinking sex: Notes for a radical theory of the politics of sexuality. In C. S. Vance (Ed.), Pleasure and danger: Exploring female sexuality (pp. 267–319). Routledge & Kegan Paul.
• Sedgwick, E. K. (1990). Epistemology of the closet. University of California Press.
• Tong, R., & Botts, T. F. (2018). Feminist thought: A more comprehensive introduction (5th ed.). Westview Press.
• West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender & Society, 1(2), 125–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243287001002002
• White, V. (2006). The state of feminist social work. Routledge.
• Wollstonecraft, M. (2004). A vindication of the rights of woman. Penguin. (Original work published 1792)