Gilman, de Beauvoir and Millett | Edexcel A-Level Politics
Updated: 6 days ago
For Specification 9PL0
Edexcel A-Level Politics | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time:Â 50 minutes
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Simone de Beauvoir and Kate Millett are three of the five feminist thinkers specified for Edexcel A-Level Politics. This Gilman, de Beauvoir and Millett A-Level Politics revision page focuses only on the ideas Edexcel requires you to know: Gilman's domestic economics and socialisation, de Beauvoir's distinction between sex and gender and her idea of otherness, and Millett's arguments about the traditional family and patriarchal culture. Together, their ideas help explain feminist arguments about sex, gender and patriarchy and how women's position can be socially constructed.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Explain Gilman's argument connecting sex with domestic economics.
Analyse Gilman's argument that societal pressure socialises girls into expected female roles.
Explain de Beauvoir's distinction between biological sex and socially constructed gender.
Define and explain de Beauvoir's concept of otherness.
Explain Millett's argument that undoing the traditional family is necessary for a true sexual revolution.
Analyse Millett's argument that patriarchal culture produces degrading portrayals of women in art and literature.
Compare how Gilman, de Beauvoir and Millett exemplify wider feminist ideas about gender roles and patriarchy.
Revision Notes đź“š
Feminist thinkers in the Edexcel specification
Edexcel requires five feminist thinkers, but this lesson concentrates on the first three:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Simone de Beauvoir
Kate Millett
The specification is very clear that you should focus on the key ideas given for each thinker, rather than learning detailed biographical information.
That means your revision should focus on what each thinker helps you explain within feminism.
Thinker | Specified ideas | Wider feminist debate |
Charlotte Perkins Gilman | Sex and domestic economics; societal pressure on girls. | Economic dependence, gender stereotypes and socially created gender roles. |
Simone de Beauvoir | Sex versus gender; otherness. | Social construction of femininity and women's unequal status. |
Kate Millett | Traditional family; portrayal of women in art and literature. | Patriarchy, the private sphere and patriarchal culture. |
Their ideas build on the distinction between biological sex and socially constructed gender covered in feminist ideas and principles.
Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Gilman's specified ideas concern two related areas:
sex and domestic economics
societal pressure on girls
Both help explain how women's economic and social positions can become connected to gender expectations.
Gilman: sex and domestic economics
Gilman's first specified argument is that sex and domestic economics are closely connected.
The specification states that, for women to survive, they have to depend upon their sexuality and body in order to please their husbands.
The key relationship is therefore:
economic dependence → dependence on the husband → pressure on women to fulfil an expected female role
Gilman's argument links the apparently private relationship between husband and wife with women's economic position.
This is important because women's domestic roles are not simply personal choices if their ability to survive economically depends upon maintaining the relationship on unequal terms.
Why does domestic economics matter?
Gilman's idea shows how economic dependence can reinforce unequal gender relationships.
If a woman depends economically upon her husband, her domestic position may also involve a power imbalance.
This makes Gilman's ideas relevant to the feminist principle that the personal is political.
A relationship inside the home can have an economic dimension and therefore involve unequal power.
Gilman's argument also connects to wider feminist analysis of the economy. Edexcel mark schemes have used Gilman to exemplify feminist criticism of economic discrimination against women, unequal access to financially rewarding work and the devaluation of women's domestic role.
Gilman: the relationship between sex and economic dependence
Gilman's point is not simply that some women work in the home.
The specification makes a more specific connection between:
women's economic survival
women's sexuality and body
the expectation that women should please their husbands
This creates dependence.
The argument therefore demonstrates how women's position within the private sphere can be shaped by economic relationships.
In an examination, this idea can help you explain feminist debates about:
women's economic position
the private sphere
patriarchy
gender roles
how society must change
đź’ˇ Exam focus:Â When using Gilman, do not reduce her argument to "women do housework". The specified idea is more precise. Sex and domestic economics are connected because women's economic dependence can make survival dependent on fulfilling the role expected by their husbands.
Gilman and societal pressure
Gilman's second specified idea concerns societal pressure.
She argues that young girls are compelled to conform to social expectations and are prepared for motherhood from an early age.
The specification gives two particular examples:
toys specifically designed and marketed to girls
clothes specifically designed and marketed to girls
These contribute to preparing girls for the social role expected of them.
This is an example of socialisation into gender roles.
What is socialisation in Gilman's argument?
In this context, socialisation describes the process through which girls learn and are encouraged to conform to socially expected female roles.
Gilman's argument can be represented as:
societal pressure
↓
different toys and clothes aimed at girls
↓
girls learn expectations associated with femininity
↓
girls are prepared for an expected role of motherhood
This supports the wider feminist distinction between sex and gender.
Biological sex does not itself dictate the toys children are encouraged to use or the clothing marketed to them. These are social expectations.
Gilman's argument therefore helps feminists explain how gender stereotypes are created and reinforced through society.
Gilman and gender stereotypes
A gender stereotype associates particular expectations, roles or characteristics with men or women.
Gilman's analysis suggests that such expectations begin early.
If girls are repeatedly encouraged towards products and behaviours associated with motherhood and femininity, their later social roles may appear "natural" even though society has helped construct them.
This is why Gilman's ideas are useful when evaluating feminist claims that:
gender roles are socially produced
women's position is not determined simply by biological sex
society can pressure women into roles associated with femininity
challenging gender stereotypes is important to female emancipation
Edexcel's 2025 mark scheme specifically connects Gilman with the feminist view that gender is socially constructed and that imposed gender roles are oppressive.
Gilman's two ideas together
Gilman's ideas about domestic economics and societal pressure reinforce each other.
Societal expectations help prepare girls for an expected domestic and maternal role.
Later, economic dependence within domestic relationships can reinforce that role.
The relationship can therefore be summarised as:
socialisation into gender roles → expected domestic role → economic dependence → reinforcement of women's unequal position
This is a useful analytical connection because it shows that Gilman's critique is not confined to one area of society.
It links:
society, through gender expectations
the economy, through dependence
the private sphere, through marriage and domestic relationships
This provides a strong foundation for comparing Gilman with both de Beauvoir and Millett.
Simone de Beauvoir
De Beauvoir's two specified ideas are:
the distinction between sex and gender
otherness
Together, these ideas explain how women's socially constructed identity can contribute to their subordinate position.
De Beauvoir: sex versus gender
Edexcel requires students to understand de Beauvoir's distinction between biological sex and socially created gender.
Her specified statement is:
"one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman".
This expresses a central feminist argument.
Being biologically female and occupying the social role associated with "woman" are not the same thing.
Sex
Sex refers to biological differences between men and women.
Gender
Gender refers to the different roles that society ascribes to men and women.
De Beauvoir therefore helps exemplify the distinction already encountered in sex and gender.
What does "becomes a woman" mean?
The argument is that femininity is not simply produced by biology.
Society helps create expectations about what women should:
be like
do
value
become
A woman therefore "becomes" socially defined as a woman through the gender expectations imposed upon her.
This does not mean biological sex does not exist.
The distinction is that biological sex and socially constructed gender are different concepts.
This matters politically because, if gender roles are socially created rather than biologically inevitable, they can also be challenged.
Edexcel's 2025 mark scheme explicitly connects de Beauvoir with the view that sex is biological while gender is a socially constructed identity.
De Beauvoir and social construction
De Beauvoir's argument is particularly useful for explaining why many feminists reject the claim that women's traditional social roles reflect an unchangeable female nature.
If gender is constructed through social expectations, then:
society helps create ideas of femininity
those ideas influence the roles women are expected to perform
unequal gender roles are therefore not necessarily natural
those roles may be altered through social and political change
This links de Beauvoir with Gilman.
Gilman provides an example of how society may prepare girls for gendered roles.
De Beauvoir provides the broader principle that becoming socially defined as a woman is distinct from simply being born biologically female.
Comparing Gilman and de Beauvoir on gender
Gilman and de Beauvoir strongly complement one another.
Gilman | de Beauvoir |
Shows how societal pressure encourages girls to conform to expected female roles. | Distinguishes biological sex from socially constructed gender. |
Gives examples involving toys and clothing marketed to girls. | Explains the broader principle that a person "becomes" socially defined as a woman. |
Focuses on the process through which expectations are reinforced. | Explains why those expectations should not be regarded as biologically inevitable. |
Both can therefore be used to support the feminist argument that gender distinctions are social constructions rather than simply expressions of biological sex.
Edexcel mark schemes have repeatedly paired Gilman and de Beauvoir when explaining feminist agreement that gender stereotypes and socially constructed roles should be challenged.
De Beauvoir: otherness
De Beauvoir's second specified idea is otherness.
Edexcel defines otherness as the idea that:
men are seen as the norm
women are regarded as fundamentally different from men
women are therefore treated as deviating from that male norm
This is important because the comparison between men and women is not presented as neutral.
Men occupy the position of the standard or norm.
Women become the "other".
Understanding otherness
Otherness can be understood through the relationship:
man = norm
woman = other
If the male experience is treated as normal, the female experience is defined in relation to it.
Women are therefore not simply regarded as different.
Their difference is defined against a standard centred on men.
This can reinforce unequal gender status because the male position becomes the expected or normal position from which women are judged.
Otherness and women's status
Otherness helps explain how unequal status can be reproduced through assumptions about what counts as normal.
The concept connects directly to the central definition of feminism as an ideology concerned with unequal gender power and status.
If men define the norm and women are treated as deviations from it, women occupy a secondary position in the way society understands gender.
This gives de Beauvoir's two ideas a clear relationship:
socially constructed gender creates ideas about what a woman should be
and
otherness positions that socially defined woman against the male norm
The two ideas therefore help explain both the construction and the subordination of female identity.
Otherness and equality feminism
De Beauvoir's arguments are also useful in the debate between equality feminism and difference feminism.
Most feminists are equality feminists who reject the idea that men and women possess fundamentally different natures that should determine their social positions.
De Beauvoir's distinction between sex and gender supports this position because it challenges the idea that socially expected female characteristics are simply natural.
Difference feminists, by contrast, argue that men and women have fundamentally different natures.
This debate is covered in equality, difference and intersectionality.
Edexcel mark schemes use de Beauvoir to exemplify equality feminism's rejection of socially imposed gender distinctions.
Kate Millett
Millett's two specified ideas concern:
the traditional family
the portrayal of women in art and literature
Both demonstrate how patriarchy can operate beyond formal political institutions.
Her arguments make her particularly important to radical feminist analysis and the idea that the personal is political.
Millett and the traditional family
Millett argues that undoing the traditional family is the key to a true sexual revolution.
This places the family at the centre of her critique.
For Millett, women's liberation cannot be understood purely in terms of what happens in formal public institutions.
The organisation of family life in the private sphere is also politically significant.
Why is the family political?
The wider feminist principle the personal is political argues that relationships between men and women, including private relationships, can be based on power and dominance.
Millett's criticism of the traditional family exemplifies this principle.
If the family helps sustain patriarchy, then treating family relationships as completely private would leave an important source of gender power outside political analysis.
This connects Millett directly with public and private sphere debates.
Edexcel's 2025 mark scheme uses Millett to exemplify the radical feminist view that the family within the private sphere can be a central source of patriarchal oppression.
Millett and sexual revolution
The phrase true sexual revolution is important to understanding the scale of change Millett believes is required.
Millett does not argue merely that individual families should make small adjustments.
Her specified argument is that the traditional family itself must be undone.
The logic is:
traditional family
↓
patriarchal relationships are maintained
↓
women remain subject to gender oppression
↓
true sexual revolution requires transformation of the family
This illustrates why radical feminism differs from liberal feminism.
Liberal feminism tends to favour gradual reform and equal access within the public sphere.
Millett's radical approach extends feminist transformation into the private sphere itself.
The wider comparison is developed in the main feminist traditions.
Millett and patriarchal culture
Millett's second specified idea concerns the portrayal of women in art and literature.
She argues that patriarchal culture has produced:
writers
literary works
that are degrading to women.
This extends the idea of patriarchy beyond formal political or economic institutions.
Culture itself can contribute to women's subordinate position.
How can culture reinforce patriarchy?
Millett's argument suggests that representations of women matter politically.
If patriarchal assumptions shape art and literature, those cultural products can reproduce degrading views of women.
The relationship is:
patriarchal culture → degrading portrayals of women → reinforcement of women's subordinate position
This fits the Edexcel definition of patriarchy as systematic, institutionalised and pervasive gender oppression.
"Pervasive" is particularly relevant.
If patriarchy affects culture as well as institutions and private relationships, it reaches widely across society.
Millett: family and culture together
Millett's two arguments demonstrate the breadth of radical feminist analysis.
The family shows patriarchy operating in private relationships.
Art and literature show patriarchy operating through culture.
Together:
private relationships + wider culture = different ways patriarchal power can be reproduced
This helps explain why Millett's radical feminism demands more fundamental change than simply securing equal legal rights.
If patriarchy exists throughout both private and cultural life, formal legal equality alone would not necessarily remove it.
Edexcel mark schemes have used Millett to demonstrate the radical feminist position that patriarchy is the primary source of oppression and must be overthrown rather than merely reformed.
Comparing Gilman, de Beauvoir and Millett
Although the three thinkers make distinct arguments, there are important connections between them.
Shared concern: socially constructed gender roles
Gilman shows how girls are pressured into expected female roles.
De Beauvoir explains why gender roles should be distinguished from biological sex.
Millett shows how patriarchal institutions and culture can sustain those roles.
This produces a useful chain:
Gilman: socialisation
↓
de Beauvoir: socially constructed gender
↓
Millett: patriarchal family and culture
All three can therefore be used to explain feminist arguments that women's subordinate social position is not simply the inevitable outcome of biology.
Shared concern: challenging gender stereotypes
Gilman's examples of toys and clothing show society reinforcing different expectations for girls.
De Beauvoir's sex-gender distinction explains why those expectations are social rather than simply biological.
Millett demonstrates why challenging such expectations requires confronting patriarchal structures in family and culture.
Edexcel's mark schemes explicitly use Gilman and de Beauvoir together to support feminist agreement that gender stereotyping must be challenged, while Millett is used to connect that challenge to overcoming patriarchy.
Shared concern: patriarchy
The thinkers can also be connected to different aspects of patriarchal oppression.
Thinker | Aspect of oppression highlighted | Connection to patriarchy |
Gilman | Social pressure and domestic economic dependence. | Shows how gender expectations and economic relationships can place women in a subordinate position. |
de Beauvoir | Socially constructed gender and otherness. | Shows how women can be defined against men as the norm. |
Millett | Traditional family and patriarchal culture. | Shows how private relationships and cultural representation can reproduce patriarchal oppression. |
This is useful in an extended essay because thinkers should not appear as isolated pieces of knowledge.
Their ideas should be used to exemplify and compare wider feminist principles.
Gilman and de Beauvoir: strongest area of agreement
Gilman and de Beauvoir overlap most clearly on the social construction of gender.
Gilman:Â girls are socially pressured towards expected roles.
de Beauvoir:Â a person is not simply born into the socially defined role of woman but becomes one.
Their arguments support the conclusion that society plays a major role in producing femininity.
This makes both especially useful for questions concerning:
sex and gender
gender stereotypes
human nature
equality
social change
the economy
The 2025 Edexcel mark scheme directly pairs de Beauvoir and Gilman in explaining feminist agreement that sex is biological while gender is socially constructed.
Gilman and Millett: the private sphere
Gilman and Millett both make the private sphere politically important, but in different ways.
Gilman highlights economic dependence within domestic relationships.
Millett argues that the traditional family itself must be undone as part of sexual revolution.
This means both challenge the assumption that women's domestic position is politically irrelevant.
However, Millett's argument is more explicitly centred on the need to transform the traditional family as a patriarchal structure.
This comparison is useful when explaining why feminists can agree that the private sphere matters while disagreeing over exactly how oppression operates within it.
De Beauvoir and Millett: gender and patriarchy
De Beauvoir explains how womanhood is socially constructed.
Millett explains how patriarchal family structures and culture help maintain women's oppression.
The connection can be expressed as:
gender roles are socially created → patriarchal society can reproduce those roles → challenging patriarchy requires challenging the structures that sustain them
Edexcel's assessment material has used both thinkers in arguments that artificial gender roles are imposed within patriarchal society and need to be challenged.
Key similarities and differences
Question | Gilman | de Beauvoir | Millett |
What shapes women's position? | Societal pressure and domestic economic dependence. | Socially constructed gender and treatment of women as the "other". | Patriarchal family structures and culture. |
How are gender roles maintained? | Girls are encouraged to conform from a young age. | Society constructs the gendered identity of "woman". | Family and culture reproduce patriarchal relationships and representations. |
What wider area is emphasised? | Society, economy and domestic life. | Society and gender identity. | Private sphere and culture. |
What must be challenged? | Gender expectations and dependent domestic economic relationships. | Socially constructed gender inequality and women's status as the "other". | The traditional family and patriarchal culture. |
Useful wider concept | Gender stereotypes. | Sex versus gender; otherness. | Patriarchy; the personal is political. |
How the thinkers relate to human nature
Questions about feminist views of human nature can draw directly on these thinkers.
Gilman and de Beauvoir both help support the argument that women's expected characteristics and social roles are not simply biological.
Gilman's societal pressure demonstrates how girls are taught expectations.
De Beauvoir directly distinguishes sex from gender.
Millett's criticism of patriarchal family and culture similarly supports the idea that gender roles can be produced and maintained socially.
Edexcel's 2019 mark scheme uses all three thinkers when developing the argument that gender distinctions can be socially constructed rather than reflecting fundamental differences in human nature.
How the thinkers relate to society
Each thinker provides a reason why existing social arrangements should be challenged.
Gilman:Â society pressures girls towards socially expected female roles.
de Beauvoir:Â society constructs the category of woman in relation to men as the norm.
Millett:Â patriarchal culture and the traditional family reproduce female oppression.
Their combined analysis supports the wider feminist view that women's disadvantages are connected to social structures and expectations rather than simply individual circumstances.
How the thinkers relate to the economy
Gilman has the clearest direct connection to the economy in this lesson.
Her domestic economics argument shows how economic dependence can shape women's private relationships.
De Beauvoir can support broader arguments that socially constructed gender roles affect women's place in society and economy.
Millett's primary specified ideas concern the traditional family and patriarchal culture rather than a detailed economic theory.
⚠️ Specification warning: Avoid inventing detailed economic positions for de Beauvoir or Millett. The specification requires the particular ideas listed for each thinker. Use each thinker where their specified ideas genuinely support your argument.
How the thinkers relate to the personal is political
The idea that the personal is political argues that relationships between men and women in both society and private life can involve power and dominance.
Gilman's domestic economics shows economic power operating within private relationships.
De Beauvoir's analysis explains how socially constructed gender identities influence relationships between men and women.
Millett takes the principle furthest in this group by arguing that undoing the traditional family is necessary for a true sexual revolution.
Edexcel's 2025 assessment material identifies family socialisation and private relationships as major areas through which feminist thinkers can explain oppression.
Using feminist thinkers effectively in an exam
The thinkers should not become three separate mini-biographies.
A weak approach would be:
Gilman was a feminist thinker. De Beauvoir was another feminist thinker. Millett was a radical feminist.
This labels thinkers but does very little analytical work.
A stronger approach is:
Gilman and de Beauvoir both support the argument that gender roles are socially constructed. Gilman shows how societal pressure encourages girls to conform to roles associated with motherhood, while de Beauvoir distinguishes biological sex from the socially created identity of woman. This suggests substantial feminist agreement that women's social roles are not biologically inevitable.
Now the thinkers are being used to:
answer the question
provide AO1 knowledge
make an AO2 comparison
support an AO3 judgement
That is exactly what you want in a 24-mark political ideas essay.
Using Millett with greater depth
Millett deserves particular attention because examiner feedback has identified the need for more developed understanding of her contribution.
Do not stop at:
Millett is a radical feminist who opposes patriarchy.
Instead use her two specified ideas.
For example:
Millett's view that the traditional family must be undone for a true sexual revolution demonstrates the radical feminist argument that patriarchy operates inside the private sphere. Her analysis of degrading portrayals of women in art and literature extends this critique into culture, suggesting that patriarchal power is pervasive rather than confined to formal political institutions.
This uses Millett's ideas to explain why radical feminism sees patriarchy as a deep structural problem.
The 2024 examiner feedback specifically identified more nuanced development of Millett's contribution as an area students could improve.
Preparing for Rowbotham and bell hooks
Gilman, de Beauvoir and Millett should not ultimately be studied in isolation from the other two required feminist thinkers.
The next lesson, socialist and intersectional feminist thinkers, adds:
Rowbotham's analysis of capitalism and the family
bell hooks's arguments concerning women of colour and intersectionality
Together, all five thinkers allow you to compare the different explanations developed by liberal, socialist, radical and post-modern feminism.
Hints from the Examiner Reports đź’ˇ
Examiner hint: Use the ideas of thinkers rather than simply attaching them to a feminist strand. Examiner feedback has repeatedly warned against answers that merely state that a thinker is liberal, socialist or radical. A thinker should open an avenue for analysis by showing why feminists agree or disagree.
Examiner hint:Â For sex and gender, begin with the distinction itself. The 2025 report found that the best answers recognised the difference between biological sex and socially constructed gender and then developed disagreements over how gender differences are constructed and tackled. Gilman and de Beauvoir are particularly useful for this.
Examiner hint:Â Explain areas of agreement rather than simply asserting them. The 2025 examiner report found that stronger responses explored the common beliefs that produced agreement between feminist traditions. For example, do not merely state that Gilman and de Beauvoir agree. Explain how both challenge the idea that gender roles are biologically inevitable.
Examiner hint: Develop Millett in enough detail. The 2024 examiner feedback specifically identified a more nuanced understanding of radical feminism and Kate Millett as an area for development. Learn both of her specified ideas, the traditional family and patriarchal culture, rather than using her name as shorthand for patriarchy.
Examiner hint:Â Build essays around themes of agreement and disagreement. The 2022 examiner report found that thematic structures, such as comparing feminists over sex and gender, patriarchy or the personal is political, were more effective than working through thinkers or feminist traditions one after another.
Examiner hint:Â Keep your discussion within the specification. The 2025 report noted that weaker responses sometimes became narrative or historical and moved into material that was not covered by the question or specification. Edexcel explicitly says the thinkers should be studied through the listed key ideas rather than detailed biography.
Examiner hint: In a 24-mark non-core political ideas question, use at least two of the specified feminist thinkers and integrate them into comparison. Strong responses use thinkers to support a sustained line of argument and judgement about extent, not as isolated examples.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Learning detailed biographies of Gilman, de Beauvoir and Millett
Why this is incorrect: The specification explicitly says that content area 3 should focus on the key ideas given, rather than detailed biographical information.
How to improve: Learn two specified ideas for each thinker and practise connecting each idea to wider feminist debates.
Mistake: Reducing Gilman's domestic economics to "women do housework"
Why this is incorrect: Gilman's specified argument is about the connection between sex and domestic economics. Women may depend on their sexuality and body in order to please husbands on whom their economic survival depends.
How to improve: Explain the power relationship created by economic dependence rather than merely describing domestic work.
Mistake: Describing Gilman's examples without explaining socialisation
Why this is incorrect: Listing toys and clothing does not show why the examples matter.
How to improve: Explain the chain: social pressure encourages girls to conform, prepares them for motherhood and reinforces socially constructed gender roles.
Mistake: Saying de Beauvoir believed there is no biological difference between men and women
Why this is incorrect: Her specified argument distinguishes sex from gender. Sex refers to biological differences, while gender concerns socially created roles.
How to improve: State the distinction accurately before explaining how society constructs the category of woman.
Mistake: Explaining "one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman" as a claim about biological sex changing
Why this is incorrect: The statement illustrates the distinction between biological sex and socially constructed gender.
How to improve: Explain that society shapes the roles, expectations and identity associated with being a woman.
Mistake: Defining otherness simply as "women are different from men"
Why this is incorrect: The concept contains an unequal relationship. Men are treated as the norm, while women are treated as deviating from that norm.
How to improve: Always include both parts: male norm and female "other".
Mistake: Saying Millett only wanted reform of the family
Why this is incorrect: The specification states that undoing the traditional family was key to true sexual revolution.
How to improve: Use this to explain the scale of the radical feminist challenge to patriarchal relationships within the private sphere.
Mistake: Forgetting Millett's argument about culture
Why this is incorrect: Millett has two specified ideas. Her second concerns degrading portrayals of women produced by patriarchal culture in art and literature.
How to improve: Learn "family + culture" as a pair. This helps demonstrate how patriarchy can operate across both private relationships and wider society.
Mistake: Labelling thinkers without explaining their ideas
Why this is incorrect: Writing "Millett is a radical feminist" demonstrates much less understanding than explaining how her ideas contribute to radical feminist analysis.
How to improve: Use the pattern:
Thinker → specified idea → wider feminist principle → comparison → judgement.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
Question 1
Define otherness. (1 mark)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Answer:
Otherness is the idea that men are treated as the norm while women are seen as fundamentally different and as deviating from that norm.
Question 2
State one example Gilman uses to show societal pressure on girls. (1 mark)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Answer:
Accept either:
toys specifically designed and marketed to girls
clothing specifically designed and marketed to girls
These examples show girls being encouraged to conform to expected female roles.
Question 3
Explain Gilman's argument concerning sex and domestic economics. (4 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative answer:
A developed response should explain that:
Gilman sees sex and domestic economics as closely connected.
Women's survival may depend economically upon their husbands.
This dependence can require women to depend on their sexuality and body in order to please their husbands.
The argument therefore connects women's domestic position with economic dependence and unequal power.
Question 4
Explain how Gilman's ideas about societal pressure support the feminist distinction between sex and gender. (6 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative answer:
A strong response should explain that:
biological sex is distinct from gender roles assigned by society
Gilman argues that girls experience pressure to conform from a young age
toys and clothing specifically aimed at girls prepare them for expected female roles such as motherhood
this demonstrates that at least some characteristics associated with femininity are socially encouraged
gender roles can therefore be understood as socially constructed rather than automatic consequences of biological sex
Question 5
Explain de Beauvoir's ideas about sex, gender and otherness. (6 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative answer:
A strong response should include both specified ideas.
For sex and gender:
sex concerns biological differences
gender concerns social roles
de Beauvoir's claim that a person "becomes" a woman expresses the argument that femininity is socially constructed
For otherness:
men are perceived as the norm
women are defined as different from and deviant from this norm
this helps explain women's unequal social status
Question 6
Consider the following descriptions:
Thinker A:Â Girls are pressured by society to conform to expected female roles from an early age.
Thinker B:Â Men are treated as the norm and women are defined in relation to this male standard.
Thinker C:Â Women's liberation requires the traditional family to be undone.
Identify each thinker and analyse how the three arguments can be connected. (8 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative mark scheme:
Students should identify:
Thinker A:Â Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Thinker B:Â Simone de Beauvoir
Thinker C:Â Kate Millett
For stronger analysis:
Gilman explains how girls are socialised into gender roles.
De Beauvoir explains that gender is socially constructed and that women's identity is defined against men as the norm.
Millett explains how patriarchal structures within the traditional family can maintain women's oppression.
Together, the arguments support the feminist claim that women's subordinate position can be socially produced and reproduced rather than simply biologically determined.
Question 7
Analyse the similarities and differences between Gilman's and de Beauvoir's explanations of gender roles. (8 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative answer:
Similarities
Both thinkers support the argument that gender roles are socially constructed.
Gilman demonstrates this through social pressure on girls, including toys and clothing that encourage conformity and preparation for motherhood.
De Beauvoir makes the wider distinction between biological sex and socially constructed gender, arguing that a person becomes socially defined as a woman.
Differences
Gilman's specified ideas give particular examples of how social expectations are reinforced.
De Beauvoir provides the conceptual distinction between sex and gender and adds otherness, explaining women's position in relation to men as the norm.
Analysis
The thinkers therefore strongly complement one another. Gilman illustrates the process of gender socialisation while de Beauvoir explains its wider significance for female identity and status.
Question 8
Analyse how Millett's arguments about the family and culture exemplify radical feminist ideas about patriarchy. (8 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative answer:
A strong response should explain that:
radical feminism views gender inequality as the central problem facing society
Millett argues that undoing the traditional family is necessary for a true sexual revolution
this demonstrates the radical feminist claim that patriarchal power operates within the private sphere
Millett also argues that patriarchal culture has produced degrading portrayals of women in art and literature
this demonstrates that patriarchy can operate through wider culture as well as private relationships
taken together, these ideas support the view that patriarchal oppression is pervasive and requires fundamental change rather than only limited reform
Question 9
To what extent do feminists agree that socially constructed gender roles are the main cause of women's oppression? (24 marks)
You must use appropriate thinkers you have studied to support your answer and consider differing views in a balanced way.
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative mark scheme:
Arguments suggesting agreement
Students may argue that:
most feminists recognise a distinction between biological sex and socially constructed gender
most feminists see imposed gender roles as oppressive
Gilman demonstrates how societal pressure encourages girls to conform to expected female roles
de Beauvoir argues that womanhood is socially constructed rather than simply biologically determined
Millett demonstrates how the family and patriarchal culture can sustain gender roles
challenging gender stereotypes is therefore an important area of feminist agreement
Arguments suggesting disagreement
Students may argue that feminists disagree about the underlying source of those roles and oppression:
liberal feminists emphasise discrimination and unequal opportunities
socialist feminists connect women's oppression primarily to capitalism
radical feminists such as Millett place patriarchy at the centre of oppression
post-modern feminists argue that experiences of oppression also differ according to factors such as race and class
difference feminists disagree with equality feminists over the significance of biological differences
The essay should therefore distinguish agreement that gender roles can be oppressive from disagreement over whether those roles are the main cause of female oppression.
AO1: Knowledge and understanding
Higher-level responses should demonstrate accurate knowledge of:
sex and gender
gender stereotypes
patriarchy
equality and difference feminism
the relevant feminist traditions
at least two specified feminist thinkers and their ideas
Gilman, de Beauvoir and Millett can all be used effectively.
AO2: Analysis
Higher-level responses should:
directly compare feminist explanations
explain connections between thinkers' ideas and wider feminist traditions
analyse whether agreement over socially constructed gender also produces agreement over the cause of oppression
connect gender roles with society, the private sphere, patriarchy and the economy where relevant
AO3: Evaluation
Higher-level responses should:
make judgements about the extent of agreement throughout
distinguish between agreement that gender roles matter and disagreement over their underlying cause
assess whether disagreements between strands are fundamental or secondary
reach a conclusion that follows from the comparisons made throughout the essay
A defensible judgement would be that most feminists agree that socially constructed gender roles play a major role in women's oppression, strongly supported by Gilman and de Beauvoir. However, feminism is less united about whether such gender roles are the main cause, because socialist, radical and post-modern feminists provide different explanations of the structures that produce and maintain women's unequal position.
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