History of Feminism

as opposed to the ignorantly used pejorative.

Those who use it as a pejorative only demonstrate their lack of knowledge about the subject.

Radical feminism is the type of feminism that deals with the root cause of not only women's oppression, but all oppression (therefore 'radical' because the definition of 'radical' used here means to go to the root or origin).

As an example of the difference - Liberal feminists are focused mainly on addressing the causes of women's oppression that can be rectified via laws and courts. This is very important obviously, but radical feminists, although they do also support and fight for better laws, seek to address the underlying causes for these inequalities.

In addition to fighting unfair laws, we try to address reasons the laws were written in the first place. Or to go back to the example above, in addition to laws that protect women and girls from sexual harassment, we try to address the societal causes which are the reason for this sadly ubiquitous form of harassment.

That is why it is the goal of radical feminists to end the harmful structure of society - the patriarchy - which enforces a hierarchical power structure on everyone. It is our belief that true equality of all people cannot be achieved as long as this structure remains in place.