Feminist movements and ideologies
Radical feminism considers the male-controlled capitalist hierarchy, which it describes as sexist, as the defining feature of women's oppression. Radical feminists believe that women can free themselves only when they have done away with what they consider an inherently oppressive and dominating patriarchal system. Radical feminists feel that there is a male-based authority and power structure and that it is responsible for oppression and inequality, and that, as long as the system and its values are in place, society will not be able to be reformed in any significant way. Some radical feminists see no alternatives other than the total uprooting and reconstruction of society in order to achieve their goals.
Janet Halley
Much of her critical writing is directed towards legal projects of dominance feminism and cultural feminism, branches of feminism which she says hold on to a self-perception of political powerlessness, despite gaining many achievements and influence in governance since the 1980s, especially in the legal realm. According to her, this self-perception prevents American feminism from examining social issues through other theories of sexual life and politics, such as queer theory and the knowledge-power theory of Michel Foucault, as well as making it difficult for feminists to acknowledge other just causes and harm to men. By focusing on legal projects and sanctions on issues such as rape, pornography and commercial sex, Halley claims radical feminism has adopted a sentimental and moralizing view of legal action, and created alliances with conservative and paternalistic male elites. She argues that seeking State-centered and legal solutions is a narrow point of view and many times an obstacle to finding pragmatic solutions to wide social problems such as sexual inequality, and that this approach often fosters weakness in the group it is trying to protect, enforcing traditional social norms of female fragility. In her book "Split Decisions: How and Why to Take a Break from Feminism" she calls to reexamine politics of sexuality by putting aside the feminist perspective, and to appreciate and learn from the splits and contradictions among different theories of sexuality.