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.
Gender feminism
Wendy McElroy also defines gender or political feminism in opposition to individualist feminism, and synonymous with radical feminism.
McElroy describes gender feminism as rooted in social constructionism. She describes gender feminists as asserting that women lack agency and are solely defined by the social institutions they inhabit, unable to make free choices. Accordingly, McElroy describes the gender feminist agenda as the destruction or transformation of social institutions. McElroy rejects these views as a means of disregarding the free choices of women to support existing institutions and oppose gender feminism.