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.
New feminism
Protection of Life. Because of the new human life within their wombs, women have a special vocation to care for their own children and a special sensitivity to the needs of all those who cannot care for themselves - the weak, the poor, the outcast - all those whose life is not valued. New Feminists believe it to be a particular injustice when women support abortion, infanticide, embryonic stem cell research, or in-vitro fertilization. The open questions here concern the best ways to meet the needs of women and offer the support necessary to end these injustices and build a more humane society. Personalist feminists argue that the collaboration of men is so necessary for these tasks that they too need to be feminists.