Feminist theory

Higginbotham correctly identifies two major fallacies of the traditional feminist historical lens that prevents it from being accessible to women of color. Her first issue is of the overwhelming omission of black female perspectives in mainstream historical analyses of gender which create an incomplete picture of gender oppression. Her indict of the new wave of feminist theories center around the problem of theorists “find[ing] little to say race.” Higginbotham’s extrapolations indicate that the…

Nightingale (2006) critical analysis was to recognize gender-environment nexus from different point of views (feminists, political ecologists, essentialists, historical materialists etc) for innate knowledge to conceptualize about relationship between gender and environment. Her main argument was ‘gender’ is biologically constructed social, cultural and political phenomena defined by sex where women are more oppressed and marginalized by male hegemony but also dominated by class, race, color and…

were the turbulent times in American history. Under the influence of the civil rights movement, the feminist movement came to a climax, from the social edge to the social center. The feminist movement is a social movement aimed at securing equal rights for women and giving women the same status as men. Since women, like men, are rational people, they should have the same rights as men. Feminists have found that, despite the obvious results of women's efforts to achieve equality in the…

The Handmaid’s Tale Through the Feminist Critical Lense What would you do if you were in a future society where you were unable to choose your own path in life? In her story, The Handmaid’s Tale, Margaret Atwood creates an extreme circumstance to show the inequality between men and women in our current society. Several themes from the story make it a good fit to be viewed through the feminist critical theory lense, including: the role of women in the society, women’s sexuality, and…

Introduction: Feminist sociology is a way in which sociologists are able to look at the world in a way in which other sociological theories do not thoroughly explore. They do so by looking at the world from the female perspective. The novel Oryx and Crake (2009) can be critiqued using feminist sociology, focusing primarily on the socialist feminist theory. The effect that the capitalist society has on the opportunities of the female characters within this novel will be addressed, as well as the…

should not be the only feminism seen in our world. Many different women exist; therefore, many versions of feminism exist. When reading Audre Lorde’s “The Master’s Tools”, Combahee River Collective’s “A Black Feminist Statement”, and Rhon Manigault-Bryant’s “An Open Letter to White Liberal Feminists”, the idea that multiple versions and conceptions of feminism exist becomes undeniable. Lorde writes that women should revel in differences and use them as a source of power instead of merely…

Equality in every shape and size When the feminist movement began to arise in society in the 1970’s it, almost simultaneously, created a different ramification of feminism as well. This ramification of feminism, called Essentialism, manifested itself in, for example, the belief that women were not only supposed to be equal to their male counterparts, but that women were the better sex and superior to men. Therefore, essential feminists believed that women should live up to that potential and…

Feminism is a conflict theory and a combination of social, political and cultural movements that is concerned with the discrimination against women and gender inequalities. The ‘waves’ of feminism refer to the feminist activity in a certain time period. The first wave emerged in the mid-19th century to early 20th century. Basic women rights such as the right to vote were the main focus. Emmeline Pankhurst (1858-1928) was the supporter of the women’s suffrage movement when it emerged in Great…

question of why intersectionality is imperative to feminist discourse and praxis. Feminism, in simple terms, refers to collective desire to end the oppression of women. Because oppression takes various forms and affects those who are victim to it in a number of different though often intersecting ways, feminism can therefore be termed a multifaceted set of movements working towards multiple aims and ends. In terms of intersectionality, feminist discourse faces the task of acknowledging and…

secular liberal feminism, which has at times been exploited to serve imperial projects and to promulgate Western ideas at the expense of local, non-liberal ones. Ultimately, for this essay I will explore Mahmood’s critique, the application of her non-theory of agency, and her ethnographic presentation. First, without a doubt, this book is…