Contradictions of Feminist Methodology

Janet Lee’s and Susan M. Shaw’s, Women’s Voices Feminist Visions Classic and Contemporary Readings did provide the proper data to support their analyses. Lee and Shaw used sufficient evidence to address their main topic- the analysis of women’s gender studies by examining historical and contemporary writings. In chapter one Lee and Shaw discussed the purpose of women’s studies and examined gender. The ideas of feminism we evaluated, Lee and Shaw explained the negative attributes associated with feminism as well as the history of the gender movement. Women’s studies is a field of study that has been slowly expanding in the academic world sense the 1970’s. Lee and Shaw did provide the results to the data they analyzed. To prove their statements regarding the study of the

Writer, feminist theorist, and professor Sara Ahmed wrote Living a Feminist Life alongside her blog feministkilljoys.com. She started writing it before and completed it after her resignation in 2016 from her post as director of the Centre for Feminist Research at Goldsmiths at the University of London after a lengthy struggle to hold the school accountable for incidents of sexual harassment on campus (Ahmed, n.d.). Her resignation, and location both in and out of the academy informed a lot of the content of this book. In her work, Ahmed successfully argues that feminist theory is generated from everyday life and the ordinary experiences of being a feminist at work and at home. Living a Feminist Life is well supported through Ahmed’s

Feminist theory is compatible with anti-oppressive principles. This theory sees the foundations of group work as equity and social justice, and aligns with anti-oppressive principles of bringing about change and obtaining open and meaningful communication (Gregory &

In this essay I will explore the different schools of feminism such as Marxist, liberal and radical feminism, who share the view that women are oppressed in a patriarchal society but differ in opinion on who benefits from the inequalities. Each school of feminism has their own understanding of family roles and relationships which I will assess through this essay.

According to the first chapter Untangling the “F” –word in Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives by Gywn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Ray, women’s studies programs were birthed from the idea of feminism. The course began to pop up at different universities across the United States in the 1970’s; the course allows an in depth study of women in social and cultural aspects. Women’s studies courses attempt to explain the experiences and significance of women, which in turn sheds a new light onto the lives of many men and women. Today, the course informs and challenges many men and women to critically think not only in the course but also for the rest of their lives. Feminism can sometimes be misinterpreted, and the ideals of feminism are frequently

The feminist movement of the 1960’s focused solely on the improvement and well- being of women. The idea of Feminism is a critical theory as it is an analytical examination of social conditions and what tools could be utilized to proactively improve these conditions. Overcoming the consistent barriers women had to endure during this era remains prevalent and continues to have psychological effects. In order to strengthen one’s mindset regarding feminism, we must first refer back and understand the intellectual history of the women’s movement and examine areas of how counseling can assist with overcoming these impediments. The Feminist philosophy is the philosophical dimension of intellectual feminism. Many philosophers understand their intellectual history and the history of the women's movement in terms of three "waves."

Women are often confined to a set of ideals and expectations because of one simple fact: they are women. Many of the women who contributed to this book have faced gender stereotyping and discrimination. Instead of allowing traditional social norms to confine them to an unwanted lifestyle, they challenged these conventional ideals, risking failure and facing condemnation from strangers as well as people close to them. People often associate feminism with negativity and pessimism. In “Feminism is a Dirty Word,” Cindy Simon Rosenthal talks about how people refuse to define themselves as a “feminist.” However, the movement does not advocate for women’s special privileges. Feminism celebrates social equality and supports the utilization of all talents.

Women of today and in the past face many different challenges. As we learned from my last essay all women don’t experience things the same. As we should now know this view of feminism is intersectionality. Which this concept was developed by Kimberle Crenshaw. Intersectionality covers different views of women’s lives, such as sexuality, gender race, education, religion and etc...

In much of social science research, gender, race, class, and other dimensions of identity are treated as discrete variables, to be studied and measured separately. In recent years, however, feminist sociological theorists have argued that race, gender, class, and other axes of identity must be treated as overlapping and intersecting forms of oppression. Kimberlé Crenshaw, (1989) was among the first to articulate this theory, and coined the term “intersectionality” to describe it. Intersectionality has emerged as a major paradigm of research in women’s studies (McCall 2005). In her book Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins argues that we must understand “race, class, and

Sociologists have a range of research methods available to them to investigate society. These research methods can be classified into two broad groups; quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research methods advocated by Positivists tend to have higher numbers of respondents and less involvement on the part of the researcher. These methods are deemed to be ‘scientific’ as they enable high levels of empirical research, objectivity and academic detachment. However, the Feminist School of Thought and Ann Oakley in particular, would reject this approach to sociological investigations stating that they symbolise patriarchy, lack of reciprocity and unequal power relationships.

Feminism and feminist social theory unlike other theoretical perspectives is woman-centered and inter-disciplinary, hence promotes methods of achieving social justice. The feminism and feminist social theory takes into consideration three questions, what of the women? Why is the present social world as it is today? Additionally, how can the social world be changed to make it more just for the women and all people alike? In recent developments, feminist theorists have begun questioning the differences between women. The areas under question include race, ethnicity, class, age intersect, and gender. In summation, the feminist theory involves the concern with giving women world over voice, and highlighting how they have contributed to the

One of Stewart’s main points involves reframing one’s own perspective in order to better construct the research question. She believed researchers often construct research problems from the perspective of “educated, middle-class professionals” and many constructs measured have different meanings for participants with varying backgrounds (more often idiosyncratic than concrete). Stewart advocates researchers analyze their own positions in order understand the research problem more comprehensively. When discussing multicultural feminist theory, Hurtado (2010) touches on alterations to research methods by implementing self-reflexivity and states collaborating with additional authors, especially across academic disciplines, will broaden researcher’s perspectives. This

Feminist theory analyzes the gender inequality that women have faced throughout the years due to a patriarchal society. Women were expected to fit the traditional female and conform to the gender norms that society has constructed. According to A Brief Introduction to Critical Theory, “Feminism embodies a way of reading that investigates the text’s investment in or reaction to the patriarchal power structures that have dominated Western culture” (227). Patriarchal power has oppressed women economically, socially, and politically. Women were associated more with domesticity than with politics and financial situations. They were not provided the same educational opportunities as men. These issues have been addressed by people, such as Mary

The basis of the study originated on multiple previous studies with added variables and altered surveys. The research began with a sound base and high reliability and validity. By taking previous information, the researchers were able to revalidate older studies and add new information. This was the first study done with sole female participants; the previous studies had looked at sexist discrimination before, but with males as well. Participants’ race was varied, adding to the external validity of the results. The analysis looked at the variables individually and collectively to produce more information from the data they collected. In addition, they studied private and public feminist identity in order to eliminate issues of construct validity in the definition.

Karen J. Warren in her article "Ecological Feminist Philosophies: An Overview of the Issues" presents a definition of a conceptual framework as "a socially constructed set of basic beliefs, values, attitudes, and assumptions that shape and reflect how one views oneself and others. It is oppressive when it explains, justifies, and maintains relationships of domination and subordination. An oppressive conceptual framework is patriarchal when it explains, justifies, and maintains the subordination of women by men." (Warren xii) In her other article "Feminist Environmental Philosophy", Warren adds to this definition the notion of the unjustified "isms of domination," examples of these "isms" are: sexism, racism, classism, and ethnocentrism. Warren argues that these isms of domination share conceptual roots in five features of an oppressive conceptual framework. The first feature is "value-hierarchical, Up-Down thinking that attributes greater value to that which is “Up” than to that which is “Down”," (Warren 2015: 9) developing a morality based on dominance and exploitation, with men Up and women Down. The second feature is "oppositional (rather than complementary) and mutually exclusive (rather than inclusive) value dualisms, which place greater value (status, prestige) on one disjunct over the other," (Warren 2015: 9) with men and culture attributed greater value than that of the devalued women and nature. The third and fourth features of oppressive conceptual frameworks "are