Feminist Theory

"Feminism isn't about making the women stronger. Women are already strong. It's about the way the world perceives that strength." -G.D. Anderson. Feminist theory is a mode of analytical thoughts and actions of women's ideology that are excluded from society. Feminism constructs the difference in knowledge, social change, and spiritual influence of human existence. (Robbins, Chatterjee, Canda 2006). Feminism constitutes gender, as it acknowledges the different forms of feminism by examining categories of race, class, and sexual identity that exist. The theory opposes the perception of women and another group that can influence the dynamic of the dominant worldview.

In the field of counseling psychology, there has been an effort to engage professionals in social justice work in order to move towards a more just society. Goodman, Liang, Helms, Latta, Sparks & Weintraub (2004) highlighted the difference between a theoretical understanding of social justice and action. The importance of taking action after gaining an understanding of the systematic oppression that maintains disenfranchised people oppressed is that in this way there can be change at the systematic level. Creating change at the individual level by empowering the oppressed is important but it may not ever change the institutional structures that have been in place for many years. Goodman et al. (2004) identified six themes that were common among multicultural counseling and feminist therapy in teaching social justice work. The six themes were listed as followed: self-examination, sharing power, giving voice, facilitating consciousness raising, building on strengths and leaving people with tools for

Throughout the history of mankind, there has always been a common belief that women exist inferior to men. The Bible demonstrates that God made the first woman Eve from the rib of Adam and God “[does] not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet” (1 Timothy 2:11-15). However, understanding their important role in the family and society and feeling tired of being undertreated by men, women finally stood up for themselves. In the 19th century, the Feminist Movement emerged and completely changed the lives of millions of women in the United States until this day. The Movement provides the new perspectives and protects the rights of women in social and political aspects.

Feminist theory aims to understand the nature of gender inequality and focuses on gender politics, power relations and sexuality. Feminist political activism campaigns on issues such as reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, sexual harassment, discrimination and sexual violence. Themes explored in feminism include discrimination, stereotyping, objectification, sexual objectification, oppression and

Feminist theory is a theory that tries to see women’s issues as individualistic and that all women

Gender is on the agenda” wrote Francis Heidensohn (1989) Feminist definition of crime is that “crime is politically informed and linked to particular interests”– of men. Before feminism, women were invisible in sociological research, this meant that explanations for female recidivism saw, female crime as a ’special case’ resulting from sexual promiscuity and biological deviance. Biological explanations for male criminality have lost credibility yet feminist research argued that biological explanations were used to understand female crimes for example the persecution of Maxine Carr. Some feminist criminologists accept that women commit

Feminism is a sociological theory that analyzes the roles that women and men play in society. Feminism can be defined as the belief of unequal rights between men and women. Women are not always treated equally and this sparks many concerns in our society. There are 2 different theories that will be focused on in this paper, gender-inequality theory and gender oppression. The differences between these two still lead up to the way women are treated in a community or the way men have acted towards them throughout history. Gender-inequality focuses mainly on how social situations are unequal between men and women, thus that men are treated at a higher level than women in several different situations. There are many different reasons why men and women are treated differently. Traditionally, the women are expected to be the stay at home moms, who clean and cook for the family. While the men on the other hand work on a daily basis and bring income into the household. Thus saying that women are inferior to the man by not being able to make their own job decision. Men are looked to as smarter, masculine, better decision makers than women. For example, there has never been a female president of the United States. That is proof that women are unequal to men and to this day it is still a concern in our society. Women do not receive the same work opportunities as men, and are recognized by only needed to have children, stay at home, and simply clean and cook for the

I do not believe that the feminist theories offer greater explanatory power regarding differences in rates of males and female criminality relative to traditional criminological theories. According to Kruttschnitt (2013), the basic premise of feminism is the belief that women should be treated equally to men. The fundamental idea of feminism stated that just because the human bodies are premeditated to achieve certain procreative roles, biological elements need not decree academic and social purposes, abilities, and rights. Gender has been the central topic in the field of criminology and studies in the criminal justice. It was believed decades ago that crime was predominately committed by male while the subject of female criminality has been

In the wider conversation of modern day feminism, many people tout loud acts of rebellion such as burning bras or refusing to shave as protests against the patriarchy. Marches and loud voices are often given the spotlight in showcasing ways women fight back against the oppression they are subjected to on a daily basis. The wider narrative often forgets about the subversive acts that women do everyday to challenge the patriarchal hierarchy of power: mothers raising sons who will be the men to stand up to misogynists each day, teenage girls who shop on all areas of department stores in order to mix and match what may be seen as traditionally male or female clothing, housewives who also run side businesses from their homes to provide them with additional money just for their needs. These subversive acts are women who don’t ask for permission when they see an opportunity for healing or liberation, deciding to take the chance because they have already lost so

A feminist theory can be described as an approach to move towards empowering women worldwide. Feminism has been a problem in any culture from any time in history, and feminist worldwide are all banding together for one reason: to become independent and highly powered women. The main goals of feminism are to discuss the importance of women, break the gender inequality

From Evelyn Fox Keller with her book, A feeling for the Organism to Judith Butler with Gender Trouble and Sarah Harding with her revolutionary work on standpoint theory, the role of gender in science and society in general, has been poked and prodded over the years without any fruitful agreements across disciplines. For the most part, the theories proposed have contributed heavily to feminist epistemology. With oppression and marginalization at the center point of the issues concerning gender and science, in this paper, I will try to shift the conversation slightly to address trust and its epistemic role in science. By understanding the definitions provided by feminist scholars such as Harding and Haslanger, the relation between trust, gender

First and foremost I would like to mention what do I mean by feminist approach and how do I intend to apply it to my essay. Feminism is a political discourse aimed at equal rights and legal protection for women. It involves various movements, theories and philosophies, all concerned with issues of gender

Feminism is a fight against oppression, but white supremacy exists within feminist movements, which is an obvious contradiction of the theory. “The feminist movement has centered on the experiences of White women and dismissed the experiences of Women of Color” (Feenstra, 2017, p. 67). In an article titled, From White Feminism to Intersectional Advocacy: The Development of a White Antiracist Identity, Abby Elizabeth Feenstra, a feminist illuminates her journey to becoming conscious of her white privilege.

Feminism are generalized concepts that idealize social life and human experience developed from a women-centered perspective. Feminism seeks to observe all situations and women in society. Second, it seeks to describe and critically evaluate the world from the distinctive points of women ( Lengermann and Niebrugge 195). Most feminist sociological theorists analyzes both a sociological understanding and contributing factors of the feminist theory by shaping the concept of gender

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