Ways To Properly Form Feminist Theory

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

Many African American, Latin American, Asian American, and Native American women have participated in movements to overcome racism and gain recognition of their ethnic histories and identities. Some of these women focus on the cultural and economic problems of women of color. As women’s studies have become established on college campuses, new generations of writers, researchers, and students have developed their own definitions of and approaches to feminism.

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

Since the beginning of time women have been considered inferior to men, which seem to proceed to affect everyday lives of all social beings in this world. Women have a disease, a disease that will prevent them for ever having the political drive to achieve political, social or economic opportunities men have. This "disease" is the need for independency and self-respect or the lack there of. This is what we have come to know as feminism. Feminism refers to the body of thought on the cause and nature of women's disadvantaged and subordinate position in society, and efforts to minimize and eliminate the subordination (Hughes, 2002:160). Understanding that the need for independency and self-respect is not a real disease,

In her writing, Young references prominent groups of 1960’s social movements as examples to her claim which is that oppression is caused by: exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. In this essay I will be focusing on just three (exploitation, marginalization and powerlessness) of these five because the three share a relationship in terms of labor and power.

In Young’s “Five Faces of Oppression,” she describes that oppressed people cannot express their own needs, thoughts, and capacities in the same way as non-oppressed people. She puts forth five categories of oppression, including exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence, which serve to engender and maintain oppressive forces. Young also describes how oppression is deeply embedded into the norms and rules of our society, which is related to “The Cycle of Socialization” article by Harro, which describes how humans are socialized from birth based on their social identities. Based on these messages and the systems in place to maintain oppression, oppression is not only systemic and structural, but also very individualistic and personal.

To further my understanding of feminism, I am currently taking the class Introduction to Women’s Gender and Ethnic Studies. During the first unit, I studied more in-depth about different types of feminism, and the feminism waves throughout

“Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race” (Susan B Anthony). Feminism has evolved into our society in a slowly but remarkably life-changing way. Since the beginning of time, men have been deemed superior over women for the anatomy of their bodies and intellectual abilities. In the 21st century, patriarchal abuse has lessened and may not be practiced by women anymore; however, feminist (women and men) are fighting against these controversial roles implemented to them by society and culture. Many have the urge to presume that a feminist is a stereotypical man-hating activist who believes all the troubles in the world are caused by men. Feminism is anything but a stereotype; in fact the definition of feminism is “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” Equality is the main aspect that ties feminist together through the hardships of the developing society. Feminist perspectives therefore challenge and explore patriarchal interests implemented in women’s ability to express themselves and the quality of their lives. Fundamentally, feminist analysis intends to closely examine how male dominance and female advocacy manifest themselves in specific angles of society. In the world of feminist analysis, according to Donald Hall, critics and theorists are

Efforts of social justice are more prominent now than ever. From Black Lives Matter to the LGBTQ community, people are making their voices heard. In the case of Black Lives Matter, it could start with a handful of people deciding they want a better life. Or, a movement can have a long lineage of people fighting to make a difference. With American culture, we've experienced many changes. But women's rights have been a mainstay for a century. We have women from many backgrounds getting their words across in different ways. But each one embodies similar core principles. They look towards feminism to provide equality and unity.

“Five Faces of Oppression” by Iris M. Young tries to create an idea that we can critique the reality and stages of oppression of different groups. She argues that oppression is structural in the sense that injustices arise from systematic everyday activities, and not from policies or how people act. Since oppression is systematically reproduced and thus ingrained into culture, politics and economics, therefore it cannot be simply removed from our society. She separates the condition of oppression into five different forms: exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence. Young states that exploitation is where oppression occurs in the transfer of one social group’s products of labor to benefit the wealthier class. She also argues that women are also exploited to through this from of

The main weakness of feminist theories is that they are from a woman centered viewpoint. While the theories also mention social problems not strictly related to women, it still comes from that viewpoint. This creates a weakness of perspective, men and women do see the world differently. If you have a theory that is solely from the perspective of men or women then you are removing something intangible from that theory. Theories should be put forth that take into account a woman’s perspective, but the theories should also have the male perspective so that both viewpoints are clearly visible. It may seem a small complaint, but this small complaint can be the difference between seeing the bigger picture, or missing something critical because you only took a cursory look.

A common theme has emerged from the past readings. Feminist theory and intersectionality. I have taken some Women’s studies courses before so I am familiar with feminist theory. Intersectionality is trickier for me as I am a white, female, privilege Canadian woman who has not faced any oppressions for what I look like. The only oppressions I face are for being a woman and there is no intersectionality with having only one oppression. I will explore both feminist theory and intersectionality and finish off with battered women's syndrome in this paper as well as talk about my own personal experiences and how they relate to the course.

For this week’s reading, we read “The Landscape of Qualitative Research---Feminisms and Qualitative Research at and into the Millennium” by Virginia L. Olesen. The author started out by introducing that feminist qualitative research is diverse, active and challenging to the professions, supporters and the judges. This type of research is changeful and emergent. The works done by the feminists help create a base for other researches, movements and guidelines that help exceed and convert. Feminisms involves various fictitious and functional directions. In order to give the readers a better background and concept about the things that feminist scholars are currently debating, the author first introduced the topic “Scope and Topics of Feminist Qualitative Research”.

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

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