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    Feminist Theory

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    Feminist theory analyzes social problems from the perspective of women's experiences. It examines discrimination, gender roles and stereotypes. By shifting focus from the male viewpoint, feminist theory creates more inclusive social theories and highlights issues otherwise overlooked. It considers how gender intersects with other systems like race and class that contribute to inequality and oppression.

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    Feminist Theory

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    100 views22 pages
    Feminist theory analyzes social problems from the perspective of women's experiences. It examines discrimination, gender roles and stereotypes. By shifting focus from the male viewpoint, feminist theory creates more inclusive social theories and highlights issues otherwise overlooked. It considers how gender intersects with other systems like race and class that contribute to inequality and oppression.

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    Feminist theory analyzes social problems from the perspective of women's experiences. It examines discrimination, gender roles and stereotypes. By shifting focus from the male viewpoint, feminist theory creates more inclusive social theories and highlights issues otherwise overlooked. It considers how gender intersects with other systems like race and class that contribute to inequality and oppression.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    100 views22 pages

    Feminist Theory

    Uploaded by

    Reign
    Feminist theory analyzes social problems from the perspective of women's experiences. It examines discrimination, gender roles and stereotypes. By shifting focus from the male viewpoint, feminist theory creates more inclusive social theories and highlights issues otherwise overlooked. It considers how gender intersects with other systems like race and class that contribute to inequality and oppression.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    of 22

    Feminist

    Theory
    Feminist theory is a major
    branch within sociology
    that shifts its assumptions,
    analytic lens, and topical
    focus away from the male
    viewpoint and experience
    and toward that of women.
    In doing so, feminist theory
    shines a light on social
    problems, trends, and
    issues that are otherwise
    overlooked or misidentified
    by the historically
    dominant male perspective
    within social theory.
    Key areas of focus within
    feminist theory include:

     Discrimination and exclusion


    on the basis of sex
     Gender objectification
    structural
     Economic inequality power
     Oppression gender roles
    and stereotypes
    Overview
    Many people incorrectly believe that
    feminist theory focuses exclusively
    on girls and women and that it has
    an inherent goal of promoting the
    superiority of women over men.
    In reality, feminist theory has
    always been about viewing the
    social world in a way that
    illuminates the forces that
    create and support inequality,
    oppression, and injustice, and
    in doing so, promotes the
    pursuit of equality and justice.
    That said, since the experiences and
    perspectives of women and girls
    were historically excluded from
    social theory and social science,
    much feminist theory has focused on
    their interactions and experiences
    within society to ensure that half
    the world's population is not left out
    of how we see and understand social
    forces, relations, and problems.
    By shifting the focus of social
    theory away from the
    perspectives and experiences of
    men, feminist theorists have
    created social theories that are
    more inclusive and creative
    than those that assume the
    social actor to always be a man.
    Part of what makes feminist theory
    creative and inclusive is that it often
    considers how systems of power and
    oppression interact, which is to say it
    does not just focus on gendered power
    and oppression, but on how it might
    intersect with systemic racism, a
    hierarchical class system, sexuality,
    nationality, and (dis)ability, among
    other things.
    Gender Differences
    Some feminist theory provides an analytic
    framework for understanding how women's
    location in, and experience of, social
    situations differ from men's. For example,
    cultural feminists look at the different
    values associated with womanhood and
    femininity as a reason why men and women
    experience the social world differently.
    Other feminist theorists believe that
    the different roles assigned to women
    and men within institutions better
    explain gender difference, including
    the sexual division of labor in the
    household. Existential and
    phenomenological feminists focus on
    how women have been marginalized
    and defined as “other” in patriarchal
    societies.
    Some feminist theorists focus
    specifically on how masculinity is
    developed through socialization, and
    how its development interacts with
    the process of developing femininity
    in girls.
    Gender Inequality

    Feminist theories that focus on


    gender inequality recognize that
    women's location in, and experience
    of, social situations are not only
    different but also unequal to men's.
    Liberal feminists argue that women have
    the same capacity as men for moral
    reasoning and agency, but that patriarchy,
    particularly the sexist division of labor, has
    historically denied women the opportunity
    to express and practice this reasoning.
    These dynamics serve to shove women into
    the private sphere of the household and to
    exclude them from full participation in
    public life.
    Gender Oppression
    Theories of gender oppression go further
    than theories of gender difference and
    gender inequality by arguing that not only
    are women different from or unequal to
    men, but that they are actively oppressed,
    subordinated, and even abused by men.
    Power is the key variable in the two main
    theories of gender oppression:
    psychoanalytic feminism and radical
    feminism.
    Psychoanalytic feminists attempt to
    explain power relations between men
    and women by reformulating Sigmund
    Freud's theories of human emotions,
    childhood development, and the
    workings of the subconscious and
    unconscious. They believe that conscious
    calculation cannot fully explain the
    production and reproduction of
    patriarchy.
    Radical feminists argue that being a woman is a
    positive thing in and of itself, but that this is
    not acknowledged in acknowledged in
    patriarchal societies where women are
    oppressed. They identify physical violence as
    being at the base of patriarchy, but they think
    that patriarchy can be defeated if women
    recognize their own value and strength,
    establish a sisterhood of trust with other
    women, confront oppression critically, and form
    female-based separatist networks in the private
    and public spheres.
    Structural Oppression
    Structural oppression theories posit
    that women's oppression and inequality
    are a result of capitalism, patriarchy,
    and racism. Socialist feminists agree
    with Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels
    that the working class is exploited as a
    consequence of capitalism, but they
    seek to extend this exploitation not just
    to class but also to gender.
    Intersectionality theorists seek to
    explain oppression and inequality across
    a variety of variables, including class,
    gender, race, ethnicity, and age. They
    offer the important insight that not all
    women experience oppression in the
    same way, and that the same forces that
    work to oppress women and girls also
    oppress people of color and other
    marginalized groups.
    One way structural oppression of women,
    specifically the economic kind, manifests
    in society is in the gender wage gap,
    which shows that men routinely earn
    more for the same work than women.

    An intersectional view of this situation


    shows that women of color, and men of
    color, too, are even further penalized
    relative to the earnings of white men.
    In the late 20th century, this
    strain of feminist theory was
    extended to account for the
    globalization of capitalism and
    how its methods of production
    and of accumulating wealth
    center on the exploitation of
    women workers around the
    world.

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