Feminism, Theory and The Enlightenment

What does
“feminism”
mean to you?

(…seriously, take a
minute to think it
through before moving
ahead, what does this
term bring to mind?)
 A movement to eradicate the institutional and personal subjugation of women as a
group vis-à-vis men as a group.

 A movement to empower women to realize their full potential based on interests,

desires and ability rather than social roles and expectations rooted in essential and
biological definitions of gender.

 “Women demanding their full rights as human beings.”

 “Challenging the relations between men (as a group) and women (as another) and
rebelling against all power structures, laws and conventions that keep women servile,
subordinate, and second best. Women consciously working together for our rights…”

 Political movement that seeks gender equality in all social institutions via the
deconstruction of patriarchy - Patriarchy: “A system of social structures and practices in
which men dominate, oppress and exploit women.” (p. 20 Walby; Theorizing Patriarchy .
1848-1920
Roots in Abolition with goals of suffrage, prohibition,
education for women, birth control

1960s-1970s
Roots in civil rights & anti war movements with goals of
equality and revolutionary cultural changes to laws, work,
family, women’s health --- “Personal is Political”,
consciousness raising & theory building

1990s
Roots in Clarence Thomas hearing & sexual harassment,
challenges to reproductive rights and critique of 2nd wave
A set of statements or principles devised to explain a group of
facts or phenomena, especially one that has been repeatedly
tested or is widely accepted and can be used to make predictions
about natural phenomena. (answer.com)

Theory provides a systematic way to think through social issues

and concerns by offering a specific way to describe, analyse, and
impact change upon social phenomena.

macro vs. micro levels of analysis

 Feminist Theory defined:

“experiential plurality, proceeding

from different experiences differently
perceived” with “one obvious, simple
and overarching goal – to end men’s
systematic domination of women”
with feminist theory “also having one
over-arching goal – to understand,
explain, and challenge that
domination, in order to help end it.”

▪ Jane Mansbridge and Susan Moller Okin in

“Feminism” 2000
MACRO LEVEL MICRO LEVEL

 Macro level approaches  Micro level approaches

focus on aggregate levels of focus on individual or
analysis. small group processes

 Examples: post industrial  Examples: upper class gay

societies; globalization; white men in New York City,
capitalism single mothers in Boise, Idaho
 Historically,
where did the construction and use
of theory
(both macro and micro) come from?
 18th century philosophical
movement defined by belief
in the power of human
reason and modernization
in religious, educational
and political principles.
▪ The Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire by Edward
Gibbons, 1737-1794
PRE-ENLIGHTENMENT
 Prior to the
Enlightenment what was
used to explain social
phenomena (poverty,
lack of access to drinking
water, etc)?
▪ God & superstition
▪ Authoritarian governments
▪ Feudalism
ENLIGHTENMENT
 Prior to the
Enlightenment what was
used to explain social
phenomena?
▪ Rational & Reason
▪ Empirical Evidence
▪ Ideology & Hegemony
 Evaluative explanations for social and political
occurrences that are based on sets of specific and
comprehensive ideas -- or judgemental explanations for
why things happen and certain conditions occur.

 E.G. racist ideology (stereotypes); religious right ideology

(traditions); liberal ideology (assumptions about human nature
and forms of government)
The systematic engineering of mass consent, (but
not necessarily or even usually deliberate), by
which dominate culture maintains its dominate
position in part by making it appear natural and
universal and hence, unchangeable.
 Hegemony
 Appears natural
 Hard to discover
 Abstract & pervasive
 Implies almost
unconscious “choice” or
limited choice
 Saturates every day life
& assumptions
▪ “the world that goes
without saying”
 Ideology
 Recognizable
 Easier to discover
 Believed to be rooted in
ideas and thus created
by humans
 Implies explicit or
unlimited “choice”
▪ E.g. we choose which
ideologies to adhere to
What
“ideology”
and/or
“hegemony”is
reflected in the
way gender is
defined and
practiced in
mainstream
U.S. culture?
 Two related but mutually
exclusive identity components
(assumed to be completely
opposite with no traits that
surpass the two categories) that
together establish a system of
meaning.
 One element of the component is
given invisible social status as
primary while the other is given
secondary status.
 Each component in the dichotomy
only makes sense in reference to
the opposite element.
 Normal vs. deviant
▪ White vs. black

 Unmarked vs. marked

▪ Man vs. woman
 True Manhood: Traditional
 True Womanhood: Traditional
Masculinity Femininity
 Relegated to the public  Relegated to the private
sphere sphere
▪ Domesticity & Family
▪ Public life
▪ White
▪ White
▪ Volunteer
▪ Wage earner
▪ Motherhood as priority
▪ Work as priority
▪ Dependent
▪ Independent ▪ Emotional
▪ Intelligent ▪ Incompetent
▪ Successful ▪ Nurturing
▪ Problem Solver ▪ Cooperative
▪ Leader ▪ Listener
▪ Strong ▪ Weak
 Deconstructing binaries

 Breaking categories down

 Offering cross cutting

examples

 Blurring differences
between binary
components

 Exposes differences within

assumed categories
 Traditional definitions of sex/gender, race/ethnicity and class
disadvantage women, minorities and the poor by naming
men, members of the majority, and wealthy people as
innately superior - Inequality between people results when
humans are defined as having inherent and hierarchal
meaning according to their biology.
 Traditional definitions of sex/gender, race/ethnicity and class
limit our choices for behaviors, roles and expectations for all
people.
 If these differences are believed to be natural, we can’t
expect inequality to change.
Macro and micro level analysis help us to deconstruct the different sites
of patriarchy and how these sites (e.g. Traditions, expectations, roles,
rules, stereotypes, norms and standards) change and stay the same over
time and location. This is Feminist Theory.