Dr. Sara DiazWGST 202: Gender, Difference, and PowerGonzaga University

Feminist Theory and Gender

Liberal Feminist Theory

• Based on principles of Classical Liberalism• Individual rights, freedom, choice, and privacy

• Explains oppression of women in terms of unequal access to existing political, economic, and social institutions.• Seeks legal equality in existing institutions• Emphasis on reform through legislation and

education

Radical Feminist Theory

• Focused on patriarchal control of women’s bodies, sexuality, and reproduction.• emphasis on women's health care

• Emphasizes supposed fundamental differences between women and men (essentialist/determinist)• Seeks liberation through eradication of

patriarchy • Reform won't work: Revolution must occur

Socialist Feminism:

• Oppression of women comes from patriarchy and capitalism• Draws on theories of Marx and on theories

developed by radical feminists• Focus on economic exploitation but also draws

on insights of psychoanalytic theory (such as Freud)• Focus on differences between men and women• Not reform, but more focused on global

restructuring of production

Feminist Postmodernism

• Emphasizes the fluidity of social categories, depending on historical time, place, and cultural context• Is often grounded in "discourse" or language.• How does language construct social world?

• Is opposed to modernism (positivism)• Deconstructs categories• What is a “woman”?

• Feminist postmodernists are often accused of relativism.

Multiracial Feminism

• Emphasize how systems of privilege and oppression work together• Race, gender, class, national citizenship, sexuality

among other identities all function together and so must be analyzed together (intersectional)• Women can exploit other women• Difference as positive• Pragmatism: Use what works

Postcolonial Feminism

• Resistant to nationalism while still anti-colonial• Questions Western “paternalism” – White

men/women saving brown women from brown men.• Emphasizes women’s agency and resistance • impact of global capitalism on women’s lives• transnational women’s organizing

• Difference as positive• “Strategic” coalitional politics

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM

Biological Determinism & EssentialismOrganizes people into groups based on what we assume to be basic biological differences.Further, it assumes those differences explain characteristics of large groups of people and justifies life outcomes.

Examples of Biological Determinism

• Women are nurturing because they bear children, therefore they should stay home and raise children.• Women are more emotional than men and

therefore not well suited for jobs that need rational decision making. • EG President, example of premenstrual syndrome

• Men are better at math and science and therefore should go into fields like engineering, architecture, physics.

Social Construction Theory:

Social Construction Theory asks us to examine our assumptions about what can be attributed to biology and to think about how social contexts shape and interpret biological differences.

Social Construction Theory:

• Does NOT deny that biological differences exist, but urges us to think critically about how we interpret those socially. • Argues that a lot of social phenomena occur

because of the social interpretation of assumed differences rather than any determination actually made by biology.

Definition of Gender

Gender is a social construction that establishes our definitions of self, our

relations with others, and our life chances...Moreover, is not just an individual

attribute. Instead, it is part of the social structure of society and thus has an

institutional component...

--Margaret Anderson, Thinking about Women, p. 30

Sex vs Gender

Binary Sex/Gender SystemSex Category Male FemaleGender Man/Boy Woman/GirlGender Expression Masculine Feminine

Impact of Gender

• There are different rules for the behavior of males and female in all aspects of our lives.• Because we live in a society that places

higher value on men (among other social categories) these rules result in differential access to power and resources.• Because of this much of feminist

theorizing deals with power.

Daily Response Question

According to Lorber how does gender work to maintain systems of power?

Discussion Question

•Using the types of feminism described earlier how might you categorize Lorber’s position?

Gender

•What doors are unlocked, closed according gender? If you are categorized male? Female? Transgender?•Public Bathrooms•What else?

Gender

•How do we do gender? • Is it possible to change the way you

do gender?•What are the consequences?•How does gender get inscribed on the

body?