feminism.docx

feminism.docx

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feminism

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Feminismisbothanintellectualcommitmentandapoliticalmovementthatseeksjusticeforwomenandtheendofsexisminallforms.However,therearemanydifferentkindsoffeminism.Feministsdisagreeaboutwhatsexismconsistsin,andwhatexactlyoughttobedoneaboutit;theydisagreeaboutwhatitmeanstobeawomanoramanandwhatsocialandpoliticalimplicationsgenderhasorshouldhave.Nonetheless,motivatedbythequestforsocialjustice,feministinquiryprovidesawiderangeofperspectivesonsocial,cultural,economic,andpoliticalphenomena.Importanttopicsforfeministtheoryandpoliticsinclude:

thebody,classandwork,disability,thefamily,globalization,humanrights,popularculture,raceandracism,reproduction,science,theself,sexwork,humantrafficking,andsexuality.Extendeddiscussionofthesetopicsisincludedinthesub-entriestofeminisminthisencyc

1.Introduction

Feminismbringsmanythingstophilosophyincludingnotonlyavarietyofparticularmoralandpoliticalclaims,butwaysofaskingandansweringquestions,constructiveandcriticaldialoguewithmainstreamphilosophicalviewsandmethods,andnewtopicsofinquiry.Feministphilosophersworkwithinallthemajortraditionsofphilosophicalscholarshipincludinganalyticphilosophy,AmericanPragmatistphilosophy,andContinentialphilosophy.EntriesinthisEncyclopediaappearingundertheheading“feminism,approaches”discusstheimpactofthesetraditionsonfeministscholarshipandexaminethepossibilityanddesirabilityofworkthatmakeslinksbetweentwotraditions.Feministcontributionstoandinterventionsinmainstreamphilosophicaldebatesarecoveredinentriesinthisencyclopediaunder“feminism,interventions”.Entriescoveredundertherubric“feminism,topics”concernphilosophicalissuesthatariseasfeministsarticulateaccountsofsexism,critiquesexistsocialandculturalpractices,anddevelopalternativevisionsofajustworld.Inshort,theyarephilosophicaltopicsthatarisewithinfeminism.

Althoughtherearemanydifferentandsometimesconflictingapproachestofeministphilosophy,itisinstructivetobeginbyaskingwhat,ifanything,feministsasagrouparecommittedto.Consideringsomeofthecontroversiesoverwhatfeminismisprovidesaspringboardforseeinghowfeministcommitmentsgenerateahostofphilosophicaltopics,especiallyasthosecommitmentsconfronttheworldasweknowit.

2.WhatisFeminism?

2.1FeministBeliefsandFeministMovements

Theterm‘feminism’hasmanydifferentusesanditsmeaningsareoftencontested.Forexample,somewritersusetheterm‘feminism’torefertoahistoricallyspecificpoliticalmovementintheUSandEurope;otherwritersuseittorefertothebeliefthatthereareinjusticesagainstwomen,thoughthereisnoconsensusontheexactlistoftheseinjustices.Althoughtheterm“feminism”hasahistoryinEnglishlinkedwithwomen'sactivismfromthelate19thcenturytothepresent,itisusefultodistinguishfeministideasorbeliefsfromfeministpoliticalmovements,foreveninperiodswheretherehasbeennosignificantpoliticalactivismaroundwomen'ssubordination,individualshavebeenconcernedwithandtheorizedaboutjusticeforwomen.So,forexample,itmakessensetoaskwhetherPlatowasafeminist,givenhisviewthatwomenshouldbetrainedtorule（Republic,BookV）,eventhoughhewasanexceptioninhishistoricalcontext.（Seee.g.,Tuana1994.）

Ourgoalhereisnottosurveythehistoryoffeminism—asasetofideasorasaseriesofpoliticalmovements—butratheristosketchsomeofthecentralusesofthetermthataremostrelevanttothoseinterestedincontemporaryfeministphilosophy.Thereferencesweprovidebelowareonlyasmallsampleoftheworkavailableonthetopicsinquestion;morecompletebibliographiesareavailableatthespecifictopicalentriesandalsoattheendofthisentry.

Inthemid-1800stheterm‘feminism’wasusedtoreferto“thequalitiesoffemales”,anditwasnotuntilaftertheFirstInternationalWomen'sConferenceinParisin1892thattheterm,followingtheFrenchtermféministe,wasusedregularlyinEnglishforabeliefinandadvocacyofequalrightsforwomenbasedontheideaoftheequalityofthesexes.Althoughtheterm“feminism”inEnglishisrootedinthemobilizationforwomansuffrageinEuropeandtheUSduringthelate19thandearly20thcentury,ofcourseeffortstoobtainjusticeforwomendidnotbeginorendwiththisperiodofactivism.[1]Sosomehavefounditusefultothinkofthewomen'smovementintheUSasoccurringin“waves”.Onthewavemodel,thestruggletoachievebasicpoliticalrightsduringtheperiodfromthemid-19thcenturyuntilthepassageoftheNineteenthAmendmentin1920countsas“FirstWave”feminism.Feminismwanedbetweenthetwoworldwars,tobe“revived”inthelate1960'sandearly1970'sas“SecondWave”feminism.Inthissecondwave,feministspushedbeyondtheearlyquestforpoliticalrightstofightforgreaterequalityacrosstheboard,e.g.,ineducation,theworkplace,andathome.Morerecenttransformationsoffeminismhaveresultedina“ThirdWave”.ThirdWavefeministsoftencritiqueSecondWavefeminismforitslackofattentiontothedifferencesamongwomenduetorace,ethnicity,class,nationality,religion（seeSection2.3below;alsoBreines2002;Spring2002）,andemphasize“identity”asasiteofgenderstruggle.（Formoreinformationonthe“wave”modelandeachofthe“waves”,seeOtherInternetResources.）

However,somefeministscholarsobjecttoidentifyingfeminismwiththeseparticularmomentsofpoliticalactivism,onthegroundsthatdoingsoeclipsesthefactthattherehasbeenresistancetomaledominationthatshouldbeconsidered“feminist”throughouthistoryandacrosscultures:

i.e.,feminismisnotconfinedtoafew（White）womenintheWestoverthepastcenturyorso.Moreover,evenconsideringonlyrelativelyrecenteffortstoresistmaledominationinEuropeandtheUS,theemphasison“First”and“Second”Wavefeminismignorestheongoingresistancetomaledominationbetweenthe1920'sand1960'sandtheresistanceoutsidemainstreampolitics,particularlybywomenofcolorandworkingclasswomen（Cott1987）.

Onestrategyforsolvingtheseproblemswouldbetoidentifyfeminismintermsofasetofideasorbeliefsratherthanparticipationinanyparticularpoliticalmovement.Aswesawabove,thisalsohastheadvantageofallowingustolocateisolatedfeministswhoseworkwasnotunderstoodorappreciatedduringtheirtime.Buthowshouldwegoaboutidentifyingacoresetoffeministbeliefs?

Somewouldsuggestthatweshouldfocusonthepoliticalideasthatthetermwasapparentlycoinedtocapture,viz.,thecommitmenttowomen'sequalrights.Thisacknowledgesthatcommitmenttoandadvocacyforwomen'srightshasnotbeenconfinedtotheWomen'sLiberationMovementintheWest.Butthistooraisescontroversy,foritframesfeminismwithinabroadlyLiberalapproachtopoliticalandeconomiclife.Althoughmostfeministswouldprobablyagreethatthereissomesenseof“rights”onwhichachievingequalrightsforwomenisanecessaryconditionforfeminismtosucceed,mostwouldalsoarguethatthiswouldnotbesufficient.Thisisbecausewomen'soppressionundermaledominationrarelyifeverconsistssolelyindeprivingwomenofpoliticalandlegal“rights”,butalsoextendsintothestructureofoursocietyandthecontentofourculture,andpermeatesourconsciousness（e.g.,Bartky1990）.

Isthereanypoint,then,toaskingwhatfeminismis?

Giventhecontroversiesoverthetermandthepoliticsofcircumscribingtheboundariesofasocialmovement,itissometimestemptingtothinkthatthebestwecandoistoarticulateasetofdisjunctsthatcapturearangeoffeministbeliefs.However,atthesametimeitcanbebothintellectuallyandpoliticallyvaluabletohaveaschematicframeworkthatenablesustomapatleastsomeofourpointsofagreementanddisagreement.We'llbeginherebyconsideringsomeofthebasicelementsoffeminismasapoliticalpositionorsetofbeliefs.Forasurveyofdifferentphilosophicalapproachestofeminism,see“Feminism,approachesto”.

2.2NormativeandDescriptiveComponents

Inmanyofitsforms,feminismseemstoinvolveatleasttwogroupsofclaims,onenormativeandtheotherdescriptive.Thenormativeclaimsconcernhowwomenought（oroughtnot）tobeviewedandtreatedanddrawonabackgroundconceptionofjusticeorbroadmoralposition;thedescriptiveclaimsconcernhowwomenare,asamatteroffact,viewedandtreated,allegingthattheyarenotbeingtreatedinaccordancewiththestandardsofjusticeormoralityinvokedinthenormativeclaims.Togetherthenormativeanddescriptiveclaimsprovidereasonsforworkingtochangethewaythingsare;hence,feminismisnotjustanintellectualbutalsoapoliticalmovement.

So,forexample,aLiberalapproachofthekindalreadymentionedmightdefinefeminism（rathersimplisticallyhere）intermsoftwoclaims:

i.（Normative）Menandwomenareentitledtoequalrightsandrespect.

ii.（Descriptive）Womenarecurrentlydisadvantagedwithrespecttorightsandrespect,comparedwithmen[…insuchandsuchrespectsandduetosuchandsuchconditions…].

Onthisaccount,thatwomenandmenoughttohaveequalrightsandrespectisthenormativeclaim;andthatwomenaredeniedequalrightsandrespectfunctionshereasthedescriptiveclaim.Admittedly,theclaimthatwomenaredisadvantagedwithrespecttorightsandrespectisnota“purelydescriptive”claimsinceitplausiblyinvolvesanevaluativecomponent.However,ourpointhereissimplythatclaimsofthissortconcernwhat