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Feminism

The definition of feminism has been actively debated in activist and academic circles. Although there is no one agreed-on definition of the term, in general, feminism is an analytical framework that focuses attention on the conditions of women; it is a way of viewing the political, social, and cultural realms that center on the experiences of women. As an ideology as well as a political movement that centers the discourse on gender, feminism seeks to eliminate multiple systems of domination and seeks a radical shift in what it views as a racist, classist, heterosexist, and patriarchal power structure. This entry introduces the various strains of feminism, with attention paid to the aims of each strain and their interconnectedness.

Seeking Equality

Emancipatory feminism focused its efforts on a critique of Enlightenment thinking, which promoted a universal understanding of “human” defined by the ability to reason. Emancipatory feminism argued that the use of a gender-neutral notion of “Man” was entrenched in a gendered association of the term human with the definition of man, which did not include women. Enlightenment thinking placed a priority on the importance of the mind above the importance of the body. Rationality and the social world were generally considered to be the realm of men, whereas women were associated with the physicality of the body, irrationality, nature, and emotion. Later theorists also critiqued this form of thinking as being racialized as well as gendered, arguing that the positive attribute of rationality is afforded to Whites, whereas negative attributes of nature, emotionality, and physicality are associated with people of color. The aim of emancipatory and egalitarian feminists is equal rights with men. These political struggles began with demanding access to birth control and the right to vote, and they continue today with workplace equity issues and issues of equal political representation.

One form of emancipatory feminism, Marxist feminism, uses the fundamentals of Marxist thinking—the centrality of the forces of production in a class-based social structure—to analyze women's lives. Marxist feminists argue that the central problem in women's lives is the division between productive and reproductive labor. They argue that productive labor is valued more highly than reproductive labor and that the division between productive and reproductive labor keeps women disenfranchised and oppressed. In this strain of feminist thought, domination and oppression occur due to structural factors within the material base of society; therefore, liberation is sought via social and economic means, with the goal being equality between men and women.

Other Views

Radical feminists focus on power relations between women and men. This strain of feminist thinking focuses on organizing around gender as a singular political identity. The radical feminist view of gender is less about characteristics that men and women possess and more about the symbolic nature of gender in the hierarchical power and oppression of a patriarchal society. Radical feminists argue that society is deeply rooted in patriarchal structures and that this entrenchment of patriarchy (oppressive power of men over women) is so pervasive that women cannot successfully realize their full potential by living within patriarchal structures such as the heterosexual family. Lesbianism is held to be the quintessential feminist identity, and women who were adherents of this view became “women-identified women” or political lesbians—women who identified politically but not sexually with other women.

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