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The Diversity of Feminist ThinkingRosemarie P. Tong

Much of feminist thought resist categorization, especially categorization based on the fathers!

labels. "ut#

$ %iberal feminism is not only a variation on &ohn 'tuarts Mill(s$ Mar)ist * socialist feminism is not only an improvement on Mar) and +ngels

$ Psychoanalytic feminism not only a further articulation of Freud

$ +)istentialist feminism not only an addendum to 'artre

$ Postmodern feminism not only a recapitulation on %acan and Derrida.

Feminist thought is old enough to have a history complete ith its on labels that remain

useful. -t also shos that feminist is not a monolithic ideology, and all feminists do not think 

alike, but have a range of different approaches, perspectives and frameorks

$ %iberal

$ Radical /libertarian or cultural0

$ Mar)ist$socialist

$ Psychoanalytic$ +)istentialist

$ Postmodern

$ Multicultural and global

$ +cological

Liberal Feminism$ 'tarted ith Mary 1ollstonecraft * 2indication of the Rights of 1oman

$ &ohn 'tuart Mill ith his perspective on the sub3ection of omen!

$ The nineteenth$century oman(s suffrage movement.

-n present day, the main group is the 4ational 5rganization for 1omen /4510

'ociety has a false belief that omen are by nature less intellectually and physically capable

than men, so it e)cludes omen from the academy, the forum and the marketplace.

6ender 3ustice, re7uires to make the rules of the fame fair and to make certain none of the

runners in the race for society(s goods and services is systematically disadvantaged.

Radical FeminismRadical feminists think %iberals don(t go far enough.

They claim the patriarchal system is characterized by poer, dominance, hierarchy, and

competition. -t cannot be reformed by only ripped out completely.

"ut it is not only patriarchy(s legal and political structures that must be overturned on the ay toomen(s liberation. -ts social and cultural institutions /especially the family, the church and the

academy0 must also be radically transformed.

8ll radicals focus on se), gender, and reproduction as the locus for the development of feminist

thought, but ithin many different points of vie.

There are to kinds of radical feminists

$ Radical$%ibertarian Feminists

$ Radical$9ultural Feminists

-n 6ender$related issues#

Radical$%ibertarian Feminists call for an androgynous personality of men and omen. Men

sho their feminine side and omen their masculine side.

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Radical$9ultural Feminists are anti$androgynous.

5ne movement of anti$androgynous think the problem is not femininity but the lo value a

 patriarchal society gives to feminine 7ualities /supportiveness, empathy, tenderness, nurturance,

etc.0 and the high values assigned to masculine 7ualities /assertiveness, aggressiveness,

rationality, etc.0 'o, society needs to appreciate feminine 7ualities to end o

5ther anti$androgynous think femininity -' the problem, because it has been constructed by

men for patriarchal purposes. -n order to be liberated, omen must give ne gynocentric

meanings to femininity.

'till others anti$androgynous think that omen need to find the true female nature.

-n se)uality issues#

Radical$%ibertarian Feminists think there is no correct se)ual e)perience prescribed, each

oman should be encourage to e)periment se)ually ith herself, other omen or men. +ach

oman must follo her on desired

Radical$9ultural Feminists think that through pornography, prostitution, se)ual harassment,rape, omen battering, etc# men have controlled omen(s se)uality for male pleasure.

-n order to be liberated, omen must escape the confines of heterose)uality and create and

e)clusively female se)uality through celibacy, autoeroticism or lesbianism.

5nly ith other omen they can discover true pleasure.

-n Reproduction issues#

Radical$%ibertarian Feminists think that pregnancy drains energy from omen, so they should

 be free to take contraceptives and have abortions if they ant.

Radical$9ultural Feminists think biological motherhood is the ultimate source of a oman(s

 poer. From omen depends if the human species continues to e)ist.

Marxist FeminismThey claim it is impossible for anyone to achieve freedom in a class$based society, here the

ealth produced by the poerless many ends up in the hands of a poerful fe.

Mar)ist feminist insist that omen oppression originated in the introduction of private property,

an institution that obliterated hatever 7uality of community humans had previously en3oyed.

9apitalism itself, not 3ust the larger social rules that privilege men over omen, is the cause of 

omen:s oppression. The capitalist system must be replaced by a socialist system in hich the

means of production ill belong to one and all. 4o longer economically dependent on men,

omen ill be 3ust as free as men are.

Socialist FeminismThey agree ith Mar)ist feminism that capitalism is the source of omen(s oppression, and

ith radical feminists that patriarchy is the source of omen(s oppression.

The ay to end omen(s oppression is to kill the to$headed beast of capitalist patriarchy or 

 patriarchal capitalism.

1omen(s condition is overdetermined by the structures of production /as Mar)ist feminists

think0, reproduction and se)uality /as radical feminists believe0 and the socialization of 

children, /as liberal feminists argue0.

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'ocialist Feminism is uni7ue because of its concerted effort to interrelate the myriad forms of 

omen(s oppression.

For e)ample 8lison &aggar used the unifying concept of alienation to e)plain ho, under 

capitalism, everything /ork, se), play0 and everyone /friends, family0 that could be a source of 

oman(s integration as a person instead becomes a cause of her disintegration.

The emphasis of socialist feminism is on unity and integration both in the sense of interrelating

all aspects of omen(s lives and in the sense of producing a unified feminist theory.

%iberal, radical and Mar)ist$'ocialist feminists focus on the macrocosm /patriarchy or 

capitalism0

Psychoanalytic and Gender FeministsPsychoanalytic and gender feminists retreat to the microcosm of the individual, claiming that

the roots of omen(s oppression are embedded deep in her psyche.

For Psychoanalytic feminists, a focus on se)uality(s role in the oppression of omen arises out

of Freudian theory 5edipal stage /et. al.0$ "ecause the 5edipus comple) is the root of male rule, or patriarchy, some psychoanalytic

feminists speculate it is nothing more that the product of men(s imagination *a psychic trap that

everyone, especially omen, should try to escape.

-t is not necessary to accept the Freudian version, according to hich authority, autonomy, and

universalism are labeled male! hereas live, dependence, and particularism are labeled

female!. These labels, meant to privilege that hich is male over that hich is female, are not

essential to the 5edipus comple). Rather, they are simply the conse7uences of a child(s actual

e)perience.

$ Dual parenting, and dual participation in the orkforce ould change the gender valences of 

the 5edipus comple).

There are important differences beteen psychoanalytic feminists ho focus on pre$5edipal

and 5edipal themes on the one and so$called 6ender Feminists, ho focus on the virtues and

values associated ith femininity on the other hand.

'imone de "eauvoir provided and ontological$e)istential e)planation for omen(s oppression.

-n The 'econd 'e), she argued that oman is oppressed by virtues of their otherness. 1oman is

the other because she is a not$man. Man is the free, self$determining being ho defines the

meaning of his e)istence; oman is the other, the ob3ect hose meaning is determined for her.

-f oman is to become a self, a sub3ect, she must, like man, transcend the definitions, labels,

and essences limiting her e)istence. 'he must make herself be hatever she ants to be.

Postmodern Feminists take de "eauvoir(s understanding of otherness and turn it on its head.

1oman is still the other, but rather than interpreting this condition as something to be re3ected,

 postmodern feminists embrace it. They claim oman(s otherness enables individual omen to

stand back and criticize the norms, values, and practices that the dominant male culture

/patriarchy0 seeks to impose on everyone, particularly those ho live on its periphery. 1omen

are not unitary selves, essences to be defined and then ossify. 5n the contrary, omen are free

spirits.

Multicultural and 6lobal Feminists

Multicultural and 6lobal Feminists agree ith postmodern feminists that the so$called self is

fragmented, or at least divided. <oever, for Multicultural and 6lobal Feminists, the roots of 

this fragmentation are cultural and national rather than se)ual and literary.+.g. <ispanics in the =nited 'tates

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6lobal feminists also have a schizophrenic sense of self. -n their estimation, +uropean and

 4orth 8merican colonizers robbed the people of many developing nations not only of their land

and resources but also of their self$identities.

+.g. 8frica and the sense of black! vs. hite! identity.

$ 5nce a mind is colonized!, it is very difficult to liberate it.

Ecofeminists+cofeminists offer the broadest and also the most demanding conception of the self(s

relationship to the other. 8ccording to +cofeminists, e are connected not only to each other but

also to the nonhuman orld animal and even vegetative.

The only ay not to destroy ourselves it to strengthen our relationship to each other and the

nonhuman orld.

8lthough all of these perspectives cannot be e7ually correct, there is no need here for a final

say. There is alays room for groth.