Topics in Feminism Feminism is both an intellectual commitment and a political movement However, there are many different kinds of feminism. Feminists disagree Nonetheless, motivated by the quest for social justice, feminist economic, and political phenomena. Important topics for feminist theory sub-entries to feminism in this encyclopedia. * 2. What is Feminism? + 2.1 Feminist Beliefs and Feminist Movements + 2.3 Feminism and the Diversity of Women + 2.4 Feminism as Anti-Sexism * 3. Topics in Feminism: Overview of the Encyclopedia Sub-Entries + Feminism and Class + Feminism and Disability + Feminism, Human Rights, Global Feminism, and Human Trafficking + Feminism and Race/Ethnicity + Feminism, Sex, and Sexuality Feminism brings many things to philosophy including not only a variety philosophical views and methods, and new topics of inquiry. Feminist appearing under the heading "feminism, approaches" discuss the impact of these traditions on feminist scholarship and examine the possibility Feminist contributions to and interventions in mainstream philosophical debates are covered in entries in this encyclopedia under "feminism, interventions". Entries covered under the rubric "feminism, topics" concern philosophical issues that arise as feminists articulate philosophical topics that arise within feminism. to feminist philosophy, it is instructive to begin by asking what, if anything, feminists as a group are committed to. Considering some of the controversies over what feminism is provides a springboard for seeing how feminist commitments generate a host of philosophical 2. What is Feminism? 2.1 Feminist Beliefs and Feminist Movements The term `feminism' has many different uses and its meanings are often contested. For example, some writers use the term `feminism' to refer injustices. Although the term "feminism" has a history in English it is useful to distinguish feminist ideas or beliefs from feminist feminist, given his view that women should be trained to rule Our goal here is not to survey the history of feminism -- as a set of interested in contemporary feminist philosophy. The references we In the mid-1800s the term `feminism' was used to refer to "the qualities of females", and it was not until after the First following the French term feministe, was used regularly in English for the equality of the sexes. Although the term "feminism" in English is counts as "First Wave" feminism. Feminism waned between the two world Wave" feminism. In this second wave, feminists pushed beyond the early transformations of feminism have resulted in a "Third Wave". Third Wave feminists often critique Second Wave feminism for its lack of attention However, some feminist scholars object to identifying feminism with domination that should be considered "feminist" throughout history and across cultures: i.e., feminism is not confined to a few (White) women the US, the emphasis on "First" and "Second" Wave feminism ignores the One strategy for solving these problems would be to identify feminism advantage of allowing us to locate isolated feminists whose work was about identifying a core set of feminist beliefs? Some would suggest West. But this too raises controversy, for it frames feminism within a feminists would probably agree that there is some sense of "rights" on feminism to succeed, most would also argue that this would not be Is there any point, then, to asking what feminism is? Given the range of feminist beliefs. However, at the same time it can be both elements of feminism as a political position or set of beliefs. For a survey of different philosophical approaches to feminism, see "Feminism, approaches to". In many of its forms, feminism seems to involve at least two groups of for working to change the way things are; hence, feminism is not just define feminism (rather simplistically here) in terms of two claims: of a substantive feminist view will not be articulable in a single Disagreements within feminism can occur with respect to either the descriptive or normative claims, e.g., feminists differ on what would also lie in the explanations of the injustice: two feminists may agree Disagreements between feminists and non-feminists can occur with some non-feminists agree with feminists on the ways women ought to be In an effort to suggest a schematic account of feminism, Susan James characterizes feminism as follows: Feminism is grounded on the belief that women are oppressed or feminism as a single philosophical doctrine, or as implying an injustice (both normative and descriptive) over which feminists Some might prefer to define feminism in terms of a normative claim alone: feminists are those who believe that women are entitled to equal interesting sources of disagreement both with and within feminism, and the term `feminism' would lose much of its potential to unite those their social interpretations and political affiliations. Feminists are feminists take themselves to have reasons to bring about social change Taking "feminism" to entail both normative and empirical commitments also helps make sense of some uses of the term `feminism' in recent the caveat, "I'm not a feminist, but...". Of course this qualification distinguish from claims that feminists are wont to make. E.g., I'm not a feminist but I believe that women should earn equal pay for equal work; or I'm not a feminist but I'm delighted that first-rate women we see the identification "feminist" as implicitly committing one to unclear how far these interpretations would have to extend). Feminists, account. Those who explicitly cancel their commitment to feminism may As mentioned above, there is considerable debate within feminism for women? What is the nature of the wrong that feminism seeks to Tong 1995.) Feminist philosophers in particular have asked: Do the distinctively feminist accounts? (E.g., Okin 1979; Hoagland 1989; Okin led some theorists to resist the label "feminism" and adopt a different provides a contemporary alternative to "feminism" that better addresses 2.3 Feminism and the Diversity of Women broadly, then, one might characterize the goal of feminism to be ending goal of feminism is to end all oppression that affects women. And some feminists have adopted this interpretation, e.g., (Ware 1970), quoted feminism. One might agree that feminists ought to work to end all forms of oppression -- oppression is unjust and feminists, like everyone that it is the mission of feminism to end all oppression. One might even believe that in order to accomplish feminism's goals it is that there is a narrower set of specifically feminist objectives. In to, even a necessary means to, feminism, but not intrinsic to it. E.g., Feminism, as liberation struggle, must exist apart from and as a consistently inform the direction of feminist theory and practice. feminism from other liberation struggles is its concern with sexism: Unlike many feminist comrades, I believe women and men must share a common understanding -- a basic knowledge of what feminism is -- if Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center, I suggest that defining feminism broadly as "a movement to end sexism and sexist oppression" interlocked with other forms of oppression. Feminism's objective is to as well. For example, feminists who themselves remain racists will not characterize feminism schematically (allowing the schema to be filled the burden of our inquiry from a characterization of what feminism is As mentioned above, there are a variety of interpretations -- feminist male dominance and female submission (MacKinnon 1987; MacKinnon 1989). 2.4 Feminism as Anti-Sexism Some feminists would urge us to recognize that there isn't a systematic there is no systematic unity in what counts as feminism: instead we should see the basis for feminist unity in coalition building (Reagon feminists cannot be taken for granted, but to begin with a theoretical common-ground among feminist views that does not assume that sexism Building on this we could unify a broad range of feminist views by male or female. E.g., Paula is subject to sexist oppression on the job (or females). This, we think, is crucial in understanding why sexism Where does this leave us? `Feminism' is an umbrella term for a range of feminists about the nature of justice in general and the nature of suffer; and the group who should be the primary focus of feminist efforts. Nonetheless, feminists are committed to bringing about social 3. Topics in Feminism: Overview of the Encyclopedia Sub-Entries feminism, it should be clearer how philosophical issues arise in working out the details of a feminist position. The most Feminists have been involved in critiquing existing normative theories this work can be found under "Feminism, interventions", in the sub-entries within "Feminist Political Philosophy", viz., Liberal Feminism, Materialist Feminism, and Radical Feminism. (See also Hampton we have been calling the "descriptive" component of feminism. Careful dominant philosophical tropes. For example, feminists working from the feminists have called for inquiry into what are typically considered feminist work in articulating additional dimensions of experience and Feminist explanations of sexism and accounts of sexist practices also inquiry. For example, in thinking about care, feminists have asked feminists have asked what the relationship is between the natural and the social; in thinking about sexism in science, feminists have asked In the sub-entries included under "feminism: topics" in this Encyclopedia, authors survey some of the recent feminist work on a Feminist Perspectives on Racism, New York: Kitchen Table: Women of * Barker, Drucilla and Edith Kuiper. 2010 Feminist Economics, New * Bartky, Sandra. 1990. "Foucault, Femininity, and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power." In her Femininity and Domination, New York: * Basu, Amrita. 1995. The Challenge of Local Feminisms: Women's Women, Feminism, and the Future, New York: Farrar, Straus, and Black Women, and Feminism in the Movement Years," Signs: Journal of * Calhoun, Cheshire. 2000. Feminism, the Family, and the Politics of * Collins, Patricia Hill. 1990. Black Feminist Thought, Boston, MA: * Cott, Nancy. 1987. The Grounding of Modern Feminism, New Haven: * Crow, Barbara. 2000. Radical Feminism: A Documentary Reader, New * Delmar, Rosalind. 2001. "What is Feminism?" In Theorizing Feminism, * Duplessis, Rachel Blau, and Ann Snitow, eds. 1998. The Feminist * Dutt, M. 1998. "Reclaiming a Human Rights Culture: Feminism of Feminism in a Transnational Age, ed., Ella Shohat. Cambridge, MA: * Echols, Alice. 1990. Daring to Be Bad: Radical Feminism in America, * Enloe, Cynthia. 2007. Globalization and Militarism: Feminists Make * Findlen, Barbara. 2001. Listen Up: Voices from the Next Feminist Feminist Revolution, New York: Bantam. Philosophy: An Encounter Between Feminism and Postmodernism." In Feminism/Postmodernism, ed., Linda Nicholson. New York: Routledge. * Friedan, Betty. 1963. The Feminine Mystique, New York: Norton. * Green, Joyce, ed. 2007. Making Space for Indigenous Feminism, * Grewal, I. 1998. "On the New Global Feminism and the Family of Nations: Dilemmas of Transnational Feminist Practice." In Talking Visions: Multicultural Feminism in a Transnational Age, ed., Ella * Hamington, Maurice. 2006. Socializing Care: Feminist Ethics and * Hampton, Jean. 1993. "Feminist Contractarianism," in Louise M. Antony and Charlotte Witt, eds. A Mind of One's Own: Feminist Feminist Ethics, Boulder, CO: Westview Press. * ---. 1993. Feminist Morality: Transforming Culture, Society, and Women of Color in Today's Feminism. , Berkeley: Seal Press. Feminism: Parallel Trends in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Being Feminist, Doing Feminism, * Hillyer, Barbara. 1993. Feminism and Disability, Norman, OK: * hooks, bell. 1989. Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black, * ---. 1984. Feminist Theory from Margin to Center, Boston: South End * ---. 1981. Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism, Boston: South Race and Feminism, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. * Jaggar, Alison M. 1983. Feminist Politics and Human Nature, Lanham, * Jaggar, Alison M. 1994. Controversies within Feminist Social * James, Susan. 1998. "Feminism." In Edward Craig (ed.), Routledge * Kiss, Elizabeth. 1995. "Feminism and Rights." Dissent, 42(3): Autonomy: Feminist perspectives on Autonomy, Agency and the Social * MacKinnon, Catharine. 1989. Towards a Feminist Theory of the State, * ---. 1987. Feminism Unmodified, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Feminist Networks, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins. World Women and the Politics of Feminism, Bloomington: Indiana Feminism." In her Loving in the War Years, 2nd edition. Boston: and Third World Feminism, New York: Routledge. * Nussbaum, Martha. 1995. "Human Capabilities, Female Human Beings." * O'Connor, Peg. Morality and Our Complicated Form of Life: Feminist * Ong, Aihwa. 1988. "Colonialism and Modernity: Feminist Century." In: Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology, ed. Barbara * Robinson, Fiona. 1999. Globalizing Care: Ethics, Feminist Theory, * Schneir, Miriam, ed. 1994. Feminism in Our Time: The Essential * ---. 1972. Feminism: The Essential Historical Writings, New York: The Uses of Poststructuralist Theory for Feminism." Feminist University Press. "feminism, n1" (1851). * Snitow, Ann. 1990. "A Gender Diary." In Conflicts in Feminism, ed. * Springer, Kimberly. 2002. "Third Wave Black Feminism?" Signs: Women's Movement: Researching the `Lavender Herring'." In Feminism * Tong, Rosemarie. 1993. Feminine and Feminist Ethics, Belmont, CA: * Tuana, Nancy and Rosemarie Tong, eds. 1995. Feminism and * Walker, Margaret Urban. 1998. Moral Understandings: A Feminist Changing the Face of Feminism, New York: Random House (Anchor * Weisberg, D. Kelly, ed. 1993. Feminist Legal Theory: Foundations, * Wendell, Susan. 1996. The Rejected Body: Feminist Philosophical * Young, Iris. 1990a. "Humanism, Gynocentrism and Feminist Politics." * Young, Iris. 1990b. "Socialist Feminism and the Limits of Dual Feminist Philosophy and Social Theory, Bloomington, IN: Indiana * Zophy, Angela Howard. 1990. "Feminism." In The Handbook of American into the huge amount of feminist material available on the web. The feminist philosophy or interdisciplinary feminist theory, e.g., the concerning inclusion, exclusion, and feminist diversity. The list is resources on topics in feminism such as popular culture, reproductive * Feminist Theory Website "Waves" of Feminism * "Waves of Feminism" by Jo Freeman (1996). Feminism and Class Marxist, Socialist, and Materialist Feminisms * WMST-L discussion of how to define "marxist feminism" Aug 1994) * Marxist/Materialist Feminism (Feminist Theory Website) * A Marxist Feminist Critique * Marxist Feminism Feminist Economics * Feminist Economics (Feminist Theory Website) * International Association for Feminist Economics Feminism and Disability * Feminist Disability Studies Feminism, Human Rights, Global Feminism, and Human Trafficking * Global Feminism (Feminist Majority Foundation) * NOW and Global Feminism Feminism and Race/Ethnicity African-American/Black Feminisms and Womanism * African-American/Black/Womanist Feminism on the Web * Black Feminist and Womanist Identity Bibliography (Univ. of * Black Feminist/Womanist Works: A Beginning List (WMST-L) Asian-American and Asian Feminisms * Asian American Feminism (Feminist Theory Website) Chicana/Latina Feminisms * Bibliography on Chicana Feminism (Cal State, Long Beach Library) American Indian, Native, Indigenous Feminisms * Native American Feminism (Feminist Theory Website) Feminism, Sex, Sexuality, Transgender, and Intersex