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Postmodern Feminism
Postmodern feminism is a branch of feminism that opposes a universal female subject. Drawing on postmodern philosophy, postmodern feminism questions traditional ideas about gender, identity, and power, while emphasizing the socially constructed and fluid nature of these concepts. Postmodern feminists argue that language constructs reality and that power is embedded in social norms, shaping identities and limiting agency. They seek to challenge traditional binary oppositions (e.g., man/woman, culture/nature) and deconstruct hierarchies. The inclusion of postmodern theory into feminist theory is not readily accepted by all feminists—some believe postmodern thought undermines the attacks that feminism attempts to create, while other feminists are in favor of the union. Origins Derrida Jacques Derrida (1930-2004) challenged the idea of a singular, objective truth or "transcendental signifier," arguing instead that meaning is constructed through an endless chain of sign ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feminism
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern societies are patriarchal—they prioritize the male point of view—and that women are treated unjustly in these societies. Efforts to change this include fighting against gender stereotypes and improving educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women. Originating in late 18th-century Europe, feminist movements have campaigned and continue to campaign for women's rights, including the right to Women's suffrage, vote, Nomination rules, run for public office, Right to work, work, earn gender pay gap, equal pay, Right to property, own property, Right to education, receive education, enter into contracts, have equal rights within marriage, and maternity leave. Feminists have also worked to ensure access to contr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alice Jardine
Alice Jardine is an American literary scholar, cultural critic, and feminist theorist. She is Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures and of Studies of Women, Gender & Sexuality at Harvard University, having co-founded and led the development of the latter. In the field of 20th-21st-century French/Francophone literature and thought, Jardine's research focuses on Post-WWII fiction and critical theory, with an emphasis on French poststructuralist and American feminist and queer thought. She is the author and editor of numerous books and articles. Early life and education Jardine grew up in Dayton, Ohio, attending public schools there until she left for college in 1969. She received her B.A. from Ohio State University (1973); her M.A. in French (1977) and her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature (1982) from Columbia University. In 1973, while on a Fulbright Scholarship to teach at the Lycée Hélène Boucher in Paris, she knocked on Simone de Beauvoir’s door and introduced hers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essentialism
Essentialism is the view that objects have a set of attributes that are necessary to their Identity (philosophy), identity. In early Western thought, Platonic idealism held that all things have such an "essence"—an Theory of forms, "idea" or "form". In ''Categories (Aristotle), Categories'', Aristotle similarly proposed that all objects have a Substance theory, substance that, as George Lakoff put it, "make the thing what it is, and without which it would be not ''that'' kind of thing". The contrary view—non-essentialism—denies the need to posit such an "essence". Essentialism has been controversial from its beginning. In the ''Parmenides (dialogue), Parmenides'' dialogue, Plato depicts Socrates questioning the notion, suggesting that if we accept the idea that every beautiful thing or just action partakes of an essence to be beautiful or just, we must also accept the "existence of separate essences for hair, mud, and dirt". Older social theories were often conceptually esse ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Simone De Beauvoir
Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she considered one at the time of her death, she had a significant influence on both feminist existentialism and feminist theory. Beauvoir wrote novels, essays, short stories, biographies, autobiographies, and monographs on philosophy, politics, and social issues. She was best known for her "trailblazing work in feminist philosophy", '' The Second Sex'' (1949), a detailed analysis of women's oppression and a foundational tract of contemporary feminism. She was also known for her novels, the most famous of which were '' She Came to Stay'' (1943) and '' The Mandarins'' (1954). Her most enduring contribution to literature are her memoirs, notably the first volume, ''Mémoires d'une jeune fille rangée'' (1958). She received the 1954 Prix Gonc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gender Trouble
''Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity'' is a 1990 book by the post-structuralist gender theorist and philosopher Judith Butler in which the author argues that gender is performative, meaning that it is maintained, created or perpetuated by iterative repetitions when speaking and interacting with each other. Summary Butler criticizes one of the central assumptions of feminist theory, that there exists an identity and a subject that requires representation in politics and language. For Butler, "men" and "women" are categories complicated by factors such as class, ethnicity, and sexuality. Moreover, the universality presumed by these terms parallels the assumed universality of the patriarchy and erases the particularity of oppression in distinct times and places. Butler thus eschews identity politics in favor of a new, coalitional feminism that critiques the basis of identity and gender. They challenge assumptions about the distinction often made between sex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Judith Butler
Judith Pamela Butler (born February 24, 1956) is an American feminist philosopher and gender studies scholar whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics, and the fields of third-wave feminism, queer theory, and literary theory. In 1993, Butler joined the faculty in the Department of Rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley, where they became the Maxine Elliot Professor in the Department of Comparative Literature and the Program in Critical Theory in 1998. They also hold the Hannah Arendt Chair at the European Graduate School (EGS). Butler is best known for their books ''Gender Trouble, Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity'' (1990) and ''Bodies That Matter: On the Discursive Limits of Sex'' (1993), in which they challenge conventional, heteronormative notions of gender and develop their theory of gender performativity. This theory has had a major influence on feminist and queer scholarship. Their work is often studied and debated in film ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Discourse
Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. Following work by Michel Foucault, these fields view discourse as a system of thought, knowledge, or communication that constructs our world experience. Since control of discourse amounts to control of how the world is perceived, social theory often studies discourse as a window into Power (social and political), power. Within theoretical linguistics, discourse is understood more narrowly as linguistic information exchange and was one of the major motivations for the framework of dynamic semantics. In these expressions, denotations are equated with their ability to update a discourse context. Social theory In the humanities and social sciences, discourse describes a formal way of thinking that can be expressed through language. Discourse i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Social Construction
Social constructionism is a term used in sociology, social ontology, and communication theory. The term can serve somewhat different functions in each field; however, the foundation of this theoretical framework suggests various facets of social reality—such as concepts, beliefs, norms, and values—are formed through continuous interactions and negotiations among society's members, rather than empirical observation of physical reality. The theory of social constructionism posits that much of what individuals perceive as 'reality' is actually the outcome of a dynamic process of construction influenced by social conventions and structures. Unlike phenomena that are innately determined or biologically predetermined, these social constructs are collectively formulated, sustained, and shaped by the social contexts in which they exist. These constructs significantly impact both the behavior and perceptions of individuals, often being internalized based on cultural narrativ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gender
Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other than their sex assigned at birth. Most cultures use a gender binary, in which gender is divided into two categories, and people are considered part of one or the other;Kevin L. Nadal, ''The Sage Encyclopedia of Psychology and Gender'' (2017, ), p. 401: "Most cultures currently construct their societies based on the understanding of gender binary—the two gender categorizations (male and female). Such societies divide their population based on biological sex assigned to individuals at birth to begin the process of gender socialization." those who are outside these groups may fall under the umbrella term '' non-binary''. Some societies have ''third genders'' (and ''fourth genders'', etc.) such as the hijras of South Asia and two-spirit per ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Postmodernity
Postmodernity (post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist ''after'' modernity. Some schools of thought hold that modernity ended in the late 20th century – in the 1980s or early 1990s – and that it was replaced by postmodernity, and still others would extend modernity to cover the developments denoted by postmodernity. The idea of the postmodern condition is sometimes characterized as a culture stripped of its capacity to function in any linear or autonomous state like regressive isolationism, as opposed to the progressive mind state of modernism. Postmodernity can mean a personal response to a postmodern society, the conditions in a society which make it postmodern or the state of being that is associated with a postmodern society as well as a historical epoch. In most contexts it should be distinguished from postmodernism, the adoption of postmodern philosophies or traits in the arts, culture ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
A Cyborg Manifesto
"A Cyborg Manifesto" is an essay written by Donna Haraway and first published in 1985 in the ''Socialist Review (US), Socialist Review'' under the title "A Manifesto for Cyborgs: Science, Technology, and Socialist Feminism in the 1980s." In it, the concept of the cyborg represents a rejection of rigid boundaries, notably those separating "human" from "animal" and "human" from "machine." Haraway writes: "The cyborg does not dream of community on the model of the organic family, this time without the oedipal project. The cyborg would not recognize the Garden of Eden; it is not made of mud and cannot dream of returning to dust." The "Manifesto" challenges traditional notions of feminism, particularly feminism that focuses on identity politics, and instead encourages coalition through affinity. Haraway uses the concept of a cyborg to represent the plasticity of identity and to highlight the limitations of socially imposed identities; the "Manifesto" is considered a major milestone in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donna Haraway
Donna Jeanne Haraway (born September 6, 1944) is an American professor emerita in the history of consciousness and feminist studies departments at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a prominent scholar in the field of science and technology studies. She has also contributed to the intersection of information technology and feminist theory, and is a leading scholar in contemporary ecofeminism. Her work criticizes anthropocentrism, emphasizes the self-organizing powers of nonhuman processes, and explores dissonant relations between those processes and cultural practices, rethinking sources of ethics. Haraway has taught women's studies and the history of science at the University of Hawaii (1971–1974) and Johns Hopkins University (1974–1980). She began working as a professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1980 where she became the first tenured professor in feminist theory in the United States. Haraway's works have contributed to the study of both hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
