The role of women in society

Discuss about the Feminist Standpoint Theory.

“Women have served all these centuries as looking glasses possessing the magic and delicious power of reflecting the figure of man at twice its natural size.”

The above quoted lines of the author Virginia Woolf from her famous work “A Room of One’s Own” points to the role which women have been made to serve in the human society since the traditional times. The female gender had to bear a considerable amount of suppression as well as stigmatization since the ancient times on the score of their gender and the traditional gender stereotypes attached with them (Garry and Pearsall 2015). The French critic and author Simone de Beauvoir commenting about the suppression as well as stigmatization which women had to receive since the ancient says in her famous work “The Second Sex” (1949) that the women are not even considered as the sex which is opposite to men rather they are viewed as the second sex that inhabits the human society. However, in the present times it is seen that the condition has improved a bit with the changing nature of the human world and the publication of the works of some of the prominent female writers like Mary Wollstonecraft, Virginia Woolf, Dorothy Richardson, Judith Butler, Kate Millet, Margaret Atwood and others (Shakeshaft 2015). The views as well as the standpoints taken by these women writers and others have contributed in a significant manner towards the freedom and the status which women are enjoying in the society currently (Shakeshaft 2015). This essay will discuss about the various precepts of the feminist standpoint theory and more particularly focus on the strengths as well as weaknesses of this theory.

The “Feminist Standpoint Theory” propounded by Dorothy Smith and Nancy Hartsock in the early part of the 1980s is a major feminist theory which has sought to empower the women of the present times in a significant manner (Luke and Gore 2014). The various precepts of this particular theory are based on the concept of Marxism and seek to use the theories of Karl Marx and other theorists belonging to the genre of Marxism in the wider canvas of feminism (Luke and Gore 2014). The primary precept of this particular theory is grounded on fact that the various social sciences as well as the literary works of the present times should be based on the framework of the concept of feminism. The theory argues the fact that the lives of the women of the society are significantly different from the lives of the women and therefore the literary works which are based on their lives should not be interpreted on the basis of the framework of the masculine theories which had dominated the interpretation of the literary since time immemorial (Meyers 2014). Thus, in a way it can be said that this particular theory seeks to overthrown the hegemonic dominance of the masculine theories which had held sway in the world of Literature and social sciences for a very long time. Moreover, this theory argues the fact that the lives of the women who are often seen as subordinates to the male members of the society by means of being the suppressed class offers new insights into the working mechanisms of the world which is seldom exhibited by the other theories (Meyers 2014). Thus, it can be said that this particular theory by its insistence on the interpretation of the world and the various literary texts through the lens of the lives of the women is likely to not only empower the women of the society in a significant manner but at the same time is likely to provide a much broader interpretation of the literary texts and the social works in a much more credible manner.

Feminist Standpoint Theory and Marxism

The recent popularity gained by this particular theory is an indicative of the relevancy which this particular theory holds within the framework of the modern day society. For example, one of the most important precepts of this particular feminist theory is the fact that this particular theory seeks to show that the present framework of the society has been constructed in such a manner that it upholds the suppression as well as the discrimination which the women receive at the hands of the male members of the society (Lal 2018). This particular aspect of the theory is totally in synchronization with the views of Judith Butler which she articulated in her famous work “Gender trouble and the subversion of identity” in 1990 that “gender is a performance, a social construct which has been constructed to maintain the power balance within the society” (Butler 1990). Thus, the “Feminist Standpoint Theory” seeks to upset precisely this particular power balance between the two sexes in the human society by way of the interpretation of the various literary texts as well as the social works through the specific lens of the feminist theories. Moreover, another major strength of this particular theory can be said to be the fact that it seeks to democratize the world of Literature as well as the various social work practice by the interpretation of them on the basis of the various kinds of feminist theories (Lal 2018). It is significant to note that earlier the literary text as well as the social work practices was interpreted strictly on the basis of the various theories which were created by the male members of the society and catered to the interests of this particular sex of the society. However, the advent of this particular theory and its wide use by the various literary scholars have much democratized the way these literary texts as well as the social work practices are now being interpreted. Furthermore, the theorist Uma Narayan is of the opinion that the fundamental epistemology of this particular theory to challenge the male dominated biases as well as the perspectives of the society can also be considered to be one of the key strengths of this particular theory of feminism (Carole and McCann 2003). The theorist Elizabeth Gross, on the other hand, is of the viewpoint that the major strength of this particular theory can be seen as its objective to challenge the various patriarchal discourses as well as the male dominated images which has formed the central fulcrum of the human society since the traditional times (Crowley and Himmelweit 1992). The viewpoint of Sandra Harding when she says that the various precepts of the Feminist Standpoint Theory has contributed much to resolve the much debated as well as the anxiety producing areas of the human society need to be taken into consideration at this particular juncture (Harding 2004). These in short are of the key strengths of the “Feminist Standpoint Theory” which has contributed much towards the wide popularity gained by this particular concept in the recent times.

The benefits of a feminist perspective

The “Feminist Standpoint Theory” has come under much criticism in the recent times on the score of the various weaknesses which it has. For instance, critics are of the viewpoint that the emphasis of this particular theory only on the use of the feministic theories for the interpretation of the literary texts and other kinds of social work practices removes the focus of feminism from its important purpose of the empowerment of the female gender to other not so important areas (Allen 2018). Furthermore, it is generally seen that this particular theory is often criticized on the basis of the concept of essentialism. Thus, the feminist critics argue that this particular theory seeks to create a genre of feministic Literature on the basis of the previous feministic Literature and female experiences (Allen 2018). However, these critics are of the viewpoint that as such there are no past feministic literary cannons and female experiences which have been brought to light owing to the stringent hold which the masculine society had placed on the female sexes of the society (Mosedale 2014). Furthermore, another significant weakness of this particular theory can be said to be the fact that this particular theory fails to take into account the various important factors which have affected the feministic discourse in a significant manner like the concepts of racism, colonialism and others (Tyagi 2014). Thus, the failure to take into consideration these factors which have shaped the female experiences in a significant is considered to be one of the major weaknesses of this particular theory.

To conclude, the “Feminist Standpoint Theory” has emerged as one of the major theories of feminism in the recent times and has sought much to improve the condition of the women of the present times. The interpretation of the various literary texts as well as social work practices on the basis of the feministic theories as well as experiences of the women of the society has contributed in a significant manner to not only empower the women of the society but at the same time has equipped them with equal kind of opportunities in comparison to the male members of the society. However, there are certain negative aspects of this particular theory as well since it fails to take into consideration the important factors of racism, colonialism and others which has shaped the experiences of the women of the society in a significant manner.

References

Allen, A., 2018. The power of feminist theory. Routledge.

Butler, J., 1990. Gender trouble and the subversion of identity. New York and London: Routledge.

Carole, C. and McCann, R., 2003. Feminist theory reader: Local and global perspective. Routledge.

Crowley, H. and Himmelweit, S., 1992. Knowing Women Feminism and Knowledge. Routledge.

De Beauvoir, S., 2014. The second sex. Random House.

Garry, A. and Pearsall, M. eds., 2015. Women, knowledge, and reality: Explorations in feminist philosophy. Routledge.

Harding, S.G. ed., 2004. The feminist standpoint theory reader: Intellectual and political controversies. Psychology Press.

Lal, J., 2018. Situating locations: The politics of self, identity, and” other” in living and writing the text. In Feminist dilemmas in fieldwork (pp. 185-214). Routledge.

Luke, C. and Gore, J., 2014. Feminisms and critical pedagogy. Routledge.

Meyers, D.T. ed., 2014. Feminist social thought: A reader. Routledge.

Mosedale, S., 2014. Women’s empowerment as a development goal: taking a feminist standpoint. Journal of International Development, 26(8), pp.1115-1125.

Shakeshaft, C., 2015. Am not going to take this sitting down’: The uses and misuse of feminist standpoints-Theory in women’s educational leadership research. E. Reilly & Q. Bauer (2015)(eds.). Women Leading Education across the Continents: Overcoming the Barriers.

Tyagi, R., 2014. Understanding postcolonial feminism in relation with postcolonial and feminist theories. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 1(2), pp.45-50.