Feminism
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Suggested Reading Hofstede, G., & Arrindell, W. A. (1998). Masculinity and femininity: The taboo dimension of national cultures (Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 3). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Trigiani, K. Out of the cave: Exploring Gray’s anatomy (website). http://web2.iadfw.net/ktrig246/out_of_cave/index.htm White, E. (2002). Fast girls: Teenage tribes and the myth of the slut. New York: Scribner’s.
ANGELA PATTATUCCI ARAGON
Feminism To speak of feminism in the context of a set of overarching ideals that define a unified movement is a misrepresentation. It is more accurate to speak of feminisms, which highlights the fact that identifying oneself as a feminist can mean different things. Characteristic of any expanding movement, there are disagreements and overlap between feminists. This does not mean to suggest that feminism is fragmented, but rather to emphasize the diversity of feminist thought and belief that is respected. Radical feminism is paramount among the many flavors of modern feminism. Often characterized as feminism’s unappealing element, radical feminism has been the creative engine generating the theoretical development that has formed the foundation of contemporary feminist thought. Radical feminism was born out of the civil rights and peace movements of the late 1960s. Radical feminists view the oppression of women as the most fundamental form of oppression, one that cuts across boundaries of race, culture, and economic class.
Their goal is revolutionary social change. At the heart of radical feminism is challenging how gender is constructed and reified into gender roles. Radical feminism questions authority, including authority arising from within feminism, and as such has been responsible for spawning many of the other varieties of feminism. As radical feminism splintered into several other groups, cultural feminism came into prominence. Although some claim that radical feminism simply evolved into cultural feminism, the fundamental approach of the two movements is quite different. While radical feminism seeks to transform society, cultural feminism is pessimistic about the possibility for sustainable social change and instead focuses on building alternatives. Cultural feminists rationalize that if changing the dominant culture is unrealistic, then at least they can avoid it as much as possible. The justification for abandoning social change as a goal emerges out of a collection of theoretical work that argues for the inherent superiority of the female sex (women are kinder and gentler). Regardless of whether it is biologically determined or socially constructed, cultural feminists believe that women’s kinder and gentler nature is so thoroughly ingrained that it is intractable. A second group that splintered from the radical movement of the 1960s consists of the separatists. Commonly but incorrectly labeled lesbians, these are feminists across all sexual orientations who advocate separation from men; in some cases it is total, whereas in others it is partial. The essence of separatism is that by
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