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Section A. Feminist Theory in Late-Nineteenth-Century France, The

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Section A. Feminist Theory in Late-Nineteenth-Century France, The 45 2 Section A. Feminist Theory In late-nineteenth-century France, the word féminisme, meaning women’s liberation was first used in political debates. The most generic way to define feminism is to say that it is an organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and common interests and based on the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. Some initial forms of feminism were criticized for considering the perspective of only white, middle-class and educated people. Ethnically specific or multiculturalists forms of feminism were created as a reaction to this criticism. Most feminists believe that inequality between men and women are open to change because they are socially constructed. Many consider feminism as theory or theories, but some others see it as merely a kind of politics in the culture. Feminist theory aims to understand gender inequality and focus on sexuality, gender politics, and power relations. To achieve this, it has developed theories in a wide range of disciplines. Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into fields of theory or philosophy. Since in academic institutions ‘theory’ is often the male standpoint and feminists have fought hard to expose the fraudulent objectivity of male ‘science’, (for example, the Freudian theory of female sexual development) some feminists have not wished to embrace theory at all. Raman Selden, Widdowson and Brooker argue “Feminism and feminist criticism may be better termed a cultural politics than a theory or theories” (116). However, much recent feminist criticism wants to free itself from the ‘fixities and definites’ of theory and to develop a female discourse which is not considered as a belonging to a recognized conceptual position (and, therefore, probably male produced). It has found theoretical support in poststructuralist and postmodernist thinking because these seem to refuse the (masculine) notion 46 of authority or truth. Also, some feminist critics, by using psychoanalytic theories, have also powerfully deployed a subversive ‘formless’ resistance of women writers and critics to male- formulated literary discourse. History of Feminist Movement: Feminism in Waves The history of the modern western feminist movements is divided into three “waves”, each having dealt with different aspects of the same feminist issues. This is not to say that there were no feminists or feminism activism before or even after these waves, but simply that their ideas and actions did not materialize into a social movement among the masses. First-wave feminism is connected to both the liberal women’s rights movement and early socialist feminism, and it arose in the context of industrial society and liberal politics in the late 19th and early 20th century in the United States and Europe. The first wave continued to influence feminism in both the Western and Eastern societies throughout the 20th century, as it was concerned with access and equal opportunities for women. The second wave of feminism was seen in the 1960s and 1970s in the post-war Western welfare societies. This happened when other “oppressed” groups such as Blacks and homosexuals and the New Left were on the rise. Second-wave feminism is closely linked to the radical voices of women’s empowerment and differential rights. During the 1980s and 1990s, it was also linked to a crucial differentiation of second-wave feminism itself which was initiated by women of color and third-world women. The third feminist wave, from the mid-1990s onward, in the context of information society and neoliberal, global politics, emerges from a new postcolonial and post-socialist world order. Third-wave feminism presents itself in “grrl” rhetoric. It attempts to overcome theoretical question of equity or difference while 47 challenging “universal womanhood”. It encompasses ambiguity, diversity, and multiplicity in transversal theory and politics. (Krolokke 2) The First Wave of Feminism In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, an environment of urban industrialism and liberal, socialist politics set the stage for the first wave of feminism. The goal of this wave was to open up opportunities for women, with a focus on ‘right to vote’. The wave was formally initiated at the Seneca Falls Convention in 1848. At the time, more than 300 men and women rallied to the cause of equality for women. The Seneca Falls Declaration outlining the new movement’s ideology and political strategies was drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton (d.1902). This declaration gave rise to the suffrage movement. At the beginning, feminism in the United States was linked with other reform movements, such as abolition and temperance and initially, closely involved working class women. However, it was also supported by Black women abolitionists, such as Maria Stewart (1803–1879), Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), and Frances E. W. Harper (1825–1911), who campaigned for the rights of women of color. As Charlotte Krolokke and Anne Scott Sorensen argue “although women of color continued to participate and representatives such as Ida B. Wells (1862–1931) and Mary Church Terrell (1868–1954) also strove to show how the linkage of sexism and racism functioned as the main means of White male dominance, the first wave of feminism consisted largely of White, middle-class, well-educated women” (4). In those days, it was considered most unwomanly to engage in public persuasion. So, women’s true place was in the home, meeting the needs of husband and children. Therefore, their very activity challenged the “cult of domesticity”. Furthermore women were expected to be modest and to wield only indirect influence, also certainly not engage in public activities. 48 Discussions about suffrage and women’s participation in politics led to claim that women should be given equal status as men. In addition women should be given the same opportunity to use the resources and positions as men and also be acknowledged for their contributions and competencies. Thus denying women the right to vote was as good as denying them full citizenship and the society have to liberate half of its citizens. Characterized by the lack of distinction between sex and gender, this concept is often referred to as “equal-opportunities feminism” or “equity feminism” (Krolokke 6). Though it is well understood that biological differences form the basis of social gender roles, these differences were not considered a threat to the ideal of human equity. From then on, biological differences were not accepted as theoretically or politically valid reasons for discrimination. Finally, in 1920, when the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was confirmed, women in the United States won the right to vote. The liberal feminist movement began with Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1799). Her work, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) is one of the earliest manifestations of liberal first- wave feminism in Europe. It was written in the aftermath of the French Revolution and is still read as a seminal text. In her book she states that to enable women to grow up to be moral and autonomous human beings, they need to be educated just as well as men. Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (1929) and Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex (1949) are central to the canon. Both authors were also laying the groundwork for radical second wave feminism. The concept of female bisexuality (androgyny) and a unique woman’s voice and writing was introduced by Woolf. She claimed that men have influenced literature over history and have treated the woman as inferior. She also maintained that economical, social and political issues were determined by men. Selden, Widdowson and Brooker mention “Woolf’s general 49 contribution to feminism, then, is her recognition that gender identity is socially constructed and can be challenged and transformed” (118). The renowned French feminist and activist for women’s rights, Simone de Beauvoir, in her book The Second Sex asserts that, while men are considered as human beings, women are considered as woman or the other. She believed that women are not born women but become women when they are subjected to social pressure caused by men. Her book elucidates the difference between sex and gender and she insists on a freedom from biological differences. Simon De Beauvoir is a ‘first wave’ feminist who distrusts ‘feminity’ and she has marked herself off the body. Like other ‘first wave’ feminists she wants the social enfranchisement of women’s rational abilities and exemption from biological difference. Hence, Beauvoir created an authoritative definition of patriarchy. A distinct socialist/ Marxist feminism side by side to liberal first-wave feminism, developed in reformist social-democratic parties in Europe, in workers’ unions in the United States, and during the rise of communism in the former Soviet Union. Marxist feminism focused on working-class women and their participation in class struggle and socialist revolution. However, both, Liberal and socialist/Marxist feminism believed in equity and equal opportunities for women and men. Rosa Luxemburg, Alexandra Kollontai and Emma Goldman, were the social feminists who led the way for second-wave feminism. In their private lives as well as in the political sphere they agitated for women’s right to abortion, divorce, and non-legislative partnership—and against sexual discrimination within the socialist movements and also in bourgeois society. Liberal feminism as well as socialist/Marxist feminism persisted in developing and exerting strong voices in 20th-century feminism, though they were disputed by other types of feminism. The notion of equal opportunity formulated a particular type of equity research, which arose outside 50 the academy in the first half of the 20th century, and steadily provided the basis for a growing field of research in “the women issue” (Krolokke 7). The Second Wave of Feminism The second-wave feminism started in the late 1960s and early 1970s mostly by the radical feminists of the women’s liberation movement.
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