what is the thesis of feminism

The Theoretical Framework of Feminism

First Online: 02 April 2020

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Aleksandra Gasztold 2

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This chapter examines the general principles of feminist theory, which are presented as part of the post-positivist approach. It exposes the essence of feminism, its conceptual grid, gender variable, and the waves of development of feminist thinking and theoretical currents (factions). Moreover, author refers to the trends in feminist epistemology (feminist empiricism, feminist position, and feminist postmodernism). Focusing on theoretical feminist frameworks, this chapter also draws attention to the evolution of women’s studies and gender studies. The author demonstrates the value of the analytical feminist approach in political science, especially in consideration of the ease with which it integrates the gender perspective in the study of specific phenomena and its critical approach to the institution of the state. The chapter also includes brief comments on the specifics of feminist research within the author’ academic milieu in Poland.

Women are to be found on the periphery—on the garbage heap of the symbolic order, among the refuse of the patriarchal narrative. Iwasiów ( 2008 , p. 90)

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Term introduced by Laura Mulvey ( 1975 ).

This notion was introduced by Marsha Weinman Lear in The New York Magazine of March 10, 1968.

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Gasztold, A. (2020). The Theoretical Framework of Feminism. In: Feminist Perspectives on Terrorism. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37234-7_2