CSS Gender Studies Feminist Theories and Practice Syllabus

What is 'compulsory heterosexuality' and who introduced it?

It is the idea that heterosexuality is a political institution imposed on women to maintain male dominance rather than a natural preference; introduced by Adrienne Rich in 'Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence' (1980).

Name two key radical feminist thinkers and their works.

Kate Millett — 'Sexual Politics' (1970); Shulamith Firestone — 'The Dialectic of Sex' (1970); also Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon on pornography and sexuality.

What did Kate Millett argue about sex in 'Sexual Politics'?

Millett argued that sexual relationships are political, that patriarchy conditions men and women into dominant and subordinate roles, and that the personal relations between sexes are governed by power, making patriarchy a primary political institution.

What was the radical feminist stance on pornography (Dworkin–MacKinnon)?

Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon argued pornography is a practice of sex discrimination that subordinates and harms women, eroticizes male dominance, and is a civil-rights violation, not merely protected speech.

What is 'consciousness-raising' in radical feminism?

Consciousness-raising is a practice in which women share personal experiences in groups to recognize that individual problems are rooted in shared systemic oppression, transforming private grievances into collective political awareness.

What is a common critique of Radical Feminism?

It is criticized for biological essentialism, for portraying all men as oppressors and women as victims, for universalizing the experience of Western women, for downplaying class and race, and for separatist tendencies.

What is the central premise of Marxist Feminism?

Marxist feminism holds that women's oppression stems primarily from capitalism and the class-based system of private property; women's liberation is therefore tied to the abolition of capitalism and class society.

What did Friedrich Engels argue about the origins of women's oppression?

In 'The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State' (1884), Engels argued that women's subordination arose with the rise of private property, which created the patriarchal family to ensure inheritance through legitimate heirs; he called it 'the world-historic defeat of the female sex.'

How does Marxist Feminism explain housework/domestic labour?

It argues that women's unpaid domestic labour reproduces and maintains the (male) labour force at no cost to capital, making women's reproductive work essential but invisible and unpaid—subsidizing capitalism (the 'domestic labour debate').

What is the difference between Marxist Feminism and Socialist Feminism?

Marxist feminism treats class/capitalism as the primary cause of women's oppression, subsuming gender under class. Socialist feminism uses a 'dual-systems' approach, arguing capitalism AND patriarchy are intertwined but distinct systems that must both be addressed.

What is the 'dual-systems theory' in socialist feminism?

It is the view (e.g., Heidi Hartmann) that capitalism and patriarchy are two separate but interacting systems of oppression; understanding women's subordination requires analyzing both class exploitation and male domination together.

Name two thinkers associated with Marxist/Socialist Feminism.

Friedrich Engels and Clara Zetkin (Marxist); Juliet Mitchell, Heidi Hartmann, and Sheila Rowbotham (socialist feminist).

What four structures did Juliet Mitchell identify as shaping women's condition?

In 'Women: The Longest Revolution' (1966), Mitchell identified production, reproduction, sexuality, and the socialization of children as the four structures that together determine women's position.

What did Heidi Hartmann call 'the unhappy marriage of Marxism and feminism'?

Hartmann argued that Marxism alone is 'sex-blind' and tends to subsume feminism; she called for an analysis treating patriarchy and capitalism as a dual system rather than letting Marxist categories absorb gender analysis.

What is a common critique of Marxist Feminism?

It is criticized for economic reductionism, subordinating gender to class, assuming women's oppression will vanish with capitalism, and failing to explain why patriarchy persists in socialist societies.

What is the central premise of Psychoanalytical Feminism?

Psychoanalytical feminism locates the roots of women's oppression in the psyche—in early childhood development, the unconscious, and the formation of gendered identity—drawing on and revising Freudian theory.

How do psychoanalytic feminists use and critique Freud?

They use Freud's account of how gender identity forms in early childhood (Oedipus complex, the unconscious) but reject his biological determinism—especially 'penis envy' and the idea that 'anatomy is destiny'—reinterpreting these as effects of patriarchal culture, not biology.

What did Nancy Chodorow argue in 'The Reproduction of Mothering' (1978)?

Chodorow argued that because women do the mothering, girls develop fluid relational identities (identifying with mother) while boys form identity through separation; this reproduces gendered personalities. The solution is shared/dual parenting.

What is Dorothy Dinnerstein's argument in 'The Mermaid and the Minotaur'?

Dinnerstein argued that exclusive female mothering creates ambivalent, distorted attitudes toward women and breeds gender pathologies in both sexes; shared parenting by men and women is needed to break the cycle.

How does Juliet Mitchell connect psychoanalysis and feminism?

In 'Psychoanalysis and Feminism' (1974), Mitchell argued Freud should be read not as prescribing but as describing how patriarchy is reproduced in the unconscious, making psychoanalysis a tool to understand—and thus challenge—how femininity is constructed.

What solution do many psychoanalytic feminists propose for gender inequality?

Dual or shared parenting—having men participate equally in early childcare—so that children no longer form gender identities based solely on the mother, disrupting the psychological reproduction of male dominance.

What is a common critique of Psychoanalytical Feminism?

It is criticized for over-reliance on contested Freudian/Lacanian theory, for being culturally and historically specific (Western nuclear family), for downplaying economic and structural factors, and for being difficult to translate into political action.

What does the term 'Men's Feminism' (pro-feminist men) refer to?

It refers to men who support feminism and the feminist movement, examine and challenge masculinity and male privilege, and work to end patriarchy and gender-based oppression, often through profeminist men's studies and activism.

What is 'hegemonic masculinity' and who developed the concept?

Hegemonic masculinity is the culturally dominant, idealized form of manhood that legitimizes patriarchy and subordinates women and other masculinities; the concept was developed by sociologist R.W. Connell.

Why is men's involvement considered important in feminist practice?

Because patriarchy harms men too (through rigid roles and emotional restriction) and because ending gender oppression requires changing male behaviour and dismantling male privilege; men can use their social position to support structural change.

Distinguish the pro-feminist men's movement from the 'men's rights' movement.

The pro-feminist men's movement allies with feminism to dismantle patriarchy and male privilege. The men's rights movement opposes feminism, claiming men are disadvantaged; it is generally anti-feminist and reactionary.

What is the 'mythopoetic men's movement'?

A 1980s-90s movement (associated with Robert Bly's 'Iron John') that sought to recover an essential 'deep masculinity' through ritual and male bonding; it is distinct from and often criticized by pro-feminist men for being essentialist and apolitical.

What is the central premise of Postmodern Feminism?

Postmodern feminism rejects the idea of a single, fixed, universal category of 'woman' or a unified cause of oppression; it sees gender as fluid, discursively constructed, and unstable, and embraces multiplicity, difference, and deconstruction.

What is Judith Butler's theory of 'gender performativity'?

In 'Gender Trouble' (1990), Butler argued that gender is not an essence one has but something one repeatedly 'does'—it is performatively constituted through repeated stylized acts; there is no natural gender behind the performance, and identity is an effect, not a cause.

What do French postmodern feminists mean by 'écriture féminine'?

Écriture féminine ('feminine writing') is a concept associated with Hélène Cixous (and linked to Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva) calling for a distinctly feminine mode of writing that resists patriarchal/phallocentric language and expresses women's bodies and difference. Key text: Cixous's 'The Laugh of the Medusa' (1975).

What is a common critique of Postmodern Feminism?

By deconstructing the category 'woman,' it can undermine the collective political subject feminism needs to organize around; critics say its abstraction, relativism, and rejection of universals weaken practical activism and can be politically paralyzing.