Equity and gender feminism
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The neutrality of this article is disputed. (April 2011) |
Equity feminism and gender feminism are terms coined by scholar Christina Hoff Sommers in her 1992 book Who Stole Feminism?,[1] which she uses to distinguish between what she describes as two ideologically distinct branches of modern feminism. Sommers is herself a strong advocate of what she calls equity feminism, and opposed to what she calls gender feminism. Since the publication of her book, the terminology has become widespread in feminist literature, even if not all agree with her advocacy of the equity model.[citation needed]
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Equity feminism [edit]
Sommers describes equity feminism as an ideology rooted in classical liberalism, and that aims for full civil and legal equality for women. Experimental psychologist Steven Pinker expands on Sommers to write, "Equity feminism is a moral doctrine about equal treatment that makes no commitments regarding open empirical issues in psychology or biology."[2]
Sommers contends that "Most American women subscribe philosophically to the older 'First Wave' kind of feminism whose main goal is equity, especially in politics and education".[1] However, Sommers also argues that equity feminism is a minority position in academia, formalized feminist theory, and the organized feminist movement as a whole, who tend to embrace gender feminism.
Feminists who identify themselves with equity feminism include Jean Bethke Elshtain, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, Noretta Koertge, Donna Laframboise, Mary Lefkowitz, Carrie Lukas, Wendy McElroy, Camille Paglia, Daphne Patai, Virginia Postrel, Alice Rossi, Nadine Strossen, Joan Kennedy Taylor, Cathy Young, and evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker.[3]
Varieties of equity feminism include classical liberal feminism and individualist feminism.
Gender feminism [edit]
In contrast to equity feminism, Sommers coined the term "Gender feminism" to describe what she contends is a gynocentric and misandric branch of feminism. Gender feminists typically criticize contemporary gender roles and aim to eliminate them altogether.[1]
Sommers argues that gender feminism characterizes most of the body of modern feminist theory, and is the prevailing ideology in academia. She argues that while the feminists she designates as gender feminists advocate preferential treatment and portraying "all women as victims", equity feminism provides a viable alternative form of feminism to those who object to elements of gender feminist ideology.
Spread of terminology [edit]
The online Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy has adopted the terminology of Sommers in its article on Liberal Feminism[4] as has Victor Conde's A handbook of international human rights terminology[5] and the Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women.[6] Both these reference works have a single article on "equity vs. gender feminism", though Routledge refers to the latter as "difference feminism".
In a 1995 interview in Mother Jones magazine (about a year after the publication of Sommers' book), Gloria Steinem declared she found it hard to take the classification entirely seriously, and that she did not believe there were really two camps.[7]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Hoff Sommers, Christina, Who Stole Feminism? How Women Have Betrayed Women (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1995), p. 22
- ^ Pinker, Steven, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Viking, 2002), p. 341
- ^ Pinker, Steven, The Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature (Viking, 2002)
- ^ Liberal Feminism
- ^ Conde, Victor (2004). A handbook of international human rights terminology. University of Nebraska Press. p. 96. ISBN 0-8032-1534-7, 9780803215344 Check
|isbn=value (help). - ^ Kramarae, Cheris; Dale Spender (2000). Routledge International Encyclopedia of Women: Education: Health to Hypertension. Taylor & Francis. p. 612. ISBN 0-415-92088-4, 9780415920889 Check
|isbn=value (help). - ^ Gorney, Cynthia (1995). "Gloria". Mother Jones (Mother Jones) 20 (6): 22.
