Feminist existentialism
Existentialism investigates the meaning of being.[1] This theory analyzes relationships between the individual and things, or other human beings, and how they limit or condition choice.[1] [2] The term was adopted by Jean-Paul Sartre to describe his work. Along with Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Albert Camus, Martin Heidegger and also contributed to the development of existentialism, although Camus and Heidegger rejected the label.[3]
Existential feminists use an existential approach to analyze the nature of being for women. They examine women’s experiences and how they develop an individual identity in a historically and institutionally male dominant society.[4] A main contributor to this feminist theory is Simone de Beauvoir, who examines women’s subordinate role as the ‘Other’ in her book, The Second Sex.
The most famous line of The Second Sex, “One is not born but becomes a woman” (The Second Sex, 267), introduces what has come to be called the sex-gender distinction. Beauvoir's The Second Sex gave us the vocabulary for analyzing the social constructions of femininity and the structure for critiquing these constructions. It was used as a liberating tool: by attending to the ways in which patriarchal structures used sexual difference to deprive women of their “can do” bodies.[5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b Abbagnano, Nicole. "Existentialism (philosophy)". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/198111/existentialism. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ "Existentialism". Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existentialism.. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
- ^ Crowell, Steven. "Existentialism". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/existentialism. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
- ^ Hiatt, Mary P.. "Existentialism and Feminism". ERIC: Education Resources Information Center. http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/search/recordDetails.jsp?searchtype=keyword&pageSize=10&ERICExtSearch_Facet_0=facet_de&ERICExtSearch_FacetValue_0=%22Existentialism%22&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=existentialism+and+feminism&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=. Retrieved 2 November 2011.
- ^ Bergoffen, Debra. "Simone de Beauvoir". Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/beauvoir/. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
