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The feminist perspective is an important theoretical perspective within sociology that focuses on the social constructions of gender and the promotion of women’s rights and issues in society.
Key Ideas
- Highlights patriarchy and the exploitation of women in history and across societies
- Reveals how traditional theory and research has been mostly androcentric, often ignoring women
- Focuses on understanding lived experiences of women through their own accounts
- Examines how gender interlocks with race, class and other differences
Key Concepts
- Patriarchy - Systemic societal structures that institutionalize male physical, social and economic power over women
- Feminization of poverty - Disproportionate number of women among the world's poor
- Glass ceiling - Invisible barriers that prevent women rising to higher leadership roles
- Objectification - Social conditioning that commodifies women and evaluates worth based mainly on physical attractiveness
Theorists
- Early feminists like Harriet Martineau examined women’s oppression and deprivation of rights
- Second wave feminists of the 1960s-80s like Dorothy Smith advanced new theoretical models centered around women’s lived experiences and standpoints
- Bell hooks, Kimberlé Crenshaw and Patricia Hill Collins extended ideas integrating race, class and gender perspectives
While differing in emphases, feminists continue advancing equality, highlighting marginalization, and correcting androcentric biases within dominant paradigms and discourses across disciplines. The feminist lens remains pivotal to promoting inclusivity, social justice and human rights.