tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900503491353882524.post5693758120812684429..comments2009-07-22T22:23:51.871-07:00Comments on Kristen Cunningham's Women Studies Blog: Feminist TheoryKristen Cunninghamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08264788266996014792noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6900503491353882524.post-17555016304130753852009-06-21T15:21:38.273-07:002009-06-21T15:21:38.273-07:00I would say that all the types of feminism talk ab...I would say that all the types of feminism talk about women being unfairly treated or oppressed. It's not necessarily that Marxist or radical feminists are complaining so much as most people have a tendency to have a difficult time figuring out how their analysis and strategy would be operationalized in real life. Many people might agree, for instance, that men dominate women systemically through patriarchy or that capitalism works to devalue women, but it's hard to imagine how to change the SYSTEMS to address the root causes that Marxists and radical feminists identify. Liberal feminism is easier for many people to understand because it doesn't advocate changing the SYSTEM, but rather working through it. Other feminists, however, challenge that by saying it's not enough. The debate will no doubt continue! <br /><br />One more point on the feminist method issue - Harding would say there is no such thing as a feminist "method." The reason she says that has to do entirely with the definition of "method." What you describe, for example, about viewing other women's experiences is really more an epistemological position. You're saying that women's personal experience is valuable, and that it can contribute to knowledge. Epistemology is a theory of knowledge - it determines what "counts" as knowledge, or as stuff worth knowing. Method, on the other hand, is just a way of gathering data. Methods can be experiments, historical or archival analysis, surveys, interviews, ethnographies or participant oberservation, etc. ANYONE can use those methods - feminists or not. So what you're really saying is yes, there is such a thing as feminist EPISTEMOLOGY (valuing women as research subjects and sources of knowledge), but a feminist researcher can do an experiment just as easily as a patriarchal psychologist could. There ARE feminist epistemologies and methodologies; there are NOT feminist methods. I hope that makes sense!Alysiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06673081314044011336noreply@blogger.com