Is Feminism Eurocentric?

Essay by faatimahnetUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, December 2006

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Introduction

The feminist movement is also called the women's liberation movement. The Wikipedia Encyclopedia defines feminism as being "a diverse, competing and often opposing collection of social theories, political movements, and moral philosophies, largely motivated by or concerning the experiences of women" . Feminism is erroneously assumed as being Eurocentric for two reasons. Firstly because many people tend to reach the history of feminism with the works of French and Anglo-Saxon feminists. Secondly, American feminists and some women in previously colonized countries tend to replicate the Eurocentric feminist ideologies. However, nowadays with the emergence of Post-colonial feminism, religious feminism and women in Diasporas negotiating their identity, the monolithic trend of Eurocentric feminism are being broken. These new waves of feminisms are using elements of technology as weapons to negotiate their femaleness.

* FRENCH FEMINISM

French Feminism refers to the theories laid upon by a group of feminists in France from the 1970s.

However, it should be noted that Feminism in France dates earlier from the 1970s and this can be seen in the journal Partisans with an article entitled "Liberation de la Femme, Annee Zero" The French feminists' wave of the 1970s was born with the students and workers revolt in France in May 1968. During this rebel, women realized that it was the males who were taking decisions while they were expected to make coffees. Consequently, they organized a women's rights movement called "Movement de Liberation des Femmes." These women refused to be relegated to the background in society. French feminism has often been described us being philosophical and literary. "Ecriture feminine" and a critique phollogocentricism mark the struggle of French Feminists . She argues that the masculine/feminine dichotomy in language creates a hierarchized discourse that place women in a weak position. "father/mother", "logos/pathos, "head/heart" and "activity/passivity" are examples...