Review of Feminist Theory

Running Head: REVIEW OF FEMINIST THEORY
Review of Feminist Theory
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

REVIEW OF FEMINIST THEORY1
Overview of the Topic
The word feminism is used in describing a cultural, political and economic movement
which aims to establish legal protection and equal rights for women. Feminism includes theories
of politics, sociology and philosophy which are concerned with the questions of gender
difference. The feminist movement also advocates the rights of women and works towards the
fulfilling of the interest of women. They campaign not only exclusively for the rights of women
but also work towards the creation of a society where both men and women live in peace. The
term feminism came into prominence during the 1970s. This literature review will look into the
various ways feminism have permeated in the different layers of society and the way it affects all
sections and institutions that are prevalent in society.
Literature Review
Theme 1: INTERSECTIONALITY IN FEMINISM
Women experience subjugation and tyranny in varying degrees and configurations and
the level of intensity also differs. The numerous cultural patterns of oppression are interrelated
and are influenced by the intersectional pattern in society (Vidal 2014). This instersectionality
exists in institutions of race, gender, ethnicity and class. Some women face multi-layered
problems and hence feminism cannot be boxed in one category (Liska 2015). There is no theory
that covers all the sections of the society (Vidal 2014). This is basically the intersectionality of
the feminism. As mentioned the intersectionality of feminism exists across racial relations, there
is a popular narrative that divides white feminism and they talk about the privilege of the white
and oppress them to not speak about any injustice as they are the most privileged section of the

REVIEW OF FEMINIST THEORY2
society, however critics have clapped back at this and have said this is also a way of silencing the
women as according the men they are privileged (Daniels 2015). In the year 2015, popular singer
Rihanna released music video which depicted violence against a white couple, this video
triggered a lot of discussion about the concept of ‘white feminism’ (Ferreday 2017). The politics
around the topic of ‘white feminism’ also came into forefront with this video. In the 2013 writer
Mikki Kendal started an internet phenomenon with ‘#Solidarity is for white women’, this
garnered a lot of media attention, although most feminists are inclusive and they consider women
as a separate group of people and they need to fight in unison for their rights but this campaign
was highly criticized by the feminist because according to them the toxic nature of white
feminism harms not only the feminist movement in general but also it makes white women look
like architects and creator of everything which is a wrong notion as women around all sections
and class (Daniels 2015).
The researcher Nancy Whittier (2016), talks about the ideas of feminism and the women
who are in politics and the way they deal with women’s issues in the Congress. The Violence
Against Women Act in the United States was supported by both the liberals and the
conservatives, this shows that although the issues of women’s rights and feminism cannot be put
into one box and it exists across all sections, yet when it comes to the rights and advocacies of
women, all section of women come and support the idea because oppression is common across
all women in all societies (Whittier 2016). Like the idea of ‘White Feminism’, the concept of
‘Black Feminism’ also exists but is met with a more positive feedback (Nash 2013). The concept
of intersectionality has become quite prominent in the current scenario because women face
problems across all classes, races and ethnicity and it is important to study feminism from a
intersectional point of view (Villesèche, Florence, Muhr, and Śliwa 2018). For the past 10 years