What is feminist theory and how can it help us better our society?

Wait, there’s more to feminism than women’s rights!?

Inspired by a podcast I was listening to (linked down below), I’ve been looking into feminist theory to help me understand ways in which our society works and how we can make it better. Feminist theory is an extremely potent frame of thought that can allow us to challenge the status quo and the many inequities that it purports. But, before we get any deeper into the matter, we need to understand what feminism is.

Feminism, at its core, is the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes.

Let’s dispel a few myths here. Feminism isn’t just for women. Nor is feminism women’s hatred of men (which, by the way, goes against the very nature of feminism).

Alright, so this should be relatively self-explanatory (I hope).

But how does this merge into feminist theory?

Well, feminist theory, as a broad discipline, deeply rooted within science and technology studies (STS), is based upon careful examination of the power dynamics within our society, paying particular attention to the ways in which race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic class, and ability impact one’s power.

From the outside, we may not be privy to these power differentials, but, if we look deeper, we will notice that every social system has this hierarchy where certain people are benefited at the expense of others. This ‘winner-loser’ dynamic is so entrenched in our society that we have normalized certain attitudes and perspectives.

I mean, have we not, socially constructed this idea that those with lesser education are less deserving of high-paying jobs?

Have we not realized the discriminatory undertones of standardized testing, including the SAT?

Do we even question how the built environment (along with all of its sensory stimuli) affect the neurodivergent community?

It is through the frame of feminist theory that we can begin to dig deeper into the specific contexts that allow such unequal power relations to take root and run their course. Here are a few ways in which feminist theory helps us in analyzing complex social paradigms:

1. Rethinking binaries. As members of the human species we love to categorize and organize information to understand our reality. That includes information about our own selves. Feminist theory challenges what we think we know. It opens up the doorway for options beyond the male/female, heterosexual/homosexual, abled/disabled, white/black binaries. It asks us to question how we have come to establish these binaries and how these can be used to harm, minimize, or discriminate select groups of people.
2. Challenging objectivity. Isn’t it interesting how much we all believe in the truth of science? Yet, these scientific works have all been created by people, with their own backgrounds and their own biases and agendas. Unlike what many perceive to be inherently objective, science is not produced by some amorphous entity, it is a person carrying their unique story and vision. Feminist theory probes us to investigate who produces the facts that we take for granted today and examine the power relations that have emerged and supported the dispersion of such ideas into the public masses.
3. Legitimizing emotions. One of the many critiques of subjective means of knowing is that it is based on emotions. But, guess what? As humans, we are inherently sentient beings. We cannot excise emotions, as they are core to our very being. Everything that we have come to understand and know about the world has involved specific constellations of emotions. Treating emotions as irrelevant or discrediting them is not only dismissive of people’s lived experiences, but it’s, simply put, impossible.
4. Examining the process. As a designer, I’m constantly iterating through the design thinking process. Yet, for those not privy to the process (labor that goes into it or thought patterns that it invokes), the ways in which things come about remain enshrouded in a black box of mystery. Through feminist theory, we try to understand the context and the process that has yielded particular results or beliefs. Instead of merely taking the end solution for granted, we question the conditions under which it came about, the people that it involved, the structures that is sought to challenge or support, and the people it included and excluded.
5. Encouraging open dialogue. From the time we’re little, we learn that we shouldn’t be questioning or challenging the knowledge of experts or those older than us. We learn that this is a way to show respect, but we also become programmed to simply accept the state of our reality, no questions asked. Feminist theory encourages us to consider various viewpoints when understanding issues, which cannot be undertaken without opening the floor to healthy intergroup dialogue, based on mutual respect and curiosity. This reciprocal nature is what we need to continuously evolve the ideas and paradigms that we have come to take as matter of fact in our daily lives. No one, not even experts, is perfect; we all make mistakes and allowing ourselves the room to grow from these mistakes and learn from others’ experiences become crucial to creating just social conditions.

As a society, many of us agree with equality. We want to live in a world where everyone is respected. But, too few of us take the initiative to understand the social power dynamics that have allowed unjust conditions to multiply for centuries on end.

Through the inquisitive nature of feminist thought, we begin to see more than what meets the eye. We question the very facts that we have taken for granted. We open up our minds to the many fallacies behind universality and objectivity. We open up the conversation among people of various backgrounds and identities. Through these avenues we gain the relevant context behind social paradigms, allowing us to act out from a perspective that speaks to the collection of lived experiences.

References

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