Feminist Theory

Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, or philosophical discourse, it aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's social roles and lived experience, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, psychoanalysis, economics, literary criticism, education, and philosophy. While generally providing a critique of social relations, much of feminist theory also focuses on analyzing gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests, and issues. Themes explored in feminism include art history and contemporary art, aesthetics, discrimination, stereotyping, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, and patriarchy. The feminist theory dates back to as early as the 18th century and to this day is still around with women trying to fight for the rights women deserve to be treated as equal as men and respected as an equal to men. From research I have found the feminist theory can be roughly broken down into three waves.

"First-wave feminism, from the 18th until the beginning of the 20th century, was a movement to liberate women legally, economically, and politically. Feminists of that period sought equal rights for women with respect to owning property, engaging in labor, protection from violence, and voting. Of special note is that first-wave feminists came from all sides of the ideological spectrum: Libertarian, Christian conservative, Socialist, Anarchist. Not all supported suffrage, and some advocated for free love and the abolition of marriage. The second wave of feminism began in the 1960s and lasted until about the 1990s. It focused on increasing economic opportunity for and ending social discrimination against women Third-wave feminism is said to begin in the early 1990s in response to a perceived backlash against the outcomes of second-wave feminism, and a concern that young women were no longer interested in feminist issues. But this wave continues to be concerned with the issues of the second wave: reproductive rights, gay and transgender rights, eliminating sexism and racism, achieving economic equality and social justice for women and other oppressed groups, and environmentalism. (Intellectual Takeout, 2011)."

According to liberal feminism, equality of women is asserted through political and legal reforms. For liberal feminists, the subordination of women is primarily due to women not having equal access to the political system or any direct influence on legislation and policy. Issues such as voting, reproductive rights, equal access to education, family-friendly work policies, and affordable healthcare are emphasized by liberal feminists.

Socialist feminists looks at women's subordination as a function of an oppressive capitalist economy. Socialist feminists view men as the primary players in the economic system, borrowing from Marxist theory the idea that there is gender oppression in addition to class oppression. In order to achieve full liberation, then, the economic system as a whole needs to be restructured so that it is more equitable for women. Issues such as women's work rights and property ownership would be important to socialist feminists.

Radical feminism holds the idea that patriarchy is the primary system of power which oppresses women. Equality can only be actualized if the system of patriarchy is abolished and women are able to hold equal power. Radical feminists view male supremacy as barring women from social institutions according to traditional gender roles. Domestic violence towards women reinforces a man's power over a woman. Radical feminists are also concerned with the restructuring of cultural institutions to include women, as well as redefining gender roles, sexuality, and the family.

When it comes to implementating the feminist theory into our cliental there are a few thing that we need to take into consideration and understanding. Poverty, depression, stressful life conditions, traumatic events, physical health problems,