Feeling women’s liberation

I once taught a feminist theory course in which a good number of the students were deeply political and already well-read in the subject. When we discussed radical feminist works from the 1970s and early 1980s, I was taken aback by the students' level of dismissiveness and outright anger. The m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Contemporary political theory 2015-02, Vol.14 (1), p.e5-e7
Main Author: Markovits, Elizabeth
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activism
Ambivalence
Archives & records
Critical Theory
Endorsements
Females
Femininity
Feminism
Gays & lesbians
Graphic novels
Historiography
Independence movements
Middle class
Narratives
Political activism
Political Philosophy
Political Science
Political Science and International Relations
Political Science and International Studies
Political Theory
Poststructuralism
Reading
Review
Social classes
Theory
Truth
Women
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Summary:I once taught a feminist theory course in which a good number of the students were deeply political and already well-read in the subject. When we discussed radical feminist works from the 1970s and early 1980s, I was taken aback by the students' level of dismissiveness and outright anger. The most vocal in the class argued that queer theory was the only viable theoretical position and that reading Marilyn Frye or Catharine was a waste of time and offensive to their sense of freedom and community. They saw the earlier radical feminists as hopelessly white, upper middle class, US women, who essentialized all claims about sex and sexuality. Meanwhile, I was committed to discussing these texts that had transformed my life because they articulated - and rejected - something so familiar to me. The course nearly came to a standstill, passions inflamed, positions staked out. This perceived antagonism between feminism and queer theory motivates Victoria Hesford's Feeling Women's Liberation.
ISSN:1470-8914
1476-9336
DOI:10.1057/cpt.2014.1