A Radical- Socialist Feminism with a Postcolonial Approah

Feminism for me has come to be the recognition of oppression and privilege. What one does with this knowledge of oppression and privilege is that person’s version of feminism. After reading Tong (2009) on various feminist theories, I have come to see the different feminist theories in a continuum of the feminist movement. Therefore, these theories cannot be boxed into clear-cut categories that share nothing in common with each other. I will attempt to formulate my own feminist theory using the previous works of feminist scholars as my foundation. In order to explain the application of this theory, I will illuminate a feminist issue. Further, I will present ways to tackle the problem and provide limitations of my theory.

My feminist theory draws influences from a variety of ideas I have come across during the course of this semester. My theory is rooted in radical-socialist feminism with a postcolonial approach. Postcolonial/transnational feminism, unlike other theories we have encountered in this course, does not explain a unique cause of women’s oppression but presents how oppression plays out differently depending on geography and culture. It also demonstrates the ways through which we can try to overcome women’s oppression globally.

As an international student from India who is acquiring her education from a “First World” university, I can often hear the difference in the way oppression is talked about. My perspective is rooted in the knowledge I gathered for twenty years of my life where issues like dowry, female feticide/infanticide, honor killings and everyday sexual harassment were very pertinent to me. By examining radical-socialist feminist theories, I could try to understand the root of women’s oppression even if the or...

... middle of paper ...

... patriarchal society.

A limitation of this model, like many other models, is it deems the problem it is trying to address as static. With the progress in time, the problem evolves and the model should be dynamic enough to explain it over the course of time. The concept of marriage, while grounded in patriarchal foundation, is continuously changing in the wake of new technologies and global political scene. The theory is also limited by context, as it may not be able to explain every problem connected with oppression. Further, Bergoffen (1999) argues that our current understanding of marriage is patriarchal itself and it hides the true essence, which is ethically erotic. Moreover, the concept of Western cultural dominance and Eastern submission is modifying as well. The duality persists but it is not as clear as it used to be in the pre-technological revolution era.