Introduction to Philosophy

Feminist
Philosophy

Prepared by: Hazel T. Biana

 The History of Western Philosophy

From ancient times to the 21st century, the subject matter includes
the fundamental substance of the universe, the existence or
nonexistence of God, the nature of knowledge, language and
logic, the best form of society and government and human
freedom and subjectivity.

Feminist
Philosophy
Tackles issues that are
primarily gender-based.
 Gender
Refers to the set of socially-constructed
behaviors that are assigned to a
person based on his or her sex.

Gender affects theory-building.

Feminism claims that since philosophers studied are predominantly male (white,
middle-class & heterosexual), their ideas and worldviews reflect their
membership in these privileged groups.

The experience of women, people of color, the poor and the lesbians ,
gays and bisexuals are ignored.
Similarities to Other
Movements

Feminist Philosophy:
Existentialism
Marxism
Postmodernism
 Existentialism & Feminism

Like existentialists, feminists tackle deeply personal

issues traditionally considered taboo in philosophy
such as sexuality.

“The personal is the political”

To say that the personal is the political is
to remove the division between the
two, and to emphasize matters
previously ignored or dismissed as
pertaining to only women.
 Existentialism & Feminism

Mind- Body
Reason-Emotion
Public-Private
Masculine- Feminine

The feminist critique of philosophy is

similar to existentialism in that it
passionately calls for philosophy to
return to the relevant human issues
that it has ignored.
“Philosophy should pay attention to the
marginalized half of the dualisms”
 Marxism & Feminism
“Evince the theory of
patriarchy!”

Patriarchy

“A system of male authority which oppresses women

through its social, political, and economic
institutions”
Both women and men must be liberated from the
restrictive sex-gender system which is its basis.
 Marxism & Feminism

Critique of Marxism:
Given the emphasis of production or work outside home, Marxists have ignored
reproduction and domestic tasks traditionally assigned to women.
 Postmodernism & Feminism

Incredulity to
METANARRATIVES!!!

Feminism is not exempt from the postmodern accusation

that it is also a metanarrative.

Feminists are concerned with appropriating postmodernism’s friendliness

toward the oppressed, while striving to avoid its relativistic pitfalls.
 Similarities to
Other Movements
Existentialism

Feminism demands that philosophy recognize the

meaningfulness of the individual’s personal life.
Marxism

Postmodernism

Feminism announces the inevitability of

politicizing theory

Feminism accords a fair hearing for traditionally

marginalized voices.
 FEMINISM
The Historical Development

The First Wave

LIBERAL FEMINISM
The Second Wave
WOMAN as OTHER
 The First Wave
LIBERAL FEMINISM
Preoccupation with equal rights, and
its most significant
accomplishment is winning for
European and American women
the right of suffrage.
 The Second Wave
WOMAN as OTHER

Undertakes a more fundamental

approach to solving the problem
of women’s oppression, going
beyond equal rights toward a
sophisticated analysis of
gender.
 The First Wave
LIBERAL FEMINISM
Mary Wollestonecraft
A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1972)

For women to be full and judicious participants

in society, they must be educated in the
same level as men.

This was in reaction to Rousseau’s Emile, wherein he described two divergent kinds of
education for the boy Emile and the girl Sophie. While Emile is to be encouraged to becom
independent and self-sufficient, Sophie is to be trained solely in pleasing Emile.
 The First Wave
LIBERAL FEMINISM
Mary Wollestonecraft
A Vindication of the Rights of Women (1972)
Since women remain the primary caretakers of the family, a limited education
for them would transfer undesirable feminine values from themselves to
their children and ultimately to the community. Thus, it is in the best
interests of society to allow women to expand their intellectual horizons.
 The First Wave
LIBERAL FEMINISM
John Stuart Mill
The Philosophy of Liberalism
LIBERTY
The ideal of equality between the sexes re-emphasized.
Equal freedoms, rights, and opportunities among individuals, regardless
of skin color, sex, or economic status.

“Let each individual pursue his happiness in his own way”

 The First Wave
LIBERAL FEMINISM
John Stuart Mill
The Subjection of Women (1869)
• Mill supports women’s freedom to do as they
wish for as long as they are not harming
anybody.
• Deserving women should have access to
various privileges that only men have
traditionally enjoyed in society: for example,
higher education and the right of suffrage.
 The Second Wave
WOMAN as OTHER
Simone de Beauvoir
The Second Sex (1949)
A phenomenological description of
women’s situation, ranging from a
discussion of biology, history, and
myths to the specific formative
years, situations, and justifications
of women.

This launched modern or

the “second wave” of feminist thought.
The Second Wave
WOMAN as OTHER
Simone de Beauvoir
“What is a w o m a n?”

“Every female human being is not

necessarily a woman; to be so
considered she must share in that
mysterious and threatened reality
known as femininity.”
 The Second Wave
WOMAN as OTHER
Simone de Beauvoir
“W O M A N as the O T H E R”
• Woman sometimes acts in “bad faith”, she lies to
herself by denying that she is free
• “Ultimately, woman can choose to be free”
• If the hierarchy between masculinity and femininity
is socially imposed, it can be transcended.
• Gender can be unlearned and modified.
 The Second Wave
WOMAN as OTHER
Simone de Beauvoir
“W O M A N as the O T H E R”
• Beavoir’s insight is the foundation of the Second Wave
feminist strategy of recovering women’s marginalized
experience in different fields
• This approach is called gynocentric or woman-centered.
• Second wavers revalued femininity and infused
philosophy with insights from the marginalized side of
the gendered dichotomies.
The Third Wave

Analysis of all types of

OPPRESSION
 FILIPINO
Feminist Philosophy
Sr. Mary John Mananzan
• Founder of the first women’s
studies institute in the
Philippines at St.
Scholastica’s College
• Chairperson of GABRIELA
 FILIPINO
Feminist Philosophy
• Gabriela Women’s Party is a sectoral party dedicated to
promoting the rights and welfare of marginalized and under-
represented Filipino women through participation in the country’s
electoral system and organs of governance.
• It is a sectoral party composed of women 18 years and above,
having varied occupations, education, interests, ethnic origin,
religious affiliation, and sexual orientation.
• The Gabriela Women’s Party seeks to harness the potential,
initiative, skills, and leadership of marginalized women towards
empowerment, justice, and equality.
 FILIPINO
Feminist Philosophy
Sr. Mary John Mananzan
E s s a y s o n W o m e n (1991)
• A groundbreaking collection of articles on
women’s studies in the Philippines
• “Women universally share the fact of gender
oppression.”
• The bulk of her writings constitute a gynocentric
critique of the philosophy of religion
 FILIPINO
Feminist Philosophy
Delia Aguilar
• Formerly a feminist activist during the anti Marcos struggle
and professor of women’s studies at St. Scholastica’s College
• She is now an educator based in the United States
• Her work reflects the changing terrain of the political Left vis-
avis feminism in the Philippines
• It also discusses postmodern dilemmas and the lives of Third
World women
 FILIPINO
Feminist Philosophy
Delia Aguilar
• 3 MAIN THEMES:
• 1) The oppression of women in the Philippines as to
race, class and gender
• 2) The relationship bnetween Marxism and feminism
• 3) The theoretical dilemmas of second wave
essentialist feminism and third wave pluralist feminism
 FILIPINO
Feminist Philosophy
The writings of Filipino feminist philosophers are similar
(as opposed to Western feminist thinking):
1) Acknowledgement of more than one kind of oppression affecting the
experience of being a woman (the struggle for an independent nation,
poverty and globalization, and the communist movement)

2) Race is a primary issue. Works are consciously addressed to the West, in an

attempt to bring light to the marginalized Filipino lifeworld

3) Rely heavily on an empirical survey of Filipino women’s actual lives. The socio-
political ramifications of the ideas are always foremost.
T h a n k
Y o u