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Feminist theory is a major branch within sociology that shifts its assumptions, analytic lens, and topical focus away from the male viewpoint and experience toward that of women.

In doing so, feminist theory shines a light on social problems, trends, and issues that are otherwise overlooked or misidentified by the historically dominant male perspective within social theory.

Key Takeaways

Many people incorrectly believe that feminist theory focuses exclusively on girls and women and that it has an inherent goal of promoting the superiority of women over men.

In reality, feminist theory has always been about viewing the social world in a way that illuminates the forces that create and support inequality, oppression, and injustice, and in doing so, promotes the pursuit of equality and justice.

That said, since the experiences and perspectives of women and girls were historically excluded for years from social theory and social science, much feminist theory has focused on their interactions and experiences within society to ensure that half the world's population is not left out of how we see and understand social forces, relations, and problems.

While most feminist theorists throughout history have been women, people of all genders can be found working in the discipline today. By shifting the focus of social theory away from the perspectives and experiences of men, feminist theorists have created social theories that are more inclusive and creative than those that assume the social actor to always be a man.

Part of what makes feminist theory creative and inclusive is that it often considers how systems of power and oppression interact, which is to say it does not just focus on gendered power and oppression, but on how this might intersect with systemic racism, a hierarchical class system, sexuality, nationality, and (dis)ability, among other things.

Gender Differences

Some feminist theory provides an analytic framework for understanding how women's location in and experience of social situations differ from men's.

For example, cultural feminists look at the different values associated with womanhood and femininity as a reason for why men and women experience the social world differently.﻿﻿ Other feminist theorists believe that the different roles assigned to women and men within institutions better explain gender differences, including the sexual division of labor in the household.﻿﻿

Existential and phenomenological feminists focus on how women have been marginalized and defined as "other" in patriarchal societies. Some feminist theorists focus specifically on how masculinity is developed through socialization, and how its development interacts with the process of developing femininity in girls.

Gender Inequality

Feminist theories that focus on gender inequality recognize that women's location in and experience of social situations are not only different but also unequal to men's.

Liberal feminists argue that women have the same capacity as men for moral reasoning and agency, but that patriarchy, particularly the sexist division of labor, has historically denied women the opportunity to express and practice this reasoning.﻿﻿

These dynamics serve to shove women into the private sphere of the household and to exclude them from full participation in public life. Liberal feminists point out that gender inequality exists for women in a heterosexual marriage and that women do not benefit from being married.﻿﻿

Indeed, these feminist theorists claim, married women have higher levels of stress than unmarried women and married men.﻿﻿ Therefore, the sexual division of labor in both the public and private spheres needs to be altered for women to achieve equality in marriage.

Gender Oppression

Theories of gender oppression go further than theories of gender difference and gender inequality by arguing that not only are women different from or unequal to men, but that they are actively oppressed, subordinated, and even abused by men.﻿﻿

Power is the key variable in the two main theories of gender oppression: psychoanalytic feminism and radical feminism.

Psychoanalytic feminists attempt to explain power relations between men and women by reformulating Sigmund Freud's theories of human emotions, childhood development, and the workings of the subconscious and unconscious. They believe that conscious calculation cannot fully explain the production and reproduction of patriarchy.﻿﻿

Radical feminists argue that being a woman is a positive thing in and of itself, but that this is not acknowledged in patriarchal societies where women are oppressed. They identify physical violence as being at the base of patriarchy, but they think that patriarchy can be defeated if women recognize their own value and strength, establish a sisterhood of trust with other women, confront oppression critically, and form female-based separatist networks in the private and public spheres.﻿﻿

Structural Oppression

Structural oppression theories posit that women's oppression and inequality are a result of capitalism, patriarchy, and racism.

Socialist feminists agree with Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels that the working class is exploited as a consequence of capitalism, but they seek to extend this exploitation not just to class but also to gender.﻿﻿

Intersectionality theorists seek to explain oppression and inequality across a variety of variables, including class, gender, race, ethnicity, and age. They offer the important insight that not all women experience oppression in the same way, and that the same forces that work to oppress women and girls also oppress people of color and other marginalized groups.﻿﻿

One way structural oppression of women, specifically the economic kind, manifests in society is in the gender wage gap, which shows that men routinely earn more for the same work than women.

An intersectional view of this situation shows that women of color, and men of color, too, are even further penalized relative to the earnings of white men.﻿﻿

In the late 20th century, this strain of feminist theory was extended to account for the globalization of capitalism and how its methods of production and of accumulating wealth center on the exploitation of women workers around the world.

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Feminist theory provides one of the major contemporary approaches to sociology, with its critical interrogation of power, domination, and inequality.

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Sociology is defined as the systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large-scale institutions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions. My perspective on sociology has evolved gravely from when I first joined the class and its only the beginning! We're just at the surface and there is so much more to cover, sociology dives in-depth on how humans affect society and vice versa. Sociologists work on different levels ranging from tiny microsociology which studies small groups and individual interactions. Then there are those analyzing life through macrosociology, these sociologists look at trends among and between large groups and societies. Studying behavior is important in sociology, the personal decisions that someone makes are influenced by many factors. Cultural patterns and social forces place pressure on people to select one option over another. Sociologists try to identify these patterns and generalize them by examining the behavior of large groups of people living in the same society and experiencing the same societal pressures. I've concluded that being a sociologist is actually a hard job depending on what level of individuals or groups you're analyzing. To get to the root of how society may affect a group of preteens from the same area, attend the same school, and may even be friends seems impossible to me. No matter how similar peoples lives may be everyone absorbs life differently, thinks differently so how do I generalize a group of people?

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Critical race theory to me personally means more than just another theory because the affects of it affect people of color daily. Critical race theory is a socially constructed category that is used to oppress and exploit people of color but theorists have acknowledged that the discrimination doesn't stop at skin color. It emerged in the 1960s and ’70s but still has not yet been rectified, critical race theory's immediate prototype was the critical legal studies (CLS) movement, which dedicated itself to examining how the law and legal institutions serve the interests of the wealthy, white and powerful at the expense of the poor, colored and neglected. Critical Race Theory's main goal is to tackle and magnify the role of race and racism in society that emerged in the legal system and spread to nearly every other aspect of life. Many are in denial that we're living in a country ruled by a racial system that relegates people of color to the bottom tiers. As i said above CRT recognizes that race intersects with other identities, including sexuality, gender identity, status and others. Recognizing that racism is not in the past as portrayed has to be the first step to change in my opinion. Secondly theres the education of the public, at this point it is insane that many individuals don't understand the discrimination we still face today. Once we ALL acknowledge that the legacy of slavery, segregation, and the imposition of lower class citizenship on people of color in America continues to permeate the social spectrum of this nation then we can finally move on to a united front.

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In the picture posted above is Karl Marx, a profound sociologist, economists, journalist, historian, political theorists, and socialist revolutionary. As founder of conflict theory or a paradigm that sees social conflict as the basis of society and social change and that emphasizes a materialist view of society, a critical view of the status quo, and a dynamic model of historical change. Marx was against social inequality which is the unequal distribution of resources, wealth, power, or prestige among members of a society. He also felt that your social class should not determine your value or worthiness of opportunity which is why he discovered conflict theory.  The Marxist analysis of society are made up of two categories of oppressors and oppressed. Marx believed that political action was necessary to ‘wake up’ the proletariat and bring them to revolutionary class consciousness. This would force the 'workers' to break out of false consciousness since many didn't believe they were oppressed. Marx fought for a revolution, and through it private property was abolished, the profit motive and the desire to exploit also ended. In an ideal communist society, people would be equal, have greater freedom and happiness. That has not fully occurred in America and Marx's vision is still in the works!

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As I was reading chapter 1 'Sociology and the Real World' and I reached 'The Sociological imagination' I was amazed yet unfazed at the same time.  I personally never knew what the sociological imagination was called or if there was a name for it at all but I thought like this all the time, even about the little things. For example growing up in a rough neighborhood I did'n't go to the best funded school resulting in us not being able to afford updated books, field trips, etc. When I'd dwell about things like this I'd relate it to macrosociology which is the level of analysis that studies large scale social structures in order to determine how they effect the lives of groups and individuals. The macrosociology in this situation would be the percentage of funds given to the district from federal funding, low property value and local contributions near non-existent. Realizing individual life problems could stem from larger social or historical phenomenons carried me a long way in life by not allowing me to take everything so personal.

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Beginners mind is a huge part of sociology for me, I've even came up with a new saying for it which is "the mind of light". I call it that because before having a beginners mind your mindset is in a tunnel of preconceptions and biases, some we were taught growing up and others we've learned throughout life. Utilizing beginners mind frees your mind out of that tunnel and the light opens it to a new outlook on the world and the individuals in it. Adapting the beginners mind helps you to live without passing judgement or assuming without understanding the full scope of things. As I grow older the saying "don't judge a book by its cover" proves itself to be true. As humans judgement come natural but once you realize you wouldn't want to be the one judged you sing a different tune. The harsh reality is that no matter how often you use beginners mind others will judge you either way, its a great thing we don't live for others opinion. Something that hit home for me while reading into beginners mind was this statement "The problem is we are all too often preoccupied with thoughts and feelings that prevent us from fully participating in reality." Once you actually think about it how often are you out somewhere to enjoy yourself and your mind is filled with work, stress, or coming up with solutions for problems? I'll go first, way to often...if you put your phone down and clear your thoughts we could be present in those moments that count. I haven't yet mastered my personal paradigm shift.