The history of the feminist standpoint theory is contentious and has been extensively critiqued, particularly due to its epistemological relevance. 1 This controversy is avidly described by Crasnow. 2 In the discourse, the four aspects of the theory that are marred with controversy are briefly explained. This explanation covers the divergence in standpoints; different histories of disciplines; the fact that the theory is anti-disciplinary; and finally that standpoint theory is also disciplinary, in that it seeks to transform disciplines from within. Despite this, the theory is a social and political epistemology with the central thesis being that the marginalized or oppressed exist due to systemically entrenched inequity. The thesis argues that one standpoint, that of women, is privileged and women are in fact in possession of much more knowledge of certain facts of life than those in the other side of the divide 3 . Another contention is that underling feminism is a mode of analysis, a unique approach to politics and life and that feminist method gives power in the analysis of social institutions that shape life. 4 Their epistemic advantage arises from the experiences they have, how they are situated and the resources available to them to understand these experiences.
The feminist standpoint theory has two main theses. 5 These include the ‘situated knowledge' thesis and the thesis of ‘epistemic advantage.' The first thesis poses that social location systematically influences an individual’s experiences, shaping and limiting his or her knowledge in such a way that is can only be achieved from a certain standpoint. The second thesis poses that some standpoints, particularly those of the marginalized or oppressed groups, are epistemically advantaged. The main argument of feminism is that the dimension of gender creates such a phenomenal and distinctive set of conditions. Subsequently, these conditions have the potential of giving rise to individuals with different psychological makeup, outlook, and limitations.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The emergence of this theory in the early 1980s seemed to coincide with the mission and vision of the feminist movement. In this regard, the theory provided the means and medium through which the oppression of women could be embodied, given a face and a name according to the woman’s perspective. Specifically, it provided a framework through which opposition to the masculinist definitions of truth and method in modern western science and epistemology could be achieved. With feminism, the struggle between social construction and universal truth subsided. In effect, the theory established a different vision of truth, and an alternative paradigm that reflected the possibility of a less repressive society 6 . Contemporary feminist theory took shape in the 1970s and early 1980s. This was aimed at making sense of the impact of feminist interventions that were occasioned by the research and activism that followed feminism.
Feminist theorists struggled to characterize this phenomenon. This was due to a systematic knowledge gap in the collective hermeneutic resource bank of where the naming and description of a peculiar social experience could be domiciled. Arising out of feminist activism and research were interventions that upset well-established research discourse in various academic fields and conventional assumptions about sex and gender. The feminist standpoint took shape in response to transformative effects of these feminist interventions. The period through the second half of the twentieth century and onwards has witnessed a paradigm shift in epistemology. In this shift, absolute subject-centered views of truth have slowly given way to such views of truth as situated and perspective-oriented. This has weakened the standpoint of feminism, which has Marxist roots and mechanics in its construction, considering that Marxism has since been disproved.
Feminism in Politics
The influence of postmodernism, hermeneutics, and post-culturalism in the twentieth century has cast doubt on the basis of the feminist standpoint theory. This is especially in a realism perspective and through powerful arguments against the concept of reality underlying all knowledge. The new paradigm of knowledge embodied by the feminist standpoint rejects the attempt to define knowledge and truth as universal or relative. Instead, it considers knowledge as situated. This brings with it alternate views and approaches to politics 7 . The modernist portrayal of politics is in terms of prevailing dichotomies anchored by universal principles and unfolding according to a hegemonic and scripted discourse. In contrast, the new paradigm envisages a more localized and situated activity that involves alternate formations to the previous universally subjective and absolute principles. 8 Intemann 9 highlights the distinction between feminist empiricism and feminist standpoint; disagreement of the two regarding the kind of diversity within scientific communities that is epistemically beneficial; and the role of ethical and political values. The final proposition is that the two viewpoints should be merged to form ‘feminist standpoint empiricism.'
Feminism and Socialization
Various contexts exist in which feminist theorists encountered gendered socialization, experience, approaches to production and processes of reproduction. From these, epistemological lacunae were filled using the theorists’ situated knowledge. 10 The 1960 and 1970 feminists attempted with lots of difficulties to name certain trends and patterns of disenfranchisement and iniquity that were prevalent and engrained to the point of invisibility. These ridiculous norms, traditions and theoretical viewpoints of intolerance against women were mostly unrecognized and often vehemently denied. One example that was initially not as explicit, without contextualization through the theoretical standpoint of feminism is the societal menace of ‘sexual harassment.’ The lack of clarity, agreement, and even recognition of this profound social experience in the woman’s perspective created a situation in which the one facing harassment was disadvantaged in the most asymmetrical way. This lack of conceptual knowledge had the effect of reinforcing gendered hierarchies of power. However, this knowledge is now provided by the theoretical standpoint of feminism, which recognizes and characterizes the experience.
These power hierarchies resulting by way of socializing were not easily detectable. Thus, they created an effect that caused a form of structural discrimination because the vice had no name. Also, the manner in which this innately structural artifact of the prevailing social construct was dealt with required that those affected by it draw from their experiential evidence. They are also required to articulate the conceptual knowledge which put them in a position in which only they could expose this phenomenon 11 . The enlightenment created from gaining an understanding of sexual harassment was extrapolated to other less obvious gender mechanisms that subjected women to persistent undervaluation and continued marginalization. This is despite exclusionist policies having being dismantled in the mid-1980s.
Various metaphors and terminologies emerged in the 1970s and 1980s to describe the inherent bias that operated small but unrecognized and unintended gender differences in uptake, recognition, evaluation, and response. These metaphoric descriptions included terminologies such as ‘micro-iniquities,' ‘chilly climate,' ‘second shift' and double day work.’ The terminologies were used to capture the consequences of gender norms that enforce the traditional societal division of labor in households. These age-old and engrained norms and traditions had the effect of scaling up the labor demands on women in the domestic space as more women ventured to the paid or wage labor market. The other metaphoric terminologies and coinage such as ‘glass ceilings,' ‘leaky pipelines,' and ‘gender tax' emerged. Others such as the ‘matilda effect’ emerged in conventional language to describe tendencies toward incremental levels of disadvantage that arose in the 1990s. This was as a result of the iniquities that continued to exist in the workplaces that were supposedly meritocratic 12 .
In many different contexts, critical reflection and investigation brought out phenomena that were strikingly similar amongst women who mostly had assumed these to be coincidental such as recognition, authority, marginalization, sexual harassment, and objectification. However, these are not just experiential testimonies or insights but are robust social phenomena that have been determined, analyzed and delineated through research. For instance, economic models have continually shown the unequal distribution of income among the genders, career types that are peculiar to certain training and career ladder profiles, models of age and rank patterns showing cumulative disadvantage. Cognitive and social psychology research have unearthed the existence of unique internalized cognitive schemes that are responsible for shaping a variety of default assumptions and responses regarding gender, race, sexuality, religion, age and other social categories. There are now numerous well-known and documented subconscious level mechanisms that operate and translate into biases of attribution, evaluation, stereotype, group dynamics, and norms of recognition, response, and uptake. The effects of these sub-conscious awareness level mechanisms have large-scale gender ramifications and large cumulative effect on gender differences.
Feminism in Education
The transformative effects of theorists of feminism standpoint addressing mainly gender inequity extended to the realm of past research and programs in social and even biological sciences fields. The result was a disruption of key scientific claims, reorientation of assumptions, and questioning of localized methodological norms. This led to the emergence of field-defining ideals of scientific practice 13 . In sociology, for instance, an ethnomethodological research design was advocated to account for the effect of normative gender roles that are responsible for a disproportionate allocation of social responsibilities that are not main-stage. This kind of methodology had as its main interest the determination of how women conceptualized ‘mothering' as work. Another methodological strategy that was advocated for was aimed at rescuing the social dimensions that were usually over-shadowed. For instance, under this methodology, researchers among marginalized categories were urged first to consider the perspectives of the research subjects. This was done with the intention of countering the imposition of categories in the situated experience and assumptions of sociological outsiders. This approach immerses a researcher into discourse aimed at learning social conventions, institutions, and social relations, and to recognize their effects as the main ones 14 .
A previous study was conducted to quantify the experience of women as faculty members in a university in the People’s Republic of China and drawing from feminist stand point theory. 15 In this study, the authors identified four important findings that expose serious barriers confronting Chinese women faculty members. The participants in this study described double time work, glass ceiling, boy’s club and social exclusion, and comrades in arms. The latter was peculiar to Chinese universities and their practices concerning academic promotions and advancements. Another academic literary work describes the concept of achieving a standpoint with the application of feminist standpoint theory to a work of literature. 16 Further, an attempt has been made to advancing the concept of applying feminist standpoint theory in the rhetorical analysis of literary texts. 17 In this particular article, it is proposed that general tenets of standpoint theory can be employed as an acceptable framework for analyzing the voices of women and other marginalized categories. The use of the feminist standpoint theory to critique two literary works portraying various rhetorics is a demonstration of the wide application of the concept in education. In his article, Lenz 18 gives an experimental methodology for the literary practice of feminist standpoint theory by analyzing a literary work with the aim of showing how a standpoint is achieved and the collocation of identity, authority, and post-colonialism. Further, Longino 19 attempts to bridge the gap between the feminist standpoint and the other epistemologies. The catch here is that any advances or deconstruction of this theory should benefit from other points of view.
Feminism and Culture
In the theoretical essay by Naidu 20 , the entanglement of black feminism with pre and post-colonial history, socio-economic and cultural aspects in the cases of women cleaners and Zulu women dancers is described vividly and in stark contrast to the lack of elements of resistance. This essay, while attempting to demonstrate collocation of the feminism standpoint, instead provides an illustrative example of the controversy and contradiction of feminism. It postulates that knowledge may, after all, not be located and situated. This essay shows that there exist many differences between women and there exist diverse and multiple standpoints. Thus, women must occupy different realities. Moreover, Lenz, 21 apart from giving an experimental methodology, the scholar cleverly uses the feminist standpoint theory to analyze a literary work with the aim of showing not only how a standpoint is achieved but also a description of the collocation of identity, authority, and post-colonialism.
Bibliography
Crasnow, Sharon. "Is standpoint theory a resource for feminist epistemology? An introduction." Hypatia 24, no. 4 (2009): 189-192.
Harding, Sandra G., ed. The feminist standpoint theory reader: Intellectual and political controversies . Psychology Press, 2004.
Hekman, Susan. "Truth and method: Feminist standpoint theory revisited." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 22, no. 2 (1997): 341-365.
Intemann, Kristen. "25 years of feminist empiricism and standpoint theory: Where are we now?." Hypatia 25, no. 4 (2010): 778-796.
John, Caresse A. "Strategic ambivalence: A feminist standpoint theory reading of Nella Larsen's novels." Feminist Formations 23, no. 1 (2011): 94-117.
Lenz, Brooke. "Postcolonial fiction and the outsider within: Toward a literary practice of feminist standpoint theory." NWSA Journal 16, no. 2 (2004): 98-120.
Longino, Helen E., and Kathleen Lennon. "Feminist epistemology as a local epistemology." Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society, Supplementary Volumes 71 (1997): 19-54.
McClish, Glen, and Jacqueline Bacon. "“Telling the story her own way”: The role of feminist standpoint theory in rhetorical studies." Rhetoric Society Quarterly 32, no. 2 (2002): 27-55.
Naidu, Maheshvari. "Wrestling with standpoint theory… some thoughts on standpoint and African feminism." Agenda 24, no. 83 (2010): 24-35.
Rhoads, Robert A., and Diane Yu Gu. "A gendered point of view on the challenges of women academics in The People’s Republic of China." Higher Education 63, no. 6 (2012): 733-750.
Stoetzler, Marcel, and Nira Yuval-Davis. "Standpoint theory, situated knowledge and the situated imagination." Feminist theory 3, no. 3 (2002): 315-333.
Wylie, Alison. "Feminist philosophy of science: Standpoint matters." In Proceedings and Addresses of the American Philosophical Association , vol. 86, no. 2, pp. 47-76. American Philosophical Association, 2012.
