Feminist Theories and The Position of the Modern Woman - Essay Example

However, the various feminist theories differ, to a large extent, on the sources and types of inequality suffered by women, how to tackle these inequalities and achieve equality or the extent to which gender and sexual identities should be questioned. Obviously, as with every ideology, political movement or philosophy, no single definition or idea would adequately reflect what feminism stand for (Tong, 1989). Nonetheless, despite the various differences within the rank of the feminists' movements, over the last couple of decades, their analysis and ideas have greatly contributed to society and social theory and thus have greatly improved the lives of women.

Several aspects of private life associated with male/female social relationships have experienced changes and many parts of social life have been transformed as a result of the work of feminism. Although, some people argue that there is still along way to go before equality is attained between men and women, everyone agree to the fact that major changes have been experienced towards such equality in the society (Burt and Dorney, 1993). Somehow, men and women through their social actions and interactio.

een very useful in that, they tend to address the practical issues faced by women in their daily living and interaction with the society (Sydie, 1987). Feminists' theory views women in the society and addresses practical issues that are of concern to them, focussing on these from the perspective, experiences, and viewpoint of women. Feminist theorists tend to be women who theorize about their own experiences and interaction, they are concerned with the everyday lives and experiences of women and their social interactions, and often connected to women's groups, social reform, and broad social and political movements, organizations, and institutions.

The concern of feminism appears to be three-fold; the first concern is perhaps, the recognition of women as full fledged social actors in the social world, this is because, though women have always been part of the social world, several theoretical perspectives often did not recognize them as such. The second concern of feminism involves analyzing the difference between biology and the social, the difference usually associated with sex (in biological terms) and gender (in the social world). Most feminist theories seek to explain that the status, role and position of the woman was socially constructed and not natural or unchangeable.

The third concern of feminism is the male/female inequality; the oppression and domination of women, and how to overcome it (Tong, 1989; Lerner, 1994).Feminism is usually broadly divided into the Liberal, Socialist, Radical, Marxist, and Patriarchy theories due to the connection these theories have with other social theories and also the strategies and ideas proposed by the theory for tackling the problems faced by women in the society and the ways for pursuing equality. Although, it should be