 Cover of the first edition | |
| Author | Catharine MacKinnon |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Subject | Feminist political theory |
| Publisher | Harvard University Press |
Publication date | 1989 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover and paperback) |
| Pages | 330 |
| ISBN | 978-0-674-89645-1 |
| OCLC | 19589567 |
Toward a Feminist Theory of the State is a 1989 book about feminist political theory by the legal scholar Catharine MacKinnon.
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MacKinnon argues that feminism had "no account of male power as an ordered yet deranged whole"; that is, a systematic account of the structural organization whereby male dominance is instantiated and enforced. Although earlier writers, including Mary Wollstonecraft, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Simone de Beauvoir, had offered "a rich description of the variables and locales of sexism," they had not produced a general theory of structural exploitation based on sex-based hierarchy.
MacKinnon proposes Toward a Feminist Theory of the State [1] as an answer to this perceived problem. MacKinnon takes Marxism as the theory's point of departure, arguing that unlike liberal theories, Marxism "confronts organized social dominance, analyzes it in dynamic rather than static terms, identifies social forces that systematically shape social imperatives, and seeks to explain social freedom both within and against history." She elaborates:
Marxism and feminism provide accounts of the way social arrangements of patterned and cumulative disparity can be internally rational and systematic yet unjust. Both are theories of power, its social derivations and its maldistribution. Both are theories of social inequality. In unequal societies, gender and with it sexual desire and kinship structures, like value and with it acquisitiveness and the forms of property ownership, are considered presocial, part of the natural world, primordial or magical or aboriginal. As Marxism exposes value as social creation, feminism exposes desire as socially relational, internally necessary to unequal social orders but historically contingent. [2]
MacKinnon rejects social reform that proceeds through pluralistic models of liberalism: "To proliferate 'feminisms' in the face of women's diversity is the latest attempt of liberal pluralism to evade the challenge women's reality poses to theory, simply because the theoretical forms those realities demand have yet to be created." According to MacKinnon, "Abortion opponents and proponents share a tacit assumption that women significantly control sex", that sexual intercourse is "coequally determined", without taking into account the overall context of non-consent, subordination, and violence within which intercourse commonly occurs. Rape, according to MacKinnon, "is adjudicated not according to the power or the force that a man yields, but according to indices of intimacy between the parties."[ citation needed ]
Emily Calhoun writes that many readers, including herself, "simply do not see domination rooted in sexuality as the central problem for women, especially to the exclusion or minimization of problems of equality, problems of the freedom to engage with others, [and] problems of individual growth. ... By rejecting persuasive methodologies simply because they have been used to secure the assent of women to the male experience and viewpoint, MacKinnon ultimately dooms her enterprise." [3] Jill Vickers accuses MacKinnon of failing to subject her theory to her own critique; that is, of not taking into account the plurality of contexts within which sexism occurs, thereby "globalizing and naturalizing the worst features of her own society." [4]
Likewise, Zillah Eisenstein, editor of Capitalist Patriarchy and the Case for Socialist Feminism (1978), writes that MacKinnon's "analysis of male power and the state appears overly determined and homogenous", ignoring that "liberal feminism has uncovered its own limitations via its own critiques of women of color, radical feminism, and so on." [5] Michael Meyer suggests that MacKinnon's critique of liberalism "indulges in overgeneralizations and clearly fails to address the diversity and complexity of liberal perspectives. She fails to engage with Ronald Dworkin's extensive, and well-known, discussion of this very issue." [6]
Prominent queer theorist Judith Butler penned a harsh critique of MacKinnon's work, writing, "MacKinnon insists that feminism does not require prioritizing of oppressions, and that 'male domination' or 'patriarchy' must be construed as the systemic and founding source of oppression for women. And though this may appear true for some economically advantaged white women, to universalize this presumption is to effect a set of erasures, to cover over or 'subordinate' women who 'are' sites of competing oppressions, and to legislate through a kind of theoretical imperialism feminist priorities that have produced resistances and factionalizations of various kinds." Hence, Butler logically concludes that MacKinnon is a "theological, imperializing Subject." [7] Similarly, Linda Nicholson rejects the homogenizing simplification of "women as a single entity", effectively erasing women who are not "white, Western, and middle-class." [8] Carrie Menkel-Meadow accuses MacKinnon of holding "tenaciously to an essentialist position", and of undertaking a "remarkably heterosexist analysis." [9] Kathryn Abrams echoes this critique, arguing that MacKinnon assimilates Native American women into a "cross-cultural constant" that is "solipsistic and even manipulative." In addition, Abrams calls MacKinnon's dominance theory "relentlessly removed from practical concerns." [10] Neil MacCormick detects "cultural imperialism" in MacKinnon's account of the law, wherein a "flat universality" of the United States occludes all other perspectives. [11]
Drucilla Cornell argues that MacKinnon's "reduction of feminine sexual difference to victimization ultimately cannot sustain a feminist theory of the state." According to Cornell, MacKinnon reduces "feminine sexuality to being a 'fuckee'", thereby reproducing the very "sexual shame" she had to intended to eliminate. [12] Ruth Colker raises a similar concern, interpreting MacKinnon as "equating society with male domination." [13]
Laura Robinson praises the book's "intriguing theoretical insights", while expressing concern that MacKinnon "simplifies all sex acts as rape". [14] Judith Baer writes that Toward a Feminist Theory of the State "establishes MacKinnon as the preeminent figure within the scholarly subfield of feminist jurisprudence", although she takes issue with MacKinnon's assertion that the First Amendment protects pornography that "teaches men to degrade and dehumanize women ... Of course, it does not; constitutional doctrine puts obscene material outside the scope of freedom of expression and explicitly includes the preservation of individual morality among the state's legitimate concerns." [15]
In Sex and Social Justice, philosopher Martha Nussbaum accepts MacKinnon's critique of abstract liberalism, assimilating the salience of history and context of group hierarchy and subordination, but concludes that this appeal is rooted in liberalism rather than a critique of it. "Liberal philosophers," Nussbaum argues, "have rejected the purely formal notion of equality. Liberals standardly grant that the equality of opportunity that individuals have a right to demand from their government has material prerequisites, and that these prerequisites may vary depending on one's situation in society." Nussbaum points out that John Rawls, among the most prominent liberal philosophers of the 20th-century, provides "ample resources" to consider contextual hierarchy. [16]
Reviews in the popular press were similarly mixed. Writing for The Nation , political scientist Wendy Brown lamented MacKinnon's "profoundly static world view and undemocratic, perhaps even anti-democratic, political sensibility." Brown called the work "flatly dated," developed at "the dawn of feminism's second wave ... framed by a political-intellectual context that no longer exists -- a male Marxist monopoly on radical social discourse." [17]
Gloria Steinem, however, declared,[ when? ] "By exposing and correcting the patriarchal values underlying nationalism and justice, Catharine MacKinnon causes an earthquake in our thinking that rearranges every part of our intellectual landscape." [18]
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male point of view and that women are treated unjustly in these societies. Efforts to change this include fighting against gender stereotypes and establishing educational, professional, and interpersonal opportunities and outcomes for women that are equal to those for men.
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are also affected by other social divisions such as in race, class, and sexual orientation. The ideology and movement emerged in the 1960s.
Martha Craven Nussbaum is an American philosopher and the current Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics at the University of Chicago, where she is jointly appointed in the law school and the philosophy department. She has a particular interest in ancient Greek and Roman philosophy, political philosophy, existentialism, feminism, and ethics, including animal rights. She also holds associate appointments in classics, divinity, and political science, is a member of the Committee on Southern Asian Studies, and a board member of the Human Rights Program. She previously taught at Harvard and Brown.
Liberal feminism, also called mainstream feminism, is a main branch of feminism defined by its focus on achieving gender equality through political and legal reform within the framework of liberal democracy. As the oldest of the "Big Three" schools of feminist thought, liberal feminism has its roots in 19th century first-wave feminism that focused particularly on women's suffrage and access to education, and that was associated with 19th century liberalism and progressivism. Liberal feminism "works within the structure of mainstream society to integrate women into that structure." Liberal feminism places great emphasis on the public world, especially laws, political institutions, education and working life, and considers the denial of equal legal and political rights as the main obstacle to equality. As such liberal feminists have worked to bring women into the political mainstream. Liberal feminism is inclusive and socially progressive, while broadly supporting existing institutions of power in liberal democratic societies, and is associated with centrism and reformism. Liberal feminism "tends to be adopted by 'mainstream' women who do not disagree with the current social structure;" Zhang and Rios found that liberal feminism with its focus on equality is viewed as the dominant and "default" form of feminism. Liberal feminism actively supports men's involvement in feminism and both women and men have always been active participants in the movement; progressive men had an important role alongside women in the struggle for equal political rights since the movement was launched in the 19th century.
Sex-positive feminism, also known as pro-sex feminism, sex-radical feminism, or sexually liberal feminism, is a feminist movement centering on the idea that sexual freedom is an essential component of women's freedom.
Catharine Alice MacKinnon is an American radical feminist legal scholar, activist, and author. She is the Elizabeth A. Long Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where she has been tenured since 1990, and the James Barr Ames Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. From 2008 to 2012, she was the special gender adviser to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, media studies, psychoanalysis, political theory, home economics, literature, education, and philosophy.
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Feminism is a broad term given to works of those scholars who have sought to bring gender concerns into the academic study of international politics and who have used feminist theory and sometimes queer theory to better understand global politics and international relations..
Andrea Rita Dworkin was an American radical feminist writer and activist best known for her analysis of pornography. Her feminist writings, beginning in 1974, span 30 years. They are found in a dozen solo works: nine books of non-fiction, two novels, and a collection of short stories. Another three volumes were co-written or co-edited with US Constitutional law professor and feminist activist, Catharine A. MacKinnon.
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Feminist views on pornography range from condemnation of all of it as a form of violence against women, to an embracing of some forms as a medium of feminist expression. This debate reflects larger concerns surrounding feminist views on sexuality, and is closely related to those on prostitution, on BDSM, and other issues. Pornography has been one of the most divisive issues in feminism, particularly in anglophone (English-speaking) countries. This deep division was exemplified in the feminist sex wars of the 1980s, which pitted anti-pornography activists against pro-pornography ones.
Feminism has affected culture in many ways, and has famously been theorized in relation to culture by Angela McRobbie, Laura Mulvey and others. Timothy Laurie and Jessica Kean have argued that "one of [feminism's] most important innovations has been to seriously examine the ways women receive popular culture, given that so much pop culture is made by and for men." This is reflected in a variety of forms, including literature, music, film and other screen cultures.
Feminist political theory is an area of philosophy that focuses on understanding and critiquing the way political philosophy is usually construed and on articulating how political theory might be reconstructed in a way that advances feminist concerns. Feminist political theory combines aspects of both feminist theory and political theory in order to take a feminist approach to traditional questions within political philosophy.
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Feminist interventions in the philosophy of law concern the examination and reformulation of traditional legal systems in order to better reflect the political, social, and economic concerns of women---which also includes various other minority and ethnic groups. Though it draws heavily from feminist legal theory, feminist interventions in the philosophy of law differs from the more common feminist jurisprudence as it also seeks to explain the justification that a government has in interfering with the lives of its citizenry. Accordingly, then, feminist interventions in legal philosophy specifically addresses the relationship and rationale between a judicial system's exercise of power and its effects on female citizens. While particular views vary greatly, most feminist interventions in the philosophy of law operate under a belief that many contemporary legal systems are predicated on patriarchal notions of masculinity that result in a system of deeply-rooted bias and inequality.
Feminist perspectives on sex markets vary widely, depending on the type of feminism being applied. The sex market is defined as the system of supply and demand which is generated by the existence of sex work as a commodity. The sex market can further be segregated into the direct sex market, which mainly applies to prostitution, and the indirect sex market, which applies to sexual businesses which provide services such as lap dancing. The final component of the sex market lies in the production and selling of pornography. With the distinctions between feminist perspectives, there are many documented instances from feminist authors of both explicit and implied feminist standpoints that provide coverage on the sex market in regards to both "autonomous" and "non-autonomous" sex trades. The quotations are added since some feminist ideology believe the commodification of women's bodies is never autonomous and therefore subversive or misleading by terminology.
