Materialist feminism

Materialist feminism is a theoretical current of radical feminism that was formed around the French magazine Questions féministes. It is characterized by the use of conceptual tools from Marxism—notably historical materialism—to theorize patriarchy and its abolition.[1]

Materialist feminism understands sex and gender as a social constructs[2] that are produced through reproductive exploitation and domestic subordination.[3] Its body of literature includes an analysis of women's work within marriage and in the formal economy, criticism of other streams of feminism, deconstruction of sexuality and advocacy for an autonomous women's movement.

Jennifer Wicke defines materialist feminism as "a feminism that insists on examining the material conditions under which social arrangements, including those of gender hierarchy, develop... materialist feminism avoids seeing this gender hierarchy as the effect of a singular... patriarchy and instead gauges the web of social and psychic relations that make up a material, historical moment".[4]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Reconstructing French Feminism: Commodification, Materialism and Sex", Sex In Question, Taylor & Francis, pp. 9–32, 2004-08-02, doi:10.4324/9780203646250-6, ISBN 978-0-203-64625-0
  3. ^ Delphy, Christine (1993). "Rethinking sex and gender". Women's Studies International Forum. 16 (1): 1–9. doi:10.1016/0277-5395(93)90076-L.
  4. ^ Wicke, Jennifer (1994-10-01). "Celebrity Material: Materialist Feminism and the Culture of Celebrity". South Atlantic Quarterly. 93 (4): 751–778. doi:10.1215/00382876-93-4-751. ISSN 0038-2876.

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