Women's Studies Resource Guide

Feminism is an established movement that seeks the liberation of women from sexist oppression. It opposes, therefore, any ideology, institution, philosophy, movement, or people seeking to discriminate against women.

Movement for the political, social, and educational equality of women with men

From Feminist Philosophies A-Z
Friedrich Engels’ The Origin of the Family (1884/1972), a fundamental text in Marxist feminism, argued that the move to private property included a shift from matriarchy to patriarchy and was the initiating point for women’s subordination and oppression.

Simply put, feminism is a political philosophy and practice centering on the concerns of women and opposing gender inequality.

Eco-feminism is not strictly a movement as it has no organization or structure, but it is a framework of ideas that has encouraged or reflected widespread activism around women and the environment. Since its origins in the mid-1970s eco-feminism has also entered academia as a theoretical/philosophical perspective.

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
Feminist art was not regarded as a movement per se but a revolutionary strategy intended to challenge received assessments of modernism, formal values, and stylistic hierarchies.

From The Reader's Companion to US Women's History
Feminist literary criticism can be defined as the study of literature by women, or the interpretation of any text written with an attention to gender dynamics or a focus on female characters.

From The Penguin Dictionary of Sociology
In general terms, feminist social theory is concerned to understand and explain the subordinate position of women in society by reference to gender differences and specifically in terms of a theory of patriarchy.

From The Reader's Companion to US Women's History
Feminist theology is not primarily reflection on special “feminine” themes in theology and does not intend to create a special subcategory of theology relevant primarily to women. Rather, feminist theology arises from a recognition that traditional theology in Christianity (and other major religions) has been created almost exclusively by males.

From World of Sociology
Men’s Studies is rooted in the politics of the pro-feminist men’s movement, which supports the basic tenets of feminism and embraces the goal of eliminating men’s privilege over women.

Women’s studies has its roots in the social ferment of the late 1960s and 1970s. The continuing movement for civil rights among people of color, the anti–Vietnam War movement, and the women’s liberation movement criticized both the structure of educational institutions and the content of scholarship. For feminists the former critique led to the development of affirmative action programs, while the latter led to the founding of the field of women’s studies.