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Radical Feminism Essay

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Radical Feminisms Essay
Introduction
“Lesbian feminism”, “Cultural feminism”, “lesbian continuum”, “woman-identified-woman”, “lesbian existence”; What do all these words have in common? Radical feminism is the link between all the above terms, as they are most commonly associated with this feminist theory. Radical feminism is primarily focused on the oppression of women through the patriarchy. More specifically, Radical feminists identify patriarchy as being “a culture of control and domination over women’s bodies and their sexuality” (Bromley, 2012, Pg. 77). Through this essay, I will demonstrate how China 's secret 'women only ' language, “Nushu”, exemplifies Radical feminism. Specifically, I will discuss how the patriarchal oppression over …show more content…

As I stated before, Radical feminists see the patriarchy as being the root of gender oppression. Nushu was originally created as a result of the patriarchal oppression of women in the Hunan Province of China. During the time when Nushu was commonly practiced, much of China was structured around the patriarchal system. All over China women were being highly oppressed. Specifically acts of oppression in the Hunan province included; foot binding, extreme isolation, and denied access to literacy. Also, women were expected to follow the “three obedience’s”— “obey one’s father, husband, and son” (Young, …show more content…

First, Radical feminism focuses too heavily on essentialism – who’s to say what constitutes a female body? Next, the Radical feminist theory homogenizes women, as if we are all the same, which we clearly aren’t. Like several other feminist theories, Radical feminism also is somewhat racist and fully Eurocentric. Radical feminists marginalize certain types of women, while liberating others. And finally, Radical feminism segregates women by mainly focusing on the idea of being “lesbian”, which often leads to the exclusion of heterosexual women, or women who do not identify as lesbian. There is certainly still some room for improvement in regards to the fundamentals of Radical feminism. However, I still feel that the ideals of Radical feminism have made a significant difference in the lives of many women around the

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