Type of Document Master's Thesis Author Fulfer, Katherine Nicole Author's Email Address kfulfer1@student.gsu.edu URN etd-04202008-093433 Title THE CONCEPT OF “WOMAN”: FEMINISM AFTER THE ESSENTIALISM CRITIQUE Degree Master of Arts Department Philosophy Advisory Committee
Advisor Name Title Andrew I. Cohen Committee Co-Chair Christie J. Hartley Committee Co-Chair Andrew Altman Committee Member Keywords
- essentialism
- feminism
- sexual harassment
- oppression
- pornography
- rape
- essentialist critique
Date of Defense 2008-04-02 Availability unrestricted Abstract Although feminists resist accounts that define women as having certain features that are essential to their being women, feminists are also guilty of giving essentialist definitions. Because women are extremely diverse in their experiences, the essentialist critics question whether a universal (non-essentialist) account of women can be given. I argue that it is possible to formulate a valuable category of woman, despite potential essentialist challenges. Even with diversity among women, women are oppressed as women by patriarchal structures such as rape, pornography, and sexual harassment that regulate women’s sexuality and construct women as beings whose main role is to service men’s sexual needs.Files
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