Women's Issues - Feminism Literary Essay

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It is clear that Butler is challenging the narrow definition of the female gender ("women") in several senses; one is that that the masculine power structure wants to stay in control by keeping women in "oppression" (of lesser importance in society than men). Another is that while feminists debate the question of "the universality of female identity" those feminists seem to seek to put together a "coalition" (p. 103) of women. But even that idea has problems, according to Butler, because despite the fact that putting together a coalition of several feminine cultures is a nice democratic exercise, the leader or leaders ("coalitional theorists") who try to put together that coalition may "inadvertently reinsert" themselves as "sovereign of the process."

What she means by that is that forcing unity on women's cultures makes it less than a natural evolution. Butler agrees that in order to put together a political coalition, there must be a goal ahead of the coalition-building process (p. 103). To make life better for women everywhere, some believe that "unity" among women's various cultures is necessary.

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But typically, Butler challenges that notion, as she indeed challenges most notions related to feminist ideas. Maybe unity is a good thing in some circumstances, she explains, but when women insist on a "premature...goal of unity" that may be followed by an "...ever more bitter fragmentation among the ranks..."

So, what she is saying is that setting an advanced, defined goal of women's "unity" is not a great idea; instead, she believes that there should be unity that springs up naturally around "provisional" movements. By not setting a "unity" agenda based on defining a feminine identity females can avoid the "compulsory expectation that feminist actions must be instituted from some stable, unified, and agreed-upon identity" (p. 103). Through the natural growth of women's movements (and coalitions), rather than defined goals ahead of time, the feminist movement will avoid "identity" problems. Then the feminist side of the gender ledger will be able to enjoy what Butler calls "multiple convergences and divergences" without being….....

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