Viewpoints and Comments: The Changing Face of Feminism: Dilemmas of the Feminist Academic (original) (raw)

2000, Sociological Bulletin

The past couple of decades have seen a profusion of feminist work in the academia, a great part of such work being in the humanities and social sciences. Many subjects, such as literature and art, have been influenced and even transformed by feminist writings. The blooming of feminist theory has been accompanied by the emergence of another field, that of Women's Studies, which may take the form of an exclusive department, or topics related to women may be included in different course curricula. Whatever its form, Women's Studies is an integral part of the feminist project, and the presence of the doctrine of feminism and feminist theory within the university education system is an established fact. However, in this write-up, I would like to allude to some problems regarding the theoretical framework(s) related to feminism as also the actual everyday grounded behaviour of those engaged in this pursuit. Is feminism truly a success story? Are the feminist academics fighting against the conservative forces, and side by side, becoming the authors of reform? Or is it all a fantasy, a falsehood, and above all, wishful thinking aimed at deluding ourselves? I have tried to look at these questions by taking up two issues. First, what is the state of feminist studies today and second, what are the feminist academics actually doing. The first I shall deal with by taking recourse to secondary sources, while the second is examined from my own experiences as a professional in higher education. Feminism and Feminist Theory Let's begin with feminism itself. There is always a problem explicating terms like feminism. Simply put, feminism can be defined as the doctrine advancing the view that women are systematically disadvantaged and are