Feminism
Genitals

A body of texts and practices aimed at determining and resisting the functioning and consequences of patriarchal societies, understood to be directly dependent upon the subordination of women. However, in recent years, the very idea of a stable subject called "woman" has come under attack. Undoubtely, patriarchal societies hail and recognize "women" as subjects. However, woman is the end result of a process that begins with biological sex, works its way through gender, and then into performances of that gender that rightly determine the characteristics that separate the sexes. Each of these points have been argued against as innately determining a persons "gender". For some theorists, biological sex is an attempt by gendered discourses to naturalize itself. Furthermore, gender presumes a performativity, in act and speech, that breaks down at various times and indicates resistance to stereotyped gender roles. The performativity of gender and the notion a universal subject called "woman" gets complicated by intersections with race and sexual preference.

Connects to:
Gender Oedipalization Queer Theory