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Feminist epistemology studies how gender affects personal knowledge and how men view women’s knowledge. It also examines access to knowledge, feminine ways of thinking, and unique knowledge possessed by women. Postmodern theories are applied to examine societal structures and inequalities.
Feminist epistemology is the study of how a person’s gender, or especially a woman’s gender, affects her body of personal knowledge. The theory states that men and women view the world in different ways, leading to a difference in knowledge between the sexes. The way women learn about the world around them is also studied by feminist epistemology.
Feminist epistemology also covers how men view women’s knowledge on various topics. Some men, and even women, believe that some topics are within a woman’s understanding or knowledge, such as cleaning the house or understanding fashion trends, while other areas are beyond her capabilities, such as engineering principles or home repairs. For example, men may not give credibility to a female plumber, believing that women know little or nothing about plumbing.
The study of feminist epistemology also includes looking at how women might be barred from access to certain bodies of knowledge in a society. Scholars examine if women are allowed to make intellectual inquiries in a society, or if there are certain subjects or areas of knowledge that women are either not allowed to access or are discouraged from doing so. Educational systems of various types are also examined scholars, who look for policies or practices that punish or penalize students who use feminine ways of thinking. Programs that have high ratios of female students are compared to programs that have low ratios of female students, helping to highlight differences and possible causes.
Empiricism is a part of feminist epistemology, which examines how a woman’s diverse experiences provide her with knowledge unavailable to men. Feminists argue that the unique body of knowledge possessed by women should be recognized and valued in society. For example, a company such as an automaker could take advantage of this knowledge, employing female engineers to design vehicles that meet women’s unique needs and preferences.
Postmodern theories have also been applied to feminist epistemology, with varying results. Most familiar to the general public is the postmodern feminist critical view of the inequalities between men and women in a society. The application of postmodern theory leads feminists to examine more closely how the structures of a society and the organizations that exist in a society contribute to inequalities between the sexes. The impact of word use on how men and women perceive women’s roles in society, such as the use of the word “oppression,” are studied as part of postmodern feminist epistemology.
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