Chapter 7 Feminist Theory

Dorothy Smith (1926-present)

Did odd jobs to survive

Doctorate in sociology (1963)

U.C. Berkley worked as researcher

In the Late 1960s:

Returned to England because of personal reasons

Taught one of the first women's sociology/study class

Women's movement became big

Well known for her standpoint theory

Where you stand in society

What you know is effect by where you stand

No-one can have completely objective knowledge

No two people can have exactly the same standpoint

We must not take the standpoint from which we speak for granted

Important foundation points

Standpoint of Genders

This experience affects how we look at reality

Men are consistently privileged and women are devalued.

Male upper class is dominate and they dominate the world

Dorothy has Marx's roots...