Rational Woman: A Feminist Critique of Dualism (Routledge Innovations in Political Theory, 2)

To feminists and some postmodernists reason/emotion and man/woman represent two fundamental polarities, fixed deep within Western philosophy and reflected in the structures of our languages, and two sets of hierarchical power relations in patriarchal society. Raia Prokhovnik challenges the tradition of dualism and argues that rational woman need no longer be a contradiction in terms. Prokhovnik examines in turn: · the nature of dichotomy, its problems and an alternative · the reason/emotion dichotomy · dichotomies central to the man/woman dualism, such as sex/gender and the heterosexual/ist norm Book Cover......Page 1 Title......Page 4 Contents......Page 5 Preface......Page 10 Introduction......Page 12 Dichotomy: from the dichotomous either/or to the relational both-and......Page 31 The features of dichotomy......Page 34 Problems with dichotomy......Page 42 An alternative to dichotomy......Page 49 Reason and emotion......Page 61 The links between reason and emotion in theorizing......Page 69 The social construction of emotion......Page 101 Conclusion......Page 113 Sex and gender: beyond the sex/gender dichotomy to corporeal subjectivity......Page 114 The (recent) history of sex and gender......Page 120 The critique of sex and gender......Page 124 Towards 'corporeal subjectivity'......Page 148 Conclusion. The third wave: the future of feminism......Page 163 The end of the second wave......Page 164 The future of feminism: the third wave......Page 176 Notes......Page 182 Bibliography......Page 187 Index......Page 203 The author challenges the tradition of dualism and argues that Rational Woman need no longer be a contradiction in terms. She explores this in the context of recent feminist theory and practice, arguing that a new wave of feminism is emerging Raia Prokhovnik. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 176-191) And Index.