Feminism From The Perspective Of The Western Male Scholars

In response to a long-existing dead zone in the academic research of feminism, this dissertation aims to correct the one-dimensional perspective in feminism research: feminism is only related to female and has nothing to do with male scholars. Starting with the relation between western male thinkers and feminism, this paper studies the feminism examined from the perspective of western male thinkers and proceeds with the discussion of western male thinkers' contribution to feminism research by summarizing and commenting these thinkers' interpretation and construction with regard to feminism as well as their practice of feminism criticism. It is proposed that feminism in the western world is not a business exclusively for women, and feminism is closely connected with male scholars; feminism involves the male scholars'participation and requires their attentive and enthusiastic views. Introduction of male perspectives remedied the defect of one-sided angle of feminism, equipping feminism with the reflexivity of perspectives from both genders, thus contributing to overall examination and profound introspection.Feminism is accomplished and involved jointly by both man and woman. The researchers of feminism involves male and female. Feminists also include both genders.The paper consists of introduction, main body and conclusion. The introduction discusses the achievement and feminism study and the significance of introducing male perspective while expounding the line of thought, structuring and reinterpretation of some concepts.In the main body, Chapter One focuses on western male thinkers'contribution to feminism. This part develops from three parts respectively: male thinkers' concern and support for feminism; their interpretation of and study on feminism theory; their involvement and participation in feminism criticism.Chapter Two illustrates the relation between feminism and British Marxist literary theorist Terry Eagleton, who interprets gender politics from aesthetic dimension, combines Marxism with gender, body politics and applies feminism approaches to critical practice.Chapter Three mainly analyzes the relations between feminism and American representative deconstructionist Jonathan Culler, who elaborates women reading theory from three facets:reading and interpretation of women experience, women reading identifying with men and women reading asserting reason, and also constructs feminist theory from the perspective of specific women reading.Chapter Four emphasizes the relations between constructive psychoanalyst Jacque Lacan, whose mirror stage, the symbolic order and sexuation theory discards Freud's biological determinism and completely turns to linguistic ontology, putting forward the famous assertion "Woman does not exist." Lacanian gender theory criticizes the stable status identity of gender and lays an important foundation foer feminist construction.Chapter Five studies the relation between feminism and pioneering deconstructionist Jacque Derrida. Derrida's deconstructionist theory, which subverts western traditional ideology by deconstructing binary opposition in sex and demolishing logocentrism, has become an important tool in idea and approach adopted by feminist theory to criticize androcentrism.Chapter Six mainly expounds the relations between feminism and post-constructionist theorist Michel Foucault. Foucault's theory about discourse power, body and sex not only provides feminism with methodological inspiration but forms a crucial part of western feminist theoretical construct.Chapter Seven discusses western male scholars' reflection on women liberation and analyzes the reasons for male scholars'involvement in feminist research, indicating the prospect of gender theory in feminist theory.The conclusion elaborates the similarities and differences between Chinese and western male scholars in feminist study, points out the flaws of Chinese male scholars and indicates the prospect and direction of feminist study from the perspective of Chinese male scholars.