Feminist Research: Challenges Before Male Essay Example

research. It opposes gender bias that presents women as subordinate or passive, striving not only to study but also to empower them (Burns, 2005). Additionally, feminist research tackles significant philosophical concerns such as ontology and epistemology, extending beyond a mere methodology subject.

According to Reinharz (1992), there are ten assertions of Feminist research, one of which is that feminism is a viewpoint rather than a research technique. Feminism involves continual evaluation of non-feminist scholarship, is led by feminist theory, and has the goal of effecting social transformation. Additionally, there exist various approaches to feminist research due to differing theoretical explanations for gender-based oppressions and inequalities. Feminist theories endeavor to clarify, dispute, and ultimately alter existing gender relations.

The research method follows a feminist perspective by aiming to understand the experiences of both sexes, examining gender-based disparities and power imbalances. Nevertheless, male researchers often work within a patriarchal framework that perpetuates it by attributing women's challenges to societal systems instead of acknowledging systemic oppression.

The perception that feminist research disregards crucial criteria like measurement, validity, objectivity, reliability, representativeness, and generalization while rejecting quantitative methods is widely held. However, this notion is not entirely accurate as some feminists may still adhere to it. During the 1960s and 1970s when feminist activism aimed at ending women's exclusion from public life by highlighting their confinement to the private sphere, feminist research adopted a political agenda.

In the 1970s and 1980s, feminist empiricists questioned the validity of knowledge which primarily focused on masculine topics and reflected male experiences. They argued that the theoretical frameworks were based on masculine gender identity in contemporary culture and the narrative constructed promoted

the interests of men as a group, marginalizing women. The whole symbolic order by which knowledge claims were articulated privileged male experiences and conceptualized females as lacking characteristics associated with masculinity. As a result, several writers advocated for a feminist epistemology during this period, including Corman (1978), Lehrer (1974), Pollock (1979, 1986) (Webb, 2000).

It may be challenging for men to research women's experiences. If men do take on this task, they need to give control over the design and execution of the research to a critical reference group of women. Furthermore, they may be less inclined to study women's experiences directly and instead focus on their own dissatisfaction with patriarchal elements. Men should investigate how men establish and maintain the structures of subordination that affect women. Feminist methodology can be applicable to men conducting research about their own experiences and those of other men with the goal of transforming oppressive practices.