Page 66 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, št. 3-4: K paradigmam raziskovanja vzgoje in izobraževanja, ur. Valerija Vendramin
P. 66
šolsko polje, letnik xxix, številka 3–4
Nevertheless, this paper will begin somewhat teleologically and lat
er highlight the importance of the heuristic and ontological dimensions
of feminism. Feminist research has always taken an interest in the field
of education as an area of important critical reflection. The focus of main
feminist concerns in education has shifted through time. To quote Gaby
Weiner (1995: p. 2–3):
Feminists working in education have certainly moved forward in the last
two decades from the position of having to provide evidence of female
disadvantages and gender discrimination in order to enable girls’ and
women’s issues to be placed on the educational agenda to articulating
a value system and practice of feminist education that allows for greater
sexual equality at the same time as acknowledging the differences that
separate women.
In this regard, the important questions are those concerned with
what different perspectives and strands of feminism have to offer and in
what ways they could influence or deal with gendered relations of power in
education, since particular forms of feminism can contribute to a myriad
of different outcomes. Focusing on the field of education, the dimensions
of the current postfeminist climate will first be examined and contextual
ised as a legacy of liberal feminism, based on dualistic logic. Discussing the
inaccuracies of the popular postfeminist stance that feminism is no longer
needed in today’s society, an attempt at a possible reconceptualisation of
postfeminism will be outlined. It will be grounded in the concept of tran
stemporal interaction proposed here, establishing open spaces for critical
conversations and interactions with our foremothers and fellow contem
porary feminists, while adopting and contributing to a set of feminist ide
as needed in contemporary postfeminist society. By engaging in this, we
acquire and disseminate different, more radical feminist ideas enabling us
to use postfeminism as a “conceptual tool” to address the complex impli
cations of various forms of feminism (such as liberal feminism) over time
(Ringrose, 2007).
Conceptualising postfeminism
Conceptualising postfeminism: various definitions and liberal
feminist heritage
There is an ongoing debate in feminist circles about postfeminism and how
to conceptualise it. Is it a continuation of feminism or a historical break
with it? The term is contested and has been thematised in various differ
ent ways: as a historical shift, as a backlash against feminism, to capture a
sense of an epistemological break within feminism, suggesting alignment
64
Nevertheless, this paper will begin somewhat teleologically and lat
er highlight the importance of the heuristic and ontological dimensions
of feminism. Feminist research has always taken an interest in the field
of education as an area of important critical reflection. The focus of main
feminist concerns in education has shifted through time. To quote Gaby
Weiner (1995: p. 2–3):
Feminists working in education have certainly moved forward in the last
two decades from the position of having to provide evidence of female
disadvantages and gender discrimination in order to enable girls’ and
women’s issues to be placed on the educational agenda to articulating
a value system and practice of feminist education that allows for greater
sexual equality at the same time as acknowledging the differences that
separate women.
In this regard, the important questions are those concerned with
what different perspectives and strands of feminism have to offer and in
what ways they could influence or deal with gendered relations of power in
education, since particular forms of feminism can contribute to a myriad
of different outcomes. Focusing on the field of education, the dimensions
of the current postfeminist climate will first be examined and contextual
ised as a legacy of liberal feminism, based on dualistic logic. Discussing the
inaccuracies of the popular postfeminist stance that feminism is no longer
needed in today’s society, an attempt at a possible reconceptualisation of
postfeminism will be outlined. It will be grounded in the concept of tran
stemporal interaction proposed here, establishing open spaces for critical
conversations and interactions with our foremothers and fellow contem
porary feminists, while adopting and contributing to a set of feminist ide
as needed in contemporary postfeminist society. By engaging in this, we
acquire and disseminate different, more radical feminist ideas enabling us
to use postfeminism as a “conceptual tool” to address the complex impli
cations of various forms of feminism (such as liberal feminism) over time
(Ringrose, 2007).
Conceptualising postfeminism
Conceptualising postfeminism: various definitions and liberal
feminist heritage
There is an ongoing debate in feminist circles about postfeminism and how
to conceptualise it. Is it a continuation of feminism or a historical break
with it? The term is contested and has been thematised in various differ
ent ways: as a historical shift, as a backlash against feminism, to capture a
sense of an epistemological break within feminism, suggesting alignment
64
