in:
Feminist social thought
New York:
1997
,
200 - 218 S.
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Weitere Informationen
| Einrichtung: | Ariadne | Wien |
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| Verfasst von: | Calhoun, Cheshire |
| In: | Feminist social thought |
| Jahr: | 1997 |
| Sprache: | Englisch |
| Beschreibung: | |
| A number of lesbian theorists have treated lesbian theory as a species of feminist theory. Calhoun rejects collapsing lesbian theory into feminist theory. On her view, heterosexism and patriarchy are analytically distinct social systems. Thus, the interests of heterosexual feminists and lesbians diverge in some respects, and emancipatory lesbian political programs may not always coincide with feminist politics. Calhoun is skeptical of attempts to assimilate lesbian politics to gay rights, for this movement fails to address the overlap between women's oppression and lesbian oppression, and it ignores patriarchal attitudes among gay men. Still, lesbian politics does not merge well with feminist politics, either, for lesbians are oppressed in ways that heterosexual women are not. Whereas heterosexual feminists meinly want to reconstruct the category of "woman" in ways that sever it from male dominance, lesbians are positioned as "not-women" and thus are denied the option of reconstructing the category to make it fit them better. Calhoun characterizes lesbian experience as being oppressed by being a not-woman in a society that requires everyone to be a woman or a man and by a norm of womanliness that denies the lesbian's love for and sexual attraction to a particular woman. Moreover, she characterizes heterosexuality as a political system that is related to, yet distinct from patriarchy. Heterosexuality identifies male-female couples as fundamental to the social structure and as the only legitimate site of sexuality, childbearing, childrearing, and kinship. Only heterosexual couples have socio-politico-legal standing. Since lesbians are denied these heterosexual privileges, it is important for them, though not for heterosexual feminists, to demand the right of access to sexual-romantic-marital-familial relationships. Calhoun concludes that prohibiting discriminiation based on sexual orientation and legalizing domestic partnerships will not give lesbians and gays genuine socio-politico-legal standing, for anti-discrimination laws do not touch on domestic relations, and domestic partnerships are inferiorized marriages. | |
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