Feminist Standpoint Theory and Communication

Feminist theory as a mode of inquiry is very influential in western as well as

eastern academy. Feminist theory incorporates different viewpoints; but in general it

deals with ideas about social life and human experience from women centered

perspective. It is women centered in three ways. First, its major “object” of investigation

is the situations and experiences of women in society. Second, it treats women as central

“subjects” in the investigative process. Third, feminist theory is critical and activist on

behalf of women (Lengermann & Brantley, 2004, p. 436). Feminist standpoint theory as a

conceptual framework posits that research should be grounded in women’s experiences,

which, as Sandra Harding explains, should act as “a significant indicator of the ‘reality’

against which hypotheses are tested” (Harding, 1991 p. 7). This “reality” is based on “the

perspective of women's lives” rather than on “assumptions and practices that appear

natural or unremarkable from the perspective of the lives of men in the dominant groups”

(Harding, 1991, p. 150).

Nancy Hartsock’s article, “The feminists standpoint: Towards a specifically

feminist historical materialism,” is often considered as the locus classicus of feminist

standpoint theory (Hallstein, 2000, p. 1). Feminist scholars like Sandra Harding and

Patricia Hill Collins also contributed to develop this concept. Standpoint theory deals

with production of knowledge and practices of power. Although there are multiple and

distinct feminist standpoint theories, “they are all grounded in one central and founding

idea: Knowledge is socially located and arises in social positions that are structured by

power relations” (Hallstein, 1999, p.32). Multiple versions of reality exist depending on a

group’s location within largely patriarchal and hierarchical social contexts (Hallstein,
1999). Marginalized people see the world from both their own standpoint and that of

those in power, whereas those in power do not need to consider the standpoint of others

in order to survive (Littlejohn & Foss, 2005). Feminist standpoint theory “places the life

experiences of marginalized groups at the center of the research project. It then directs

the view of the researcher toward the social structures that shape the lives of the group

members” (Swigonski, 1994, p. 387).

Feminist standpoint theory, as an intellectual project, is rooted in philosophy and

literature. It gets theoretical impetus from Georg Hegel, Karl Marx, and Friedrich Engels.

In 1807, German philosopher Georg Hegel analyzed the master-slave relationship to

show that people know about themselves, others, and society depends on which group

they are in. Following Hegel’s lead, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels referred to the

proletarian standpoint. They suggested that the impoverished poor who provide sweat are

society’s ideal knowers, as long as they understand the class struggle in which they are

involved (Griffin, 2003, p. 476-477). Standpoint theorists posit that epistemology

depends upon, in Sandra Harding's terms, "socially situated knowledge" (Harding, 1991,

p. 138) that is determined by the knower's social position, particularly by the power

relationships that structure his or her life. According to this way of thinking, marginalized

group are not only force to develop their own standpoints from a less privileged position

but they also need to understand the position of dominant group of society. They become,

as Patricia Hill Collins (1986) has said “outsider within”. It imply that even though a

woman, especially woman of color may become influential in a particular field, she may

feel as though she never quite belongs. Essentially, their personalities, behaviors, and

cultural beings overshadow their true value as an individual; thus, they become the
outsider within (Collins, 1986, p. S14).She also recognized differences among women

along the lines of class, race/ethnicity and sexuality (Krolokke & Sorensen, 2006, p. 32).

Feminist standpoint theory asserts that knowledge has four basic characteristics. First, it

is produced from the standpoint of embodied actors situated in differently located social

structure. Second, it is always partial, never total and objective. Third, it is produced in

and varies among groups and, to some degree, among actors within groups. Fourth, it is

always affected by power relations (Lengermann & Brantley, 2004, p. 468).

Feminist communication scholar Marsha Houston (1992) applied standpoint

theory in the field of communication. She has documented African American women’s

production of knowledge and their communication practices. She claimed that Black

women are at once united and divided by complex circumstances; they have multilayered

experiences and therefore develop multiple tiers of consciousness. Another scholar Julia

Wood (1994) describes her own situation as a white, heterosexual, professional woman

who for nine years took on the consuming responsibility of caring for her infirm parents

until they died. She asserts that gendered communication practices reflect and reinforce

our societal expectation that care giving is women’s job. Communication scholar Sonja

Foss and Cindy griffin incorporate standpoint theory in rhetoric studies. They assert that

from Aristotle on down, the study or practices of rhetoric have been concerned with how

to persuade others and thus gain control over them. They termed it paternalistic bias

(Griffin, 2003, p. 484). They propounded a concept of “offering”, which imply that

“rhetors” tell what they currently know or understand; they present their vision of the

world and show how it looks and works for them” (as cited Griffin, 2003, p. 484). They
consider this concept of offering as an alternative approach to rhetoric that more closely

reflects the lives of women.

Janifer Coates (1996) contends that women in her lifetime or even daily

participate in a range of contexts and change their performance accordingly (p.239). She

also mentioned that her informants explore and express different types of femininity:

“The talk we do in our everyday lives gives us access to these different modes of being,

these different versions of femininity” (p. 239). Deborah Cameron (1997) went even

further, suggesting that instead of looking for how women and men express themselves in

and by language, we should look for how we construct gender in and through discourse.

In her seminar essay “Talking Back” (1989), Bell hooks claimed that through language

and communication women of color expressed herself not a mere object rather achieved a

position of subject: “it is the act of speech, of ‘talking back’, that is no mere gesture of

empty words, that is the expression of our movement from object to subject-the liberated

voice” (Houston & Davis, 2002, p. 15).

Mary Bucholtz (1996) studied a radio panel discussion and found that two African

American women creatively subverted the norm of that particular context and format.

Through questions and assessments, deixis, vernacular features and backchanneling they

effectively restructure the speech situation, offered an alternative to the dominant

institutional conventions. Bucholtz (1995) also studied mixed race women. She contends

that ethnic identity, especially for those of ambiguous ethnicity, is a consciously

constructed product of self-presentation. The fluidity of ethnicity means that individuals

can authenticate themselves in a variety of ways, and language use is a particularly

effective tool in this process (p. 369).

 Feminist standpoint theory has received both enthusiasms and critics. It widens

the horizon of the feminist understanding of knowledge. And the debates it generate also

“forced feminism to examine itself, to be more self-conscious, self-aware, and self-

critical in developing its analyses and theories, and to attend more consistently to its

avowed goals of equality and inclusion” (Hirschmann, 1997, p. 74). It is also a useful tool

to understand women’s multiple and fluid identity construction and subverting strategies

to change the rule of the game.

Collins, P.H. (1986). Learning From the Outsider Within: The Sociological Significance

of Black Feminist Thought. Social Problems, 33 (6). S14–S32.