Postmodern Feminist Theory and Future Prospects

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Faculty of Women, Ain Shams University, Egypt

Abstract

This paper discusses the fundamental differences that occurred in feminist theory after the emergence of postmodern theories, as instead of dealing with women's issues from a global human rights perspective; there has been a tendency to respect cultural specificities, while retaining the emphasis on the importance of freedom, preservation of humanity and anti-oppression. This trend deals with women as a soft force capable of changing the future of the world. It is more interested in the female style of leadership than in the partial issues of women, which change and multiply according to the nature of each society. This movement is concerned with the future vision in which leaders based on the power of dominance and patriarchal leadership depend on leaders capable of communication and giving, relational leadership i.e. the hope that the leadership style will shift from the vertical to the horizontal method, when women are allowed to express their human being. The oppression of women is linked to a collective consciousness that has been stored throughout history. In this context, woman becomes a symbol of inclusion, motherhood and communication. This maternally feminine style would change the world. Hence, female power is not limited to women, but it is a leadership style that appeared in history when human leaders made pivotal changes such as Gandhi and Martin Luther King, for example. The transition to a new historical stage depends on empowering women to lead and encouraging them to have confidence in themselves and not try to prove their abilities by adopting a dominant and controlling male style. This trend goes beyond paying attention to women's special issues to paying attention to women's discovery of their potential, and relies mainly on deep psychology in the hope of benefiting from this trend in theoretical and applied future studies.

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