Feminist theory
extension of feminism into theoretical and philosophical discourse with the aim of understanding gender inequality
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into theoretical, fictional, or philosophical discourse. It aims to understand the nature of gender inequality. It examines women's and men's social roles, experiences, interests, chores, and feminist politics in a variety of fields, such as anthropology and sociology, communication, media studies, psychoanalysis, political theory, home economics, literature, education, and philosophy.
Feminist theory often focuses on analyzing gender inequality. Themes often explored in feminist theory include discrimination, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, patriarchy, stereotyping, art history and contemporary art, and aesthetics.
History
"The Changing Woman" is a Navajo myth that gave credit to a woman who, in the end, populated the world. By the 1790s, the leading feminist voice in both the U.K. and U.S. was Mary Wollstonecraft, whose A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792) was influenced by the lesser-known American Judith Sargent Murray. Both women asserted that the best route to improving women's condition is education. Their ideas influenced American Charles Brockden Brown, who wrote Dialogues of Alcuin in 1797. The Anglophone world saw no feminist theory of note until "Men and Women: Brief Hypothesis Concerning the Difference in their Genius" (1824) by American John Neal, who repeated Wollstonecraft's and Murray's theories, but added the assertion that women are unlike, but not inferior to men.
The public source identifies “Feminist theory” as extension of feminism into theoretical and philosophical discourse with the aim of understanding gender inequality. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Feminist, theory and extension.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Feminist theory”, the useful work is to connect “extension of feminism into theoretical and philosophical discourse with the aim of understanding gender inequality” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4810748. The Library of Congress control number is sh90002282. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1792, 1797 and 1824.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Feminist theory”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Feminist theory primary sources, Feminist theory archive and Feminist research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Feminist theory”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Feminist theory” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.