French feminism

Feminist movement that took place in France is referred as French feminism. French feminist movement has taken two different forms: materialist feminism and psychoanalytical feminism. Materialist feminism focuses on the social and economic oppression over the women and the psychoanalytical feminism centers on the psychological experience of the women.

The most important materialist feminist are Simone de Beauvoir and Christine Delphy. They criticized the social and economic discrimination for the women. Beauvoir said that the patriarchal ideology is basically false. She said woman is not born but made. It means the concept of is not born but this concept is made by society. There is great difference between gender and sex for her. The concept or the image of the woman is not biological but social and cultural. Patriarchy believes that men are essential and women are inessential. This concept is false for her. She said that marriage has also trapped and stunted women’s intellectual growth and freedom. Therefore, Simone de Beauvoir criticizes economic system of the patriarchal tradition. Another materialistic feminist is Christine Delphy. She said that marriage is a labor contract that ties women to unpaid domestic labor. The women become labors in the hand of the men for the housework and childbirth. Patriarchy defines them as the non-workers and they don’t have to pay anything. Men get the labor free of charge. This is the view of Delohy. Another materialist feminist is Colette Guillaumin who said that women are defined as sexual beings but men are defined as decision makers. Some of the important psychoanalyses feminist are Helene  Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva. Helene Cixous said that patriarchy is false because they believe that women are guided by the mind. The patriarchal concept that women do not have logic and intellect is false for her. Patriarchal psychology says that reason lies above lies above the neck and women are guided by the heart which is under the neck. So ,Cixous criticized the psychological issues. Another woman Luce Irigaray suggests that the whole psychological theory is wrong because it is developed by the male, Sigmund Freud. He is guided by the patriarchal thinking. Finally Julia Kristeva said that whole cultural semiotics is false because the term semiotics is the sign system which is basically false. In this way, French feminist reject the patriarchal values. This movement of the women that took place in France is called French feminism