Essentialism
Essentialism – a term used to describe theories that assume the existence of fixed, timeless, and universal qualities shared by things or subjects belonging to a particular category. In gender theory, essentialism refers to the belief in a stable “female essence” or “feminine nature.”
A necessary feature of such theories is binary opposition: woman is defined in contrast to man. From an essentialist perspective, the characteristics by which the sexes are distinguished are regarded as universal, natural, and self-evident.
Strong essentialist assumptions are often associated with some forms of radical ecofeminism, especially those that emphasize women’s kinship with nature. The work of Carol Gilligan, an American feminist scholar and one of the key figures associated with difference feminism, has also been criticized for essentialism.
In gender studies, the main opponents of essentialism are constructivist theorists, who argue that sex, gender, sexuality, and related phenomena are historically and socially produced rather than fixed by nature.
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