Yielding Gender

Yielding Gender: A Feminist Critique of Philosophy's History By Penelope Deutscher Routledge, 1997, Paperback, 224 pages Traditional accounts of the feminist history of philosophy have often been based on an assumption that reason is associated with masculinity. However, recent debates in deconstruction have shown that gender is a complex and unstable concept. This book explores how deconstruction can be used to challenge traditional feminist interpretations of the history of philosophy. Deutscher examines three key areas: the concept of 'troubled' gender, deconstruction, and feminist criticism of philosophical thought. She considers the work of key thinkers such as Judith Butler, Jacques Derrida, and Luce Irigiray, and argues that their ideas can be used to reinterpret the history of philosophy in a more nuanced way. By challenging traditional readings of philosophers like Rousseau, St. Augustine, and Simone de Beauvoir, Deutscher reveals how these thinkers' views on gender were often empowered by its own contradictions rather than limited by them.