Feminist Epistemology

This chapter constitutes a defense and definition of feminist epistemology, a field that may at first appear oxymoronic. Epistemology in general had been considered apolitical until the establishment of the Society for Women in Philosophy. Where a woman philosopher would once remain an anomaly in a field primarily undertaken by men, there now exists an institution that questions its members as to their place in the male-dominated hierarchy. Men are, after all, considered the generic-the default paradigm that defines the members of the field, and ultimately, excludes the rest. Addressing that paradigm isn't so simple, however, as women's issues must still take into account the fact that race, sexuality, class, and other factors can marginalize other women because the scholarship can emphasize the experience of more privileged women. With these in mind, there must necessarily be a "mutual containment of philosophy and politics".