Feminisms, caring and women’s knowledge

Abstract

One of the main difficulties I encountered in writing this chapter was what to include and what not to include. As there are many forms of feminism, inclusion of them all was not possible. However, at the same time, I wished to give some recognition to the diversities of feminism. As a result, I opted for a compromise. In order to demonstrate diversity, the chapter starts with a brief discussion of three traditionally strong strands of feminism — liberal feminism, Marxist feminism and radical feminism. I then concentrate in depth on two branches of feminism that have particular salience to nursing. The first is cultural feminism, which I explore through the work of Carol Gilligan (1982), using as a nursing example Winifred Pinch’s (1994) study of care for women with HIV/AIDS. The second approach is that of standpoint feminism, interrogated largely through the work of Hilary Rose (1986) and linked to nursing through Elizabeth Hagell’s ‘Nursing knowledge: women’s knowledge’ (1989).