Feminist geography is an approach to study in human geography which applies the theories, methods and critiques of feminism to the study of the human environment, society and geographical space.[1]
Feminist geography is often considered part of a broader postmodern approach to the subject, often drawing from the theories of Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida, Judith Butler and more recently integrating some of the criticisms of feminism from postcolonial theorists. The concern tends to be with the real experiences of individuals and groups in their own localities, upon the geographies that they live in within their own communities, rather than theoretical development without emprical work.[1]
Feminist geography can be considered as much an approach to the subject, than a specific sub-discipline. Many feminist geographers study the same subjects as other geographers, but often with a focus on gender divisions.[2] This concern has developed into a concern with wider issues of gender, family, sexuality etc. Examples of areas of focus which stem from this include:
In addition to its analysis of the real world, it also critiques existing geographical and social studies, arguing that academic traditions are delineated by patriarchy, and that contemporary studies which do not confront the nature of previous work reinforce the masculine bias of academic study.[3] The British Geographer Gillian Rose'sFeminism and Geography[1] is one such sustained criticism, focused on Human Geography in Britain as being historically masculinist in it's approach. This includes the writing of landscape as feminine (and thus as subordinate to male geographers) and in limiting the areas of study by not considering the importance of gender.
^ abc Rose, Gillian (1993) Feminism and Geography: The Limits of Geographical Knowledge Univ. of Minnesota Press
^ McDowell, Linda (1993) Space, place and gender relations in Progress in Human Geography 17(2)
^ Moss, Pamela, 2007 Feminisms in Geography: Rethinking Space, Place, and Knowledges Rowman & Littlefield Publishers ISBN 9780742538290
Further reading
McDowell, Linda (1992) Doing gender: feminisms, feminists and research methods in human geography. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 17, 399-416.
McDowell, Linda; and Sharp, Joanne P. (eds). (1999). A Feminist Glossary of Human Geography. London: Arnold.
Pratt, Geraldine (2004) "Working Feminism." Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Gillian Rose (1993) Feminism and Geography: The Limits of Geographical Knowledge Univ. of Minnesota Press
Seager, Joni and Nelson, Lise. (eds) (2004) Companion to Feminist Geography (Blackwell Companions to Geography). Blackwell Publishers, ISBN 1-4051-0186-5
Valentine, Gill. (2004) Public Space and the Culture of Childhood. London:Ashgate
