福柯的身体理论对女性主义的影响及其局限

福柯身体理论的主要论点是权力关系在社会领域内通过身体进行运作,女性主义由此得出结论,从生物差异角度建构的性别不平等理论对维持社会等级关系起到重要作用。尽管身体理论影响巨大,但在一些关键方面有很大的局限性,如缺乏对身体性别特点的关注,更严重的局限性在于对权力单向度的分析,把个体降级为驯服的身体,因此无法解释妇女在当代社会的丰富体验。女性主义者通过对女性经验和历史的再发现和重估揭示了女性不再是被动牺牲品。福柯对个体作为被动身体的诠释在无意识中又将妇女推向被动的沉默地位。

Impact and Limitation of Foucault's Body Theory to Feminism

Foucault＇s theory of body maintains that the power relations operate principally through the human body in the social realm.Therefore,feminists come to the conclusion that the theory of gender inequality constructed from biological differences is central to the maintenance of social hierarchies.Despite its great contribution,it is limited in some crucial aspects.It fails to give attention to the gendered character of the disciplined body.Furthermore,a more serious flaw is the unidimensional analysis of the power and the reduction of individuals to docile bodies,thus failing to explain the rich experiences of women in modern society.Feminists recognize the need to show that women are more than passive victims of domination through the rediscovery and revaluation of their experiences and history.Foucault＇s interpretation of individuals as passive bodies has pushed women back into the position of passivity and silence.