French Feminisms

In this text, Gill Allwood explores theories of masculinity emerging from French feminist theories of gender and from French feminist practice concerning violence towards women, highlighting both the commonalities and the specificities of the French case. She discusses the particular concern of French theorists with seduction, their rejection of the term "gender" and the centrality of the difference debate. In the first part of the book, Allwood separately examines feminist theories of gender and sexual difference and the problem of male violence. She goes on to consider the developments which are taking place on the borderline between the two, examining the way in which these developments have contributed to an understanding of masculinity. Readdressing problems and debates that will be familiar to English-speaking readers, the text exposes cultural differences and similarities in the ways in which these problems are approached and it provides a detailed account of the changes in both feminist action and theory in France in recent years. This analysis of feminism in France should be of interest to student and scholars in French studies, European studies, gender studies and cultural studies.