WRITING A RESEARCH PAPER FOR A FEMINIST RESEARCH STUDY

Tips for Beginners

Writing is all about clarity, organization, and style. This article is dedicated to the process of writing research papers for qualitative feminist studies which provides useful information particularly for those who are beginners at the task. However, this article also provides useful information for those using quantitative methods. In order to understand the issues surrounding the task of writing a research paper for a feminist research study, we first need to discuss two other related issues: feminist research itself and academic writing.

Feminist Research and Academic Writing

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Feminist scholars have long been critical of mainstream modes of knowledge production and how knowledge is expressed in conventional academic writing. Feminist investigations are conducted based on feminist theory and perspective which oppose male-centeredness in the development of frameworks as well as the use of positivistic approaches that view knowledge as neutral and objective. Feminism does not see the truth as being only one truth, but it acknowledges many truths. Knowledge is not seen as being universal, but instead situated and partial. Following feminist theory, the nature of feminist research is: transdisciplinary, combining theories and methods from across various fields; self-reflective, always conscious of the writer’s identity and interweaves the writer’s experiences in the process of gaining knowledge; empowering, empowers the researcher/researched/readers; and transformative, its aim is social change.

Consequently, the current dominant form of academic writing which is largely influenced by privileged, white, straight male in the academy is seen by feminists as silencing the production of feminist knowledge and as being unsuitable for feminist studies.

While maintaining this critical view, feminist scholarship in general has kept its writing style well suited to the conventions of current academic writing. However, the praxis of feminist research methods has added new tools in their investigations to allow for subjectivity and inclusiveness. In line with this, feminist scholarship has set innovative examples which provide for flexibility, while maintaining “validity”, in academic writing. Nevertheless, there are feminist writers who have abandoned most of what they view as patriarchal norms in academic writing.

As this article is targeted at readers new to the topic of feminist research and academic writing and who may be writing papers for course assignments, the organization of thoughts proposed here are still in line with conventional academic writing, however it shall draw on specific feminist qualities.

How to Write your Paper

The following are tips to give you more insight on writing a research paper for a feminist research study.

1.    Begin with a concise introduction and clear problem statement. Like any other paper, you have to be clear about the issue you are raising. Your introduction should address what you are examining and the scope of the problem. Your introduction should also set the context. Is the particular issue you are raising a new issue (e.g., about a new economic policy, a new housing policy) or is it an issue that has been raised over the years and continues to be relevant (e.g., about unpaid care work, child care, violence against women)? Or are you focusing on a specific period (e.g., the gender ideology of a past government regime, the child care policy of a given government administration)? Does the issue extend to a more specific context (e.g., the urban areas of a particular country) or is your research wider in scope, such as a country case study or a regional study (e.g., Asian)?

Feminism recognizes women’s diversity and that identity is multifacet. Therefore, it recognizes that different women may be impacted in different ways by a similar situation. Be clear from the start about the women that your research is representing and whose voice is being heard. Acknowledge elements such as class, location, marital status, parental status, ethnic and religious background, education, disabilities, sexual orientation, age, etc.

2.    Affirm the relevance and importance of your issue in the introduction. Demonstrate the relevance of your issue with current developments within your field of study and within feminist discourse, and if relevant, with the emerging issues of the day. Issues concerning women and gender are generally treated as issues that are not as important as current political or economic issues, so it would be good if you can relate your issue with current developments and affirm its importance. Remember that your description of the issue you are raising is shaped by feminist theory. Explain why the issue needs to be looked at from a feminist or gender perspective.

3.    Write up a concise literature review. The issue you are raising may have been raised before but from a different perspective. Point out where the previous perspective is lacking. Explain why existing data or evidence may lack “accuracy” because of androcentrism or because it has excluded women's experience altogether and thus why a different approach is needed. Your inquiry may have also been examined in other studies using different feminist approaches. Explain how your research problem is connected to other previous works. Explain the value added in your work. Discuss all this in a concise literature review to demonstrate the depth of the problem and the body of work related to your issue. If lengthy, you might need to put your literature review in a separate section from the introduction.

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4.    Elaborate your theoretical framework. If you're using a particular feminist theory or if your approach to the matter is influenced by a particular school of feminist thought, state clearly. If your research combines theories from different disciplines, explain clearly how you have connected these theories. Point out how feminist theory approaches truth and objectivity. State how your theoretical framework contributes to feminist theory as well as mainstream theoretical frameworks. Provide clear examples when explaining theoretical concepts or technical terms. Concepts such as patriarchy, phallogocentrism, matriarchy, and gender although widely used, have been used in a too general sense or even have taken a different meaning, so you might find it necessary to define them to avoid any misinterpretations. Although usually avoided in conventional academic writing, in your explanation of theory, I would say it is okay to use feminist jargons (e. g., the personal is political) but to the extent that it is required and useful and can explain as well as support your framework.

5.    Describe your methodology. Describe your approach to data and method of organizing data/findings. Elaborate the methods you have combined (if so) to obtain information. Explain why you chose this method(s) as well as cite where the method(s) has been used before (if so) in previous feminist investigations. Explain if you used specific participatory methods, interview techniques, or group discussions to gain information from women and/or men. In this section, you should also explain how the feminist theoretical framework you used is reflected in the way you approach knowledge and gather facts (e.g., your approach acknowledges that subjective experience shape knowledge). Finally, point out how your approach contributes to feminist and mainstream methodologies.

6.   Provide a good discussion of your findings. In your results and discussion section, remember that how you analyze your findings is guided by the feminist theory you incorporate. Maintain this connection throughout your discussion.  Always keep in mind that women are not homogenous, so do not generalize your findings and avoid universalizing facts which you have collected. Discuss how the issue affects the women in your study and how does it affect these women differently than men. Discuss how your method (e.g., sharing of experience among the women or with the women in your study, or how your participatory method—if you used one) led to these findings. As feminism is all about change, relate your findings with a course of action to promote change which you will develop later in the concluding section. Note that you might find it useful to have a separate results section from the discussion section.

7.    Wrap up with a good conclusion. Don’t just summarize your findings in the conclusion section, but convince readers why the problem matters. Point out the broader implications of your findings (political, economic, legal, policy, etc.) and, just as important, what we have learned from your study. Again, indicate how your study contributes to the development of theory or methodology. Finally, propose a course of action, a solution to the issue, or questions for further study. Note that some feminist studies involve or consult with the people in the study during the process of constructing the conclusions and formulating actions to be taken.

8.   Provide correct referencing and citations. To comply with the academic rule of the game, choose a referencing style and use it consistently throughout the paper whenever you are citing or borrowing other people’s ideas and end the paper with a list of the references you used to support your research. In the academic world, good referencing reflects the author’s credibility and professionalism.

9.   Regarding style. Feminist writing styles are known to have subjective experience and feelings interwoven throughout the text—narrating different truths and presenting conversations among various voices. Gender neutral language is used throughout the paper, including using ‘she’ in place of ‘he’ or applying ‘she or he’ and so forth (styles which have also been adopted by some authors, who do not particularly identify themselves with feminism, to avoid bias). Feminist writings also use language that demonstrates resistance to the dominant ideology by coining new terms such as herstory and womyn.

To Sum Up

Feminist research and feminist academic writing are forms of activism, as they challenge dominant conventions about neutrality, objectivity, validity, and the politics of knowing. They provide us with tools to bring forward marginalized voices and to prevent the repression of feminist ideas in the process of producing knowledge.

List of Readings

Coan, Casely Emma (2012) It Feels (W)Ri(Gh)T(E) to Me: Feminist Identity and Academic Writing. A thesis submitted to the Graduate School-New Brunswick Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey [online] https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/37379/.

Haraway, Donna (1988) Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. Feminist Studies Vol. 14, No. 3. pp. 575-599 [online] http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0046-3663%28198823%2914%3A3%3C575%3ASKTSQI%3E2.0.CO%3B2-M.

Sarikakis, Katharine, Ramona R. Rush, Autumn Grubb-Swetnam, and Christina Lane (2009) Feminist Theory and Research. In Stacks. Don W. and Salwen, M. B. (eds.). An Integrated Approach to Communication Theory and Measurement. New York: Taylor & Frances [online] http://homepage.univie.ac.at/katharine.sarikakis/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Feminist-Theory-and-Research1.pdf.

GENDER IDEOLOGY in Three Historical Periods

Ideology

Historians have brought to our attention the gender ideals that existed in different historical periods. These ideals are seen as reflecting the power structure as well as the interest of the power elites during a particular era. These gender ideals which determine the gender roles of women and men are called gender ideology and can be explained through theories of ideology. Although there are many definitions of ideology which are incompatible and inconsistent with one another, some share the following principles: (1) ideology is made up of ideas that represent and serve the interest of the dominant class; (2) a distorted idea of reality which is reproduced to legitimize the dominant political power; (3) false consciousness which masks the real social and economic relations; (4) ideas which rationalize a course of action and are conceived as being natural and thus accepted by members of a society; and (5) a particular set of ideas that belong to a certain group but are presented as ideas that are universal. These generalized principals suggest that ideologies have a deceiving, naturalizing, and universalizing effect. However, what is not explicitly presented in the above principles is that inconsistencies shape an ideology. These inconsistencies or contradictions may emerge due to the competing ideas of the different elite groups within the power structure or because of shifts in the political or economic goals of political elites. Such inconsistencies could develop tensions that result in securing an ideology, but on the other hand, they could also open opportunities for change. 

By looking at three historical periods in Europe—the Renaissance, Victorian era, and World War II, this article describes the social, economic, and political context behind changes in the gender ideology of each period. 

The Renaissance

The Renaissance, which was the era of the rebirth of ancient Greek and Roman culture, largely excluded women from almost everything that constituted progress. It was the age of humanism, but women continued to be excluded from the public sphere and restricted to the private sphere—attending to domestic matters in the home and bearing children, especially sons, to secure the male lineage.

Lucrezia Borgia

Historians tend to view that women did not share the benefit of the Renaissance and that their status even declined during this era of progress. However, some view that women of the social elite had access to the culture and intellectual tradition of the Renaissance world, although through their relationship with men. During this era, some degree of education was thought to be important for women of the upper-class. Upper-class and noble young girls were given access to education, mainly by being taught subjects that were seen proper for girls. Noble young girls were educated in the royal courts or at home by tutors, learning subjects such as art, music, and poetry. Nonetheless, some of these girls were taught subjects that boys were taught (philosophy, literature, science), exposing them, to some degree, to the same style of education that boys had. This is true in the case of Christine de Pizan, a notable well-educated female writer and poet of the Renaissance era who wrote The Book of the City of Ladies (1404). However, in general, girls were educated primarily with the view of making them good mothers and proper wives, and that later in life, they will manage properties inherited from their husband. Girls were also sometimes sent to convents where nuns taught them needlework and reading and writing. 

In general, there was not much that wealthy women could do with their education as they were soon married off and it was only upon widowhood that these women might have gained some freedom.

Wealthier women managed the households with the help of servants and the care of children was assisted by governesses. In contrast, lower class and working class women would have to attend to cleaning and care work themselves as well as work outside the home to earn money, such as by providing domestic services for wealthy households; while peasant women in rural areas work in farms. 

In some parts of Italy, wealthier women may have been exposed to a less restricted upbringing. In the cities, such women could have helped with the family business. There were notable women from the privileged class who had political or cultural influence, although through their marriages. Some examples include the “notorious” Lucrezia Borgia; female icon of the Renaissance, Isabella d’Este; and the “Tigress of Forli”, Caterina Sforza. 

The plague, which spread throughout Europe in the 14th century, severely impacted on the economy of the cities and later led to significant changes in the social structure. Post-plague, the economy started to revive as a result of population growth. This was followed by a vast growing market which subsequently gave rise to the newly rich merchants. The newly rich adopted the noble's lifestyle, secured their power by marrying into noble families, and identified with the noble’s ideals; thus keeping the existing gender ideology largely intact.

The Victorian Era

Victorian Britain is famous for its public/private arrangement of society as well as its “Victorian morality”. The Victorian ideal of motherhood, domesticity, and femininity confined women in the private sphere as manageress of the household and complete dependents of either their father or husband. This ideal, which reflected the values of the upper and middle class of society, had a great influence throughout Europe and its colonies. 

Victorian middle-class home

This era, which began in 1837, is also recognized for its contradictions. It was an era where women were complete subordinates of men, where women owned limited property, where violence against women in the family was not considered a crime, and where women could not plea for divorce. Nevertheless, it was an era where a woman—the Queen—ruled the nation.

Despite its ideal image of women as mother and good wife, women in fact were wage earners who contributed to the country’s growing industry, including the textile industry and mining industry. The labor sector mirrored the public/private split; jobs were gendered and women became cheap labor. Women were paid less than men for the same job or were at the lower end of paid work, doing work that was considered low skilled or less important. Many poor women had to turn to sex work and even in the land which gave birth to the Victorian morality of purity and sexual repression, prostitution was just as commonly widespread. 

Interestingly, the Victorian era saw the emergence of a diverse and distinguished middle-class and the beginning of organized resistance against Victorian values. All this paved the way for a new era that brought significant changes for women, such as legal rights and the establishment of women’s trade unions (however, due to their exclusion from mainstream trade unions). Following the industrial revolution, an industrious middle-class grew strong, challenging the values of aristocracy, spreading and universalizing the values of merit and hard work to oppose wealth and power acquired through inheritance and privilege. The economic power of businessmen secured their political power and competing interest. As primary school education was provided for all children in the mid and later part of the era, its remaining years witnessed better education and employment for middle-class women. This gave rise to the spread of feminist ideas and women’s suffrage throughout the end of the Queen's rein in 1901, which set the stage for a stronger women’s movement throughout the next century.

World War II

We know that leaders of fascist nations create and shift notions of gender, marriage, family, parenthood, and reproduction to serve their political and economic goals. The German Nazis glorified motherhood when they needed women to reproduce a new generation of Aryans. However, when labor power was needed during the war to replace men who were drafted into the military, women's ideal role in the home was adjusted to fit the economic situation and women were instructed to fill the work force. 

World War II poster

What happened in fascist Germany was no exception, as the same pattern was found in other European countries as well the US. In World War II Europe, it was justified that women were in the labor force to serve the motherland. Women’s new role in the work force during this period called on them to take jobs which were normally done by men, such as work in munitions industries. This required governments to take certain measures, such as spreading propaganda about femininity and patriotism, to redefine the ideal woman and to encourage women to join the work force. 

How women were paid during World War II varied according to countries. Because women were not seen as playing their natural role, in some countries women were paid a lower wage than men for the same job. In other countries, women had a rise in pay for doing what was traditionally men’s work. But women gave up this work when men returned from war and went back to their traditional low paid work. It was also usual that after the war, because men needed jobs and someone to take care of them at home, women were sent back home to resume their “natural role”. So although there were shifts in gender roles during the war, there were no essential changes in gender ideology. The state only manipulated ideas regarding gender to secure its agenda, and when women’s services were no longer necessary, they were returned to the confinement of their homes “where they belonged”. However, women’s role during the war did help to justify women’s role outside the home and in the work force as well as raise women’s status and involvement in the military in the subsequent years.

To Conclude

From our discussion, we see that gender ideology operates at the social, political, economic, and cultural levels, varying the degree of oppression women face across class, as well as throughout different historical contexts. As seen in the case of the three periods discussed above, power elites can secure, change, or reinterpret gender ideologies to suit their purposes. Gender ideology usually alters following political or economic milestones. However, progressive change in gender ideology tends to come about gradually even after significant changes in society. What we need to keep in mind is that gender ideology is present in everyday life in complex ways, and at more times, in a subtle manner; disguising reality and inequalities, making—as coined by second wave feminism—the struggle for women’s equality “the longest revolution.”

  

List of Readings

Cloud, Amanda. Gender Roles of Women in the Renaissance (n.d.) Available at http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/eng/lfletcher/shrew/acloud.htm [Accessed 11 October 2014].

Collins, Maria C. (2011) The Impact of Educational Reform on Victorian Britain. Available at http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/the-impact-of-educational-reform-on-victorian-britain-10373/ [Accessed 17 October 2014].

Darwin, Rachael (2013) ‘The Position of Women in the German Economy, Women in Nazi Ideology and the Nazi Economy.’ Go2war2NL. Available at http://www.go2war2.nl/artikel/2934/Women-in-Nazi-ideology-and-the-Nazi-economy.htm?page=1 [Accessed 9 October 2014].

Eagleton, Terry (1991) Ideology, an Introduction. Verso.

Ideololgy.  Available at http://tigger.uic.edu/~pharkin/pubs/ideology.html [Accessed 10 Oktober 2014].

Italian Renaissance (1330–1550) Women in the Renaissance. Available at http://www.sparknotes.com/history/european/renaissance1/section9.r html [Accessed 13 October 2014].

Kent, Dale (n.d.) Women in Renaissance Florence. Available at

http://www.oneonta.edu/faculty/farberas/arth/arth213/women_Ren_florence.html [Accessed 10 October 2014].

Lloyd, Jean (2006) ‘Christine de Pizan, Womens’ History’ King’s College History Dept. Available at http://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/chrisdp.htm [Accessed 7 November 2014].

Loftus, Donna (2011) The Rise of the Victorian Middle Class. Available at http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/victorians/middle_classes_01.shtml [Accessed 12 October 2014].

Renaissance Class Structure. Available at http://quizlet.com/10489701/renaissance-class-structure-notes-flash-cards/ [Accessed 16 October 2014].

Scott, Whitney (2010) ‘World War II and Women’s Work.’ Perverse Piety. Available at http://hervillage.wordpress.com/essays-2/history-papers/world-war-ii-and-womens-work/ [Accessed 18 October 2014].

 

Victoria and Albert Museum. Gender Ideology and Separate Spheres in the 19^th Century. Available at http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/gender-ideology-Separate- Spheres-in-the-9th-Century/ [Accessed 11 October 2014].

Victorian England: An Introduction. Available at http://www.english.uwosh.edu/roth/VictorianEngland.htm [Accessed 10 October 2014].

Womer, Braidyn (n.d.) Education and Women: Why Not? Available at http://www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/eng/lfletcher/shrew/bwomer.htm [Accessed 14 October 2014].

FEMINIST WRITING: A Brief Description

What is feminist writing? While it would be difficult to find a straight forward definition of feminist writing, one could describe feminist writing as a practice of writing that is undertaken by looking at the world through a feminist lens and by employing a gender-conscious alternative manner of writing. However, we will not dwell on definitions here. Instead, this article provides a description and some examples of feminist writing.

Representations of Feminist Writings

To start, let’s look at some of the work written by feminist authors and the themes or main ideas put forward and how it is written. To simplify things, some forms of feminist writings are listed below.

1. Women-specific experience: Many themes can be discussed in this category, but many among them are about violence against women, in the form of sexual violence, physical violence, and state violence. Aside from depicting women’s subjective experience of violence, many works also present arguments of how violence against women sustains male dominance. The classic Against Our Will: Men, Women, and Rape (Susan Brownmiller, 1975) is an example. Many also discuss specific laws or policies for women or those that affect women. Andrea Dworkin's and Catharine Mackinnon's work, Pornography and Civil Rights (1988) is one example. Self-help books for survivors or those on women’s health are also examples. For the latter, Our Bodies, Ourselves which was first published in 1971 is considered as a feminist classic.  
2. Historical analysis: This form of writing looks at women's situation throughout different historical periods or at a given time and cultural setting, paying attention to the political environment, economic institutions, as well as class, race, and gender relations. One example is Marilyn French's historical examination of patriarchy in Beyond Power (1985), which uses a variety of disciplines to investigate transformations and power struggles which led to patriarchy being the dominant mode, and another is her four-volume work, From Eve to Dawn: a History of Women (2002, 2003, 2008). One other example is historian, Joan Wallach Scott's critical evaluation of history in Gender and the Politics of History (1988).
3. Biographical: This includes the writings about the life and times of noted individual women who lived a life struggling against traditional gender norms or those who contributed to the advancement of women's status. Subjects of interest include women who made innovations in certain fields but were never given recognition. Life stories of women living under repressive governments or in conflict regions are also commonly written as biographies. Feminists are known to use a particular feminist method of biographical writing that acknowledges the subjective experience of the author. This is apparent in the work of Liz Stanley, The Auto/Biographical I (1992).
4. Feminist criticism: Here, literary texts are read from a feminist perspective revealing gendered relations, social construct, and the social, political, and economic structure at a given context. Feminist literary criticism was particularly made famous by post-structuralist French Feminists like Julia Kristeva, Helene Cixous, and Luce Irigaray. "Reading" writings by women are also undertaken to uncover women’s marginalized voices or to represent women of a particular cultural period as well as to explore a female tradition of writing. In her book Laugh of the Medusa (1976), Cixous goes further to say that there is a feminine style of writing.
5. Feminist philosophical analysis: It analyzes traditional ideas of rationality, knowledge, ethics, human nature, and moral arguments which are seen as being male biased and part of phallogocentrism (privileging masculinity in constructing meaning and understanding social relations). Philosopher and mother of contemporary feminism, Simone de Beauvoir, pioneered work in this field. Putting the sex/gender distinction into philosophical perspective, that one is not born a woman, but become one, was Beauvoir’s important legacy for feminist theory (The Second Sex, 1949).
6. Feminist reinterpretation of religion and spirituality: In feminist theological writings, some feminist theologians see that the Bible contains equality and peace, but suffers from androcentric (male-centered) interpretations, while others see it as justifying women's oppression and perpetuating patriarchy (www.theologynetwork.org/ theology-of-everything/an-overview-of-feminist-theology.htm). As a response to the latter, feminist theologians, such as Mary Daly, develops a theology to become the basis for the theory of women's spirituality and feminist practice. Other writings that deconstruct traditional religious interpretations are found in the works of feminist Muslims such as Nawal El Saadawi, Riffat Hasan, Fatima Mernissi, and Irshad Manji.
7. Analysis of social, economic, political and cultural institutions: This analysis examines women's role and status in society’s institutions and observes structures that support and perpetuate discrimination and oppression. Such studies can be found in the work of second wave feminists, including socialist anthropologist, Evelyn Reed and sociologist, Kate Millett.
8. Feminist theory: This includes writings which develops grand theories and theses on women's oppression and its root causes and sometimes showcase debates on women's oppression between schools of feminism. Examples include the book Women and Revolution (Lydia Sargent and Heidi I. Hartmann, 1981), Kate Millett's Sexual Politics (1970), Sheila Rowbotham's Beyond Fragments (1979), and Shulamith Firestone's Dialectic of Sex (1970).
   
9. Feminist fiction: Feminist work of fiction usually tells a story of a female protagonist's struggle in challenging values and norms that confine women to certain roles and are sometimes believed to be based on the personal experiences of the author. Classic works include Virginia Woolf’s A Room of One’s Own (1929) and Marilyn French’s The Women’s Room (1977). A notable futuristic and utopian fiction is found in the work of Charlotte Perkins Gilman in Herland (1915).
10. Feminist studies uncovering marginalized voices within the movement: These works uncover white supremacy, class bias, and heterosexism in the feminist movement as well as its lack of awareness of issues concerning women with disability. These works include writings of black feminists, such as Patricia Hills Collins; third world feminists, such as Gayatri Spivak and Chandra Talpade Mohanty; and feminist disability scholars, such as Rosemarie Garland-Thomson (http://disabilitystudies.syr.edu).

The Purpose of Feminist Writing

While the general goal of feminism is to gain women’s equality and end all forms of oppression, there are several purposes for writing a feminist piece or for incorporating a feminist perspective into one’s work.

1. To empower readers, especially female readers, such as by raising their awareness or breaking the silence about a certain gender issue and by providing options for remedy or advocacy.
2. To change an existing policy or law which has undesirable implications for women and recommend options to be adopted.
3. To present a social critique contributing to the aim of deconstructing existing value systems, particularly those which regulate gender.
4. To expose women's experience and to make women's voices visible, however, recognizing that there is diversity among women.
5. To provide or fill gaps on data on women because facts and truth are seen to be partial, to distort and not capture women’s reality; thus impairing planned actions designed to increase equality or for community development.
6. To explore existing styles of writings by women and/or employ one.

Characteristics of Feminist Writing

Based on the above description we can come to a conclusion on some of the essential characteristics of feminist writing. Feminist writings:

1. question how reality is constructed;
2. legitimize facts which are derived by subjective methods of truth collecting;
3. are critical of androcentrism in knowledge production;
4. challenge existing values and norms;
5. reflect on women's and men's experiences when constructing the truth;
6. view gender as socially constructed and being used to legitimize women’s subordination;
7. recognize the heterogeneity of women in regard to class, race, ethnic, sexual orientation, and ability;
8. openly acknowledge the political nature of feminist writing;
9. advocate for social change; and
10. employ unconventional styles of writing.

Ending this article that turned out to be full of lists, I would just like to add that feminist writing is a form of conscious resistance which shapes human history and our weapon to transform the future.