ABSTRACT
The idea of social construction, however, contains a somewhat paradoxical character that feminist use of it can bring out. Feminists point out that if humans are socially constructed, male domination is and has been an important part of that construction. The idea of social construction is particularly important to feminist efforts to reject patriarchal arguments about men's and women's 'natures'. A feminist theory of freedom must thus retain certain elements of positive liberty from the start, particularly by recognizing that some barriers are best described as 'internal', that individuals can have divided wills and complicated desires that may implicate them in supporting the very structures that apparently restrict them. A feminist understanding of freedom acknowledges how external factors influence and generate inner feelings and motives as well as how those inner feelings act on and influence the external world. The 'aporia' that is particularly relevant to a feminist theory of freedom involves relationships among women.
