ABSTRACT
In a basic sense, identity has always been a central issue for feminism. The nature of its significance and the degree of its centrality has varied across several “waves” of feminism and among the many different feminist perspectives that have developed over the latter part of the twentieth century. In contrast to liberal feminism and Marxist/socialist feminisms, radical feminism began with a central focus on identity issues. Radical feminism came to be so called, in opposition to the reformism of second-wave liberal feminism, because of its position that the oppression of women by men was the most fundamental of all oppressions. Feminist psychology began from a liberal feminist perspective and has emphasized the role of culture, societal structures, and sex-linked behavioral and emotional norms in producing characteristic “masculine” and “feminine” identities in men and women. The charge of determinism has been directed toward nearly all of the major feminist theories of the social construction of gendered identities.
