[De] Constructing the Feminine : Addressing the Postmodern Feminist Syndrome

Abstract

The quintessential attachment of postmodernism with challenging the master codes and metanarratives makes it a critical stand point with an almost charismatic disposition. Postmodernism takes feminism as an inclusive category, something which has actually hampered the individuation and actual positioning of the later. Proclaiming to benefit feminism by encompassing and addressing all its concerns in a radically new way, Postmodernism appears to be impeding the development of the later in a certain way. The greatest damage it has done is the extermination of the essential identity of the woman as ‘female’. The article investigates what adverse effects postmodernism imparts to the feminist agenda, especially when mishandled at the hands of Eurocentric feminism. It also looks at its positive openings that can profit feminism when specifically studied in Arab and Asian contexts.  There is also a suggestion of liberating feminism from the master frame of postmodernism.