AND FEMINIST THEORY There are many, feminist and non-feminist
alike, for whom the question 'what is feminism?' has little
meaning. The content of terms like 'feminism' and 'feminist'
seems self-evident, something that can be taken for granted. By
now, it seems to me, the assumption that the meaning of feminism
is 'obvious' needs to be challenged. It has become an obstacle
to understanding feminism, in its diversity and in its
differences, and in its specificity as well. 1 It is certainly
possible to construct a base-line definition of feminism and the
feminist which can be shared by feminists and non-feminists.
Many would agree that at the very least a feminist is someone
who holds that women suffer discrimination because of their sex,
that they have specific needs which remain negated and
unsatisfied, and that the satisfaction of these needs would
require a radical change (some would say a revolution even) in
the social, economic and political order. But beyond that,
things immediately become more complicate