Why might feminism and poststructuralism be described as an uneasy alliance?

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Why might feminism and poststructuralism be described as an uneasy alliance?

This essay will look at what feminism is and then what poststructuralism is. Then I shall look at the links between the two areas.

Feminism can be traced back to the early 19th century. It contains several different theoretical perspectives that are quite often contradictory to each other and can also be looked at in three main ways-empirically, theoretically and politically. Feminism originated from the works of Hegel, Marx and liberal political theory and each of these created a different strand of feminist thought. The path of feminism started in two separate strands. One started with Hegel the German philosopher and the other with liberal political theory. Hegel's strand produced Existentialist feminism and Marxist feminism. Existentialist feminism is mainly associated with the work of Simone de Beauvoir; this work then went on to influence psychoanalytical feminism that is associated with Freud and more recently Lancan.

Existentialism also produced a strand that is known as New French feminism. New French feminism is associated with Irigaray, Cixous and Kristeva. This in turned created then area of feminism that this essay is concerned with- poststructuralism; this is associated with