Equality and difference: The false dichotomy between feminist theory and politics

Abstract

The paper explains the theoretical and political foundations of equality feminisms and difference feminisms, giving the conceptual historical reasonsfor their emergence and development. Itshowsthat despite the importance of the criticisms of towards enlightened universalism, they often contain logical contradictions. To account for this problem, which affects the very idea of difference, as it has been used within feminism, I will proceed to explain: (i) how feminism is associated with the idea of equality; (ii) the first two demonstrations of two opposing theoretical and political positions as regards their ethical starting points within feminism; (iii) the first theoretical proposals that speak of difference, their critical merits and conceptual errors, and lastly, (iv) why it is necessary, for an emancipatory project, to be placed within the perspective of equality