home

=__**Standpoint Theory**__=

//__What Is Standpoint Theory__//
The standpoint theory was created by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and derived from the postmodern era. A standpoint is a place from which to view the world that determines what we focus on as well as what is obscured from us. “The standpoint theory states that the predominant culture in which all groups exist is not experienced in the same way by all persons or groups”. Many feminist sociologists such as Sandra Harding and Julia Wood agreed with the Marxist approach that only certain people from an individual group are capable of understanding the flaws in their group. An outsider to the situation can’t accurately depict or begin to solve the problems that are foreign to them.

In the modern era the predominate culture was primary responsible for health, financial, educational, and any other forms of research that did not effect them nor could they understand. The views of the predominate group were given more legitimacy then those from the marginalized group. The standpoint theory took away from minorities the ability to view the clearer picture of what was going on in their own world, instead misconceptions and inaccurate information was created to misconstrue their view. This inaccurate view was then pumped into to the different information channels in society such as the media, newspapers, magazines, and etc. The Standpoint Theory is used to accurately portray the point ofview of the individual is experiencing in a particular situation.

The bias in gender studies puts women and other subordinate groups at a disadvantage that they will have to face every single day of their lives. Research studies will un-proportionately favor the dominate group leaving women with less alternatives to their illnesses making them more prone to sickness due to lack of information and resources. The feminist movement started around the same time as standpoint theory, backing women with more knowledge to better their lives knowledge the dominant group did not care or find important enough to focus on.