Feminist Espitemology - Centering 'Gender' In Knowledge Creation
Feminist theoryCaste and gender
Content warning: Personal Take
How do we know what we know? Who decided we must know it? Who decided we must know it the way it is known?
Looking at the epistemological branch of philosophy from a gender lens, it becomes apparent very quickly, that most knowledge centers 'men' and 'their' understanding and interpretation of social order; why else did 'rete ovarii (RO)' not exist until 2026?
By way of a small but telling example, in the Indian context, there exists numerous accounts of Laws of Manu that barred women from formal education of the Vedas and scriptures. This begs us to question the very foundation of knowledge that emerged in the Indian sub-continent, when half of its recipients were systematically denied the very access to it, let alone being included in its creation.
Feminist epistemology finds relevance in this very context of violent discrimination of genders, that must have on many levels threatened the very fabric of 'patriarchal supremacy', which was and continues to be woven. Feminist epistemology, or the creation of 'women's knowledge', thus functions as the retracing existing knowledge on the same tracks that were used to first create it with the intention of recreating it, but this time ensuring that it is grounded in an understanding of gender, class, caste, and other marginalising systems and structures.