List of feminist theorists
This is a necessarily incomplete list of significant feminist theorists and philosophers who have contributed to feminist theory. Any of these writers should have a little blurb explaining their contributions. Here, feminism includes the various historical and cultural strands of feminism and its related studies; see feminism, feminisms, queer theory, and gender studies.
The emphasis here is on people who have made significant contributions to theory, scholarship and ideas about women, gender, and sexuality. (In other words, people who made significant contributions through writing and theory. Activists and figures in the women's movement famous for being an early woman entrant in a particular profession should be listed only if they have also made, and are known in feminism for, a significant contribution to feminist thought and theory.
The purpose of this list is to provide an index to critical thinkers in the history of feminist thought.
pre-19th century
- Christine de Pizan, 1365-1430
- Olympe de Gouges, 1748-1793
- Mary Wollstonecraft, 1759-1797
19th century
- John Stuart Mill, 1806-1873
- Concepción Arenal, 1820-1893
- Susan B. Anthony, 1820-1906
early-mid 20th century
- Virginia Woolf, 1882-1941 ("A Room of One's Own" (1929))
- Simone de Beauvoir, 1908-1986 (Le Deuxième Sexe (1949))
- Betty Friedan, 1921-2006 (The Feminine Mystique (1963))
1960s-70s
- Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa, 1942-2004
- Rosa Braidotti
- Susan Brownmiller
- Hélèe Cixous
- Angela Davis
- Mary Daly
- Christine Delphy
- Marguerite Durand
- Shulamith Firestone
- Michel Foucault
- Jo Freeman
- Marilyn French
- Germaine Greer, 1939-
- bell hooks
- Sheila Jeffreys
- Julia Kristeva
- Audre Lorde
- Luce Irigaray
- Catherine MacKinnon
- Kate Millett
- Cherrie Moraga
- Robin Morgan
- Adrienne Rich
- Dale Spender
- Alice Walker
- Monique Wittig
late 20th century
- Judith Butler
- Carol Gilligan
- Donna Haraway
- Joanna Russ
- Gayle Rubin