Postmodern feminism and the theory on subject and gender discussions

This study examines the queer theory on the concepts of subject and gender, which has been seriously debated recently. The main thesis of this study is that there is a relationship and even continuity between postmodern feminism and queer theory. The Enlightenment critiques of postmodern feminism such as its opposition to traditional epistemology, its glorification of differences, its defense of intersectionality instead of a universal category of women, its reduction of differences to discourse rather than objective realities have prepared a theoretical ground for queer theory. Queer theory also reiterates Foucault's theory on power and argues that sexual identities are the product of a discourse. With the emergence of queer theory, the distinction between biological sex and gender has began to blur. The fading of this distinction has turned into a political movement which aims to eliminate the distinction between biological women and trans women. The reduction of sex to repetition and performative action also includes the danger of reducing women's experiences and problems merely to discourse. In the light of these problems, although the criticisms of postmodern feminism against traditional epistemology and the history of Western philosophy are right, the claim the "subjects of feminism are not women anymore" defended by queer theory is not acceptable.