Third World Women Representation in Western Feminist Discourse: A Critical Study

Abstract

The Western representation of others and particularly Third World women is not a recent fabrication but it had been operational and deep-rooted in the West conceptualization ever since the first encounters between Europe and its other. With this in mind, this paper purports to examine the representation/image of the female Other in the Eurocentric feminist narratives as well as to uncover the pitfalls that Western feminist scholars face while attempting-in their so-called mission - to rescue their sisters in the Third world societies. This paper counters the fallacy that has been long held by Western feminists about Third World women as being homogenous and ‘uncivilized other’. Drawing on postcolonial feminist thought, this paper presents a critique of Western feminism vis-à-vis Third World feminism and literary contributions namely, Chadra Mohanty and Gayatri Spivak’ theorizations.