Feminism

One of the key feminist arguments is that much of what is pushed by the patriarchal hegemony tends to be androcentric, and has values significantly different from those that women hold dear. Values such as compassion, understanding, gentleness, cooperation, amongst other things that characterize feminine conduct and are often pushed aside in the mad rush that's become associated with capitalism.

Those values seem to be very much in line with the hegemonic concept of femininity, that is, how women ought to behave and how their personal attributes should be. However, given that patriarchy permeates the hegemonies of most extant societies, it is not unreasonable to surmise that these same values are in fact put in place by patriarchy.

In a way, the struggle against patriarchal domination merely serves to strengthen patriarchy by validating the definition of femininity. Yet it is possible to be discredited as a feminist by choosing not to subscribe to those values, since one would appear to be quite unfeminine to the observers! Of course, it is never easy to unseat a hegemony, especially one that is so pervasive in practically every society!