Kierkegaard on the Paradox of Feminist Progress

This paper argues that Kierkegaard, while famously politically conservative, and a notorious opponent of “women’s emancipation,” was actually progressive in his views on the inherent equality of men and women. More importantly, it argues that Kierkegaard's views on the nature of masculine and feminine gender stereotypes and the processes of socialization that resulted from these stereotypes, when sufficiently appreciated, can serve as a point of departure for the emancipation of both sexes from these artificial and limiting stereotypes, and can point us in the direction of genuine social progress.