Postmodern theories have exerted a powerful influence on feminist thought in the latter half of the twentieth century. Building on the work of thinkers such as Foucault and Derrida, postmodern feminists advocate an approach to gender issues that emphasizes the constitutive role of discourse in defining gender, sexuality, and the realm of the feminine. Eschewing attempts to develop totalizing theories of social reality or the essential nature of ‘woman,’ postmodern feminists have focused on how discursive regimes construct and maintain male dominance and hierarchical definitions of sexuality. They argue for a redefinition of the subject as constituted by discourses. Postmodern concepts have generated both strong support and vehement criticism in the feminist community. Its defenders argue that modernist thought presupposes the essential inferiority of woman, while postmodernism allows feminists to understand gender and sexuality in nonessential, discursive terms. Its critics argue that it obviates the possibility of feminist politics and an agentic feminine subject.