wgss final readings

“policies to end the gender wage gap in the united states"

• kim says that job segregation means women are paid less because women's work like teaching or nursing is valued less by society

• even with the same major and gpa women still earn less which proves the gap is caused by bias

• outlawing pay secrecy helps close the gap because women can finally see if they are being underpaid compared to men

• since national laws keep failing advocates should focus on passing state and local laws instead

“gender equity in the “sharing” economy”

• maskini, singh, and baruah say that misclassification lets companies like uber avoid paying sick leave by calling drivers contractors instead of employees

• safety gap creates a pay difference because women often avoid high-pay areas or night shifts to stay safe

• needing a smartphone and credit card blocks access for lower income people and the undocumented

“big yoga student”

• dark says that studio bias means yoga spaces often treat fat people as a surprise rather than a normal part of the class

• beginner myth means fat people are often only welcomed in gyms if they are seen as beginners trying to lose weight

• modeling difference shows that yoga is not about having a goal body type or reaching a specific physical look

“health and the black fat”

• harrison says that the concept of health was historically used to justify slavery through scientific racism and fake illnesses like drapetomania (the "disease" of running away)

• anti-fatness was created to distinguish europeans from africans as fatness became blackened and labeled as beastly or impure

• diet culture uses language like guilty pleasure to associate joy with harm and is rooted in structural violence like patriarchy and purity culture

• celebrating weight loss is viewed as a celebration of thievery because it devalues the inherent worth of fatness as an identity and a body

“too latina to be black, too black to be latina”

• williams says that identity boxes caused a race crisis for the author because people tried to force her into narrow black or mexican categories

• exclusion happened because she was rejected by other latinos for her skin color despite her honduran roots

• false choice is her rejection of the idea that she must choose one identity over the other because she is both

“navigating transness in the united states”

• lair says that eugenics influenced early doctors to view trans people as a burden on the white race instead of a natural variation

• medical gatekeeping happens when doctors block fertility care for trans people who do not fit a specific transition story

• the born this way argument is actually rooted in eugenic thinking because it tries to find the cause of gender deviation in the body

“oppositional scientific praxis”

• jen says that the do is the set of tools used to do science while the doing is the cultural theory that shapes those tools

• oppositional scientific praxis uses science as a form of activism to help liberate oppressed groups

• the crispr babies project edited the genes of twins to prevent them from getting HIV

• the project’s ethical reasoning is questioned by a queer feminist STS approach because the parents were likley coerced, they were not scientifically literate, and did not have informed consent

• hormone biohacking, on the other hand, revolved around helping women, was aware of cultural impacts, and emphasized collaboration between the scientists and the “objects of study”

“do muslim women really need saving”

• abu-lughod says that westerners wrongly view the burqa only as a sign of oppression, ignoring that women use it for respectability and safety in public

• the rhetoric of saving muslim women implies western superiority and assumes they only want the same type of "freedom" as westerners

• instead of focusing on clothing, feminists should address structural violence like the lack of food, peace, and fair wealth distribution

“creative expression: artists as activists”

• guerrilla girls used protest posters to show museums exclude women and people of color because of bias rather than a lack of talent

• craftivism reclaims "feminine" domestic arts like knitting and sewing to engage in slow, mindful protest and critical thinking about social justice

• the aids memorial quilt is a famous example of using story quilts to honor those lost to the epidemic and turn private grief into a massive public protest

“an interview with tarana burke”

• heather rellihan says that tarana burke founded the me too movement to help young survivors of color in the bronx and selma after realizeing the power of the phrase "this happened to me too"

• she argues that hashtag activism is a powerful tool for mobilizing people, but it can be harmful if the messages shared don't align with the movement's core values

• burke believes activism requires a genuine belief that change is possible and should focus on improving the actual material conditions of oppressed people

“community activist organizations,” “engaging in the political process: voting, political action committees, and running for office,” “non-violent direct action,” “humor,”

• ngoization is when private groups take over social services and become less radical to keep their donors happy

• groups like the league of women voters and now fight against voter suppression tactics that disproportionately affect women of color and low-income voters

• non-violent direct action uses public disruption like act up which had protesters lie down in the streets and block traffic to force the government to fund aids research

“a killjoy manifesto”

• ahmed says that the killjoy is a person who speaks up about a problem even if it ruins the mood or makes things awkward

• ethical choice means being a killjoy is good because you value justice more than being polite or nice

textbook: epistemologies of the body

• essentialism is the wrong belief that biology is a fixed essence that determines exactly how a person will act

• medicalization happens when doctors get the power to label natural behaviors like asexuality as sick or needing a cure

• phenomenology is the idea that we learn about the world through the sensory experience of living in our bodies

“the egg and the sperm”

• martin says that gendered language in textbooks calls the egg passive and the sperm active to mirror social stereotypes

• shifting stories means that even when science proved the egg is active textbooks just started calling it a dangerous aggressor