WGS 240 Exam 1

core features of wgs

interdisciplinary academic field devoted to topics concerning women, gender, and feminism and intersections with other topics

intersectionality

the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

Kimberle Crenshaw

Coined the term intersectionality

Patricia Hill Collins

"Matrix of Domination"; Numerous social factors subjugating women

Matrix of domination

the interlocking systems of oppression associated with race, class, and gender

Combahee River Collective

A black feminist lesbian organization active in Boston from 1974 to 1980, laid ground work for intersexuality

Androcentrism

Male centered; the belief that the male is the norm

Patriarchy

a system where men and masculine bodies dominate because power and authority are in the hands of adult men

Personal is political

a political argument used as a rallying slogan of student movement and second-wave feminism from the late 1960s. It underscored the connections between personal experience and larger social and political structures.

key legal changes

Equal Pay Act of 1963, title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964, '78-'79: protect pregnant workers, gave right to damages for sex discrimination, '93: 12 weeks unpaid leave for workers to care for children or ill relatives

feminism

concerns equality and justice, inclusive and affirming of women across their differences

feminism's waves

1st (1858-1920): suffrage, legal status of women, property ownership
2nd (1960's-70's): equal opportunity in employment and education, reproductive rights
3rd ('90's): deconstructing social identities, social justice, global feminism, sexual violence
4th (2000's): fast circulation of ideas, digital and social media

liberal vs. radical feminism

liberal: inequality in legal and economic arenas (inclusion and equality)
radical: change foundations of society, upend existing structures (liberation)

feminism's myths

all feminists are man-haters; feminist men are wimps; feminists have no sense of humor; feminists are outspoken, macho, pushy, narrow minded; feminists are lesbians; feminists are cold and uncaring

Human similarities and differences: Biologically-based universals, social universals, generalities, and particularities

bio: infancy, brain
social: live in groups, families
generalities: certain times/places, but not all cultures
particularities: not widespread, larger distinctive patterns of culture

Category formation

human universal, include and exclude, creates identity but also stereotypes

ethnicity

members of an ethnic group with shared beliefs, habits, customs, norms bc of shared background

race

ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis

institutions/institutionalization

social organizations that involve established patterns of behavior organized around particular purposes

colonialism

the political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended time

imperialism

conscious policy aimed at seizing and ruling foreign territory and people

privilege

advantages people have by virtue of their status or position in society

earned vs. unearned privilege

unearned: something you're born with
earned: examples include earning a degree, fulfilling responsibilities

systems of inequality and privilege

systems that discriminate and privilege based on perceived or real differences among people

racism

assumes some groups inherently inferior to others, should be dominated by superior groups

stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination

Stereotypes: fixed ideas about what group members are like
Prejudice: devaluing group bc of assumed attributes
Discrimination: policies and practices that harm a group and its members

cisgender

gender identity matches norms for sex assigned at birth

transgender

people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex

mythical norm

normalized or taken for granted position/identity/experience that marks the generic, universal, ideal person

power

sovereign model of power, vs. how power is everywhere (Foucault)

discourse

process of creating knowledge or a culturally constructed representation of reality

internalizing oppression

We self police ourselves as result of discourses

sex

the biological distinction between females and males, although biological characteristics of some individuals don't always fall in this binary

gender

social expressions of biological difference

gender assignment

The initial assignment as male or female, which usually occurs at birth

gender identity

how one feels about their own gender

gender expression

how we present ourselves to the world, how we perform gender

sexism

system that discriminates and privileges on the basis of gender

matriarchy

a political system in which women play a much more prominent role than men do in social and political organization

intersex

a person is born with a reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't seem to fit the typical definitions of female or male.

masculinity vs. femininity

masculinity: intelligence, courage, honesty, machismo, provider role
feminity: soft, nurturing, sensitive, needy

hijra

neither men nor women (eunuchs)

two spirit

an alternative gender role in native North America

non-binary

gender identities that are not exclusively masculine or feminine

social construction of body

bodies are interpreted and contextualized in sociocultural meanings informed by our ideas about gender and identities

biological determinism

idea that all human behavior is innate

epistemology

How do we know what we know?

enlightenment binaries

understanding of body cannot exist outside of society that gives it meaning

normal/abnormal

pathologize

to represent something as a disease

science of women's bodies

origins of gynecology in Europe and US, clitorodectomy and castration to cure masturbation, belief that sexual independence was mental disorder

science and racial/sexual taxonomies

used to support white supremacy/homophobia

eating disorders

anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, muscle dysmorphia; pressure to measure up to cultural standards of beauty

fat acceptance

a movement to contest the public health approach to overweight and obesity and the social stigma against larger body sizes that such an approach may promote

health at every size

respect, compassionate, self-care; eating flexibly, intuitively; finding joy in body; challenging scientific and culture assumptions; values body knowledge

agency

the me that separates me from you; individual, action, free will, choice

hegemony

power of one group over another through consent

4 points of beauty ideal

changeable, fluid notion of beauty; beauty ideals illustrate power in society; beauty standards enforced in complex ways; relationship between contemporary beauty standards and capitalism

fat phobia

Fear and dislike of obese people and/or obesity

objectification

seeing the body as an object and separate from its context

resistance

organized vs. small-scale acts of everyday resistance

Hall

"A Transnational Black Feminist Network"- Four Principles of Transnational Black Feminism in Context of Black Lives Matter:
1)Intersectionality
2)Scholar-Activism
3)Solidarity Building
4)Attention to Borders/Boundaries

Cottom

"Thick"- what does it mean to walk normally?, "We are people, with free will, circumscribed to different degrees by histories that shape who we are allowed to become"

Crosley-Corcoran

"Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person"- intersectionality: how you can be privileged in some ways but not others, unearned privilege

Taylor

"Cisgender Privilege"- how people that can be easily recognized as male/female need to spend less energy to be understood by others

Lorber

"The Social Construction of Gender"- how we assume gender is natural when really socially constructed, gender-stratification

Fausto-Sterling

"The Five Sexes, Revisited"- 2 sex system not adequate, sex on a binary, also constructed, sex and gender as multidimensional

Lang

"Native American Men-Women, Lesbians, Two-Spirits"-systems of multiple genders in Native American culture

Brumberg

"Breast Buds and the 'Training' Bra"- Garment industry + biomedicine + "precocious puberty"=Training bra as critical "rite of passage"

Steinem

"If Men Could Menstruate"- more boast worthy, bragging, characteristics of powerful thought to be better than those of powerless

Nelson

"Understanding Transgender and Medically Associated Gender Transition"- how gender and power play out in medical community, progressive and regressive role, people have authority over own bodies, how being transgender shouldn't be seen as mental issue

Pham

"I Click and Post and Breathe, Waiting for Others to See What I See"- how #feministselfie campaign has given minorities a voice to challenge dominate ways of seeing personhood and beauty

Orbach

"Fat is Still a Feminist Issue"- how we are told to govern our bodies, the promise that looking good is feeling good