gender studies 101 midterm

Womens Liberation

The 1960s–70s movement seeking to end sexism in law, work, and culture. It emerged from civil-rights and anti-war activism and challenged domestic confinement, unequal pay, and reproductive control. Described as the second-wave push to expose how gender has become socially constructed rather than seen as natural

Intersectionality

overlap of identiy, race, age, class, celutur, sexuality etc and intersectionality are the ways these catalogrys amplify differcnes, challanges, privallge and discrimination.

Thomasine Hall

A 1629 English servant in Virginia tried for gender ambiguity. Hall identified as both man and woman, saying “hee was both.” Authorities forced Hall to wear both male and female clothing to mark deviation from gender norms. The case shows how colonial law policed gender as a social category, not personal identity

Stonewall Uprising

1969 New York rebellion after police raided the Stonewall Inn. Queer and trans people fought back, launching the modern gay-rights era. It was seen as a breaking point after years of policing and medical abuse and became a symbol of courage and community

Androcentrism

the granting of higher status, respect, value, reward, and power to the masculine compared to the feminine

Transgender

People whose gender identity differs from sex assigned at birth. Their existence proves gender is socially organized, not purely biological

Consciousness Raising

Small-group feminist practice where women shared experiences which showed many felt the same way (trapped in a domestic house)—the basis for “the personal is political.”

patriarchy

literally, “the rule of the father”; it refers to the control of female and younger male family members by select adult men, or patriarchs. A gendered order of power and privilege.

Benevolent Sexism

Idealizing women as pure or needing protection to maintain inequality. The attribution of positive traits to women that justify that a woman needs a man adding to patricahru

Gende Binary

The belief that two genders exist and they are oppisate which erases diversty justifying uneqal treatment. male-bodied people are masculine and female-bodied people are feminine

19th Amendment

Ratified 1920, granting U.S. women suffrage, the right to vote, after decades of activism led by Stanton, Anthony, and Truth. It marked the success of first-wave feminism because women were now seen as citizens in the eyes of the law.

matriarchy

A hypothetical female-dominated system. True matriarchies are rare which shows that patriarchy is social, not natural

Two Spirit

a recongition of many gender identitys that may indigineous societys had. They were important in spirital practices because they can communicate between spirtual and physical world. This was erased when europeans came over but proved people with many gender idneitys have existed for ahwile

Feminine Apologetic

When women offset masculine behavior by emphasizing femininity—e.g., makeup or dress. It “soothes others’ concerns” about women’s powe

Magnus Hirschfeld

Early-20th-century German sexologist who defended sexual minorities and founded the Institute for Sexual Science—an early challenge to binary sex models.

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be
alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him... Then the Lord
God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” And the
woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.

Speaker: The Bible, Genesis 2–3
Significance:
This passage portrays woman as created after man and made to serve him, setting up one of the oldest foundations for patriarchal gender roles. It presents men as leaders and women as subordinate “helpers,” framing inequality as part of divine order. Feminists later challenged this idea by arguing that women’s subordination was not natural or God-given but social and cultural. This origin story explains why early feminists had to fight beliefs that men were meant to rule and women meant to obey.

“He has created a false public sentiment by giving to the world a different code of morals for men and women, by which moral delinquencies which exclude women from society, are not only tolerated, but deemed of little account in man.”

Speaker: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Declaration of Sentiments,” 1848 (Seneca Falls Convention)
Significance:
Stanton condemns the double standard that excused men’s behavior while punishing women for the same actions. Her words reflect how women were denied equal moral, legal, and political standing in nineteenth-century America. This quote captures the heart of first-wave feminism—the demand that women be recognized as full citizens capable of moral and intellectual judgment. It also shows how early feminists linked personal injustice to the larger system of patriarchy.

“Feminism will make it possible for the first time for men to be free.

Speaker: Betty Friedan (Second-Wave Feminist Leader and author of The Feminine Mystique)
Significance:
Friedan argued that gender roles harmed both women and men. She believed that true equality would free women from domestic confinement and free men from pressure to be sole breadwinners. Her statement broadens feminism’s goal beyond women’s rights to human liberation, showing that equality benefits everyone. This idea inspired the National Organization for Women (NOW) and emphasized cooperation between the sexes to build a fairer society.

“Liberated women—very different from Women’s Liberation! The first signals all kinds of goodies, to warm the hearts…of the most radical men. The other signals—HOUSEWORK.”

Robin Morgan, Radical Feminist Writer and Activist (1970s)
Significance:
Morgan contrasts superficial “liberation,” which focuses on sexual freedom or male approval, with genuine Women’s Liberation, which demands social and economic change. She mocks how some men supported “liberated women” as long as they stayed attractive and available but ignored the unpaid labor that kept women unequal. Her quote highlights the second wave’s push to challenge domestic inequality and the devaluation of housework, reminding people that true liberation means transforming everyday life—not just loosening sexual norms.

Definition of Feminism

• Belief in social, political, and economic equality between men and women.

• Developed in waves, each responding to its historical context.

• Goal: dismantle patriarchy and expand women’s freedom.

First Wave Feminism (mid-1800s–1920s)

• Focus: Legal and political rights, especially suffrage.

• Emerged from abolition and temperance movements.

• Women were legally dependent on men and denied property, education, and voting rights.

goals of first wave feminism

• Right to vote (suffrage).

• Property ownership and control of wages.

• Access to education and professions.

• Legal independence from husbands.

key events of first wave feminism

• 1848 Seneca Falls Convention → Declaration of Sentiments: “All men and women are created equal.”

• 19th Amendment (1920) → Women gain the right to vote.

key figures of first wave feminsim

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton – Organizer of Seneca Falls; author of Declaration of Sentiments.

• Susan B. Anthony – Advocate for suffrage and legal reform.

• Sojourner Truth – “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech linked race and gender.

what were first wave feminisms blind spots

• Focused on white, middle-class women.

• Overlooked race, class, and intersectionality.

• Emphasized legal equality, not cultural or economic.

Second Wave Feminism (1960s–1980s)

• Focus: Social, cultural, and economic equality.

• Context: Post-WWII, inspired by Civil Rights and antiwar movements.

• Slogan: “The personal is political.”

goals of second wave feminism

• Equality in work, education, and family roles.

• Reproductive rights (birth control, abortion).

• End sex discrimination and sexual violence.

• Challenge of gender roles and domestic inequality.

key events of second wave feminism

• NOW (National Organization for Women) founded 1966.

• The Feminine Mystique (Betty Friedan, 1963).

• Title IX (1972) prohibits gender discrimination in education.

• Stonewall Uprising (1969) links feminism to gay rights.

key figures of second wave feminism

• Betty Friedan – Author of The Feminine Mystique, co-founder of NOW.

• Gloria Steinem – Journalist; feminist leader.

• Robin Morgan – Radical feminist writer (“Liberated women—very different from Women’s Liberation”).

Second wave feminism blind spots

Centered on white, middle-class women.

• Limited inclusion of women of color, working-class, and LGBTQ+ voices.

compare movements

• First Wave: Legal/political rights → suffrage, property.

• Second Wave: Social/cultural rights → work, family, sexuality.

• First Wave: Focused on access to power.

• Second Wave: Questioned structures of power.

• First Wave: Won 19th Amendment.

• Second Wave: Won Title IX, workplace protections, reproductive rights.

• Both faced criticism for excluding marginalized women.

Big take aways from second and first wave

• First Wave: Achieved formal equality (citizenship, voting).

• Second Wave: Achieved social and institutional equality.

• Both challenged patriarchy in different ways.

• Second Wave laid foundation for modern intersectional feminism.