WGS 240 Exam 3

science studies

the social, historical, and philosophical study of the production, circulation, and representation of science

science, colonialism, and empire

"civilization" was used to make hierarchical distinctions between races

rationalized and "made natural" both racial hierarchies and racism

feminist science studies

social, historical, and philosophical study of the production, circulation, and representation of science that centers gender and sexuality

harding; standpoint theory as a site of pol, phil, and sci debate

- the urgent need for feminist critique in/of science and other areas of knowledge production
- against widely-held assumptions, "situated standpoints" enhance knowledge production
- acknowledging that knowledge is socially n historically constructed does not preclude the evaluation of relative accuracy

Green New Deal

a proposed United States legislation that aims to address climate change and economic inequality.

equity

a condition in which people receive from a relationship in proportion to what they give to it
ex. medical care depends on health insurance status and ability to pay for care
- US does not have nationalized health care system
- gender rating ex. women with individual health insurance plans had been charged up to 48% high premiums (3/4 of plans did NOT provide maternity coverage)

Androcentrism

the belief that the male is the norm
- male centeredness in biomedicine; white male body as norm
- women excluded from clinical trials; even mouse models in translational research are often male

"it's all her in head"

women's symptoms aren't taken as seriously as men's symptoms in clinical encounters

horowitz; on invisible illness, gender, and disbelief

signs versus symptoms
- contested illnesses like chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic Lyme disease, fibromyalgia have perplexing symptoms in the absence of signs and are assumed to be more common among women

Medicalization

the process whereby normal functions of the body come to be seen as indicative of disease, and therefore, in need of medical intervention

stereotyping: race and clinical response to pain

- black patients were 50% less likely to receive an opioid prescription than white counterparts
- biological-based racial differences including the belief that "blacks age more slowly than whites" and that "their nerve endings are less sensitive"

lyme's "bullseye" rash

the bullseye rash is not as easy to spot on black patients

corporate responsibility

regulation of environmental toxins and their gendered health effects

reproductive justice

Access to safe and affordable options for birthing, parenting, and birth control; access to medical abortion and absence of forced sterilization

reproductive injustice: racism, pregnancy, and premature birth (2019)

medical racism: ideas and practices that perpetuate racial hierarchies and compromise one's health or facilitate vulnerability to premature illness or death
- Black women have higher rates of prematurity than any other women in America, and the rates of prematurity go beyond class

gender violence

implies that harm evolves from the imbalance in power associated with masculinity and femininity

interpersonal gender violence

when masculine entitlement enforces its power on others in the form of harm or injury
ex.
- Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
- Violence within families
- Hate crimes, violence from strangers

structural violence

ex.
- poverty
- homelessness
- incarceration
- unemployment

intimate partner violence (IPV)

physical, sexual, or psychological harm by a current or former partner or spouse
- home is NOT safe, most gender violence is "at home"
- 78% of all violent acts are committed by intimate partners

physical gender violence

burning, beating, punching, biting, battering, kicking, killing, forced abortion, coercive use of contraceptives, female genital mutilation, servitude or removal of organs, hate crimes, trafficking, etc.

sexual gender violence

rape, sexual harassment, forced penetration of another person, forced marriage, forced pregnancy, forced abortion, forced sterilization, forced unsafe sex, sex trafficking, sexual slavery, etc.

psychological gender violence

stalking, name calling, yelling, insulting, demeaning, degrading, confinement, isolating a person from friends/family, restricting movements, control of finances, infantilization, etc.

overall important US stats

- an average of 24 people per minute are victims of physical violence, sexual violence, or stalking by an intimate partner
- 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men have experienced sexual violence, physical violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner
- About 1 in 3 women and nearly 1 in 6 men have experienced sexual violence in their lifetimes

age, disability important US stats

- approximately 8% of girls (10 million) experienced rape or attempted rape
- Almost 2% of boys (2 million) were either made to penetrate someone or there was an attempt to make them penetrate someone
- An estimated 2 in 5 (39%) female victims of rape had a disability at the time of the rape

sexuality important US stats

- Rates of sexual violence higher among lesbian women, gay men, and bisexual women
- 46% of bisexual women have experienced rape
- 40% of gay men and 46% of bisexual men have experienced other forms of sexual violence
- 61% of bisexual women have experienced intimate partner violence in their lifetimes.

gender binary important US stats

- Nearly half of respondents reported that they were verbally harassed in the past year because of being trans or non-binary
- 9% of respondents reported that they were physically attacked in the past year
- More than half (54%) have experienced some form of intimate partner violence
- Nearly half (47%) of respondents were sexually assaulted at some point in their lifetime

power, masculinity, and violence

normative manhood: no weakness, disrespect women, don't show emotion, demonstrate power

rape culture

culture in which rape/sexual violence are the norm, emphasis is on teaching people how to not be raped, consent not default, victim blaming, sexual objectification, trivializing rape, denial of widespread rape, refusing to acknowledge harm

rape culture: myth vs fact

women entice men to rape by dressing certain way; if victim wasn't drinking, they wouldn't have been assaulted; perpetrators are strangers to victims; when women/femmes say no, they mean yes

what to do about rape culture?

new ways to be masculine, raise children without normative gendering, consent education

Affirmative consent

explicit, informed, and voluntary agreement to participate in a sexual act.

sexual projects

encompasses the reasons why anyone might seek a particular sexual interaction or experience

sexual citizenship

acknowledgment of one's own right to sexual self-determination and, importantly, recognizes the equivalent right in others

sexual geographies

Includes built environment but also "encompasses the spatial contexts through which people move, and the peer networks that can regulate access to those spaces

conclusions and possible solutions

- alcohol and pornography taxes to support sex education
- creating safer spaces
- restorative justice
- harm reduction model (bridging diversity, power, inequality, sex/sex abuse, substance abuse, mental health)
- school-based sexual education prior to college (sexual socialization)

Ethnocentrism

tendency to view one's own culture as superior and to use one's own standards and values in judging outsiders

cultural relativism

the idea that behavior should be evaluated not by outside standards but in the context in which it occurs

human rights

rights based on justice and morality beyond and superior to particular countries, cultures, and religions

Inalienable Rights

cannot be changed or suspended by national gov

cultural rights

rights vested in religious and ethnic minorities and indigenous societies

first/third world to one-third/two-thirds worlds

categories based on quality of life" that move away from "misleading geographical and ideological binarisms

Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Abu Lughod

- Many forms of covering, many meanings
- Veiling as an agentive, voluntary act
- The veil ≠ symbol of women's oppression, and Muslim women's diversity should not be reduced to the veil.
- Need to be aware of and respect differences
- "Saving other women" driven by sense of superiority=ETHNOCENTRISM
- CULTURAL RELATIVISM + awareness of history= respect for differences and the history of these differences

women's and gender studies objectives in review

- An understanding of the social construction of gender.
- The analysis of intersections of gender with other systems of inequality.
- familiarity with the status of marginalized social groups and a consideration of individual and collective action to impact change
- to think about patterns of privilege and discrimination in your own life and understand your own position relative to systems of inequality

knowledge power

critical questions asked to uncover how knowledge about women, gender, and sexuality is produced, who benefits from that knowledge, and how that knowledge is maintained
- Feminist knowledge is no more biased politically than any other form of knowledge → it is just more explicit in its bias

moving from theory to action

- any realm site for action and change-protest, civil disobedience, policy engagement-education campaigns
- cultural production and disruption
- healing from trauma and oppression
- spirituality and religion
- being authentic self-mutual aid projects
- individual, collective, institutional connected