SEC 01: Mapping the Field - An Introduction to Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

What contemporary global contradictions highlight the importance of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies?

• Racial reckonings vs. rise of white nationalism

• Anti-trans legislation vs. gender euphoria and abolition movements

• Anti-abortion movements vs. reproductive justice activism

• Climate crisis vs. new sustainability technologies

• Pay discrimination vs. labor organizing

• These contradictions show why feminist and queer frameworks are essential for understanding power, inequality, and resistance.

Which communities are central to feminist and queer social justice movements discussed in the text?

• Women

• Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC)

• LGBTQPAI2S+ communities

• These groups have historically and presently pursued political, social, and economic justice shaped by feminist and queer thought.

How is feminism often misrepresented in popular discourse?

• Treated with suspicion or hostility

• Compared to obscenity (“the f-word”)

• Framed as extreme, angry, or anti-men

• This reflects politicized stereotypes rather than feminism’s actual goals.

How does bell hooks define feminism, and why is this definition important?

Feminism is “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression.”

• Focuses on systems, not individuals

• Applies regardless of who perpetuates sexism

• Broadens feminism beyond women alone

Why does bell hooks argue that U.S. mass media promotes antifeminism?

Because gender justice threatens patriarchy by challenging:

• Abortion restrictions

• Compulsory heterosexuality

• Rape culture and domestic violence

• Media works to undermine challenges to existing power structures.

What is the difference between reform feminism and revolutionary feminism (bell hooks)?

• Reform feminism: Seeks equality within existing systems

• Revolutionary feminism: Seeks liberation by transforming systems themselves

What demands did early feminists make?

• Right to vote

• Sexual autonomy

• Access to education, health care, employment, and citizenship

• They challenged the assumption that white, wealthy men deserved dignity by default.

How does women’s, gender, and sexuality studies trace its roots historically?

• Early poetry challenging bondage

• Abolition and suffrage movements

• Twentieth-century social justice movements

• Labor organizing and anti-lynching activism

Why is Ida B. Wells significant to feminist history?

She led the anti-lynching movement, linking racial justice to feminist and political activism.

How do Sailiata and Teves redefine Native Pacific feminism?

They reclaim anti-colonial, anti-military, and environmental struggles as feminist, even if activists did not initially use the term “feminist.”

What is patriarchy according to Allan Johnson?

A structural system, not just individual behavior, embedded in:

• Law

• Media

• Family

• Education

• Religion

• Everyone participates in and is shaped by it.

Why is focusing only on individual actions (e.g., rape) insufficient?

It ignores the social conditions that produce and normalize violence, such as cultural myths and institutional silence.

How do feminist and queer inquiry intervene in systems of oppression?

• Raise consciousness

• Reveal power structures

• Challenge violence as systemic, not isolated

• Promote social change

What does Michael Warner mean by “queering” something?

To trouble heteronormativity—the assumption that heterosexuality and marriage are normal and superior.

How does Warner critique how society views queer life?

Queer life is framed as scandalous or diseased, while straight life hides its own scandals and harms.

What does Jennifer Purvis mean when she says WGSS is “always already queer”?

It “twists” and “makes strange” normative assumptions about gender, sexuality, and power—making queer critique foundational.

How has the term “queer” been reclaimed?

• From a slur to an identity

• As an umbrella term

• As a political stance

• As resistance to rigid categories

Why is the Obergefell v. Hodges decision both a victory and a limitation?

It legalized same-sex marriage but reinforced marriage as a heteronormative institution not desired by all queer people.

What is the “lavender menace,” and why does it matter?

Betty Friedan’s label for lesbians in NOW—shows historical feminist exclusion of queer people.

Why must feminism be queer to avoid replicating oppression?

Excluding queer and trans people reproduces patriarchy, racism, classism, and nationalism.

What responsibilities do queer movements have if they are feminist?

They must challenge:

• Sexism

• Racism

• Transphobia

• Ableism

• Xenophobia

How does gender socialization begin at birth?

Through sex assignment (“It’s a girl/boy”) and gendered expectations (colors, behaviors, traits).

Why does resistance to gendering children provoke backlash?

It disrupts binary gender, threatening patriarchal control and state power.

What explains the surge in anti-trans legislation?

• Fear

• Religious certainty

• Patriarchal state power

• Aimed at reinforcing binary sex-gender systems.

What does Anne Fausto-Sterling argue about sex?

Sex exists on a spectrum, not a binary; biology itself shows variation.

Why are intersex surgeries controversial?

• Often non-consensual

• Enforce binary norms

• Cause long-term psychological harm

Why is the statistic that ~1.7% of births are intersex significant?

It challenges the assumption that binary sex is “natural” or universal.

How does Judith Lorber define gender?

A social process constantly created through interaction and daily life.

Why does binary gender persist despite challenges?

It is embedded in language, institutions, and power hierarchies.

What questions reveal ongoing gender inequality?

• Are men judged for caregiving?

• Are women judged for remaining single?

• Can trans people move safely through society?

How does Susan Stryker define transgender?

People who move away from the gender assigned at birth; relates to gender, not sexuality.

Why is the term “cisgender” politically important?

It prevents cis identities from being treated as the unmarked default.

Who were Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson?

Pioneers of trans and queer liberation in the 1960s demanding systemic change.

What does Hil Malatino mean by “aftercare”?

Care that supports trans people in living—not just remembering them in death.

How is oppression defined in this text?

A system of social, political, economic, and institutional barriers that disempower groups.

What are Marilyn Frye’s “double binds”?

Situations where women are penalized no matter what choice they make.

How does Deborah King’s concept of “multiple jeopardy” expand feminism?

It explains how overlapping oppressions uniquely shape Black women’s lives.

What is privilege, according to Peggy McIntosh?

Unearned advantages granted by social hierarchies (race, gender, class, etc.).

What is intersectionality?

The idea that identities are complex and that systems of oppression are interlocking.

Why is WGSS an interdisciplinary field?

No single theory or method can explain gendered power; multiple disciplines are required.

What is praxis in women’s, gender, and sexuality studies?

The integration of theory and action to create social change.

What types of sources are valued in WGSS research?

• Personal narratives

• Archives

• Quantitative research

• Art, media, and court cases

• Scholarly secondary sources