The Gender of Politics and Power

Flashcards about the gender of politics and power.

Coercive power

The ability to impose one’s will by force, threats, or deceit.

Authority

Power that comes from a position in an organization or institution that is widely regarded as legitimate.

Institutionalized power

Power that derives from the strength of an institution, also authority.

Hegemonic Masculinity

Standard against which all men are judged; men must exert power over women.

Emasculation

Taking away or reducing masculinity; men spend their lives avoiding it.

Homophobia

Incidental and essential to masculinity; proving oneself masculine is always plagued by the fear of betraying homosexuality.

Marital rape

Rape occurring within a marriage; marriage gave husbands the right to have sex with their wives regardless of their wives’ consent.

Head and master laws

Husbands had final say regarding all household decisions and joint property in a marriage.

Geography of fear

Assessments of vulnerability and fear in certain spaces that women are forced to make as a result of the threat of potential violence, assault, or harassment.

Dear Colleague Letter

Guidance document issued by a federal agency that helps explain and interpret existing laws.

Deference

The expectation that women accept their status as a group subordinate to men and do not challenge men’s control over them.

Political specialization

The process by which people learn what is expected of them in their particular political system.

Political efficacy

What a person does really matters; women are not made to believe that they can make a real difference in the political realm.

Symbolic violence

Acts leading to the misrecognition or distortion of underlying power relations.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to use the lens of one’s own culture to judge someone else’s culture.

Cultural relativism

A perspective that encourages us to view other cultures through their own lens rather than through ours.

Cisheteropatriarchy

Assumptions that one’s gender identity lines up with the gender assigned at birth.

Descriptive or numerical representation

The number of members of a particular group, that is women who hold office.

Substantive representation

Representation of group interests, or the extent to which the members of the particular group represent the interests of that group when they are elected.

State feminism

All the activities of governments that are officially charged with furthering women’s status and rights.