Gender & Sexuality

Feminism

The belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It focuses on political, economic, and social equality between genders.

Intersectional Feminism

Feminism that focuses on how different identities, such as race, religion, sexuality, and gender, overlap and affect women's experiences.

Transfeminism

A movement by and for trans women that fights for the liberation and equality of all women.

Women of Color Feminism

A movement that fights for the rights of women of color and focuses on the specific challenges they experience.

Womanism

A social and ecological perspective that developed from Africana women's culture and women of color around the world.

Empowerment Feminism

Feminism that focuses on empowering women in society, workplaces, and personal life.

Conservative Feminism

A form of feminism focused mainly on legal equality between men and women rather than changing traditional gender structures.

Suffrage

The right to vote in political elections.

Biological Determinism

The belief that gender and sexuality are naturally fixed by biological sex.

Social Constructivism

The idea that gender and sexuality are created by society and culture and can change over time.

The Male Gaze (Laura Mulvey)

The representation of women from a masculine perspective where women are often shown as objects of male pleasure.

Narcissistic Gaze

A gaze connected to self-identification and seeing oneself reflected in another person or image.

Scopophilic Gaze

A gaze connected to the pleasure of looking, often with a sexual element.

Domestication

The process of teaching or expecting someone to focus on home life and domestic tasks.

Abuse (Gender Context)

Discrimination or unfair treatment based on sex or gender.

Marginalization

The process of placing a person or group in a powerless or less important position in society.

Inequality

The lack of equality or unequal treatment between people or groups.

Representation

The way someone or something is portrayed or represented in society, media, or literature.

Empowerment and Reclamation of Language

The process of taking previously negative language and using it positively to gain power and identity.

The Madwoman in the Attic (Sandra Gilbert & Susan Gubar)

The image of a suppressed woman expressing anger, rage, and power against patriarchal oppression.

Male Fragility (Robin DiAngelo)

The anxiety some men feel when they believe they do not meet cultural expectations of masculinity.

Mansplaining

When a man explains something to a woman in a condescending way, assuming she knows less even when she already understands it.

Manspreading

When a man sits with his legs spread widely and takes up more space than necessary.

Glass Ceiling

An invisible barrier preventing women and minorities from reaching higher positions in organizations.

Heteronormativity

The assumption that everyone is heterosexual and that society is built around heterosexual relationships.

Queer Theory (Harry M. Benshoff / Michel Foucault)

A theory that examines sexuality, identity, and people who do not fit traditional categories. It challenges stereotypes and ideas of normality.

Otherness

The process of defining certain groups as different from the accepted norm based on gender, race, class, or ethnicity.

Performance of Gender

The idea that gender is something people perform through actions and behavior rather than something they simply are.

Simone de Beauvoir's Gender Idea

The idea that women are not born as women but become women through society and experience.

Equality of Pay

The right to receive equal pay for equal or similar work regardless of gender.

Pay Gap

The difference in average earnings between different groups, often referring to men and women.

Equality of Outcome

The idea that equality should focus on achieving similar results, not only equal opportunities.

The Unruly Woman (Kathleen Rowe)

A female character who refuses traditional expectations, cannot be controlled, and challenges ideas of femininity.

Patriarchy

A social system where men hold more power and authority than women.

Gender Feminism

A form of feminism that focuses on how gender roles and patriarchy can create inequality.