Culture and Identity Lecture Notes

Course Information

  • Course Code: FEM1101
  • Topic: Culture and Identity

Key Themes Explored

  • Gender
  • Sex
  • Performativity
  • Culture
  • Signs
  • Ontology
  • Epistemology

Core Concepts

  • Epistemology: This refers to the study of "how we know," focusing on the nature and scope of knowledge.
  • Ontology: This deals with "the essence of who we are," exploring the nature of being and existence.
  • Gender vs. Sex:
    • Gender is understood as something fluid and distinct from biological sex.
  • Culture:
    • Definition: Culture is a dynamic "set of beliefs, practices and symbols that are learned and shared. Together, they form an all-encompassing, integrated whole that binds people together and shapes their worldview and lifeways."
    • Nature: Culture is always in flux, continually changing, and never static.

Key Quotation

  • "One is not born a woman, one becomes one" - Simone de Beauvoir from The Second Sex.

Historical Context: Pink Vs. Blue

  • According to Schorman (2013), the assignment of pink and blue as distinctly masculine and feminine colors was not consistently established until after World War II. (Reference: Schorman 2013, pages 622-3).