WGSS 201: Intro to Women’s Studies Review Sheet

WGSS 201: Intro to Women’s Studies First Exam Review Sheet

Important Concepts

  • Androcentrism

    • Definition: The practice of placing male human beings or a masculine point of view at the center of one's worldview, culture, and history, which often marginalizes women and other genders.

  • Intersectionality

    • Definition: A framework for understanding how various forms of inequality, oppression, and discrimination overlap and affect individuals based on their multiple social identities, such as race, gender, sexuality, and class.
    • Importance: It helps in analyzing how social categories interact, revealing complex layers of privilege and oppression.

  • “Passing”

    • Definition: The act of presenting oneself as a member of a different social group than one’s own, often to escape stigma associated with one's original identity (e.g., race, gender identity).

  • Patriarchy

    • Definition: A social system in which males hold primary power and dominate in roles of political leadership, moral authority, social privilege, and control over property.
    • Characteristics: It emphasizes male authority both in familial structures and broader societal contexts.

  • Gender as Performative

    • Theory proposed by Judith Butler, suggesting that gender is not an inherent identity but an ongoing performance influenced by societal expectations and norms.

  • Gender Identity

    • Definition: An individual's personal sense of their own gender, which may coincide with or differ from the sex they were assigned at birth.

  • Gender Expressions

    • Definition: The external display of gender, through behavior, clothing, haircut, voice, and other forms, which may align with or differ from societal gender expectations.

  • Spatial Construction

    • Definition: The ways in which gender roles and identities are constructed and understood within specific physical or cultural spaces.

  • Gender Ranking

    • Definition: The social organization of gender where certain genders (typically male) are privileged over others (typically female and non-binary identities).

  • Hierarchy of Oppression

    • Concept explaining how different forms of oppression (e.g., racism, sexism, classism) can stack and create complex social dynamics affecting marginalized groups.

  • The Three Levels of Oppression

    • Personal: Involves individual experiences and the internalization of societal norms.
    • Cultural: Encompasses social norms and representations that shape perceptions of gender and race.
    • Structural: Relates to institutional systems that perpetuate inequalities through policies and practices.

  • The Three Waves of Feminism

    • First Wave: (late 19th to early 20th century)
    • Goals: Women's suffrage, legal equality.
    • Methods: Activism, protests.
    • Achievements: Women's right to vote (15th and 19th Amendments).
    • Second Wave: (1960s to 1980s)
    • Goals: Reproductive rights, workplace equality.
    • Methods: Advocacy, literature, legal challenges.
    • Achievements: Roe v. Wade, Equal Pay Act.
    • Third Wave: (1990s to present)
    • Goals: Diversity in feminism, inclusivity of various identities.
    • Methods: Embracing pop culture, grassroots activism.
    • Fourth Wave: (2010s to present)
    • Focus: Digital activism, addressing sexual harassment, misogyny, and representation.

  • 15th Amendment

    • Ratified in 1870; it granted African American men the right to vote.

  • 19th Amendment

    • Ratified in 1920; it granted women the right to vote.

  • “The Personal is Political”

    • A slogan that emphasizes how personal experiences are often rooted in larger social and political structures, particularly in relation to gender and sexuality.

  • NOW (National Organization for Women)

    • Founded in 1966, aims to advocate for women's rights and equality across various spheres, including employment, reproductive health, and education.

  • Roe v. Wade

    • A landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide, highlighting issues of bodily autonomy and reproductive rights.

  • Equal Pay Act

    • Passed in 1963, it prohibits wage discrimination based on sex in the United States, aimed at achieving equal pay for equal work.

  • CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women)

    • An international treaty adopted in 1979 that aims to eliminate discrimination against women and promotes women's rights globally.

  • “The Luxury of Privilege is that the Terms of Privilege are Rendered Invisible”

    • Concept explaining that those in positions of privilege often do not recognize or perceive the systemic advantages they hold, leading to a lack of awareness on issues of inequality.

  • “Profeminism”

    • A stance taken by certain men who support feminist goals and seek to challenge sexism in society.

  • “Horizontal Hostility”

    • Term describing the internal conflicts and negative attitudes that marginalized groups may direct towards one another rather than towards the systems of oppression.

  • Five Faces/Ways of (Being) Oppression

    • Various forms of oppression including exploitation, marginalization, powerlessness, cultural imperialism, and violence.

Key Questions to Consider

  1. How is language gendered?

    • Analyze how language shapes perceptions of gender, reinforcing stereotypes through word choices and societal norms.

  2. How do your readings suggest that gender is constructed?

    • Reflect on the readings' insights regarding the socialization processes that shape gender roles and identities.

  3. How do your readings suggest that sex is constructed?

    • Consider the concepts explored in the readings that highlight the distinction between biological sex and socially constructed gender roles.

  4. Explain the argument that expanding feminism through intersectionality endangers women’s rights.

    • Discuss potential concerns that focusing too broadly may dilute the feminist agenda.
    • Explore how intersectionality can conceptualize oppression and the ways it may strengthen feminist movements by being more inclusive.

  5. What were the goals, methods, achievements, and main characteristics of the first, second, third, and fourth waves of feminism?

    • Prepare to provide detailed explanations of each wave and how they evolved over time in response to societal changes and challenges.

  6. Discuss the opposition to the second wave of feminism and how the third wave approaches feminism as a result of that opposition.

    • Evaluate how backlash against the second wave shaped the third wave's emphasis on inclusivity and diversity.

  7. Have men been included in the feminist movement?

    • Investigate the role of men in feminism, considering bell hooks' critiques regarding the treatment of men and the suggested structural changes to improve feminist solidarity.

  8. Discuss and explain the two concepts of power: dispersed power and institutional power.

    • Compare and contrast the nature and dynamics of dispersed power (shared among individuals) and institutional power (concentrated in organizations and systems), highlighting their implications for gender equality and social change.