Women's Studies Midterm

"The Feminine Mystique" (US 1963)

"Over and over women heard in voices of tradition and of Freudian sophistication that they could desire no greater destiny than to glory in their own femininity" "And men were taught to putty the neurotic, unfeminine, unhappy women who wanted to be poets or physicists, or presidents. THey learned that truly feminine women do not want careers, higher education, political rights — the independence and the opportunities that the old fashioned feminists fought for". Give up dreams and devote lives to hysbands Give up college Get married in hs Eat nothing to achieve (chalk) and dye hair blonde Suburban housewife was the goal "feminine fulfillment" proud to assume this role after WWII No one argued whether women were inferior of superior to men' they were simply different "emacipation" and "career" sounded strange and embarrassing .. no one had used them in years Criticized The Second Sex Too scared to express their dissatisfaction. Even psychoanalysts had no name for it. "I'm so ashamed" "I must be hopelessly neurotic" = "problem that has no name" Women started to confide in each other and it was good to know they werent alone = second wave feminism A Cleveland doctor called it "the housewife's syndrome" Home economists = high school workshops to prepare housewives, college educators suggested more discussion groups on home management Sexologists wrote articles about how to save marriage Humorists joked about taking women's right to vote away A number of educators suggested seriously that women no longer be admitted to 4-year colleges 1962 the plight of the trapped american housewife was discussed in magazines, newspapers, books, tv, educational conferences "We have made women a sex creature, she has no identity except as a wife and mother, she does not know who she is herself. She waits all day for her husband to come home at night to make her feel alive, And now it is the husband who is not interested." 1950's doctor found his patients suffering from "housewife's fatigue" sleepins as much as 10 hours a day, stems from boredom, they were prescribed tranquilizers like coughdrops Many started to listen to inner voice and discover their identities 1st step is to start saying no and use automatic appliances and instant mashed potatoes for what they are truly worth- to save time that can be usen in more creative ways Less common to see maids - women were doing everything themselves - relates to woolf (they are always interrupted) 2nd step is to see marriage as it really is brushing aside the veil of over glorification imposed by the feminine mystique What is needed now is a national educational program for women who seriously want to contunye or resume their education and are willing to commit themselves to its use in a profession Bit the time is at hand when the voices of the feminine mystique can no longer drown out the inner oice that is driving women on to become complete Connects to dubois bc damnation of women = sacrifice work and intelligence to have a home children and husband = problem that has no name

Flora Tristan

(1803-1844) Socialist and feminist who called for working woman's social and political rights. questioned the socialization of girls to become servile wives, wrote critiques on the condition of the working class She appealed to working men to affirm women's rights to education to improve the lot of their class since educated women would become superior mothers

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

(1815-1902) A suffragette who, with Lucretia Mott, organized the first convention on women's rights, held in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. Issued the Declaration of Sentiments which declared men and women to be equal and demanded the right to vote for women. Co-founded the National Women's Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony in 1869.

Emmeline Pankhurst

(1858-1928) British suffragette and founder of the Woman's Social and Political Union. he was tried in 1912 for conspiracy to insight destruction of property. In her courtroom speech, she delineates milestones in her movement's struggle.

Simone de Beauvoir

(1908-1986) Existentialist and feminist who has written on the psychology and social position of women. Refutes myths of female inferiority and rejects biological explanations of women's secondatu status Major force in french intellectual life and applied her extensive knowledge of philosophical, historical, and psychological theory to analuze the problem of modern woman Drew on existential and marxist ideas when she conceptualized woman as an immanent "other" unable to achieve human freedom She shows how women are constrained by culture and how economic independence, birth control, abortion, childcare would enable women to choose their own destinies

"The Second Sex" (France, 1949)

Published "The Second Sex" arguing that while gender is biological, the behavior that is associated with each sex is learned. people are obsessed with creating binaries (one has to be a winner, one has to be oppressed) this seems natural to people at the top and even natural to those on the bottom men fundamentally oppress women by characterizing them, on every level, as the Other WHAT IS A WOMAN? Important distinction between sex and gender, individuals become women it is defined socially Binary = they are other (there has to be a dominant group) Women are dispersed cannot unite de Beauvoir first turns to biology, psychoanalysis, and historical materialism. These disciplines reveal indisputable "essential" differences between men and women but provide no justification for woman's inferiority. They all take woman's

"Woman and the New Race" (US 1920)

Regardless of one's views on the topic of contraception, Margaret Sanger's Woman and the New Race helped to break new ground through encouraging women to take control of their bodies. Early in her writing, Sanger brings up overpopulation and how women's primary role as mothers have contributed to this issue. "While unknowingly laying the foundations of tyrannies and providing the human tinder for racial conflagrations, woman was also unknowingly creating slums, filling asylums with insane, and institutions with other defectives. She was replenishing the ranks of the prostitutes, furnishing grist for the criminal courts and inmates for prisons. Had she planned deliberately to achieve this tragic total of human waste and misery, she could hardly have done it more effectively." This artfully formed passage shows the passion behind Sanger's beliefs. While on the surface it may seem that she is attacking women, the point of her idea is to frame the passive nature of women in Western Society up to this point. Women have accepted their position as "the gentler and weaker half of the human family" acceptance of inferior status was because it was unconscious "Submissive maternity" = the creators of overpopulation are women = tragedies of civilization Marital rape was legal Current protests regarding equality like working hours and property rights, havent affected directly the most vital factors of her existene In order to break free from the shackles of predestined breeding, Sanger suggests that women "assert their right to voluntary motherhood." Through thinking on their own, women can be in command of their own bodies and in turn determine how to live their lives. While this may seem absurd to a modern mind, this was truly innovative and dangerous for Sanger to suggest. She was challenging traditions that dated back hundreds of years. Some women revolted (abortion) but it was an individual movement not as a mass = "sank back into blind and hopeless subjection There is a rise in fundamental revolt. For voluntary motherhood The answer to obstacles is birth control (women have been condemned long enough, she should have the right to save her body) only the married woman has rights (what about rape, or unwanted pregnancy) The church and state need to be challenged Sex morals for women have been one sided, purely negative, repressive, fixed by agencies which have sought to keep women enslaved Developments: her own full rounded life, loving unstrained, full-hearted relationship with her children = voluntary Premarital sex shouldn't be looked down upon like it has been in the past

1960s Consciousness raising groups

women coming together to talk and build their own opinions on politics and social standing

John Stuart Mill

wrote of liberty, utilitarianism, and political economy. Harriet Taylor Mill inspired his ideas - Together they wrote essays supporting women's education and employment and condemning domestic violence - Believed equal education should repace women's socialization to be "willing slaves" to their husbands Supported property rights of married women, suffrage, and freedom from unwanted sexual relations - he was a member of the British House of Commons

Mary Wollstonecraft

- English writer and early feminist who denied male supremacy and advocated equal education for women - She believed that the success of self-government required virtuous mothers and educated women - She highlighted women's roles as mothers but also recognized the importance of self support - hoped one day they'd have political rightst

Sojourner Truth

- In 1843 she became a Protestant preacher and joined the abolitionist and women's rights movements = eloquent speaker biblically influenced and persuasive - She insisted black women have the same rights as white - After emancipation former abolitionists split over whether to endorse black suffrage only or woman's suffrage as well - She called for equal rights for both former slaves and all woman = rarity black suffragist voice - She even fought to improve women's earning power - African american woman don't have the same private spheres = their experiences are not the same as white women

A Voice From the South (1892)

- There is a special influence of woman, and the world is missing out on the valuable resources that they provide and contribute - Thank enlightenment and independence of woman for being forces at work in the world: religion, science, art, econ, literature, theology, need a woman's influence - She should not have to make sacrifices of her own potential for her husband - Men who run these fields learned from their mothers as well - There is a feminine and masculine side to truth; they are compliments in one necessary and symmetric whole - if men have reason and abstract truth women have sympathy tenderness and love = they should be combined - both these traits give symmetry to the individual - Deviates from the separate spheres ideology - Women should be treated as equals but white southern women have to treat black women as their equals as well - They imagine that because her grandfather had slaves who were black all black people in the world were once in the position of her slaves = white superiority - there are black people all over the world, some who were never in bondage, with blood as noble as any white lady ... the objection to accept is discriminatory - The term "social equality" is wrong. The deconstruction of segregation will not affect their experience at their organizations

"The Enfranchisement of Women" (England, 1851)

- Why have been excluded from liberal individualism? According to Taylor, history provides ample evidence that the explanation has something to do with physical force (a line of argument we find also in John Stuart Mill's The Subjection of Woman). According to Taylor Mill, "That those who were physically weaker should have been made legally inferior, is quite conformable to the mode in which the world has been governed. - Against those who might object that it is simply in women's nature to be ruled by men Taylor argues that present conditions do not allow talking about the "nature" of women: Since women have always been denied "common rights of citizenship" (97), they never had the opportunity to live according to their "nature" or desires. - THEY ARE FORCED INTO MOTHERHOOD bc theres lack of liberty of choice: Taylor argues that the exclusion of women from the labour market is based on circular reasoning: "To say that women must be excluded from active life because maternity disqualifies them for it, is in fact to say, that every other career should be forbidden them in order that maternity may be their only resource" (104). If women were indeed capable only of mothering, why does society take the pains of forcing them into marriage and motherhood by foreclosing them all other options? Besides, it is unclear why women who prefer to stay unmarried and/or without children are subjected to the same limitations as wives and mothers. - She addresses the patriarchal organization of English society In Taylor's view, no person is entitled to assign "spheres" to other persons, for she emphasizes that "the proper sphere for all human beings is the largest and highest which they are able to attain to" (100). Taylor entertains a highly individualistic point of view insofar as she holds that only the individual in question is capable of deciding what is best for him or her - this is especially true of women, who have been denied liberty of choice for ages. - the question of how to balance individual rights with social obligations. Taylor emphasizes that the answer to this question has long been biased: "It is agreeable to [men] that [they] should live for their own sake, women for the sake of men". Since women are from infancy conditioned to meet cultural expectations about "feminine" behaviour, they have internalized these demands and thus believe they can only thrive by meeting them.she addresses neglected issues like the private spheres of marriage and family

"The Emancipation of Working Class Women" (France, 1843)

- Women have been excluded from the Church, the law and society. Tristan demands rights in each domain. The working class in particular are characterized by poverty and ignorance. - Whereas rich men have noble ladies to teach them politeness after college so they can be ambassdors, but working class have only their mothers. Therefore, for reasons of self interest working class men must demand rights for working class women, that the women be educated and teach the men. - Tristan calls upon the French Declaration of the Rights of Man to proclaim 'A Declaration of the Rights of Woman:' - Workers face and existing evil and should know about the well-being that could exist = it is their duty to help as proletarian men who are oppressed by the same laws - Workers' Union must grant equal rights and benefits, admission into the Workers' Union are equal for children, the injured, and the elderly, girls receive the same quality of education ('as rational, a s broad in moral and professional sciences') as boys, and treatment for injured and elderly is the same as for women and men. - She demands rights for women because she's convinced that all the misfortunes in the world come from the neglect and contempt in which women's natural and inalienable rights have been treated. -Equality between men and women = equality between social classes (she is more radical in asserting that most problems the world faces is due to gender inequality) - Within 20 years, Tristan predicts, France will grant Absolute Equality of Men and Women.

The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State 1884

- identifies the source of women's oppression in the development of class society. - a materialist analysis of how the family as we know it came to be with the rise of class society--and with it, the oppression of women. - written in the context of the abysmal status of women in Victorian society. In the U.S. in the year the book was published, 1884, Susan B. Anthony was called a fanatic for speaking before Congress on behalf of women's suffrage. The movement for an eight-hour day also began that year. - Children are frequently quite ignorant of their parentage. They know about their mother, for all the care and responsibility falls upon her, but they have no knowledge of their father; nor does it seem to occur to the woman that she or her children have any claim upon him. - Engels hilariously takes on the proponents of the traditional family of his time who used comparisons with the animal kingdom to prove their points - WITH A change in the social forces, Engels argues, comes a change in the conception of the family. The domestication of animals and the advent of agriculture made it possible for human beings to create more than the bare minimum that they needed to survive. For the first time, there was an accumulation of surplus, or wealth. - With the rise of class society came the rise of inequality--between those who accumulated wealth and those who did not, and also between men and women. - In pre-class hunter-gatherer societies, a sexual division of labor existed--with women usually in charge of the gathering and growing of crops. The work performed by women was central to the group's survival, and therefore valued highly. Men for their part took care of the hunting of large game, and later, with the domestication of animals, oversaw that work. Systematic inequality between men and women did not exist. The rise in inequality came with the rise in private property, as men came to control the sphere of production. The monogamous family became the means by which property could be passed down from generation to generation. Marriage became little more than a property relationship. Controversial at the time Men are inherently oppressive to women like bourgeois would be inherently oppressive to the proletariat As the demand for surplus increased, so did the demand for labor. Women were now in the position of having to produce more children to perform more labor. In this way, the women became tied to the household. In other words, the division of labor between men and women didn't change, but production was moved out of the household. Regarding changes in the family under capitalism, Engels rightly makes the argument that women entering the workplace was a positive development, taking them out of the isolation of the household. But Engels overestimates the positive impact this has for working-class women, and in some ways has a rosy picture of the working-class household. Engels writes, "Here, there is no property, for the preservation and inheritance of which monogamy and male supremacy were established; hence, there is no incentive to make this male supremacy effective." In this passage, Engels underestimates the powerful role ideology plays in perpetrating the false idea that women are as less than equal to men. This is especially important among workers, where capitalism depends on the division of men and women to keep them from uniting and overthrowing the system. He also misses the fact that working-class women suffer oppression more severely than ruling-class women.

Harriet Taylor Mill

-wrote essays emphasizing the importance of women's education and questioning marriage as women's sole vocation - As transatlantic networks spread news of suffrage she publicized the suffrage cause in the Westminster Review a reform journal which supported abolition of slavery and universal male suffrage - She urged british liberals to grant enfranchisement to women and working men, equal access to education and professions for women - John Stuart Mill her husband supported her and also fought for sovereignty of every individual by providing equal rights for women - Like Wollstonecraft he expected most women would wish to be wives and mothers but his wife recognized the importance of independence for single and married women though she held contemporary views of European superiority

Betty Friedan

1921-2006. American feminist, activist and writer. Best known for starting the "Second Wave" of feminism through the writing of her book "The Feminine Mystique". Called attention to the limits of affluence and the importance of individualism Faulted psychologists educators and the media for constructing unrewarding feminine ideal founded NOW for women's liberation movement happy homemaker myth unfeminine to use rights Criticized for her term "lavender menace": lesbians were bringing negative attention to the women's liberation movement She doesn't address women outside white, heterosexual, middle class, married, educated, housewife = many don't have the luxury to feel this way

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

A major feminist prophet during the late 19th and early 20th century. She published "Women and Economics" which called on women to abandon their dependent status and contribute more to the community through the economy. She created centralized nurseries and kitchens to help get women into the work force. Critique of the infantalization of women by doctors "rest cure", she experienced Gilman's own mental state improved only when she rejected claims of familial duty leaving her husband and child

The "New Woman" ( circa 1890 - 1930)

A new identity, advocating for vote, visible in more public spaces, participation - politics, workforce obligations, someone who disdains the separate spheres, social anxiety caused by this; fashion changes - pants, bike riding, more prominent sexual culture - shift from chastity, more women living without husbands or with female companions, attending college, critique was that there would be a role reversal, smoking, labor organizing, equal pay INTL ladies garment union, led by Clara Lemlich. Lots of advocacy for urban industries, machinery was dangerous, dangerous work conditions, sexual harassment, triangle shirtwaist fire = huge disaster bc owners would lock the door during working hours and no one could escape There were upper class women (the mink brigade) who didn't work but were philanthropic supporters of the unions, Anne Morgan was one of these women Separation from needing fathers husbands (longer period of separation) Sexual revolution and early birth control movement More women were pursuing higher education Voting rights: numerous authors discuss this

Anna Julia Cooper

African American educator published during era of segregation black disfranchisement, violence enforced white summary. Cooper was born into slavery, longed for education, graduated from Oberlin, refused to accept constraints of gender or race. The movement must include women of all races and she directly addressed Southern white fears of "social equality" , a code for interracial relationships that whites invoked to justify segregation. Like Cady Stanton she argued rights for women would benefit all.

Margaret Sanger

American leader of the movement to legalize birth control during the early 1900's. As a nurse in the poor sections of New York City, she had seen the suffering caused by unwanted pregnancy. Founded the first birth control clinic in the U.S. and the American Birth Control League, which later became Planned Parenthood. Sanger devoted her life to the cause of "birth control" term she coined in 1916, she was a nurse and became involved in socialist and labor movements in NYC She condemned the physical toll constant childbearing took among working-class women In defiance of US law banning contraceptive info she published pamphlets and newspaper "The Woman Rebel" 1916 opened the first birth control clinic and went to jail when it was raided At the same tie she also emphasized the passion of motherhood if voluntary Birth Control League She had eugenic views on elimination of the "unfit" Advocated against comstock laws and for sex education Quest to find a pharmaceutical birth control drug, something more effective (1950s) tested it on mental patients Believed some people should reproduce more = positive eugenics, and others like the poor, intellectual disabilities, better genes are white, should have less (societal goal) = negative eugenics = lots of people subscribed to this idea even dubois Sterilization laws

Emma Goldman

An outspoken radical who was deported after being arrested on charges of being an anarchist, socialist, or labour agitator. anarchist , rejected state control and championed individual freedom, most were focusing of fighting for for education, employment, and suffrage = she thought this to be too narrow - demanded sexual and reproductive emancipation as well

"Daughters in Boxes" 1883

Author: Toshiko Main Points: Daughters in Japan put in "boxes" by family. Box 1 represents restriction from outside world, 2 represents obedience without complaint, 3 represent edu in ancient knowledge. You should raise girls with no limitations, let them grow and be educated and developed, study first then marry, education is resistance (can resist what society want - boxes). How it was received: Not perceived well, she put herself in danger at the time.Arrested and fined after speech.

SNCC Position Paper on Women in the Movement

Environment in which SNCC published it: major org in the civil rights movement founded in 1960 as an organization for students (student nonviolent coordinating committee), major goals involved voter registration, dismantling racial segregation, direct action campaigns (sit ins, freedom rides) freedom summer 1964 - (register voters, mobilize people against racial segregation) interratial group which was important to have more personnel power, many were killed, established a challenge party to the democratic party mississippi freedom democratic party Fannie Lou Hamer gave a powerful speech But they felt like it was a loss No women chairmen of SNCC, werent able to speak at the march on washington

SNCC content

Constitutional revisions staff meeting. The committee which appointed to present revisions were all men Two orgartizel.rs were working together to form a farmers league. without asking any questions, the male organizer immediately assigned the clerical work to the fermale organizer although both had had equal experience in organizing campaigns. Leadership in COFO is all men Woman was appointed to project director without being told s report on Mississippi projects lists the number of people in each project.· The section on Laurel hovrever, lists not the number of persons, but "three girls." One of SNCC's main admin officers apologies for appointment of woman as interim project director Veteran of 2 years for SNCC spends hay typing and doing clerical work gor people in her project Any woman in SNCC is asked to take minutes in a meeting where they are outnumbered by men The first initial and last name of each lawyer was listed. Next to one name was written: (girl). All work of women in leadership positions have to defer to a man for final decision making A session at the recent October staff meeting in Atlanta was the first large meeting in the past couple of years where a woman was asked to chair. The average vrhite person finds it difficult to understand why the Negro resents being called "boy", or being thought of as "musical" and "athletic," because the average white person doesn 1t realize that he assumes he is superior. And naturally he doesn't understand the problem of paunnalism. So too the average SNCC worker finds i£ difficult to discuss . the woman problem beca·l.lse of the assumption of male superiority. ASSlliiiptions of male . superiority are as widespread and deep rooted and every much as crippling to the woman as the assumptions of white supremacy are to the Negro. They were white women authors They also wrote "sex and caste" later on Needs to be made known that many women in the movement are not happy and contented with their status. Talent and experience are being wasted. It nbeeds to be known just as AAs were crucial to cotton south, so too in SNCC, omen are the crucial factor that keeps the movement running on a day to day basis Men feel threatened by the possibility of serious discussion on this subject, many women are unaware and insensitive to this subject just as there are many AAs who dont understand they are not free or who want to be part of white America = want to be accepted The discussion needs to be started so all of us gradually cpme to understand that this is no more a man's world than it is a white world

Qasim Amin

Egyptian intellectual who wrote "the Liberation of Women" (1899) that argued that superior education of European women caused the Islamic world to fall behind Europe; pro west and education of women He initiated a debate over the status of women in Islamic cultures, she defended Egyptian culture but questioned the practices of polygamy, veiling, and female seclusion. Favored women's education as a superior path to female virtue Believed that islamic law had the potential, like european principles of human rights, had equal or greater potential for the emancipation of women

New Woman and Birth Control in the 20th centuty

Every Man His Own Doctor: The Poor Planter's Physician (this version from 1736): speaks of herbal remedies for abortion (there was discussion before 20th century - euphamistic though) Mid 19th men wanted to gain control over "women's medicine", some wanted to outlaw abortions Madame Restell would provide abortions, prosecuted many times, figure in NYC (still euphamistic and would only treat married women) Anthony Comstock: moral crusader, wanted states to pass laws (Comstock Laws), restrict anything obscene (sexual, sexual education, birthcontrol, abortion), federal level: nothing sent through mail Appropriate model of dating: courtship man goes to woman's house and engage around household activity "Treating" a woman to a meal and dance hall = entertainment industries catering to non-marrital arrangement became popular Engaging in extramarrital sex even though there was a big stigma, fertility rate goes down, steady decline 1800 -1920 (from 6-7 kids to much lower) The pill is tested in 1950s licensed in 1960s Methods before: Rhythm method (ovulation tracking) Condoms Withdrawal Diaphrams or sponge with spermicide

Luisa Capetillo

Fought for gender and class equality, supported suffrage Linked women's emancipation to the fate of the working class, like Emma Goldman she recognized the unique constraints on women's sexual and reproductive lives She devalued lesbianism as inferior to heterosexual relationships

W.E.B. Du Bois

fought for African American rights. Helped to found Niagra Movement in 1905 to fight for and establish equal rights. This movement later led to the establishment of the NAACP Historian and sociologist who explored black social and cultural life in America, was also an activistone of the first black male intellectuals to publicly support the revived woman suffrage movement This essay builds on the earlier ideas of Anna Julia Cooper, he revognizes the burdens of African American women and insists they have a right to both economic independence and motherhood Helped establish NAACP, edited their journal, prolific social scientist, advocate, reconstruction

The Politics of Housework (1970)

HIDDEN MEANINGS IN HUSBANDS COMPLAINTS Women have been brainwashed more than even we can imagine - seeing women on tvs in ecstasy over waxed floors = men have not had this conditioning theyve always known housework sucks Her husband would stop at nothing to avoid the horrors of housework ... "i dont do it very well, we should each do the things were best at" = meaning historically the lower classes have had yars of experience in doing menial jobs. it would be a waste of manpower to train someone else to do them now "im goint to annoy hell out of you until it's easier to do them yourself" "life without housework is bliss Men have caused the sore called "guilt over a messy house" or "househould work is ultimately my responsibility" PASSIVE RESISTANCE He'll insinuate its degrading and humiliating for someone of his intelligence. But for someone of your intelligence ... Too trivial to talk about ... too trivial to do its beneath his status. Your job is to deal with insignificant matters He is feeling it more than you. Hes losing some leisure and youre gaining it. The measure of your oppression is his resistance. A great many of AMerican men are not accustomed to doing monotonous repetitive work. They have always had servants so that they could focus on their achievements It is traumatizing experience for someone who thinks of himself as being against oppression to realize that in his daily life he has been accepting and implementing and benefiting from this exploitation Arm yourself with some knowledge of the psychology of poressed peoples everywhere, and a few facts about the animal kingdom. Bring up the sec life of spiders if youre really feeling hostile. In a sense all men everywhere are divorced from the reality of maintaining life. They have a more superficial estimate of the worth of human life. Font fall for any line about the death of everything if men take a turn at the dishes. They will imply that you are holding back the Revolution but you are advancing it (your REvolution). Life changes and evolves. Keep checking up. Periodically consider who's actually doing the jobs even if he accuses you of being petty.

frederick engels

He coauthored The Communist Manifesto (1848), after which they continued to write about the need for and work toward socialist changes. He was born in Germany in 1820 but lived most of his life in England.

Pat Mainardi

IN the 1960's a younger generation of women steeped in New Left and antiwar politics forged a women's liberation movement Radical feminists coined the phrase "the personal is political" to call attention to the exercise of power in the private arenas of sexuality, healthm and interpersonal relationships Red stockings organization - more radical than previous blue stocking organization The New Commodity the liberated woman has sex a lot and has a career preferably something that can be fitted in with the household chores - like dancing pottery or painting Sexual liberation with birthcontrol and eliminated comstock laws Liberated woman means a woman who would have sex outside of marriage Womens liberation means wanting more than just things that will benefit men Similar to "I want a Wife" Husband's and Wife's visions of reality is not the same = like yellow wallpaper

Boston Women's Health Book Collective "Our Bodies, Ourselves" (US, 1973)

In consiousness-raising groups of the 1960s women increasingly shared their dissatisfaction with both medical treatment and cultural images of female bodies A session on "women and their bodies" at a congerence held in Boston in 1969 gave rise to an ongoing discussion by a group of women who later formed the Boston Women's Health Book Collective = they published this book Offered concrete info about topics such as menstruation, masturbation, sexual diseases, natural childbirth, affirmed sexual desires including lesbianism Body education is liberating and may be a starting point for the liberation of many other women Confusion and shame around masturbation Second important result of this kind of education/learning is that we are better prepared to evaluate the institutions that are supposed to meet our health needs: holputals, clinics, doctors, medical schools, nursing schools, public health dept etc. Looking critically and with strength at these institutions For women throughout the centuries ignorance about our bodie has had one major consequence - pregnancy Third: This knowledge has freed us to a certain extent from the constant, energy-draining anxiety about necoing pregnant - it has made our pregnancies better because they no longer happen to us we actively choose them and enthusiastically participate in them choice over destiny it has given us a sense of a larger life space to work in = discover talents freedom of choice That is why ppl in the women's movement have been so active in fighting against the inhumane legal restirictions, imperfections of available contraceptives, poor sex education, poor health care Fourth: reason why knowledge about our bodies has generated so much new energy learning to understand, accept, and be responsible for our physical selves = confidence and energy reserved for other things

Egg and Sperm

In the course of my research I realized that the picture egg and sperm drawn in popular as well as scientific account reproductive biology relies on stereotypes central to our cult definitions of male and female biological processes are less worthy than their male counter- parts but also that women are less worthy th Menstruation = failure = debris of uterine lining: issue. The descriptions imply that a system has gone awry, making products of no use, not to specifica tion, unsalable, wasted, scrap. Male reproductive physiology is evaluated quite diff. = e most amazing characteristic of spermatogenesis is its sheer magnitude: the normal human male may manufacture several hundred million sperm per day "Whereas the female sheds only a single gamete each month, the seminiferous tubules produce hundreds of millions of sperm each day (same intense enthusiasm not used for female processes) male process seen as valuable Textbook descriptions stress that all of the ovarian follicles containing ova are already present at birth. Far from being produced, as sperm are, they merely sit on the shelf, slowly degenerating and aging like overstocked inventory: 8 Note the "marked contrast" that this description sets up between male and female: the male, who continuously produces fresh germ cells, and the female, who has stockpiled germ cells by birth and is faced with their degeneration. Spared vivid descriptions towards organs = ovaries become "old and worn out" . The texts celebrate sperm production because it is continuous from puberty to senescence, while they por- tray egg production as inferior because it is finished at birth. This makes the female seem unproductive, but some texts will also insist that it is she who is waste The real mystery is why the male's vast production of sperm is not seen as wasteful. Assuming two or three offspring, for every baby a woman produces, she wastes only around two hundred eggs. For every baby a man produces, he wastes more than one trillion Egg is described femininely (passive, swept, drifts, fragile, dependent) sperm is masculine (streamlined, active, deliver, velocity, strong, penetrating) damsel in distress v warrior The egg is also passive, which means it must depend on sperm for rescue. Gerald Schatten and Helen Schatten liken the egg's role to that of Sleeping Beauty: "a dormant bride awaiting her mate's magic kiss, which instills the spirit that brings her to life."29 Sperm, by contrast, have a "mission,"30 which is to "move through the female genital tract in quest of the ovum Function: female process described as interdependence, male reproduction described as independent on organs only = untrue Sperm "make the decision" to fertilize the egg = independence barrier. Sperm overcame the barrier by mechanically burrowing through, thrash- ing their tails and slowly working their way along. Later research showed that the sperm released digestive enzymes that chemically broke down the zona; thus, scientists presumed that the sperm used mechanical and chemical means to get through to the egg. In this recent investigation, the researchers began to ask questions about the mechanical force of the sperm In fact, its strongest tendency, by tenfold, is to escape by attempting to pry itself off the egg. Sperm, then, must be exceptionally efficient at escaping from any cell surface they contact. And the surface of the egg must be designed to trap the sperm and prevent their escape. Otherwise, few if any sperm would reach the egg getting more and more stuck to tar baby the more he wriggles." The trapped sperm continues to wiggle ineffectually side to side. The mechanical force of its tail is so weak that a sperm cannot break even one chemical bond. This is where the digestive enzymes released by the sperm come in continued to write papers and abstracts as if the sperm were the active party who attacks, binds, penetrates, and enters the egg. The only difference was that sperm were now seen as performing these actions weakly.4' Not until August 1987, more than three years after the findings described above, did these researchers re- conceptualize the process to give the egg a more active role. They began to describe the zona as an aggressive sperm catcher Rather, recent research suggests the almost heretical view that sperm and egg are mutually active partners. Why not call this "making a bridge" or "throwing out a line" rather than firing a harpoon? Harpoons pierce prey and injure or kill them, while this Could this imagery not be reversed, letting the sperm (the lock) wait until the egg produces the key? Or could we speak of two halves of a locket matching, and regard the matching itself as the action that initiates the fertilization? ut. Typically, molecules on the sperm would be called receptors and molecules on the egg would be called ligands. But Wassarman chose to name ZP3 on the egg the receptor and to create a new term, "the egg-binding protein," for the molecule on the sperm that otherwise would have been called the receptor The egg selects an appropriate mate, prepares him for fusion, and then protects the resulting offspring from harm. This is courtship and mating behavior as seen through the eyes of a sociobiologist: woman as the hard-to-get prize, who, following union with the chosen one, becomes woman as servant and mother. . When he refers to processes going on within eggs, he stops there. As a result, any active role he grants them appears to be assigned to the parts of the egg, and not to the egg itself. In the quote above, it is the microvilli that actively cluster around the sperm accounts. Even though each new account gives the egg a larger and more active role, taken together they bring into play another cultural stereo- type: woman as a dangerous and aggressive (femme fatale which victimizes men).

Virginia Woolf A Room of Ones Own Ch.3

In this chapter, the narrator turns to history to look for "facts" about the relationship between women and literature. Relevant facts, however, prove to be few and far between. Once again, fiction is enlisted to help complete the history—and to expose, along the way, the biases and omissions of canonical knowledge. The absence of objective historical facts is a real obstacle for the person attempting to reconstruct the experience of 16th century women: "Here am I asking why women did not write poetry in the Elizabethan age, and I am not sure how they were educated; whether they were taught to write; whether they had sitting rooms to themselves; how many women had children before they were twenty-one; what, in short, they did from eight in the morning till eight at night." In spite of this gap in the historical record, however, the narrator provides an astute analysis of the conflicting values and impulses to which such a woman would have been susceptible. She points out that sexist assumptions would have been internalized, showing how oppression of this kind comes from within as well as from without. The touching portrait of Judith Shakespeare takes us beyond mere facts, touching the tragedy and anguish that would have been at the heart of an intelligent woman's experience at that time. Even while bemoaning the missing history, the author is aware that a purely objective view would not do justice to this subjective experience in the way the portrait of Judith Shakespeare might hope to. "Objectivity," in this instance, must take the form not of scientific detachment, but rather of imaginative engagement. The narrator elaborates more fully the point from the first chapter that genius depends on certain conditions—and that these conditions, at the most basic level, are material and social. Because Shakespeare is so often sanctified as the pure genius who transcends all conditions of circumstance and surroundings, his era and his sister provide apt templates for Woolf's argument. There are two important ideas in play here. The first is that all art, even Shakespeare's, is in fact enabled by a historical, social, and economic reality, whether or not that reality finds articulation in the art itself. The different outcomes of William and Judith Shakespeare serve to dramatize this point, and also to account for the fact that women simply were not writing literature at that time. The second point is an aesthetic one: that good art in fact should not betray the personal circumstances surrounding its production. In order to achieve "incandescence," the intensity of the art must burn away "all desire to protest, to preach, to proclaim an injury, to pay off a score, to make the world the witness of some hardship of grievance." It is in their incandescence that Shakespeare's plays achieve their greatness. But that characteristic is itself a luxury, and a product of social and material privilege (in much the same way that the narrator's five hundred pounds a year allows her to think about her controversial topic with charity and equanimity). The very fact that we know so little about Shakespeare as a person testifies to the greatness of his art.

Testimony, House Committee on Education and Labor (US 1970)

Its important to hold sacred the uniqueness of each individual and stray away from locking individual into a group stereotype "Conclusion that discrimination because of one's sex is just as degrading, hehumanizing, immoral, unjust, indefensible, infuriating, and capable of producing societal turmoil as discrimination because of one's race" Racial prejudice is usually more brutal when manifested The rights of women and African Americans are only different phases of the fundamental and indivisible issue of human rights for all The struggle against sexism is equally urgent = more than half of all AAs and other ethnic minorities are women The costly lesson of our own history in the US is that when the rights of one group are affirmed and those of another group are ignored the consequences are tragic Political expediency has dictated that the recognition of basic human rights be postponed = dissension and conflict We are witnessing a worldwide revolution in which traditionally excluded or alienated groups are able to call for human rights shape their destinies Actueness (sharpness) of racism has = national self-examination but in neglecting to appreciate fully the indivisibility of human rights, however, we have often reacted with the squeaky wheel gets the grease approach not given sufficient attention to legitimate claims of other disadvantaged groups In doing so we have often set in motion conditions which have created a backlash Many men find themselves unable to live up to the expectations of masculinity which men have defined for themselves and many are now chagrined to find that women are no longer willing to accept the role of femininity which men have defined for women Led to the hypothesis that we will be unable to eradicate racism in the US unless we simutaneously remove all sex barriers which inhibit the development of individual talents Further convinced that the price of our survival as a nation is the sharing of our power and wealth or rather the redistribution of this power and wealth among black and white, rich and poor, men and women etc This requires more than "objectivity" it demands a sensitivity

Virginia Woolf A Room of Ones Own Ch.5

Mary Carmichael is the literary heir not only to the great women writers discussed in the previous chapter, but also "the descendent of all those other women whose circumstances I have been glancing at." Yet she takes on something very different than they would have attempted. Woolf gives us a little lesson in reading experimental writing (like Woolf's own), reminding us that "she has every right" to attempt new forms and styles, as long as she is creating something new rather than merely destroying what has gone before. Carmichael represents Woolf's take on the state of women's fiction in her own historical moment. She sees the female literary tradition as being poised on the verge of something unprecedented and exciting, and she takes the opportunity to point out its current shortcomings and to articulate a direction for the future. "The natural simplicity, the epic age of women's writing may have gone," remarks the narrator, in reviewing the range of subjects upon which women in her own time have made themselves authors. This is the next logical step from Woolf's historical identification of "a woman's sentence." Although she draws attention to the idea that there is a natural way for women to write, a distinctive "woman's sentence," for example, she is also open to the idea that even that naturalness may be historically contingent. As women change, and as their social roles and circumstantial realities evolve, what is "natural" to them will presumably change as well. Such a change will indeed be for the better: "She may begin to use writing as an art, not as a method of self-expression." When this happens, will there still be such a thing as a "woman's sentence"? Woolf imagines so, for she wants to preserve the richness of difference between men and women. But it must be as flexible and evolving as women themselves. Women have a creative power that differs substantially from that of men, one that has found expression, even in bygone ages, in non-literary ways. Education, she argues, should bring out those differences rather than enforcing similarity, and so acknowledge and enhance the richness and variety of human culture. "For we have too much likeness as it is."

Susan B. Anthony

One of the leading feminist strategists of the nineteenth century Grew up in a region and family steeped in Quaker antislavery and temperance sentiments - property and suffrage rights attempted to organize women factory workers Stanton and Anthony led the National Woman Suffrage Association which sought a federal constitutional amendment to enfranchise women Introduced into Congress in 1878 as the "Anthony Amendment" which became a law in 1920

"Social Purity" (United States, 1875)

Social purity = something Anthony spoke about throughout the US which referred to a single moral standard for both sexes, including chastity before and fidelity within marriage - blamed men for drunkeness She blamed prostitution on occupational and wage discrimination on women's subsequent economic dependence on men and denial of equal suffrage In a speech titled ôSocial Purity,ö Susan B. Anthony (7) stated that ôthe tap-root of our social problem lies deep down at the very foundations of society. It is womenÆs dependence. It is womenÆs subjection. Hence, the first and only efficient work must be to emancipate woman from her enslavement.ö In this speech, delivered in Chicago on March 14, 1875, Anthony (1) attacked a number of major social evils, including drunkenness, prostitution, gender inequality, the abuse of women by husbands and others, the abandonment of minor children by mothers who are unable to care for them, and the evils of syphilis. Anthony's primary artifact of gender inequality is an emphasis on social corruption She believes men hold women to a higher code of morality that they themselves find necessary Should women have to accept higher standards of social purity than men in order to further their own advancement She calls for true equality between men and women but still frames her discussion in the same terms of patriarchy that is used my males who defined women's place within the context of motherhood and the home Equal earning power will enable men and women to be on equal grounds of 'social purity.'

The Liberation of Women Egypt 1899

Status of women is tied to status of a nation (status of a nation is low the status of women is also low) Prior to Islam it was acceptable for Aran fathers to kill daughters and for men to participate in polygamy = still prevails among uncivilized african and american tribes. Some asians believe a woman should die with her husband, others present her like a possession. = TRAITS AMONG EMERGING SOCIETIES based on familial and tribal bonds rather than formal structures Advanced nations are working to close the gap (america, british, french, austrian, italian, russian) = these women believe they are human beings deserving of freedom and human rights Westerners, who like to associate all good things with their religion, believe that the western woman has advanced due to her christianity = this is inaccurate "If there were a religion which could have had power and influence over local traditions than muslim women should be at the forefront of free women on earth The islamic legal system (Shari'a) stipulated the equality of women and men before any other legal system" it even rid them of the burden of earning a living and freed them from the obligation of participating in household and child-rearing expenses, equality in divorce Islamic law favors men in one way, polygamy (which goes against his religious obligations, requiring him of good intentions for his actions and justice in his dealings) Veiling shouldn't be used in the extent it is now bc it turns them into objects that men own - but he still supports it WESTERNERS HAVE GONE TOO FAR IN THE EXPOSURE OF THEIR WOMEN The veil should be in between these two extremes - but it is not necessary, why should a woman cover her face if a man doesn't - are men weaker at controlling their desires? Women are stronger at controlling their desires and don't need to veil them? Veils are ornamental and incite onlooker's desires highlighting good features = actually RISKS TEMPTATION It's not even in the law Men want to protect women from corruption and independence increases vulnerability - the freedom we are asking for will still keep her from corruption bc it keeps her from BEING ALONE WITH A STRANGER - he can't support the total elimination of seclusion Freedom is not harmful especially when supported by a proper upbringing (should be primary objective) Independence and a proper upbringing = necessary factors for the progress of all people

"Suffrage Speech at the Old Bailey" (England, 1912)

The crux of her argument was that the movement was given no choice: 'had these judges in 1909 decided that women had the right to petition there would have been no organised violence, there would have been no stone-throwing in this agitation.' Women deserved the right to vote, and if the government did not recognize that, the government deserved to be made to recognize that. She goes on to describe the perpetuation of women petition and protest, and the government ignoring and avoiding listening. She describes hitting a dead end: the government citing the dearth of news reports as proof of lack of public support for their cause, and the news refusing to print stories on the issue. The women started going to cabinet meetings. At first they raised questions about women's right to vote after the meeting was over. Then, meeting participants disbanded swiftly, in order to avoid their questions. Then, they began interrupting ministers in the middle of meetings. As time passed, even when Liberal parties pledged to women suffrage were coming to power, "it did not mean that they were going to put it into practice." Pankhurst and her retinue 'found some way of forcing their attention to this question.' And that way was through militancy. Militancy, she claims, is itself a gender-biased mischaracterization. Had the protesters been men, they would have been characterized as determined, insistent, and earnest. For example, a female protester was jailed for insisting that a speaker answer: "Will the Liberal Government when it takes office give women the Vote?" Pankurst herself was arrested for approaching 'Caxton Hall' where an important meeting was taking place, carrying ' a petition in one hand' and 'a little bunch of lilies in the other.' Notably, she finishes her remarks by citing an Irish court trial of a woman who aborted wherein a hearing was deferred in order to wait for the father. By analogy, men in the government are just as guilty as she. She was found guilty by the court. It takes a tremendous amount of belief and determination to counter dominant governing powers. What to do when you view the very rules and rulemakers that governs your lives as unjust? Pankhurst cited the courage of women who attended meetings to publicly protest ministers. David vs Goliath. Many would be discouraged from even trying, giving up before making an attempt; "what's the point?" It seems like a hopeless battle. But the courageous members of the movement were steadfast in their conviction of the inequality of the situation, and viewed their cause as a long term struggle that was worth pursuing over an extended amount of time. They paved the path or change.

Virginia Woolf A Room of Ones Own Ch.4

The narrator begins to outline (with great reverence) the women's literary tradition to which she herself is heir, and which was so conspicuously absent for those first women writers. Even the "innumerable bad novels" that women produced in the years after Behn made writing into an industry are a salient piece in this tradition. The fact that writing could generate income was foundational for all that came later; "money dignifies what is frivolous if unpaid for." Woolf has returned, in this fourth chapter of her essay, to the point from which she refused to begin it: a discussion of prominent women writers. After all that has been discussed about the conditions for genius and its expression, the careers of the canonical literary women appear in a fresh light. We are asked to consider what they did and did not achieve in terms of the incandescence and integrity of their work. This aesthetic standard itself is a luxury hard-won; Woolf wants us to see that it could not have been applied a generation earlier, and that its very relevance measures the leaps these women have made. Charlotte Bronte had axes to grind; the fact that they show up in her work is a failing, but it doesn't make her grievances any less legitimate or make her any less important in the history Woolf is outlining. The fact the Austen wrote as purely as she did appears, in light of the total absence of tradition or precedent, as a near miracle. The form of Woolf's essay enacts the changes it describes. The narrative details with which the first chapters were littered begin to fall away as the speaker enters into full engagement with her ideas. The daily comings and goings of the fictional narrator recede into the background, and the argument—the ideas themselves—comes to the fore. It took some uphill work to get to this point however. Even though that lead-up and preparation may not be evident in the flush of the argument, they are its invisible foundation. Like the five hundred pounds, or those first, bad novels by women, these foundations disappear in the bright light of what they enable. It is this bedrock which Woolf, for the purposes of this essay, has wanted us to see; yet it is precisely what a work of art ought not to exhibit.

Virginia Woolf A Room of Ones Own Ch.2

The narrator's first naive belief in the British Museum as a bastion of unadulterated truth is an ironic swipe on Woolf's part, and she quickly disabuses her protagonist of this error. Woolf herself does not hope to uncover any trans-historical truth about women, in part because her project is to show that the status of women (and literary achievement in general) is context-bound and historically relative. She does leave room, however, for a certain kind of objectivity in one's approach to the question. The work that has been done by men was written in anger, she is sure: "When I read what he wrote about women I thought, not of what he was saying, but of himself. When an author argues dispassionately he thinks only of the argument; and the reader cannot help thinking of the argument too." She advocates for a disinterested approach, which means that she must purge herself of her own anger at the kinds of analyses she has been reading. Her goal is to place herself above the fray of the war between the sexes, where the air is clearer and one is more likely to arrive at some kind of truth. The fictionalization of the essay is one of Woolf's strategies for removing the argument from her own personal injuries and resentments. Woolf is careful not to blame men for the unequal treatment of women over the centuries. Or, inasmuch as she does blame them, she attributes the violences of patriarchy to universal human foibles. "Life for both sexes—and I look at them, shouldering their way along the pavement—is arduous, difficult, a perpetual struggle. It calls for gigantic courage and strength. More than anything, perhaps, creatures of illusion that we are, it calls for confidence in oneself." For men, over the ages, women have served as an instrument for reinforcing that necessary self-confidence. Women have been the mirrors in which man wished to see only the reflection of his own grandeur. If this has been detrimental to women, it is nevertheless true, the narrators surmises, that "mirrors are essential"—to "heroic action" as well as to violence. Yet in spite of her unwillingness to pass judgment in a personal or resentful way, she takes a stand against this sexist mode of operation from a cultural point of view, invoking fascist and dictatorial political regimes as the extreme models of this kind of thinking. The narrator's ability to consider the subject of gender inequality with disinterestedness stems in large part from her financial independence. She has five hundred pounds a year, and the effect of that income is to dissolve the frustration and vulnerability that would color her thinking and writing in a negative way. It is for this same reason that the writer of literature, in Woolf's view, must enjoy the luxury of financial freedom. Artistic production, even more perhaps than rational argumentation, requires that all traces of the particular self be distilled in the "white light of truth."

I Want a Wife by Judy Brady (1970)

The point of the essay "I Want a Wife" by Judy Brady is that a marriage is supposed to be a partnership and is not an ownership. The essay is important because wives and husbands need to know that it takes teamwork to make a marriage be successful. The intended audience of the essay is for both husband and wife. Brady uses ethos, logos, and pathos to make her argument valid throughout the essay.Brady lists many tasks and chores that happen in a day to day basis in a marriage. She makes it clear that husbands demand too much out of their wives. The roles of wife and husband are clearly unfair. The husband expects the wife to cater to his every need and to push her needs to the side. Brady is fed up with her role of being a wife and would like ...show more content...She is a wife. Being a wife is not the only thing that makes her credible. She seems to have a lot of knowledge considering she wrote "I Want a Wife" for a specific magazine genre-feminists. This allows the audience to know that she clearly knows her subject. She seems like she has had a lot of experience in the expected wife role herself. She lists many of the "jobs" that are demanded from husbands and expected of a wife. Brady sounds as if she might be a little fed up. If those do not make her credible then the fact that she was a part of the feminist movement definitely does make her ...show more content...Brady argues that women are expected to do too much and she also argues that the roles of husband and wife are clearly unfair. Brady writes as if she were the husband that wants to go to school and be supported financially by the wife. She wants a wife to fulfill her needs such as house work, the children, the bills, doctor appointments, and even social events. These arguments point out that these ridiculous expectations should be avoided all together.Lastly, Brady uses pathos by wanting her readers to take action. She wants the audience to get mad and angry. She lists the stresses of everyday life and the numerous exaggerated expectations of a husband from their wife. After listing the many "jobs" that are expected from a wife, she ends with "My God, who wouldn't want a wife?" This opens a lot of emotion while the irony in it clearly indicates that wives are under too much stress. She demonstrates how wives are treated by their husbands. Brady wants to discourage husbands from this behavior while encouraging the wives to step up and take some

"The Subjection of Women" (England, 1869)

The rationale of the argument: - Mill introduces the proposition that '"The principle that regulates the existing social relations between the two sexes-the legal subordination of one sex to the other -is wrong... (and are) obstacles to human improvement, and it ought to be replaced by a principle of perfect equality..."' ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR INCLUDE the origins of female subjection and the changing attitudes in modern society - He highlights the ethical issues of a male-dominated society by drawing a comparison between the treatment of women and slavery. - Furthermore, Mill challenges the traditional view of women by arguing that their subjection is not justified by history. Women and marriage: Mill outlines the domestic issues facing Victorian women. He examines the laws that govern marriage and demonstrates the power disparity between men and women. Examples are used to show how marriage laws overwhelmingly favor men. For example, children of a married couple are considered the property of men. Once again he uses the slavery analogy to highlight the inequalities within a marriage contract. He outlines his suggestions for an equitable marriage by drawing an analogy to business partners and encouraging a '"division of power."' He advocates for female participation in the workforce and society but understands some women may choose to focus on domestic affairs. He argues that this prerogative should be left for a woman to decide and not the state. Cult of Domesticity. This term refers to an idealized image of womanhood that developed in the 19th Century. These expectations of femineity were most often projected onto middle and upper-class women. The virtues that were associated with a '"good woman"' included piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. In other words, a woman was expected to serve her husband, raise the children, prioritize others, and look after the house. This was to be done graciously and willingly without complaints or arguments. Domestic violence is an impossible situation: only representation in courts is men Women outside the home: In this section, Mill fleshes out his ideas about the role of women outside of marriage. He argues that they should be allowed to vote, pursue professions, and participate in political office. He then challenges common arguments that are used to exclude women from public occupations. These include derogatory opinions regarding the intellectual and emotional nature of women. Women outside the home: In this section, Mill fleshes out his ideas about the role of women outside of marriage. He argues that they should be allowed to vote, pursue professions, and participate in political office. He then challenges common arguments that are used to exclude women from public occupations. These include derogatory opinions regarding the intellectual and emotional nature of women. The benefit of reform and equality: In the final part of the essay, Mill discusses how legal and social reforms will benefit society. This includes benefits to women such as ensuring equality in marriage and encouraging women to pursue intellectual endeavors and professions. He argues this will benefit men as it will encourage competition and intellectual stimulation. He also believes that young boys will benefit from considering girls as their equals and they will develop humility and a sense of service. He also explains how this will restrict the sense of male entitlement and prejudice. He concludes by stating that humanity will not achieve its potential if half the population is excluded from self-development and participation.

"Two Speeches" (United States, 1851, 1867)

The speech May 1851: recorded by African American journalist Marius Robinson - She asserts she has as much muscle, strength, and work ethic as any man - Intellect and education: "as for intellect, all I can say is, if woman have a pint and man a quart — why cant she have her little pint full? You need not be afraid to give us our rights for fear we will take too much, for we cant take more than our pint'll hold." - She brings in the bible = if eve caused man to sin "if woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right side up again" = persuasion through religion - Women have done their part = helping lazarus and birthing Jesus, will men do theirs? - There is word about black men getting rights but not women, if this happens black men will be masters over the women and it will be just as bad as before - She wishes women to have a voice in the Courts or some representation - She thinks she's still alive to break the chain and ensure equality between the genders - She says she has done as much work as a man but paid less than men and white women she wants to advocate for black women - She asks for help from men because "once the battle is fought we shall not be coming to you any more" she says they have been having women's rights so long that they think like a slaveholder they own women = she knows giving up power hurts but that it will heal - Black men had the right to vote and she wanted the same for black women = there should be equal rights now more than ever since black people have got their freedom

"The Damnation of Women" (US 1919)

The world wants healthy babies and intelligent workers, today we refuse to allow the combination Force thousands of intelligent workers to go childless Damnation of women = only at the sacrifice of intelligence and the change to do their best work can the majority of women bear children Du Bois points out contradictions and unrealistic expectations set on women through Christian theology and ideologies ... It is an impossible situation for women = a world which worships firgins and mothers but still despise motherhood and despoils virgins The future woman needs economic independence and have a life work, knowledge, right of motherhood at own discretion Two extremes nun or prostitute (new woman and social purity) Civilization must show two things: the glory and beauty of creating life and the need and duty of power and intelligence = will make the perfect marriage of love and work But what of black women - intersectionality They are forgotton, yet they are the main pillars of our society (furnishing teacher, churches, how many of our goods have been wrung from the hearts of servant girls) They are going through a moral and economic revolution = they are a part of the working class The family group which is the ideal of the culture which they have been born is not based on the idea of an economically independent working mother = rather its ideal is based on the mother emerging first as nurse and homemaker and the man remains the sole breadwinner = broken families (clash of ideals) Du Bois points, throughout the text, points out how white supremacy and racism make it difficult or impossible for Black men and women to satisfy heteronormative gender roles accordingly doing damage to Black people's lives. The movements of woman and color should be combined White women have made progress, black women have been trodden under the feet of men The world still wants to ask that a woman primarily be pretty and if she is not the mo b pouts and ask "wjat else are women for" The white world objects to black women because it does not consider them beautiful = that is the flimsiest excuse for spiritual incarceration or banishment Black women had freedom thrust contemptuously upon them. With that freedom they are buying an untrammeled independence No other women on earth could have emerged from hell of force and temptation with havlf the modesty and womanliness that they retain

"The Yellow Wallpaper" Charlotte Perkins Gilman (US 1892)

Themes Women's Role in Marriage Women were expected to be subordinate to their husbands and completely obedient, as well as take on strictly domestic roles inside the home. Upper middle class women, like the narrator, may go for long periods of time without even leaving the home. The story reveals that this arrangement had the effect of committing women to a state of naïveté, dependence, and ignorance. John assumes he has the right to determine what's best for his wife, and this authority is never questioned. He belittles her concerns, both concrete and the ones that arise as a result of her depression, and is said so brush her off and "laugh at her" when she speaks through, "this is to be expected in marriage" He doesn't take her concerns seriously, and makes all the decisions about both of their lives. As such, she has no say in anything in her life, including her own health, and finds herself unable to even protest. Perkins Gilman, like many others, clearly disagreed with this state of things, and aimed to show the detrimental effects that came to women as a result of their lack of autonomy. Identity and Self-Expression Throughout the story, the narrator is discouraged from doing the things she wants to do and the things that come naturally to her, like writing. On more than one occasion, she hurries to put her journal away because John is approaching. She also forces herself to act as though she's happy and satisfied, to give the illusion that she is recovering, which is worse. She wants to be a good wife, according to the way the role is laid out for her, but struggles to conform especially with so little to actually do. The narrator is forced into silence and submission through the rest cure, and desperately needs an intellectual and emotional outlet. However, she is not granted one and it is clear that this arrangement takes a toll. Wallpaper In colonial mansion The pattern eventually comes into focus as bars, and then she sees a woman inside the pattern. This represents feeling trapped. At the end of the story, the narrator believes that the woman has come out of the wallpaper. This indicates that the narrator has finally merged fully into her psychosis, and become one with the house and domesticated discontent. Jennie Though Jennie doesn't have a major role in the story, she does present a foil to the narrator. Jennie is John's sister and their housekeeper, and she is content, or so the narrator believes, to live a domestic life. Though she does often express her appreciation for Jennie's presence in her home, she is clearly made to feel guilty by Jennie's ability to run the household unencumbered.

Pauli Murray

Was an American civil rights activist, women's rights activist, lawyer, and author. Drawn to the ministry, in 1977 Murray became the first black woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest and among the first group of women to become priests in this church. Called attention to the intersections of race and gender Coined the term "Jane Crow" to reger to sexism that she considered the "twin evil" of Jim Crow racial segregation Murray was hauled for regusing to give up her "white" seat on public bus in the 40s before Rosa Parks Helped establish NOW with Betty Friedan First African American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest

A Vindication of Rights of Woman Summary

Wollstonecraft doesn't waste a whole lot of time in getting to the point in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman . She says from the get-go that humanity's greatest gift is its ability to reason. And since men and women are born with the same ability to reason, women should enjoy just as much education, power, and influence in society as men do. The only reason women don't seem as smart as men, she says, is because they aren't given the same education. The one thing she's willing to admit is that men might have an advantage in physical strength. But in a modern civilization, this advantage shouldn't really mean anything. For a gentleman living in Wollstonecraft's time, there were very few (if any) occasions in life where he would be called upon to use all of his strength.Once she gets into her argument, Wollstonecraft goes after some writers who have claimed that women's education should focus solely on making young women pleasing to men. In other words, popular opinion in Wollstonecraft's time states that women shouldn't busy themselves with too much reading or studying. They should focus on dressing nicely and being quiet.Wollstonecraft tears these arguments to shreds, saying that they end up causing a lot of social problems. For example, how can people expect a woman to raise children well if she has no education and no ability to reason? Further, how can women be moral and virtuous if all they're ever taught is how to look moral and virtuous? This kind of education focuses only on appearances and makes women totally superficial.

"Mi Opinion" Puerto Rico 1911

Women need to be in the public sphere, and work Upper class women are rarely in the private sphere, shopping, going to museums, socializing while nannies take care of kids! A woman will not jeopardize home life by working - hypocritical statement, the working class woman must abandon her own children to take care of the highborn woman's - they should take time to observe the women of the lower class - she should explain to her husband the state and conditions of these unfortunate sh ould that produce her family's capital and obtain a salary increase for them - she should help them, redeem them and yourself If your husband gets mad don't fear him and continue marching forward, women don't have to accept - they can change the system Men should only have sexual relations with the women they want as a wife

The Tragedy of Woman's Emacipation US 1906

Women's emancipation has isolated her Now woman is confronted with the necessity of emancipating herself from emancipation if she really desires to be free What has she achieved? Equal suffrage in a few states. That has no purified our political life. = still corrupt even a woman's vote will never purify it Women doctors, lawyers, architects, engineers, are never met with the same confidence or receive the same pay - independence is not so glorious The women's movement has solved old problems but has also established new ones Many emancipated women still prefer married life to the narrowness of an unmarried life (moral and social prejudice that comes with it) Until a woman can face the back lash without a care and follow her own unrestricted freedom (insist on it) she cannot call herself emancipated To move forward women must realize their freedom will reach as far as their power to achieve freedom reaches, we need to begin with their inner regeneration to cut loose from the weight of prejudices, traditions, and customs We will have to do away with the ridiculous notion that to be loved, be sweetheart and mother is synonymous to being slave or subordinate Do away with the notion that men and woman represent two antagonistic worlds, pettiness separates

Virginia Woolf A Room of Ones Own Ch.6

Woolf discusses the strained state of mind in which this essay was written—a mode of thought that, while important and useful, is not restful to the mind and certainly not conducive to fiction. This unmitigated focus to sex is too self-conscious to be part of "the art of creation," yet an artistic unconsciousness of sex is the luxury of independence and freedom. "The whole of the mind must lie wide open if we are to get the sense that the writer is communicating his experience with perfect fullness. There must be freedom and there must be peace. Not a wheel must grate, not a light glimmer." Woolf closes the door on her fictional narrator with the essay on "Women and Fiction" still unwritten; the point has been to show the thought process behind her theory that fiction writing requires a private income and a private room, and the process has become the substance of the essay itself. It is a story that promises to continue.

Virginia Woolf A Room of Ones Own Ch.1

Woolf elects not to respond to the problem of "women and fiction" by delivering pat remarks on famous women writers, hoping instead to explore the issue in deeper ways. She recognizes that her chosen approach is such that she might "never be able to come to a conclusion" or distill "a nugget of pure truth" for her listeners to carry home. "When a subject is highly controversial," she explains, "one cannot hope to tell the truth. One can only show how one came to hold whatever opinion one does hold." By choosing fiction as the medium for her argument, Woolf continues to thematize the complex network of relationships between truth and fiction, facts and lies, and opinions and emotions. "Fiction is likely to contain more truth than fact," she explains. "Lies will flow from my lips, but there may be some truth mixed up with them." The "I" who narrates the story is not Woolf—it matters little what name we give her, Woolf insists—and yet her experiences and thoughts are to provide the background and argument for Woolf's thesis. Already, the narrative situation illustrates one of Woolf's fundamental aesthetic principles: Art should have a kind of "incandescence" in which everything that is purely personal burns away, leaving something like the "nugget of pure truth" to which Woolf has referred. The imagery of light and fire that is already accumulating in this chapter are meant to suggest this kind of aesthetic purification. Woolf's aesthetic argument will be developed more fully as the essay continues. The orientation here, however, is materialist and social, and Woolf's thesis—that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction"—announces that focus in no uncertain terms. What are the basic material and social conditions in which aesthetic achievement becomes a realistic possibility? By addressing this question, she hopes to situate the problem of women and fiction in an objective and historicized framework—in rejection of a theoretical tradition founded on the assumption that women are naturally inferior to men. Woolf's argument constantly returns to the concrete material details of the situations she describes: the food that was eaten, the money that was spent, the comfort of the accommodations, and the demands on people's time. Her strategy is designed to convince the reader of the deep relevance of these physical conditions for the possibility of intellectual and creative activity. As Woolf describes her narrator's thoughts on women and fiction, she emphasizes the role of interruptions in the reflective process. By dramatizing the effects of these interruptions, Woolf bolsters her argument that a private room is a basic requirement for creative work. The fact that women have not historically been granted space or leisure for uninterrupted thinking is, in Woolf's view, a determining factor in the history of their literary achievements. Intelligence, at least in the model of Charles Lamb, works by "wild flash[es] of imagination" or the "lightning crack of genius"—insights which nevertheless take time to gestate. Yet time and time again, just as our narrator seems to be on the verge of an insight of this sort, her thinking is cut off—usually by an authority figure trying to keep her in her place. Where a man would have been given free rein, the narrator is restricted to a narrow path on the Oxbridge campus. Nor is she permitted to enter the college library. These obstacles symbolize the effects of an educational culture that radically restricts the scope of a woman's intellectual exposure. Woolf identifies the fact of being denied access—whether to buildings or ideas—as another type of infringement on the freedom of the female mind. This exclusion is a more radical kind of interruption, one that disturbs not just a single thought or reverie, but the life-long developmental of an individual or the historical development of an intellectual tradition.

A Vindication of Rights of Woman (England, 1792)

Written by Mary Wollstonecraft; asserts the ''rights of humanity'' should not be ''confined to the male line.'' - She attributes this ""barren blooming" to a false system of education which depends on materials and subjects written by men who want to create alluring mistresses over affectionate wives and rational mothers - they are treated as a kind of subordinate beings not as a part of the human species - Her opinion on women being viewed as the inferior sex Physically female strength is inferior to that of males = law of Nature but men run with this and "sink us still lower, merely to render us alluring objects for a moment" ... and women intoxicated by the adoration which men pay them don't change their position - Strength of body and mind are sacrificed to notions of beauty and establishing themselves by marriage - which is the only way to rise in society - She presumes rational men will excuse her for endeavoring to persuade them to become more masculine and respectable - A woman's first duty is to themselves as a rational create and the next as citizens (which includes being a mother) When they neglect domestic duties it is not in their power to join the army or the senate ... it is to keep their faculties from rusting - they should have representation in the govt and jobs "Would men but generously snap our chains and be content with rational fellowship instead of slavish obedience, they would find us more observant daughters, more affectionate sisters, more faithful wives, more reasonable mothers - in a word, better citizens." Republican motherhood - idea that it's the responsibility of mothers to raise children to be participating productive and educated citizens - they are assigned political duties through the raising of children

Kishida Toshiko

a Japanese feminist who called for equal rights for women. In one of her best known speeches she condemned the "boxes" that restricted the lives of women and called for an education that would free them of traditional roles and expectations. In addition to her concerns about the lives of Japanese women, she argued that greater gender equality was "essential if other technologically advanced nationals were to accept them." At the period of reform in the Meiji-Taisho, Japanese male nationalists argued that improving the status of women was essential if other technologically advanced nationals were to accept them. This opened the door for a small group of women who called for new rights and freedoms. The phrase "good wife, wise mother" was coined, meaning that in order to be good citizens, women had to become educated and take part in public affairs.

Havelock Ellis

among the first physicians to scientifically study human sexuality. found that nocturnal emissions were not dangerous emphasized reliable and accurate sex information

"Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" (U.S. 1848)

substituting colonists' grievances against England to those of women against men - Asserts the equality of all men and women and reiteratest that both genders are endowed with unalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness argues that women are oppressed by the government and the patriarchal society of which they are a part -The text then lists 16 facts illustrating the extent of this oppression, including the lack of women's suffrage, participation, and representation in the government; women's lack of property rights in marriage; he has rights over the wages she earns - monopolizes nearly all the profitable employments; inequality in divorce law - obedience in marriage/husband is her master; and inequality in education and employment opportunities; subordinate position in the church and state, lessens her self-respect has to lead a dependent and abject life - Women should be national citizens - Blackstone, coverture: when a woman marries all of her property, belongings, and herself go to her husband - It should be resolved the laws that conflict with the substantial happiness of women, laws which prevent women from occupying a station in society which she deems herself useful, woman is man's equal, women should be enlightened in regard to the laws under which they live, women have the right to speak and teach as intellectuals, the same amount of virtue delicacy and refinement of behavior that is required of woman in the social state should also be required of men and in the same severity, objection against impropriety which is brought against women in when she addresses the public, not let the church/religion keep her in a sphere, the success of the document depends on men and women the efforts of both - Blend public and private sphere - The document insists that women be viewed as full citizens of the United States and be granted all the same rights and privileges that were granted to men.