WOMS Exam 1

nationalist movements

1st world women only focus on sexual issues and argue gender discrimination is the worst form of oppression

United Nations efforts

4 UN conferences on women led to significant education for western women and conversation about global feminism. (Mexico City, Beijing, Nairobi, Copenhagen) UN Decade of Women (1975-1985), CEDAW, Beijing Platform for Action, Millennium Project

affirmative action

developed to redress the gender, racial, adn ethnic imbalance, in workplaces, school and job-training programs. Employers are legally mandated to hire enough workers of different racial and ethnic categories and genders to achieve a reasonable balance in their workforce. Also requires the same and equal chance to advance in their careers

strategy

developing arguments about how to move from where we are to where we want to be. And the tools used to get there

abolitionist movement

emergence of women as an independent and visible force. Women were central to fundraising, petition drives and grassroots works. Most of the organizing was done by religious women. Angeline and Sarah Grimke- analogy draws between slavery and the condition of women in society

Estelle Freedman's definition of feminism

equal worth, male privilege, social movements, intersecting hierarchies

gatekeeping

explains how most women are kept form getting to the top in occupations and professions dominated by men. Used to keep women out of fields entirely, now it is used to keep women out of line for promotion to top positions

Eurocentric

falsely universalizing methodologies that serve the narrow self-interest of Western feminism. Everything is seen thorugh the Western/European lens

gender presentation categories according to M Moore

femme, gender bending, and transgressive. Categories of style in the lesbian community that have the most meaning

internationalize

globalize women's studies curricula in US colleges as a way to track discourse of global feminism in the United States. This includes a omparative feminist studies model and feminist solitdarity perspective

misogyny

hatred of, dislike for, and discomfort around women, especially assertive women, are manifested in verbal and visual depictions of women and girls as dengerous, destructive and bitchy

description

describe what exists and what is being faced. what is the problem being identified?

4 behaviors that create problems in transnational feminist organizing

hubris in transnational assistance, oversimplification and disregard of context, resuce paradigm, homogenizing and essentializing partners

rescue paradigm

legitimized when feminists ignore local actors by stressing their backwardness. Distancing others and making too much of a difference between "us", the privileged and the "other". This approach refuses to recognize not only the common humanity of women but also the commonality of experiences of gender oppression despite the differences

heteronormativity

lesbian feminism's core resistance is the assumption that everyone is heterosexual

complex inequality

described as the overlapping systems of privilege and disadvantage with racial, ethnic, gender and class stratification. This complex inequality needs to be understood, and women's economic experience and gender differences need to be explored.

Different parts of feminist theory

description, analysis, vision, strategy, timing, social location

proletarianization

deskilling, shift from the mental work to manual labor. Many workers see socialism as the solution. Women are the proletariat and men are the bourgeoise

Adrienne Rich

lesbian feminism. There is a lesbian continuum referring to a range of women identified experiences, embracing all forms of intimacy between women (friendships). Argues that compulsory heterosexuality is the key mechanism for male domination

timing

looks at the historical moment in which the theory is being produced. And how those factors may impact the theorist's understanding of the world and their theory

glass escalator

men who are tokens in women-dominated occupations tend to be pushed into administative jobs quickly.

gender segregation

men work with men and women work with women. Based on the belief that women and men have natural talents- men for abstract thinking and physical work and women for nurturance and repetitive-work

intersecting hierarchies

need to see all the links between gender, race, sexuality and class

patriarchy

oppression at its most fundmental according to radical feminists. For women to be free of oppression the patriarchial structure of society must be changed

transnational feminist networks

organizations linking women in developing and developed regions and addressing social, economic and foreign policy, issues in surpa-national terms

compulsory heterosexuality

term for the social power of heterosexuality and its invisible devices of romace and rape. Makes distinction between lesbian experience which includes sexual components of the lesbian identity and the lesibian continuum which is the exploration of lesbian history and culture

glass ceiling

the concept that women have the ambition, motivation, and capacity for positions of power and prestige, but hidden barriers keep them from getting to the top

gender asymmetry

the designation of women and things associated with women as different from, inferior to, of lesser value than men and things associated with men

mode of production

the materials used to produce goods (craft v factory produced)

globalization

the process of corporate global economic, ideological, and cultural reorganization acress borders and nation-states

gender stratification

the top of the pyramid is invariably almost all men. Based on the belief that women are not cut out for positions of authority

factors that led to feminism's development in different countries

(1) exposed to European political ideas, elite women and men brought demands back for education and auffrage to their home countries. (2) colonialism led to global encounters with legacy of unequal relations. In some coutries, anti-colonial and nationalist movements mobilized women. (3) international organizations provided forum for communication and conflict among diverse women's movements

First Wave

(1700s-1920) evolved out of political philosophy. Goal was to attain equal rights for women. Should women be treated equally or equitably? (still a debate today) Forcues on legal rights, educational opportunity, and voting rights. Had philosophical roots in the Enlightenment

A Vindication of the Rights of Women

(1792) written by Mary Wollstonecraft; targets the upper and middle class, argues women need education in order to develop their rational and moral capacities, the full human potential.

Second Wave

(1960-1980) period of extreme diversity. 2 main strands- those that work within organizations and government structures adn those who work outside mainstream organizations and advocate change in their culture or other institutions such as family.

stonewall rebellion

(1969, NYC) a gay bar, male and female, was raided and destroyed. Over the next few days Greenwich village's gay community was in the street rioting

Woman Identified Woman

(1970) New York radicalesbians essay, gave lesbianism definition characterized by desires, experiences, and self-perceptions rather than social categories. Argued lesbianism sharped by ideological and political preferences are not limited to a form of sexual activity

CEDAW

Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women. (1979) reiterates UN commitments to women's rights and importance of family, addresses impact of poverty on women, need to abolish apartheid, all forms of racism and colonialism, and the importance and self-determiniation for attainment of full equality for women and men

Differences between American and European feminists

Euro consisted of urban, cosmopolitian and solitary thinkers. While America was native born middle-class from rural or small towns. Euro were individuals who wrote and lectured alone, America were activists and wrote in support of defense of their activism. America was conservative and moralistic, drew on religious beliefs. America was motivated to speak out not as intellectual effort but a moral and political effort. Euros were suspicous about religion

Why is feminist theory important to social movements? According to Charlotte Bunch

Feminists need to understand the forces working against us if we were to survive and maintain our vision. Feminists need to look at the larger picture. Feminist theory provides a framework for evaluating strategies and seeing changes that are necessary. It is also a world view- an understanding of how the world operates

gendering and racializing process

Marxist feminist theory helped bring attention to the gendered division of labor. Women's work in the home is not recognized and is invisible, but Marxist feminism made it visible and challenged the devaluation because it's not part of the paid economy. Women of color often did housework wealthy women did not want to do, it does not challenge the gender division of labor. It creates divisions between white women and women of color. White women and men need to give up certina privileges and benefits in order to exploitation to end

wages for housework

Marxist feminst solution. Pay women for housework and childcare. If paid it would be seen as economically significant and be counted

historical materialism

Marxist socialism's focus on collective process and material forces (like the production and reporduction of social life) which are considered the main forces in history. The belief that material conditions of people's lives shape their behavior

NOW

National Organization for Women. (1966) 2nd Wave liberal feminist perspective. Focus was to improve women's status by applying legal, social, and other pressures on institutions

"Other"

Simone de Beauvoir, women's role as the other comes from prehistory where women's relegation to reproductive sphere led to sexual division of labor.

Decenter lesbian feminism according to Arlene Stein

To be a more decentered community means recognizing there are a variety of projects and experiences. There is no longer a sense of a fixed lesbian identity but rather more complicated and varied lesbian identities

gender mainstreaming

a strategy of gender reform feminists, a political goal of liberal feminists; goal is to place gender at the front and center as a concern for how things are done, so that processes and practices do not have a discriminatory outcome for women or men. Ensures laws and organizational policies do not adversely affect women and do address women's needs

vision

about determining what should exist instead. May involve some utopianism

principle of active agency and accountability

agency is to take action or exert power and feminist theory takes for grnted that women do have resources, skills, abilities and are able to make decisions about their own lives. Accountability means we have to be accountable to women and responsible about our decisions

One Third/Two Thirds Paradigm

allows for teaching and learning about points of connection and distance among and between communities of women marginalized and privileged along numerous local and glocal dimensions. It focuses on mutuality and common interests, and requires one to formulate questions about connected and disconnections between acitivst women's movements around the world

separatism

an important strategy both ideologically (it fit with idea of men as opposition) and tactically (allowed women to develop skills). One of the most attacked features of radical feminism

gendered job queues

argues that the best jobs are kept for men of the dominant racial or ethnic group. Then when those dominant men move onto better jobs, diadvantaged men and all women take their place.

sex

biological marker which identify us as male or female

social movements

both public activism in the political arena but also individual participation and action which work to create change with the goal of seeking justice for women

global development programs

can often be more damaging than helpful to women's economic lives than what they faced before. Training, support, and technology technically benefit men rather than women, even though women do much of the economic production

gender rebellion

challenge the structure of social order by challenging the idea that there are only two genders. Focus on deconstructing dualities and identifying the shifting aspects of gender. Includes construction, multiracial/multiethnic, postmodern, queer and third wave feminism

principles of feminist theory by Maggie hume

contextualization, active agency and accountability, and diversity

hubris

outsiders do not feel the need to consult with locals about facts or strategies because they believe they are providing an unquestionable "good" when taking action on behalf of the other group of people. So focused on mobilizing and getting their constituents and the broader public to feel good about their involvement that they fail to notice the potential damage that their activism can cause

gender reform

overall goal is gender equality. Want to equalize the status of women and men within the existing gendered social structure. Want to achieve gender balance. Inclludes liberal, Marxists, socialists, and transnational feminists

personal is political

personal experiences were politial issues. Radical feminist activism

reproduction

physical re-creation of the species and the social systems (what we do to survive on a daily basis)

Sisterhood is Powerful

politically, radical feminism's primary mission is fighting for women and against men's social and cultural supremacy. Rather than transform the gendered social order, radical feminism has tried to form a better women-centered social order- more ethical, nurturing and respectful of the environment and women's bodies

anti-colonial movements

post WWI, women began to take part in international feminist discussions

Kanter hypothesis

predicted that as workplaces became more gender-balanced, men would become more accepting of women collegues, and women would have other women to bond with instead of having to go it alone as the token woman.

philosophical roots of feminism

principles of the Enlightenment and liberal humanism. Arguments for basic rights of man excluded women but women used the ideology of equality ad justice to lay claims to the same rights as men. Abolition and civil rights movements, as well as anti-Vietnam was helped women to organizae and demand the rights that they were advocating for other people for themselves.

Mary Wollstonecraft

questioned male authority over women argued men misused reason to justify their power and superiority over women. Argued women have the capacity for reason and should be equal to men. Claimed women's inferior intellect was the result of a lack of education. Her efforts are the first formulation of liberal feminism

sisterhood

radical feminists are often charged with being man-hating dykes, however the main feature of radical feminism is actually woman loving or sisterhood

gender

refers to socially learned behaviors and expectations that are associated with the two sexes

sexuality

refers to the erotic desire, emotional involvement, and fantasies in a variety of intimate relationships

principle of contextualization

refers to the idea that we need to place women in their context (social, economic, political, historical) in order to understand the forces that are influencing their lives

social location

refers to the social location of the theorist. Who she was has an impact on her understanding of the world and on her particular perspective

superstructure

reflects character of economic system. A layer of legal, political, and social ideas that supports mode of production

male privilege

requires that we look at not just political and economic rights buts also personal entitlements (like within the family or the sexual double standard)

Friedrich Engles

saw production and reproduction both determining factors in history. In communal societies owmen had high status- matrilineal. Change to agrarian society was the end of mother-right and the defeat of the female sex. Under capitalism women's work is private service. Marxist view

gender essentialism

separatism it is argued reaffirms gender essantialism and separation of sexes

mindscapes

set the stage for household authorities and heads of clans, tribes, and communities to separate and segregate women in the belief that the practice was inevitable and right. Persuades women to accept the legitimacy and inevitability of their subjections ad even defend it

Simone de Beauvoir

shows how theories assume women are the "other" which comes from prehistory. Society sets up standards that reinfornces women's inferior position. Claims lesbianism might enable women to escape constraints imposed on women.

consciousness raising

spread knowledge of vital women's liberation theory, slogans and actions that have become household terms and phrases. A crucial step towards social revolution, an effective way to help women acknowledge their secondary status and see how all aspects of life are impacts by the patriarchy. Met in small groups to duscuss many issues and came to realize they were not alone. Look at ussues of sexuality, rape, porn and family

Second Wave goals

started out focused on legal rights, removing all legal discrimination by sex, political representation and entry into male-dominated occupations and professions, then moved onto eliminating sexual violence and harrassment, prostitution, porn and depictions of women in the media and changing language and history to represent women's experiences. Finally focused on concerns of diverse groups of people, how we do gender and how it maintains gendered social order

gender resistance

struggle to challenge the oppression of women in the gendered order of their lives. No such thing as gender neutrality--male dominance is too strong. Emphasize the concpet of the patriarchy. Includes radical, lesbian, psychoanalytic & cultural, and tandpoint feminism

cultural imperialism

transnational feminism critiques cultural imperialism as too individualistic and materialistic.

principle of diversity

underlies feminism's commitment to understand women's oppression, in terms of race, gender, class and sexual orientation and the interlocking nature of these diverse experiences

homogenizing and essentializing

use of stereotypes complicates ability to work with and cooperate with partners. All people who are different from "us". "All" of one group or another is reduced to a particular belief or practice, to which the entire society is depicted as mindlessly adhereing

Both American and European feminists

used intellectual and political ideas of American and French revolutions. Tended to be liberatian as well as drew liberal political theory of the Declaration of Independence and the concept of "rights". Often focused on rational arguments, look to reason and intellect

equal worth

we should be valuing women's traditional activities and not simply the need for equality with men. See the difference between men and women and understand women's experiences as valuable and important

production

what men and women actually do to satisfy their needs (seen as the basis of social structure and this shapes their consciousness)

mother-right

when lineage was female determined. It was overthrown once the shift from hunter-gatherer society to agrarian society occurred. It was the historical defeat of the female sex. Woman was degraded and reduced to servitude. Became a slave and a mere instrument of production of children

oversimplification and disregard of context

when outsiders do not take the time to learn the particulars of the situation. Can backfire and have harmful unintended consequences. Generally transnational feminists that ignore the local context of the issues in favor of the way the concern is understood "back home" do more to exploit the issue for their own political gain than to lay a groundwork for real alliance

analysis

why does that reality exist? origins and reasons for it continuing?

Beijing Declaration and Platform of Action

women's rights were human rights. Addressed 12 issues for women: poverty, education, health, violence against, armed conflict, the economy, in power and decision-making areas, instituational mechanisms for advancement, human rights, in th media, the environment, and the girl child

The Feminine Mystique

written by Betty Friedan, explores private angst of American housewives. Advocates for women's equal entry into professions and higher education. Women need to find meaningful full-time work in the workforce and their absence from the home would make husbands and children more self-sufficient

The Second Sex

written by Simone de Beauvoir, society sets up men as the positive norm and women as the negative. Very clear that women's difference is a cultural construct. Women's social functions are interdependent with their matneral and natual functions but not necessarily dependent on biology