Contrasts and Evaluations of Namaste and Butler’s Approaches to Violence against Transwomen In “Undoing Theory, The ‘Transgender Question’ and the Epistemic Violence of Anglo-American Feminist Theory”, Viviane Namaste (2009) examines the impacts of feminist knowledge production on transgender lives, specifically looking at the ways in which Judith Butler’s theories frame violence against transwomen. Indeed, in doing so, Namaste astutely points out that Butler fails to recognize the complexity of this issue as she is blinded by gender primacy (2009, p. 18). However, although this conclusion is enlightening, Namaste’s own analysis of violence against transwomen is quite superficial as it largely relies predominantly on the concept of labor. Although…
Margaret Fell Fox, also known as “the mother of Quakerism,” wrote the pamphlet Women’s Speaking Justified in order to prove to men that the bible supports the voice of women on several different occasions. What I like about Fell Fox is that for the most part, she does not attempt to sway her readers one way or another; instead, she gives straight examples of scripture from the bible and explains what each verse means, the proof speaks for her. In the 1800’s, women were not allowed to speak in church because it was considered to be “medling in the things of God.” When Fell Fox is finished, she gives over 10 examples from different parts of the bible showing how that is false and how God “manifested his Will and Mind concerning Women.”…
To understand the Historical Source, Visionary Women: Three Medieval Mystics by Rosemary Radford Ruether you must understand the premise that women were inferior and sinful in Medieval society you must understand the root comes from the bible. In the Bible, according to the story of creation in the book of Genesis, Eve was created from Adam's rib and, due to have eaten of the forbidden fruit, she was responsible for man's removal from paradise. The creation story in the Christian church highlighted the belief that women were inferior to men, and that they were morally weaker and liable to tempt men into committing sin.…
The model values of a Christian women, the treatment towards women, and the ways women gained authority, influence, and individual freedom…
The Influence of Views of Gender of the 16th Century over Elizabeth I’s Rule Elizabeth I, who ruled from 1558-1603, was a powerful and wise female ruler who had several successes in unifying and developing England. She was the daughter of Henry VIII, who had wanted a male heir for all of his life, and was greatly displeased when he had a daughter. Women were considered fragile and incompetent to do anything, which made them quite useless in 16th century European society, and made people wonder if they were fit to rule. Deeply influenced by the misogyny and critiques against a female ruler because of their assumed weak and feebleness, Elizabeth I diligently presented herself as a valuable and strong Queen and she pushed aside any person who…
Weddings in the twenty-first century are quite different than what would have taken place in the time of Romeo and Juliet. Marriage has changed tremendously since Shakespeare wrote Romeo and Juliet; arranged marriage has vanished, marriage customs have changed, and how much goes into preparing a wedding. In the fifteenth century most marriages were arranged by parents or relatives not by marriage. The purpose of arranged marriage was to transfer land and ownership or peace treaty between two families or groups.…
In “Women Like Us,” Edwidge Danticat explains how in her Haitian culture women are not seen as writers. In “Workers,” Richard Rodriguez talks about his experience working as a construction worker and how having a manual job doesn’t mean people don’t have any education. In “Serving in Florida,” Barbara Ehrenreich talks about how people and herself are struggling to afford a decent living while having a low minimum job. In “Nicomachean Ethics,” Aristotle says how people want to be happy, and explains what sort actions lead to happiness. In “Notes on Class,” Paul Fussell talks about the three social classes that are in America.…
In “Beside Oneself,” Judith Butler describes how the problem with violence is that it destroys the lives of humans, and it is sometimes not recognized because of pre-determined concepts of who is human. In “How to Tame a Wild Tongue,” Gloria Anzaldua explains how Mexicans are excluded because of how they speak both English and Spanish. Media outlets mold our views by putting emphasis on the topics they find important while ignoring other topics and us as teenagers don’t even recognize what is happening. Butler starts off with and ends with the question, “Whose lives count…what makes for a grievable life” (114). Media outlets decide whose lives are grievable.…
As with much of Western history, women were considered inferior to men and their duties were mainly restricted to their home and family life during middle ages (Newman, 2015). Women were also valued as a weaker vessel that was not intellectual and unable to fulfill the strenuous task that come with being a man (Newman, 2015). While men were busy with their respective jobs women, uphold the home front and the family. Moreover, poorer medieval families lived mostly in small quarters without much work availability. These small dormitories made it highly necessary for the women to keep the area tidy and clean to ensure adequate living standards within their limitations (Newman, 2015).…
Religion Assessment - By Kai Harris 9RE1 Oklahoma City Bombing On April 19, 1995, in Oklahoma City, USA, a truck bomb detonated outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Government Building. It left 168 people dead, and hundreds injured. The truck bomb was detonated by anti-government militants Timothy McVeigh, who was executed for his crimes in 2001 and Terry Nichols, who received life in prison.…
“They had no formal voice in the selection of the minister and no voice at all during the service he conducted” (41). Women can enter into churches; however, they cannot speak or ask question. When more women attend to church, their informal influence. The Puritan attack on the church gained popular strength, also in East Anglia. “Women were considerably more likely than men to remain with their captors… (43).…
Introduction: Summary: Margaret Fuller, author of Woman in the Nineteenth Century argues that humanity will only become suited for the beauty of the world and heaven when “freedom for Woman as much as for Man shall be acknowledged as a right, not yielded as a concession”. The essay begins to show a claim, counter-claim, and refutation format and through this, Fuller argues that women should be equal. Fuller begins her essay with explaining how deeply embedded this idea that women are inferior to men by giving an example of a common phrase of time. She explains how these is not only unfair but also unreasonable because why would a God, who is perfect, create inferior beings and give them less intellectual gifts. This alleged lack of reason…
Barbara Welter was a historian who wrote about social prejudice in the 1960’s. Welter examines the expectations placed on women during the 1860’s through publishing “The Cult of True Womanhood” in 1966. Welter discusses how women needed certain characteristics if they were to be “a true woman,” and the core characteristic was “religion or piety” (Welter 233). Being forced upon women, religion “was so vital” to a woman's life, and being irreligious was “too awful to contemplate” (Welter 234). Religion was viewed “as a kind of tranquilizer,” and it was supposedly “better to pray than to think” as a woman (Welter 244).…
What Is It to be Considered a Specific Gender While Judith Butler’s claim in her essay “From Undoing Gender” is challenging, complex, and comprehensible, she provides somewhat enough evidence and analysis of David Reimer’s case to prove her claim that society uses language to set the norms of what a gender should be and how one should act in accordance with one’s gender. First, Butler’s use of David Reimer’s case, known as “the John/Joan case” ("Interview: John Colapinto”), “a boy who accidentally had his penis burned and subsequently amputated at the age of eight months” (740-741), is somewhat sufficient to prove a claim that most people would resist accepting. William and Colomb have expounded that, “The more readers resist a claim, the…
Throughout history the role of women has been the same across many religions. Outside of people of color, women are the second most oppressed and marginalized group of people. Because many of these religions are believed to be rooted in patriarchal norms, they have really strict views on what the role of women should be. It is through the use of religion that allows the male dominated society to create and place women in these gender specific roles. However, history has shown some efforts from women of all ethnicities fight to obtain equality in their religions and in society period.…