Benevolent Sexism In the article, “The Problem When Sexism Just Sounds So Darn Friendly,” Melanie Tannenbaum explores how sexism is still prevalent in most societies today. Tannenbaum explains in the article what benevolent sexism is, why it is a problem, and how it affects society today. A discussion is necessary to analyze what the article is about, how one can relate to this article, if the arguments made in the article are agreeable, and if there is any bias present in the article. The article begins by explaining what benevolent sexism is; however, it should be noted that benevolent sexism is one of two categories under ambivalent sexism.…
Rahilly ‘Gender Truth Regime’ Rahilly (2015) adapts Foucalt’s concept of a ‘truth regime’ to explain the ideological prevalence of the gender binary in modern western society. She argues that at an individual, interactional, structural and ideological level, the notion of sex and gender being intertwined has a pervasive effect. Weaving this with West and Zimmerman’s (1987) concept of ‘doing gender,’ she likens parents’ resistance to the gender binary to Bernstein and De la Cruz’s (2009) description of Hapa activists’ challenging of the US monoracial truth regime. Both the monoracial and gender truth regime promote a discourse of erasure of that which defies binaries – mixed race and trans individuals, in this case.…
Post Bellum Issues Following the formal end of enslavement many issues emerged to the surface, including both lynching and women’s rights. Thankfully many people took stand for what they believe in and fought for the end and the rights of both lynching and women’s rights, including both Frances Harper and Ida B. Wells. Frances Harper being a women’s rights activist and Ida B. Wells being an activist who led a anti lynching crusade. Both women in which had heavily impacted the different issues and helped to raise awareness for both lynching and women’s rights and fighting for what they believed in. Frances Harper was an activist in the African American department of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, she shared her knowledge, dedication…
The Lenses of Gender Age, Race, Classes and Sex was an exultant experinces for this reader; Audre Lorde extricated me as a reader. Throughout the reading I truly could identify with the events that were being spoken of in the writing. One of many significant point of Lorde, 2000 is the Mythical norm; the mythical norm anschauung an announcement that many African American or Blacks have had to deal with all their lives. The appalling and aprotic fact is that today it is still accruing in the same format of institutionalized rejection (Lorde, 2000, p. 230-231).…
Traditionally, society has implemented the gender binary of male/female. This binary stays constant due to the power society places in the concept. The details of the separate categories may change a little, but the binary has stayed in place. “Gender is an identity tenuously constituted in time, instituted in an exterior space through a stylized repetition of acts,” (“Gender” 2552). Different portrayals of gender change how the society views the binary but never is the binary completely destroyed.…
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…
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.…
Feminism has evolved, from first wave feminists who gained rights for women in the first part of the century through the bra burning the second wave we have arrived where we are today with at third wave of feminists. Kelsey Hopson-Shiller is a modern third wave feminist and social worker in her 30’s, and we communicated regarding her views on modern feminism, patriarchy and the role of religion in modern America. We started talking about her views on feminism and patriarchy. According to Kelsey, she defines feminism “Equality regardless of gender, with conversation and communication about how to make gender equality applicable across races and ethnicities.” This view is very similar to that of other modern feminists and a departure from the…
“Women’s Studies: A man’s perspective” offers a thoughtful and insightful viewpoint of the tribulations that may be encountered, and the advantages that may be acquired, as a result of participating in a women’s studies course as a male. Although Evan Weissman received support on his decision to complete a women’s studies course by several of his closest loved ones, others mocked him and questioned his confidence as a man. Many of those that insulted him lacked the ability and competence to recognize the positive outcomes a women’s studies course could provide. According to Weissman, most men are oblivious to the advantages and dominance they possess over women. Through women’s studies, Weissman was able to develop a strong sense of confidence in himself, and realize that the attainment of his goals was, in part, influenced by his gender.…
Boy or Girl? Pink or Blue? Our society is built up on many norms and customs. For several decades the norms have revealed that if a newborn is a girl, they associate with the color pink and if a newborn is a boy, they identify with the color blue. Also, only girls wear dresses and only boys play with toy trucks, but who 's to say that this is the correct way to classify gender at all?…
Historians using gender as a categorical tool of historical analysis have won prizes from Organization of American Historians and American Historical Association such as Joan Scott and Kathleen Brown. In 1986, Joan Wallach Scott published her groundbreaking article, Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis.” In this article, Scott asserts that gender had not been previously used a conceptual framework like race and class and should be used by historians to examine their subjects. Scott’s article is a part of a larger study of gender published in her book, Gender and the Politics of History. This book rallies historians to break away from biologically constructed notions of what it means to be male and female and what their sex-roles…
The institution of education has proved to be pivotal in the construction and development of children and young people. Through the education system, Individuals learn and acquire different skills, aptitudes and abilities which become beneficial towards gaining future employment. It can be argued that the education system acts as a key institution in reinforcing gender stereotypes. The education system also acts as a key site of gender configuration playing, socialising and forming the identities of children and their roles in society. Gender equality in education is promoted through the National Curriculum which Francis (2000:8 ), argues ‘compels pupils to pursue the same core subjects in school, but once compulsory schooling is completed…
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…
Within her book, we should all be feminist, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie tells anecdotes of what it is like to be a young feminist in Africa, she speaks at one point of the ‘helpers’ found in major cities around the continent, often young men who offer to help the wealthier park cars in the congested metropolitan area. To stand out, these young men add some theatrics to the service they provide. These young Nigerian men are not the only ones who add theatrics to helping others. There are often questions of organizations around the world and whether the methods they utilize are helping women in developing countries or whether they are merely using theatrics to make it look like they are helping those on the international stage. This is especially…
For centuries, mankind has had a propensity to utilise the biological distinctions of the sexes in order to enforce a societal distinction between the sexes, which is known as gender. Gender, as the socially imposed division of the sexes, allowed societies to delineate certain characteristics to each of the sexes, and thus assign different roles, moral codes, and, in certain societies, thoughts and emotions to them. As such, the study of gender is of profound importance to the manner in which one reads and studies literature. For instance, the delineation of the sexes prior to the 19th century, women were educated to a lesser extent than men, having an education limited to that of moral virtues, modern languages, and societal accomplishments…