Essentialism

If the ‘history from below’ of subaltern studies aims at this rereading ‘against the grain’ of the colonial (and postcolonial) history of India by highlighting the ‘daily forms of resistance’, it suggests above all a ‘redefinition’ of the archive itself: wherever the traditional archive is insufficient (particularly concerning women’s history), recourse to ‘different’ sources in which the ‘subaltern voice’ can be heard is necessary. It is through the alternative that feminist history is…

Three of the most influential ideas in feminist thought emerged in the mid to late 20th century, and continue to hold great significance today. All are founded upon theories of inclusivity and justice for minority groups. This paper will define, describe, and illustrate the significance of intersectionality, feminist standpoint theory, and progressive definitions of gender. The idea of gender as a theory rather than a biological fact can be traced back at least to Simone de Beauvoir’s famous…

As humans, we often like to think of ourselves as masters of our own destiny. As we continue through the routine patterns of life, we see that most of us have the autonomy to decide which foods we eat, which political parties we support, etc. Ultimately, however, we are impacted by forces outside of our immediate control, and often our comprehension. We become elements in social constructionism, the understanding that our beliefs, social institutions, and ourselves are the result of culture and…

to be discussed include how Indigenous people are viewed as greedy drunks, as the Devil who doesn’t care about their actions, and as savages who don’t care for anyone but themselves. Furthermore, it is clear that Indigenous people are subject to essentialism, where they are often all looked upon in the same way. An example of this is present in the text when the main character, Joe says, “The priest is smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee at the Sky Ranch, staring at Elise the waitress, my…

Ernest Hemingway once said ”there is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility lies in being superior to your former self.” In the story “Indian Camp” Nick, his father and his uncle George travel to an Indian Camp where there is a woman who is having trouble in labor. When approached, the woman is screaming on top of her lungs. Nick asks why, and his father has to explain to him that she is in labor. Nick has an uneasy feeling and keeps looking away. Nick’s father started…

stems from the concept that it ‘borrows’ definitions and applications from anything that the ideology can be meaningfully tied to. The concept of ‘race’ draws elements from social constructs such as xenophobia, religious bigotry, nationalism and essentialism; as well as pseudoscientific ‘strains’ of anthropology, biology and eugenics. The basis of a ‘scavenger ideology’ is to be adaptable and versatile by picking up, or abandoning, previous values from social, economic and political cues in…

The Summary of the Novel The main character of the novel "Sahme man" is a woman, named Ma'asoumeh. She grew up in a traditional and deeply religious family in Qom in the early of 1320s. When her family immigrated to Tehran she felt in love with a young college student, named Sae'id, who was working in a pharmacy in the neighborhood. By revealing her secret, the family forced her to leave high school and marry someone else against her will, accusing her of bringing shame and disgrace on the…

According to Mills (2000), the sociological perspective is basically the study of human life and their social interactions, in addition to the manner in which those interactions form groups and the world at large. However, it provokes us to search for the links between the personal people’s behavior and the organization of the world that they live in. Normally, as individuals, we tend to think of the world as just natural and that it exists just like the air does. We think less on how it impacts…

The article, “Regressive Reproduction and Throwaway Conscience” by Donald Kuspit, begins the author statement, “That a new kind of social realism/neo-revolutionary or would be revolutionary art, does not presume to be our conscience. Yet it certainly sounds like the voice of conscience, bluntly speaking paradoxical truths that are hard to bring to consciousness and troubling to hear”. The author first focuses on Barbara Kruger, who makes a political point addressed to men. Kruger is stating…

Prior to WWII many anthropologists maintained that race was a biological phenomenon best ascertained through the use of anthropometric measurements. After the war, however, a growing number of anthropologists along with geneticists and serologists began to rethink the race concept and its attendant methodologies. Prompted by political and social events as well as empirical shifts brought on by the modern synthesis, these scientists sought more "objective" and "scientifically valid" methods for…