approach of ‘doing gender’. They discuss the arguments of Candace West and Don Zimmerman, who suggested that gender is not an inactive or fixed component, but instead it is a characteristic of an action and gender is the product of an occurring interaction (Kimmel & Holler, p.127, 2011). Kimmel and Holler (2011) argue that doing gender is a case of our biology determining which gender one will become (p.127). This relates to the social construction of gender because by determining gender we are…
I found it really interesting that we were able to learn about Mary Wollstonecraft, and her writing a Vindication of the Rights of Women. I have spent this last semester taking Intro to Gender Studies with Sarah Shady, and I have really enjoyed learning about the history of feminism and learning about all the different things that feminism touches on - and ultimately things that we should know about since we have the privilege of going into a higher education. To find a woman in the 16th century…
In Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, her existentialist view point is heavily felt throughout this historical study of women. Often viewed as a radical, Beauvoir sets out to explore the many beliefs or definitions in regards to femininity. She proposes that women are oppressed by men through men’s depiction of women as the “other” or the object. Man is the subject, the self, the one, the absolute, the positive, the creator and the possessor of transcendence. Women are demoted as particular,…
a system. However, such an overt sense of patriarchy no longer exists in 21st Century America; in order to accommodate to current knowledge regarding gender, classical feminist jurisprudence theorists, such as Patricia Smith, have redefined patriarchy to be inclusive of gender identity (masculinity and femininity), rather than the traditional gender binary. Following from the definition, these theorists have argued that the patriarchy harms…
I began my first day of tutoring at Sankofa Academy, a poorly funded elementary school in Berkeley, California, on September 20, 2015. I was enthusiastic and interested in the students that I would be tutoring. Each one was in the tutoring program due to very poor academic performances, and it would be my job to catch them up. By March 2016, it was clear to me that nearly all of my students were male, had some form of an Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and had frequently found themselves in…
In the last few decades, gender and sexual diversity have been studied in great depth and information about them has become more accessible to and familiar with the general public. Growing up in a relatively religious and conservative home, the topic of gender and sexuality has rarely come up in conversations I had with friends and family. Besides class discussions, I realized I’ve never had a chance to actually talk to someone and listen to what they have to say about this topic. Hence, I saw…
Without a class dedicated to gender’s portrayal in literature, the subject is often neglected. We rarely pay attention to the treatment of gender in literature if we were not making a conscious effort to do so. “The Last Diet” begins as though you are reading an obituary. JeanAnne is killed in an ironic accident as she crashes into a donut shop. Teddy finds her journal and decides to read her…
The campaign for women’s freedom to vote became a very controversial matter between genders, which then grew into a campaign for women who required to receive the same rights as men. Marinetti’s supremacist rendering of futurism exposed a rather misogynist organization, deeming a woman inclusive government to be detrimental to the entire male sex. Mina Loy, highly influenced and inspired by Marinetti’s prominent and influential radicalism, in regard to futurism, took his artistic approach to…
behind developing the characters of Mr. and Mrs. Wright through her past knowledge and experiences. On the other hand the county attorney provides insight on the gender oriented expectations of that time and his thoughts parallel that of the male view of that generation. Mr. Hale and the sheriff also aid in establishing the extent of the gender disparity that was present in society and in the Wright’s marriage. While Mrs. Peters relates her own experience of loss to the death of Minnie’s…
in a strict home with strict morals, I learned what the course text recognizes as gender roles throughout my childhood. I grew up in a family with a mom and dad who loved each other. I have always watched how my parents would interact and treat each other. They were male and female who would kiss each other and love each other. Growing up this lead to what I identify as my gender socialization. The book defines gender socialization as (). I have learned what is normal from witnessing a…