It is a well known academic fact that gender identity is socially constructed, but unfortunately the mainstream notion is that gender is fixed and unmalleable.
Historically, gender identity has been defined by the terms that society has placed upon the genitalia that one is born with. From the moment that you are in utero, your parents seek out the gender of the unborn fetus and as soon as the ultrasound occurs, your immature body and consciousness becomes the locus of societal norms and customs. You are hammered with the idea that you have fallen into one of the two categories of the gender binary, either you are born with a penis, asserting you as male, or born with a vagina, making you the other, a womyn.
With the hetero-normative
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Grammatically and conceptually incorrect, the title Womyns Studies was problematic because it assumed that the studies performed under the discipline were for womyn and by womyn only (which at the time – being of the conception and coincidence of second wave feminism – it was). “In the literal sense the title of the discipline could be translated into subjects only studied by womyn, Womyns studies grammatically means the study of any topic whatever, from astronomy to zoology, as long as the study itself is performed by womyn…” (Bell and Rosenhan 1981 pg 541). When these definitions are thought of as the foundation of the discipline it becomes problematic assuming the only people that would have the interest and be available to study the discipline are self-identified as being womyn. Alternatively, Bell and Rosenhan present the argument that the terms that could possibly be used are Feminist Studies or Womyn Studies, “The term feminist studies makes it clear that this new scholarship is an area of involvement open to both men and women; moreover the term helps to define such scholarships as an ongoing critique of traditional assumptions” (Bell and Rosenhan 1981 pg 541). Defining this discipline through the term Feminist Studies explicitly and exclusively makes the discipline a political stance, and a specific lens through which the curriculum was created through. “It is avowedly political and runs the risk of allowing conservative scholars to ignore their own politics while focusing on ours. This risk is compounded by the lack of consensus about the definition of feminism either as a historical phenomenon or as a con-temporary ideology. Using the term "feminist studies" may invite semantic rather than substantive reaction.” (Bell and Rosenhan 1981 pg 540) Apart from the political stance that the term Feminist Studies
According to Eastern Kentucky University on women and gender studies, “feminism is the issue of equality based on gender, gender expression, gender identity, sex, and sexuality as understood through social theories and political activism”. Feminism
Feminism, however, can be defined as: “a concern with action, political or personal, the struggle for equality; valuing the individual, respect for the individual; and having an awareness or consciousness of oppression which may be experienced by women directly or men vicariously through women’s experiences” (Allan, 1993). According to the Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, the true goal of feminism is not for women to have more power than men, but to eliminate sexism and for society to express equality for everyone (Haslanger & Tuana, 2004). Earlier, feminism and nursing were not interrelated; however, the integration of the ideals of feminism into nursing could change the
Some argue that society has nothing to do with our gender and it comes pre packaged in our traits. While others argue that our traits have nothing to do with gender and gender identity is a social construct. I beg a digger because we have seen how children are so quick to behave how society has deemed for them too, but also we see the example of Halle who went against everything society has said and decided to be a boy because she was born believing she
We are ever since educated that we only have binary sexes – male or female, in schools. Traditions and cultures also suggest perceptions and conventions that creates the “correct” type of male and female. While the majority have their biological sex and gender identity aligned consistently, some just find theirs do not fit perfectly. Schools and the society were not able to explain this phenomenon and thus people related and mixed it to disorders and mental illness, tried to control it and to ‘fix’
Most people believe that gender is based on the parts that one has, when in reality it’s how someone feels inside. Social construction is where peoples understanding of reality is almost entirely socially placed. Going along with that definition, It’s hard to
In the New York Times article, “Because of Sex”, written by Julie Berebitsky, a very scholarly approach was used to focus on the historical perspectives surrounding the many facets associated with feminism relative to women’s issues in America. Berebitsky exposes to perspective readers of Thomas’s book a very concentrated and well organized dialogue of factual information of which I would rate as stellar. The critique alone would generate a well-informed audience of followers of many to the historical revolution that set the ground work for women’s rights and respectfully an academic approach to women’s studies. Additionally, this critique justifies for me in my research varied perspectives for the need to explore the strengths of the interdisciplinary
Feminist scholarships are defined as sets of ideas for academic and intellectual orientation and interest towards women (Ngwainmbi, 2004). In general, women issues and problems are from oppressive, exclusionary, and discriminatory practices built into societal institutions. It is the knowledge where women issues and problems are identified through study, investigate and observe for those who are specialized and interest in this specific field. These scholar objectives are to produce knowledge contribution to women and also this knowledge is the bridge to find solutions to support women issues and problems. Hence, feminist scholarship is a framework that provides a platform for intellectual and academic for feminism studies.
Despite it being the twenty-first century, many people are still afraid of what they do not know. So, it is only natural that people who don't understand gender identity are afraid. However, their negative feelings towards people who are not cisgender do not excuse their actions. For example, two of the antagonists, Jason and Scream. Donning the masks of their horror film namesakes, Jason and Scream terrorize Gabe and his friends.
INTRODUCTION Intersectionality between multiple social categories such as gender, age, race, sexuality has received a considerable amount of attention during the past few years. This is so because more people are voicing out their oppressive experiences through national protests and social media platforms. Once the feminist thought of gender as a variable within the multiple social categories of identity consisting of being 'woman or female ' and 'man or male ' is no longer sufficient to encounter the multiple complexes of social discrimination that many women faces today. This suggests that identities are not created by a unit variable of social categories, but are created through multiple variables of social categories and experiences
Their theory placed the female perspective at the center, by creating original academic research based on the stories of females (Moore, 2008, p. 52). The theory emerged from the Marxist argument that people from oppressed classes have special access to knowledge that is not available to those from a privileged class. American feminist theorist Sandra Harding claimed that those at the top of social hierarchies lose sight of real human relations and the true nature of social reality, thus missing critical questions about the social and natural world (Moore, 2008, p. 52). They assume that the perspective of the researcher creates biases and therefore aimed to construct knowledge from the participant’s subjective perspective. (Moore, 2008, p. 53).
The objective of this paper is to analyze small entities within two books by Bell Hooks, FEMINIST THEORY: From Margin to Center, and Feminism is for EVERYBODY along with numerous articles that focus on feminism, white privilege, women against feminism and understanding feminism. This paper will illuminate what it is to be a feminist and it will also emphasize the need for equality within a patriarchy. While allowing myself and others to gain knowledge of feminism and become open to accepting the fight against sexism, racism, and patriarchal thinking.
Sexual Identity In “Gender Socialization and Identity Theory” by Michael J. Carter, he asserts gender identity originates with the family. The writer maintains that families are the agents of identity socialization. Carter argues that beginning with infancy children are taught how they are expected to socialize primarily by their families, simply due to the continuous contact with one another, boys are dressed in blue while girls are dressed in pink. The author plainly elucidates children gain knowledge of homophily through playmates by self-segregation into homogeneous groups.
FEMINISM IN SOCIAL GENDER DISCUSSIONS Although feminism is a doctrine aimed at improving the situation of women and expanding the role of women in society, different feminist approaches have emerged since the groups struggling for this purpose are not homogeneous groups. Separating the approaches of groups that focus and fighting around certain topics according to their turnover needs in general as Classical Feminist Approaches and New Term Feminist Approaches will facilitate analyzing feminism types that have a chronologically complex structure. 2.1. Classical Feminist
In conflating the many concepts of sex as well as gender, it has been proved though historical studies and anthropological studies that there are different forms of gender identities and expressions which are not at all times linked to the biological sex of that person. Hermaphrodite, for instance can be used to describe the concept of homosexual men in the society but the truth is it just conflates the intersex conditions of sexual desire and the sex-role behavior physically. Understanding gender drives the understanding of sexuality in many of the cultures and thus makes it easy to understand homosexual and heterosexual. Many of the cultures consider homosexual to consist of only people of the same sex and their biological bodies are not put into much consideration. In most of the Native American cultures, same-sex relationships do not traditionally mean a union of people of the same gender; rather it separates the two concepts, that is, the biology concept and the concept of gender identity (Arlene, 2013).
Oakley (1985, P16.) suggests that sex is “the biological differences between male and female” whilst gender refers to “the social classification into ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’”. This definition of gender assists the concept that gender is a ‘continuous performance’ and the discourse surrounding gender identity is continued. Gender is considered a performance because it only exists through the actions you take and the image you create. The gender performances come from stereotypes which make up the ‘male and female’ genders and make them ‘masculine and feminine’. Through this, gender is a ‘scripted’ performance which ensures that people conform to the norms of society and what society deems appropriate for each sex and considers this the correct way to perform gender.