Exam 1 study guide 03 10 2014 EXAM ONE REVIEW SHEET TEST INFORMATION Your first exam in WGS 2500 will be held Friday March 14th during your regular scheduled class time You are required to bring a large sheet scantron of your own to class a number 2 pencil and a sheet of blank lined paper for the short answer questions The exam will consist of 30 multiple choice true false questions and 2 short answer questions REVIEW The following concepts and questions will be fair game on the exam 1 What are the primary aims of the field of Women s Studies It examines women s status in society and seeks to improve the condition of women s lives both in the US and globally Women studies put women at the center of inquiry and focuses on our reality as Traditional notions regarding men as humans and women as others must be subjects of study challenged and transcended Such a confusion of maleness with humanity putting men at the center and relegating women to outsiders in society is called androcentrism Women s studies involves the study of gender as a central aspect of human existence Gender concerns what it means to be a woman or a man in society Gender involves the way society creates patterns and rewards our understandings of Gender can be defined as the way society organizes understandings of sexual femininity and masculinity difference Women s studies explores our gendered existence how we perform femininity and masculinity and how this interacts with other aspects of our identities such as race ethnicity socioeconomic status and sexuality Mack WGS 2500 Spring 2014 o Debunk stereotypes about feminism o include more women in history o to learn about the status of women in society and ways to improve that status o to think about how institutions affect individuals o to improve critical thinking 2 What are some problems with studying women as a category When you categorize women in groups you re ignoring diversity Everyone experiences gender differently Too broad complex of a category often results in excluding women of smaller races 3 The text discusses five myths about feminism What are these Be able to counter these myths 1 feminists are angry whiny women who have an axe to grind who have no sense of humor and who exaggerate discrimination against women 2 feminists hate men or want to be like men and selfishly want to create new systems of power over men with other women rejected all things feminine 3 all feminists are said to be lesbians women who choose romantic relationships 4 feminists are said to reject motherhood to consider children a burden and to have 5 feminism is dismissed as a white middle class movement that draws energy away from attempts to correct social and economic problems and discourages coalition building Counteracts o 1 Men as a social group demonstrate more anger than women o 2 In reality most feminists are in relations with men and some feminists are men The man hating myth works to prevent many women who want to be in relationships with men from claiming feminism o male domination encourages the idea that affirming women means hating men and interprets women s request for power sharing as a form of taking over o in response to feminists wanting to be men feminism is not about encouraging women to be like men it is about valuing women for being women Feminism of course affirms and works to maintain difference it merely asks that these differences be valued equally Mack WGS 2500 Spring 2014 o 3 Feminists are accused of being lesbians in an effort to discredit feminism and prevent women both from joining the movement and from taking women s studies classes The term for this is lesbian baiting o 4 Feminism has never rejected motherhood but instead has attempted to improve the conditions under which women mother o In terms or rejecting femininity feminists have rejected some of the constraints associated with femininity such as corsets and hazardous beauty products and practices Mostly they strive to reclaim femininity as a valuable construct that should be respected o 5 Its crucial that the study of women as subjects both recognizes and celebrates diversity and works to transform all systems of oppression in society 4 What are the origins of third wave feminism and what forces shape it What is the primary focus of third wave feminism Third wave feminism has its origins in the 1990 s and reflects the thinking writing and activism of women and men who tended to come of age taking for granted the gains of second wave feminism as well as the resistance or backlash to it Third wave perspectives are shaped by the material conditions created by globalization and techno culture and tend to focus on issues of sexuality and identity Third wave of feminism o feminist perspectives adopted in the 1990 s often by younger some with an emphasis on personal voice and multiple identities intersectionaltiy ambiguity and contradictions o Interrogation of gender came from the third wave 5 Explain how the strategies for change are different for liberal as opposed to radical feminism Liberal feminists o believe in the viability of the present system meaning the system is okay and work within this context for change in such public areas as education and employment Radical feminists o recognize the oppression of women as a fundamental political oppression wherein women are categorized as inferior based upon their gender Mack WGS 2500 Spring 2014 o Came up with patriarchy root of women s oppression lies in the rule of fathers Radical feminists believe the whole system must be changed while liberal feminist believe that the current system is viable 6 What is feminist backlash Why are groups involved in backlash against feminism What is this perspective called Be able to name some women resistant to the core principles of feminism What term resulted from their work Feminist backlash the misleading and negative connotations associated with the words feminism and women s movement The organized backlash to feminism also involves for example the ways certain groups who believe they would lose from a redistribution of power have worked hard to discredit and destroy the feminist movement and brand feminists in negative ways This perspective is known as anti feminism Although such anti feminist activity includes conservative groups and politicians it also involves women who claim to be feminists yet are resistant to its core principles o These women whose careers in part have been fueled by the gains