Women’s Studies 190W
Introduction
to Women’s Studies
Professor
John K. Simmons
Fall
2002
What is “Women’s Studies?”
The obvious answers:
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The “study of women”
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How women fit into society
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The meaning events, ideas, and social institutions
have for women
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How the resources of the world are unfairly divided
according to social constructions about gender
What is “Women’s Studies?”
Not so obvious:
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Women’s Studies as Human Studies – “…it’s about
all of us!”
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Changing the world by changing the way we “see” the
world
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“Hearing” the other voice
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“Caring”
about the other
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“Sharing” with the other
Women’s Studies:
The Discipline
Characteristics
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Descriptive (Phenomenolgical)
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Feminist
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Multidisciplinary
– Religious
Studies
– African
American Studies
– Environmental
Studies
Women’s Studies
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Polymethodic
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multicultural, comparative
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worldview analysis (open-ended)
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Critical (“thinking outside the box”)
Women’s Studies
Ø Feminist
Perspective: a social movement composed of many diverse segments, each
committed to eliminating gender oppression
– The
movement spans more than a century of American and European history
– The
movement includes men as well as women
Myths about Feminism
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Feminist analysis is not objective
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Feminist analysis focuses only on women
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There is only one feminist perspective
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You have to be a woman to be a feminist
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If feminists would just shut up and let well enough
alone, everything would work out OK? It
always has, right?
“How ‘Right’ Are Things?”
Global “reality” in the 21st Century:
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environmental degradation
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terrorism,
social violence, genocide
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disparity
between rich and poor
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racism,
sexism, class-ism, tribalism
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over 24
million people in 107 countries take the drug Prozac to control
depression and anxiety - YIKES!!
Women’s Studies
Ø Sex = the biologically determined physical
distinctions between males and females
Ø Gender = socially generated attitudes and
behaviors organized according to socially-constructed categories of
masculinity and femininity
Gender Roles
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Gender = socially
constructed norms for males and females
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Gender is
something above and beyond biological sex
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Society imposes
elaborate and often oppressive gender
role expectations on individuals simple because of their sex
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Gender role
expectations are part of the basic structure of every human society
Gender Roles and Human Relationships
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Gender is a means of social control
(controlling sexual activity, the body, human relationships, etc.)
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Gender is an
essential element of social change open to strategic manipulation
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Gender is an
incredibly powerful force for both control and change in society
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Gender role
expectations impact all other institutions in society
Women’s Studies
Identity & Relationship
Women’s Studies is fundamentally about:
– identity = self-esteem
– relationship = empowerment
– since the dawn of consciousness, human
beings, women and men, have sought answers to identity-forming and relationship-guiding
questions
IDENTITY & RELATIONSHIP
Women’s Studies deals with answers to identity-forming questions:
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Selfhood - “Who am I?”
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Meaning - “Why am I?”
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Purpose - “What do I do?”
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Destiny - “Where does life lead?”
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Hope - “I can be happy & fulfilled.”
IDENTITY & RELATIONSHP
Women’s Studies is relationship-guiding; how do we deal with “THE
OTHER?”
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human experience
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other human beings
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culture & society
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rites of passage
Identity and Relationship
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Key questions:
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What is equality?
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How are biological differences (male, female)
transformed into gender-based social constructs?
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What is the relationship between awareness of
difference and appreciation of diversity?
WOMEN’S STUDIES
Methodology (what we do):
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Think outside the box – “ I just found out there’s
no such thing as the real world!”
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Be open to multiple interpretations of
phenomena
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It’s OK to see things differently
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Interconnection can only come from interaction
– “Let’s talk!”
Happiness vs. Power
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What “blocks” authentic happiness in life?
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Why does the quest for power over people, places,
events replace the authentic quest for happiness?
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How do social constructs designed to control
human experience work against authentic happiness?
Happiness vs. Power
The Dominator-Model:
Ø Happiness
is equated with security
Ø Security
comes with power-over the “other”
Ø Better
and stronger weapons result in “peace”
Ø Manipulate
the world and other people to protect the group resources
Happiness vs. Power
The Partnership-Model:
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Recognizes the interconnection of life on
this planet
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Communication rather than control
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Peace comes from authentic relationships based on
equality, justice, caring, and compassion
Inauthentic Living
Happiness is elusive
when:
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Your intentions for pursuing a particular
activity are not aligned with the ideals of that activity (why are you really
sitting in that seat writing down these notes?!)
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Your daily activities are always a means to an
ever-elusive end
The “If onlies…”
I’d be happy if only…
v I had more money
v I was more physically attractive
v I finish my BA & get out of Macomb!
v I could get this (guy, girl, both) to like
me
v I had another (beer, bong-hit, line,
cigarette, ice cream cone, etc., etc. etc….)
Key life “hint”
• Question:
What really stacks the deck
against human beings living authentic lives and and finding happiness?
• Answer:
Social constructs that
undercut the essential integrity of every human being, regardless of gender,
race, or class.
Social Construction
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Social constructs = “reality by consensus”
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Social constructs
include agreed upon “norms” or pervasive attitudes towards everything from our
most basic biological functions to our most sophisticated and complex
social/cultural structures including educational, political, and religious
institutions, the arts, customs, moral, ethics, law, and so forth.
Social Construction and Identity
Formation
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Social constructs are enormously powerful in
determining our individual and collective identity because they answer profound
life questions:
– Who
am I? Where do I belong?
– What do I do? How do I do it?
– Where am I?
Why am I?
– Who are you? Why are you?
Social Construction & Feminist
Deconstruction
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Those in power
control social constructs for their own benefit.
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Those in power
present ontologically arbitrary social constructs as “the way life
actually is,” that is, as REALITY.
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Lessons learned from
the movie The Matrix:
– a) getting to a place of “real reality” may require radical deconstruction
of existing social constructs;
– b) the act of deconstruction is inherently dangerous
and may require the ultimate sacrifice.
Social Construction & Feminist
Deconstruction
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Lessons learned from the counter-culture upheaval
and cultural wars of the late 1960s and early 1070s:
– Deconstruction is relatively easy, even fun.
– Don’t
“deconstruct” your house in the middle of an ice storm; anarchy sucks!
– Have
a “reconstruction plan” because, like it or not, social constructs will always
be part of human social/cultural experience
The Radical Response as Feminist
Deconstruction
“The Need to Know” Video
• a classic radical, deconstructionist response to
educational social constructs
• Women step “outside the box” of male-dominated
educational models and institutions and create their own opportunities based on
feminist paradigms
• Why?
Why? The Quest for Balance in Power
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The is nothing inherently “wrong” with social
constructs; problems emerge in how power is conceived and applied in
social constructions.
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Two models for power in any social construct
(see The Chalice & The Blade):
– The
dominator model (mode = ranking)
– The partnership model (mode = linking)
The Velcro Theory of Social
Constructs
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Social constructs, upon conception, are like clean,
uncluttered spheres covered in Velcro (everything sticks to it!)
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During the process of social evolution, the sphere
“collects” both the positive and negative “stuff” in any culture.
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Deconstruction is about “cleaning the
sphere,” and feminists have lead the way!
Cycles of Deconstruction &
Reconstruction
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Throughout all human
experience, civilizations rise and fall and rise again on cycles of
deconstruction & reconstruction.
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At the same time,
each human being, to some extent, goes through the same process in response to rites
of passage such as birth, death, tragedy, coming to adulthood, etc.
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Often times the arts
(painting, music, poetry, dance) can be an exercise in deconstruction.