GSFS 250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Womanism, Marital Rape, Consciousness Raising
4 Jun 2018
School
Course
Professor
Lecture 2:
History of sexual diversity and social movements-
Judith Bennett reading:
- Very difficult to make a social history imposing modern ideas of what a lesbian is on the
middle ages so she came up with a broader “lesbian like” category- this larger
understanding than the one we use in modern times so they can use a variety of sources
and evidence.
- Issue of how we define who a lesbian is- who counts as a lesbian? Trying to think about
how we think about past historical actors- what to do? We want to respect how people
self-identify but at the same time we are trying to create a history of how groups changed
over time it’s beneficial to have a group to put people in so Bennet makes “lesbian-like”.
- How do we understand the historical actors?
If your identity can be prosecuted, you won’t write about it- so public historical figures who we
would say is gay from the past but he was jailed for being gay so not everyone will want to go to
jail for their identities.
Looking for clues- is this person hinting they love this man or are they close friends? How do we
understand different relationships.
In the text a reference about Adrien Rich labelling all women- famous text where she put all
women on a continuum so that’s what she’s talking about- Bennett doesn’t think it’s useful to
use.
Joanne Meyerowitz reading:
Talking about how public attention given to one person surgery put a shift on public discussion
on sex and gender- the role of the medical establishment in helping us understand and change our
views on sex and gender.
Transsexuality- terms have changed over time, used to be more popular- this word used to be a
larger category who included people who cross-dressed, also people who were transgender- it
was the accepted term at the time (transsexual).
Questions raised-
Hermaphrodites- used to be a medical term to explain people we now see with two sexes
Not just our ideas that are changing- but our language too that helps us understand identities
Useful to put people into boxes to understand experiences but a risk too because some people
don’t want to be put in boxes as their experiences are different- so how do we understand this
without using generalization and stereotypes and what ends up happening is much more boxes or
continuums.
LGBTQ (+) or I (for intersex)
+= the endless acronym- hundreds of other letters of people’s own categories
idea is that different groups have said hey Queer doesn’t work for me I identify as this-
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
What is feminism?
Equality, women’s rights, equality among all genders
Definition:
Social, political, economic and cultural equity of all sexes and genders and embodying
intersectionality →understanding and application of anti-racism, class dynamics, ablism, agism,
sexual diversity and environmentalism. Not just about gender and sex.
Feminism is for everyone- not a dirty word.
*not assigned reading-
Freedman-
Explains the roots of the feminist revolution
2 main things that propelled the rise of feminist politics especially in the NA context
1- The rise of capitalism within the US and how the industrial revolution created changes
that re-defined women in a new way
2- Political theories of rights and representative government
On the first point:
Making a reference to an argument from Nancy Cott- changes within waged labour
Most of the economy is based on farming- post colonial
What happens is when the industrial revolution hits, instead of families working on farms with
gender roles where both men and women are working in household market- labour isn’t tagged
to money in the same way
Rise of factories- women go work in factories and labour is tagged to wages
So work in house wasn’t seen as work because not tagged to wages but those in factories is
considered work because attached to physical currency- so removes the effects and importance
of reproductive labour and house labour- not seen as work anymore
Creates more inbalances in households
Second point:
In 18th century- 2 kinds of liberals
Idea of big L liberalism- about the individual self
History of the individual actor- individuals are empowered and self-made actors
Roots of feminism
Early abolition movements as well= end of slavery
Famous convention:
Senecca falls in NY: women go to an abolition conference in London England and they are not
allowed to speak at the conference so they say they will hold their own conference in NY and in
Senecca- first women’s rights conference in the US- advocating towards suffrage: the right to
vote
At the time time= other things that lead to Senecca
The US Mexican war and Mexican women have more rights than US women- property,
inheritance so these ideologies are circulating more
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Influence of the indigenous women in the Senecca falls area- close to the founding mothers of
Senecca falls- those ideologies as well
Early roots for first wave feminism:
Wave theory:
Issue- attracts a time period based on white women feminism- a problem
Also issue with the metaphor- makes it seem like activism is just happening- comes out of
nowhere, it happens and then disappears
Think about your own lives which when we talk about the past we forget that people in the past
were people and people are complicated
We have 1860-1920’s is first wave
Then feminism stops because women get the right to vote (around US)
Second wave: a lot of debate about when it starts but we’ll say 1960s-1980s
This end time is debated a lot because you see third wave ideas
1989-present? Because people say we’re in a fourth wave so debated!
End of the first wave with suffrage- amendment in the US
First wave stuff- we have 2 trains of thought
Maternal feminism: women getting power
Usually embodied by older women
Women see themselves as essentially more moral than men- they should be in politics and other
professions to guide them in morality- they now how to be more ethical
Older women
New woman:
Younger women- wore pants and rode bikes
More radical
So first wave women- besides those who are working on abolishment
Main things interested in: suffrage, property rights, ability to work outside the home, and early
birth control and controlling the number of children you can have, and divorce!
Maternal- more women go to church so idea of softening the home and the church
Made on sexes are equal but different
Only 2 classes of genders- and they are different
Point of that article is also that even from earlier beginnings- feminism embedded in other social
movements
Other debate in first wave feminism- is suffrage
1- It leads to people working towards a goal and then they leave
Debate on whether suffrage de-politicized feminism
Did making suffrage the end goal cause problems?
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
We want to respect how people self-identify but at the same time we are trying to create a history of how groups changed over time it"s beneficial to have a group to put people in so bennet makes lesbian-like . In the text a reference about adrien rich labelling all women- famous text where she put all women on a continuum so that"s what she"s talking about- bennett doesn"t think it"s useful to use. Talking about how public attention given to one person surgery put a shift on public discussion on sex and gender- the role of the medical establishment in helping us understand and change our views on sex and gender. Transsexuality- terms have changed over time, used to be more popular- this word used to be a larger category who included people who cross-dressed, also people who were transgender- it was the accepted term at the time (transsexual).
