WOMENST 3BB3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Intersectionality, Social Exclusion
6 Sep 2018
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● Keywords: Sex and gender (and sexuality)
○ Sex - assigned at birth, based on physical/biological characteristics
○ Gender - based on socially defined expression of masculinity and/or femininity
through appearance, acts, etc.
○ Sexuality - romantic and sexual identities, acts, and desires
● Keyword: social construction
○ Gender is socially constructed - changes temporally and geographically
○ Not tied directly or exclusively to biology or the body
○ Social, not individual
○ Social construction theory questions assumptions and “common sense”
○ Just because it is socially constructed doesn’t mean that it isn’t real for the
persons living it - or trivial, unimportant, or ephemeral
● What is visual culture?
○ Culture is a set of processes and practices through which individuals and groups
make sense of things, through which meanings are exchanged between
members of society or group
● Keyword: high culture
○ Ex. opera, theatre, ballet, fine art
○ Traditionally linked with the upper or ruling classes
○ Often expensive or requires high levels of education to
access/understand/appreciate
○ Critiques for being elitist
● Keyword: low culture
○ Comic books, romance novels, TV shows, popular film
○ Have mass appeal
○ Mass produced
○ Traditionally linked with working class people
○ Usually created for profit
○ Critiques as propaganda or homogenizing force
○ Often dismissed as silly or trivial
● Keyword: popular culture
○ Forms of culture that much of a population is interested in
○ Temporally specific - trends
○ Created for profit but also for the population
○ Representations can influence population but consumers also have agency and
can interpret culture
● What makes culture visual?
○ Something that is looked at
● Keyword: feminism
○ Most basic definition - social, political, and economic equality of the sexes
○ Intersectional approach - also looking at race, class, ability, etc.
○ Equity - giving people the opportunity to achieve the same quality of life
○ Not just about women
● Keyword: intersectionality
Document Summary
Sex - assigned at birth, based on physical/biological characteristics. Gender - based on socially defined expression of masculinity and/or femininity through appearance, acts, etc. Sexuality - romantic and sexual identities, acts, and desires. Gender is socially constructed - changes temporally and geographically. Not tied directly or exclusively to biology or the body. Social construction theory questions assumptions and common sense . Just because it is socially constructed doesn"t mean that it isn"t real for the persons living it - or trivial, unimportant, or ephemeral. Culture is a set of processes and practices through which individuals and groups make sense of things, through which meanings are exchanged between members of society or group. Traditionally linked with the upper or ruling classes. Often expensive or requires high levels of education to access/understand/appreciate. Comic books, romance novels, tv shows, popular film. Forms of culture that much of a population is interested in. Created for profit but also for the population.
