SY103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 31: Gloria Steinem, Playboy Bunny, Playboy Club
Sy103 lecture 31
Feminist Perspective
- Liberal feminism (workforce, public sphere, entry and equal pay for equal work)
● focuses on women's ability to maintain their equality through their own actions and choices
- Socialist feminist (the oublic and private sphere, child-care, domestic division of labour,
universal childcare policy)
● broadens Marxist feminism's argument for the role of capitalism in the oppression of women
and radical feminism's theory of the role of gender and the patriarchy.
- Radical feminist (seperate worlds, focus on violence against women, rape crisis centreers
changing the law on domestic violence)
● view society as fundamentally a patriarchy in which men dominate and oppress women
Gloria Steinem
• - Journalist, activist, feminist - most identified for going undercover as a playboy bunny
at the Manhattan Playboy Club 1960s
• - Pillar of the Feminist Movement, championing rights for women and men
• - “If men could menstruate” article, 1983
• - In a patriarchal society, menstruation could be thought of differently if it was
associated
with the dominant group (men) rather than the subordinate group (women)
Gender inequality in Canada
• - First wave of feminism - 1950s
• - Second wave of feminism - 1970s conservative values
• - Gender inequality persists
● Evidence in educational sphere
Employment & Income
• - Men continue to earn more than women
• - “Glass-ceiling” – the invisible barrier that prevents women from reaching upper
management positions
• - Women earn less than men, even within similar occupations and educational levels
Explanations
Document Summary
Liberal feminism (workforce, public sphere, entry and equal pay for equal work) Focuses on women"s ability to maintain their equality through their own actions and choices. Socialist feminist (the oublic and private sphere, child-care, domestic division of labour, universal childcare policy) Broadens marxist feminism"s argument for the role of capitalism in the oppression of women and radical feminism"s theory of the role of gender and the patriarchy. Radical feminist (seperate worlds, focus on violence against women, rape crisis centreers changing the law on domestic violence) View society as fundamentally a patriarchy in which men dominate and oppress women. Journalist, activist, feminist - most identified for going undercover as a playboy bunny at the manhattan playboy club 1960s. Pillar of the feminist movement, championing rights for women and men. In a patriarchal society, menstruation could be thought of differently if it was associated with the dominant group (men) rather than the subordinate group (women)
