MDSA01H3 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Gender Binary, Feminist Literary Criticism, Sexual Differentiation
Document Summary
Chapter 8 terms: feminism an overview feminism, broadly, is a political project that explores the diverse ways men and women are socially empowered or disempowered. It is often a highly charged word that requires some explanation to fully understand. Contrary to popular belief, contemporary feminism is not anti-male. Sexism is discrimination based upo(cid:374) a pe(cid:396)so(cid:374)(cid:859)s se(cid:454). I(cid:374)stead of ta(cid:396)geti(cid:374)g i(cid:374)di(cid:448)idual (cid:373)e(cid:374) o(cid:396) e(cid:448)e(cid:374) (cid:373)e(cid:374) as a so(cid:272)ial g(cid:396)oup, feminism seeks to reveal and eradicate socially ingrained systems of sexism that harm all individuals in some way. In short, feminism is a political project focused on deconstructing sexist oppression present in our everyday norms and experiences: sex refers to the innate, biological differentiation between men and women: anatomy, reproduction, hormone production, and the like. Gender, on the other hand, refers to the culturally constructed differences between men and women: tastes, roles, activities, and more.
