SOC 0851 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Henry Ward Beecher
25 May 2018
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sources, from their treatment as a “sex class” to early
socialization patterns based on women’s dominant role in
raising children
• Gender is a fundamental aspect of the way society
functions and serves as an integral tool for distributing
power and resources among people and groups
• Inequality is not solely a result of women being denies
the opportunity to compete but is built into all aspects
of society; gender affects our social and personal lives as
well as our political and economic institutions
• Men directly benefit from the subordination of women,
and men’s superior position in many societies is
premised on ensuring women’s inferiority
• Fundamental changes to the basic structure of society
are necessary to bring about gender inequality; all-
encompassing changes to the current social order rather
than just legal changed are required
• Consciousness-raising helps women see the connections
between their personal experiences with gender
exploitation and a larger sense of the politics and
structure of society
• Associated primarily with the second and third waves of
feminist movement
o Men and Feminism
Some men were involved in various places and times in
women’s movements
• First-wave movement
o Frederick Douglass and Henry Ward Beecher were
involved in working for women’s suffrage along
with the abolition of slavery
• Second-wave movement
o National Organization for Men Against Sexism
(NOMAS) emerged in the 1970s and focuses on
