About WGS at UMD
Adrienne Rich, Claiming an Education
Beverley Tatum, "Defining Racism"
Carol Adams' slideshow
Class Differences
Disability representation in the media
Dorothy Allison, A Question of Class
Feminism: The Second Wave
How Professional Black Women Suffer From Racial Stressors
"I have never felt sexual desire."
Introduction to binary systems
Introduction to Gender, Eckert et al. (edited)
Introduction to sexualities
Lighting the Way: Historic Women of the South Coast
Media
More Than an Afterthought: Authentically Representing Intersectionality in Media
"Our Love is Radical"
Overview of the first wave of feminism from the National Women's History Museum
Peggy McIntosh, "White Privilege
Quick Facts About the Gender Wage Gap
Rachel Pollack on creating a trans super hero
Ravyn Wngz - read and watch video of her speech
The 1968 Miss America Protest
The Basic Facts About Women in Poverty
The influence of media on views of gender
The Lesbian until Graduation
The Unequal Toll of Toxic Stress
Transgender and intersex folks
'We Must Educate Health Providers' about Black Women's experience
"What is Intersectionality? All of who I am"
What Is the Gender Wage Gap in Your State?
Women are calling out 'medical gaslighting'
Women's and Gender Studies
Overview
Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies textbook with primary source readings.
This resource was supported by funding from the OER Creator Program at UMass Dartmouth.
What Is Women's and Gender Studies and Why Should We Learn about it?
Introduction
In this first section you will be introduced to the field of Women's and Gender Studies: what it is and why we should all study it. Women's Studies as a distinct academic entity started in 1970 at what is now San Diego State University. That may seem a while ago, but consider that the other academic fields have a very long history; for example, the study of literature began in the nineteenth century and philosophy as a discipline began circa 400 B.C.E. Interestingly, Ancient Greek philosopher Plato considered the equality of the sexes as far back as c. 375 B.C.E.
The reading from Adrienne Rich, and the TEDx talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie introduce you to the basic tenets of feminism. By definition, Women's and Gender Studies is a feminist discipline, one that examines social inequalities. We should recognize, however, that feminism is not just for women, as Adichie says, "We should all be feminists."
"We should all be feminists." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The first reading (attached below) is the UMass Dartmouth's Women's and Gender Studies (WGS) webpage. Here we learn that "WGS is an interdisciplinary academic field that fosters active analysis of how gender (together with race, class, sexuality, etc.) affects our lived lives...WGS students reflect on how gender structures societies past and present and how it affects people at the individual and group levels; they study the historical factors that have shaped the status of women from varying backgrounds and cultures; and they explore paths to achieve equality for all people."
The second reading (attached below) is "Claiming an Education" by Adrienne Rich (1929-2012), who was an American poet, essayist and feminist. In this talk given at Douglass College convocation in 1977, Rich emphasizes the importance of "claiming" your education (for everyone) rather than passively receiving it. Part of WGS is to critically consider what we are told is "knowledge," when that knowledge may, in fact, be biased or solely based on the experiences of men or white people. For example, your High School education in American history may have focused on "great men" or the history of white people. This lop-sided view of the world is what WGS courses aim to address and redress. But, as Rich states, such courses go hand-in-hand with a change in your attitude towards yourself and your world: "taking responsibility for yourself." By this responsibility, Rich means to shed the notion that women should take second place to others and instead learn to speak for themselves and respect themselves (rather than seeing your value solely in relation to men).
In essence, this change in attitude is a "feminist" attitude. This attitude is one men should adopt too and they will also benefit from women adopting it. It is only when we understand how to respect ourselves that we can truly understand how to respect others. Yes, it may seem appealing to have someone playing the traditional role of a "wife" for you, but they are only playing this role and only doing so out of socialization - it is just an illusion of care.
So, the claim is that feminism is for everybody.
Unfortunately, there are many misinterpretations of feminism, so, finally, watch Nigerian-born novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's 2013 TEDx talk, "We should all be feminists," on growing up to discover feminism.
Points to consider:
- Can you see how WGS connects to your other areas of study?
- Does Rich simply mean a formal education?
- Do you agree with Adichie's claim that we should all be feminists?
Intersectionality
A simple diagram of intersectionality.
Introduction
So, if this course is an introduction to Women's and Gender Studies, we need to ask what is "gender" and why is it so central in our lives? However, before we discuss "what" gender is (and note that not everyone sees themselves as having a particular gender), we should explore the concept of "intersectionality." Otherwise, we will produce a confusing "additive" picture of human social identity: gender + ethnicity + sexuality + ?, etc. Instead, our identities are "intersectional," they comprise multiple social aspects that intersect, and this concept is the focus of this section.
In essence, the concept of intersectionality is easy to understand: we are not just women (for example), we are also raced, classed, etc. Moreover, these intersections are not just conceptual but play out in our lived lives: our pay, stereotypes other people may have of us, etc. However, once we have initially understood the concept, it is important to understand its complexities and explanatory power. And the first reading (attached below) raises some core themes of intersectionality.
Kimberlé Crenshaw is credited with coining the phrase, although African American feminists have long recognized how their race intersects with their gender to produce different oppressions from white women. In this video Crenshaw explains intersectionality and how it can play out specifically in education and educational institutions.
When you try to visualize intersectionality, it is crucial NOT to think of it as a tootsie roll: separate oppressions rolled together. The venn diagram at the top of the page can help you visualize intersecting oppressions. Another useful image is to think of yourself as standing at a crossroads. You are in greater danger of being in an accident than if you are standing at a one-lane road. Moreover, the more roads intersect where you are standing, the more vulnerable you are to harm. As Crenshaw says, the concept of intersectionality helps us analyze our oppressions, vulnerabilities, privileges, and advantages.
“The way we imagine discrimination or disempowerment is often more complicated for people who are subjected to multiple forms of exclusion. The good news is that intersectionality provides us a way to see it." Kimberlé Crenshaw
On the micro or individual level, intersectionality helps us identify "all of who I am." To locate myself politically and socially means to identify specific factors about my identity (identity markers), such as gender, race, or nationality. Another factor of this location is to identify oppression, power and unearned privilege. Intersectionality helps us think about how we may be oppressed in one category but privileged in another; for example, a heterosexual middle-class woman of color will benefit from class privilege and sexuality identity privilege, while potentially experiencing racism, sexism, and race-gender discrimination.
Beyond the individual or personal level, intersectionality also offers a framework for analysis. As we shall see, we need to apply the concept of intersectionality to anything considered a "women's issue," such as disparities in pay, cultural ideals of beauty, representations of women in the mainstream media, etc. Using the lens of intersectionality, however, we understand that we should look beyond "gender" and ask about pay disparities for women of color (see section 9); whether cultural ideals of beauty are - essentially - ideals for white women (see section 8); and how - or whether - groups such as women with disabilities, queer women, etc. are represented in the mainstream media.
Moreover, as Crenshaw argues elsewhere, intersectionality gives us a "frame" or a "narrative" in order to name a problem that may otherwise be hidden from view. Crenshaw states that we currently recognize the problem of state-sanctioned violence against African American men. We also recognize the problem of violence against women in general. What may be hidden from our view is the violence experienced by African American women because they are African American women, and Crenshaw challenges us to learn about and speak about these women. Crenshaw is a co-creator of the "Say Her Name" initiative in an effort to include women in the national conversation about race and policing.
Note: this video may be triggering.
Thirdly, as we can see with the diagram below, an intersectional lens allows us to see that the feminist movement's goal of ending sexism will never be complete unless we also end racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, etc., as they are intertwined with sexism. And this is an issue we shall return to in sections 10 and 11.
Finally, the disadvantages or privileges produced by the intersecting oppressions or freedoms in our lives need to be portrayed in the mainstream media (TV, movies, commercials, music videos, etc.) we consume. While there is nothing wrong with escapism or fantasy, it is important not to erase or marginalize people. If you never see yourself, or your frustrations and successes, portrayed in the media, it is difficult to feel validated or even as if you exist. In the second reading (attached below), "More Than an Afterthought," Yalda Tehranian demonstrates the typical patterns of the representation of Black women in mainstream media, from lacking femininity, to being portrayed as one-dimensional, for example.
Points to consider:
- Can you identify two or three of your own social identities and how they intersect to produce your lived experiences or advantage or disadvantage?
- Now that you understand the concept of intersectionality, can you analyze your favorite TV show, movie or music video using an intersectional lens.
- We are now able to create our own content on social media (Tiktok, Instagram, etc.), do you think that offers an opportunity for greater, and better, representation of groups that were previously marginalized in mainstream media?
Useful terms when discussing intersectionality:
Stereotype: A widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a person or thing. In itself, a stereotype is not necessarily bad. It is just a generalization about how a group of people behave. Stereotypes can be useful as a rule of thumb when we want to make quick decisions. However...
Controlling Image: Stereotypes can have a specific function: to maintain domination over subordinate groups. Even if the stereotype is a “positive" one, it dictates what kinds of behaviors are “normal” and penalizes those who step outside of or resist that image. Furthermore, as these images are set by the dominant groups, individuals or subordinate groups may find that they have to work within these images to fulfill their economic and social needs. What is fascinating/disturbing is that often these controlling images do not make much sense: Asian women are stereotyped as both submissive AND hypersexual??? Black men are stereotyped as both aggressive AND childlike??? But that is part of the point: you can never win.
Dominant narrative. Narratives help us make sense of our lives and our realities, and, as such, they can be positive. However, a "dominant narrative" is where your story/history is told from the perspective of the dominant culture and serves to further or support the needs and interests of the dominant social group.
Oppression: Marilyn Frye argues that oppression is more than being restricted or constrained. It is experiencing a "double bind," where you cannot win; for example, women are encouraged to look attractive, but then blamed if they are assaulted or attract unwelcome attention. Frye's enduring metaphor is of the bird cage. When the bird looks out through the bars, it may think it is free because it does not see the complex system of wires constructing the cage.
Iris Marion Young identifies five "faces" of oppression of a group: exploitation; marginalization (relegation to a lower social standing or the outer edge of society); powerlessness; cultural imperialism (the imposition of the cultural values of the dominant class, such as the view that heterosexuality is "normal and better"); and violence (the most evident form of oppression).
Even if the oppressed recognize their oppression, they may be forbidden or prevented from voicing it. This silencing can also be internalized if the oppressed accept their inferiority as a natural fact of life. This internalized silencing need not happen directly; it can also happen indirectly through negative, dehumanizing images that become internalized, which is why a critical analysis of representation in the media is so vital.
Gender
Introduction
The picture above is of a pair of twins. The baby on the left was assigned female at birth (AFAB) and the baby on the right was assigned male at birth (AMAB). Their parents have already begun "gendering" them through clothing, with the little girl wearing pink and a flower and the little boy wearing blue and a button. And this process of "gendering" is the subject of this section, as we ask what it is, why do we do it, and why does it appear so important?
“The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be rather than recognizing how we are.” Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Humans do naturally - and usually unproblematically - order the world in terms of binaries; for example, night/day or human/animal. However, we also acknowledge that such binaries are not completely fixed: night everntually changes to day and humans are also categorized as animals. Where this ordering becomes problematic is with socially constructed categories like gender or race. The problem, for example, with the man-woman gender binary is that it is seen as fixed and natural, and yet - paradoxically - requires social enforcement. However, we now regnize that gender is not a binary but on a spectrum; indeed, some people do not self-identify as being on this spectrum as doing so implicitly reinforces the gender binary. The reading (attached below), "Introduction to Binary Systems," explores the problems of these binary social systems further.
The reading (attached below), Eckert et al.'s "Introduction to Gender," offers a clear explanation of how gendering takes place. We are not born with a particular gender but our gender is a social construction, produced by our parents, society, institutions, media, and even ourselves.
Key concepts:
Sex refers to a set of biological attributes in humans and animals. It is primarily associated with physical and physiological features including chromosomes, gene expression, hormone levels and function, and reproductive/sexual anatomy. Sex is usually categorized as female or male but there is a far greater variation in the biological attributes that comprise sex than is often acknowledged. Thus, the definition of the biological categories of male and female is ultimately social.
Gender is a social construct: it is made.
“Gender is the very process of creating a dichotomy [binary] by effacing similarity and elaborating on difference, and where there are biological differences, these differences are exaggerated and extended in the service of constructing gender.” Eckert et al.
Gender "policing" or "ordering." If gender flowed naturally from our assigned sex, then there would be little or no need to reinforce it through clothing, behaviors, etc. Yet our gender is policed by other people (even strangers on the street), institutions (e.g., workplace dress codes), etc. Ideed, we may even self-police.
The system of gender intersects with other systems. The binary system of gender is only coherent within the system of heterosexuality, which, in its turn, supports the binary gender system. But, as we shall see, the system of heterosexuality is neither fixed nor defined. In addition, the system of capitalism supports these two systems: expensive weddings, St. Valentine's day, etc.
The gender system is a system of inequality. If we look at, for example, sterotypical gender characteristics, we can see that they are not truly pairs of opposites; rather, one has more socio-cultural value than the other: men are seen as rational and natural leaders, etc., while women are emotional, who take on caring roles at home or in their career choices. Some feminists in the 1970s did argue that we should revalue characteristics and roles associated with women or the feminine as a way to equality; however, that approach does not question the construction of gendering itself or the initial devaluation of women and the feminine. Certainly, people do step out of their gender roles and socially expected characteristics, but they may encounter gender policing; for example, male nurses may have their heterosexuality questioned and female CEOs are likely to be consider a b*tch. Finally, the gender system produces inequality in that not everyone identifies/can identify as having a particular gender. Thus, gender in itself is a privilege.
Michael Kimmel is best known for his research on men and masculnities.Here he talks about his own gender and race-gender privilege.
The final reading (attached below) is on people who are transgender or intersex, which is an increasing percentage of the population. A 2022 Pew Research Center survey in the U.S. found that 1.6% of Americans identify as transgender or non-binary, and 5.1% of younger Americans (under 30-years-old) identify as transgender or non-binary. (all %’s approx.)
In the video below, model and transgender advocate Geena Rocero explains why she needed to break free of her assigned sex and the importance of her self-identification as a woman to her personal truth and her human dignity.
Points to consider:
- Now you recognize that gender is socially constructed, can you see its production in your peers, the media you consume, your family, yourself, etc.?
- Can you offer some examples of the way the system of gender interconnects with (and mutually supports) other systems of oppression?
- Can you identify some other ways that the gender system is a system of inequality?
Finally, let us continue the rest of this course thinking "beyond the binary." Currently, there is no official symbol for non-binary. However, Jonathan R. is credited for creating this symbol on Tumblr.
In addition, here is a range of gender symbols that include gender resistant, gender fluid, etc. options. A crucial takeaway is that these terms are for somone's identity, their sense of self; they may not bear any connection to who that person is attracted to (if at all), and we shall consider sexuality in the next section.
Sexuality
Above is the Pride Progress Flag. It was created by graphic designer Daniel Quasar in 2018 to represent marginalized LGBTQ+ communities of color and transgender individuals. The flag is a symbol of inclusion and progress. More recent versions also include a purple circle for intersex individuals.
Introduction
The term "sexuality" encompasses our sexual identity (how we identify), who we desire (who we are attracted to), and our experiences (we will also discuss asexuality). The traditional ideology of human sexuality assumes that heterosexuality is innate/inborn and is the primary form of sexual relationship among humans. This assumption that a sexual relationship between people of the opposite sex is natural ("opposites attract") therefore justifies the resulting social reinforcement of heterosexuality. However, we need to ask why - if it is so natural - do heterosexual relations need to be socially, culturally, and even legally in some cases reinforced? In fact, just as society (parents, religion, friends, complete strangers on the street) goes to tremendous efforts to "police" our gender, so our sexual behaviors, desires, choices, and partners are "policed."
As with gender, we should not look to biology or science to explain and understand human sexuality (research into the so-called "gay gene" have been fruitless); rather we should understand that heterosexuality is an ideological system, which functions - in part - to maintain the system of gender (and vice versa); for example, passivity and vanity are encouraged in women to make them more "marketable" to men. While this marketability may not be urgent as women no longer need to marry for economic security, the ideology has been absorbed into our culture and can be seen in, for example, the messaging about women in mainstream media. Moreover, so-called "normal" heterosexual identity and behaviors can function to further oppress some social groups; for example Black and Latinx people are often stereotyped as problematically oversexed ("Latin lovers," etc.), while Asian men are often framed as sexless.
The system of heterosexuality is in many ways invisible, as it has become so normalized that human sexuality itself has become identified with it. As heterosexuality is assumed to be "natural," then homosexuality (seen as the opposite) has traditionally been labelled as "unnatural." This is one of the reasons that gay rights advocates have claimed that they are "born this way." And, initially, this claim provides a powerful counter to attempts to, for example, "convert" gay and lesbian folks as well as to protect them from discrimination. However, as we shall see with the talk by Lisa Diamond, the claim may ultimately do the community a disservice, moreover, it neglects the wide variety of human sexuality. We are complex beings, and it is important that this complexity is reflected in our accounts of human sexuality and romantic love, and the first reading, "Introduction to Sexualities" (attached below) provides an introduction to this complexity.
Here is Lady Gaga's famous anthem to queerness and acceptance of difference, sentiments we can applaud, but is it actually true we are born this way?
However, no matter how powerful this message, it is important to hold it up to scrutiny.
“Just because an argument is politically expedient, doesn’t make it true.” Jane Ward, professor of feminist, queer, and heterosexuality studies.
Diamond explains that the "born this way" argument is not scientifically accurate, is not legally necessary, and - perhaps surprisingly - it is unjust. While the "born this way" argument may have had its uses in the past, Diamond claims that is it now time to retire it.
Moreover, a focus on whether LGBT folks are born this way, neglects the possibility that human sexuality is fluid. Even if your identity as gay or lesbian or bisexual is socially accepted, it is assumed that you must always remain that way.
“I don’t think I was born gay. I don’t think I was born straight. I was born the way all of us are born: as a human being with a seemingly infinite capacity…to play with limiting categories, to challenge them and topple them, to cultivate my tastes and preferences, and, most importantly, to love and receive love.” Brandon Ambrosino, writer.
However, fluidity does not fit in well with the contemporary dominant narrative of human sexuality. For example, a man who was in a heterosexual relationship for years and now is dating other men must have been "gay all along and just deceiving himself." No doubt you have heard of the trope of the lesbian-until-graduation, but how much actual truth is there in this image? While the second reading, "Lesbian until Graduation" (attached below) on this trope is rather caustic, it does offer some useful facts and an interesting analysis of sexuality and social class (and the latter social identity is the focus of the next section).
“The biggest question facing asexual people is how to live in a world that is very sexualized...They may face discrimination, or at least some level of disconnection, from the sexualized world.” Anthony Bogaert, professor of community health sciences and psychology.
Even if we can move from the rigid binary categories of gay/straight to acceptance of sexual fluidity, another category of human sexual life - asexuality - may not be recognized within our discourse, yet, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA, as much as 1.7% of the population identify as asexual. The final reading in this section, "I have never felt sexual desire," (attached below) discusses the misunderstandings about this particular sexual identity and clarifies its parameters. And here we can see asexual activist model Yasmin Benoit addressing the issue of "dressing the part."
Points to consider:
- What are the privileges associated with heterosexuality?
- What are the privileges associated with having a fixed sexual identity?
- What are the privileges associated with having a sexual identity that is socially recognized?
Social Class
Introduction
- Do you believe anyone can reach "the American dream" simply by working hard enough?
Social class can be a difficult concept in the United States, as many people believe that we can raise our socio-economic class simply by working hard enough. While some (few) people do achieve "the American dream" (home ownership, nice car, etc.) through hard work alone, good luck (and an absence of bad luck) can play a major factor for these people. Education, social networks, family support, a lack of social barriers, etc. are, instead, typically central factors to achieving social and economic "success."
If you come from a different nationality or your parents do, then you may have a different understanding of social class and success. For example, in some Latin American countries, it is rare for people to be able to move out of the social class they were born into. In the United Kingdom, the markers of the SEVEN social classes run deep, everything from where you shop for groceries to your accent: it is as much about attitudes and values as money.
While we may expect the binary associated with social class to be rich/poor, in the United States most people claim that they are middle class, which is essentially "code" for hard-working and morally upstanding. In other words, middle-class status is not so much about economic status as it is about holding a particular set of values. The middle class is placed in opposition to "the poor," who are framed as lazy or as cheating the government (excessive weath does not appear to be problematic on this binary).
“I have learned with great difficulty that the vast majority of people believe that poverty is a voluntary condition.” Dorothy Allison, novelist.
The dominant narratives of welfare recipients tend towards blaming them for their own poverty and trafficking in the stereotype of women having multiple children by different fathers in order to milk the system. Anyone who actually has a child or works caring for children would know that having a job may be the easier choice...However, the reality of the American welfare system is far different from these dominant narratives. The 1996 Personal Responsibility/Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) limits receipt of welfare to 5 years or 60 months, and able-bodied recipients are required to work or job-train while they receive checks.
Indeed, recent studies show that 40% of middle-class Americans are just one missed paycheck away from homelessness, and, during the pandemic, there was a rapid increase in middle-class households using community food support (like food banks). Moreover, the gap between the rich and the rest of us is increasing. In 2023, 69% of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10% of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50% of earners only owned 2.4% of the total wealth (Statista).
- Do you think social class in America is defined solely by money?
Class is an important social identity for this course, but we are not merely talking about economic resources:
Key terms: (Source: Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, Third Edition. © Taylor & Francis 2015)
Economic capital refers to the tangible material resources of income and wealth
Social capital refers to the social networks one is part of and to which one has ready access, insofar as they have the potential to translate into material resources.
Cultural capital is a term coined by the late sociologist Pierre Bourdieu to address non-monetary class differences such as tastes in music or knowledge of high culture. Bourdieu argued that even if a previously poor person achieves economic mobility and becomes middle-class, there are still markers of her former status in the way she carries herself and the things she knows. Non-material resources such as knowledge, language, way of life and self-presentation can act as personal markers of class, and influence economic opportunity as well as quality of life. (Horvat, 2001; Swartz, 1997).
The first reading, "Class Differences," (attached below) on the psychology of class studies how we see our lives through the lens of class. In the second reading, "A Question of Class," (attached below) novelist Dorothy Allison describes growing up in poverty, while also providing an illustration of the intersectionality of privilege and disadvantage in her life.
The Silence of the Lambs is a well-known thriller. Hannibal Lecter is a forensic psychiatrist imprisoned for murder and then eating his victims. In the clip below he uses his insight into FBI agent Starling's lack of cultural and social capital to expose her class insecurities and to exert control over her. Can you see how he does this?
The third central element of our discussion of social class is the "Myth of Meritocracy." This myth is the popular belief that hard work and talent will always be rewarded by upward economic and social mobility and that an individual's success or failure reflects their merit or lack of merit. Yes, the idea is appealing - if you just work hard enough, you will succeed - but that belief is to ignore the social contexts in which we live, and our social locations (gender, race, etc.).
“Our leaders sell the myth as a utopian system of fairness – but merit has been manipulated to privilege the wealthy.” Jo Littler, The Guardian
The following are excerpts from President Trump's first speech to congress for your analysis. NOTE: This is not intended to be anti-Trump; there are plenty of other world leaders who maintain the myth as well.
“…I am going to bring back millions of jobs. Protecting our workers also means reforming our system of legal immigration. The current, outdated system depresses wages for our poorest workers, and puts great pressure on taxpayers. Nations around the world, like Canada, Australia and many others — have a merit-based immigration system. It is a basic principle that those seeking to enter a country ought to be able to support themselves financially. Yet, in America, we do not enforce this rule, straining the very public resources that our poorest citizens rely upon. According to the National Academy of Sciences, our current immigration system costs America’s taxpayers many billions of dollars a year. Switching away from this current system of lower-skilled immigration, and instead adopting a merit-based system, will have many benefits: it will save countless dollars, raise workers’ wages, and help struggling families — including immigrant families — enter the middle class…”
- Is this speech truly about the protection of U.S. workers? Or is it a policy speech about immigration wrapped up in the language of meritocracy? Does Trump's appeal to merit also contain an implicit appeal to racism?
Points to consider:
- How important do you think social capital and cultural capital are to economic and social success in contemporary America?
- How do you think the narrative of America as the "land of opportunity" play into the myth of meritocracy?
- In what ways does the "myth of meritocracy" justify the status quo and serve to defect attention away from structural inequalities?
Finally, race privilege and racism are intertwined with social class, and we shall explore these interconnections in the next section. We will also turn to a discussion of gender and race-gender pay inequalities in section nine.
Race, Racism, and Privilege
Introduction
Race does not exist.
Often people can find this claim hard to accept because it seems to contradict what they see around them. But race is not biologically real, which is different from saying “I do not see race,” which is a claim about one's lack of prejudices. The claim that there are common physical (and psychological or even moral) characteristics that form natural separations among people is false. Like gender, race is a social construction (although there is no agreement among race theorists about how this construction works). So, in THAT sense it does exist.
Interestingly, some race theorists argue that the claim that race is a social construct is a claim that it is a cultural construct: a participation in distinctive ways of life. Thus, even after white supremacy, and its accompanying racism, have disappeared, the cultural construct of Black culture can remain.
Originally, the term "race" was equivalent to nationality; for example, the Irish were considered a different race from the English or the Scottish. The modern concept of race appeared in the mid-C17th as a way of justifying the forced enslavement of Africans. Scientists and philosophers then aimed retroactively to "discover" and justify "racial differences."
The fact that your racial assignation depends on your geographical or historical location is a clear demonstration of the social construction of race; for example, in the United Kingdom Arabic people have their own separate ethnic group, whereas in the United States anyone with origins in the Middle East or North Africa is defined as white. Historian Noel Ignatiev in "How the Irish Became White (1995)," explains, somewhat controversially, how the Catholic Irish went from oppressed group to oppressing group. Originally, when the Irish came to America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they typically occupied the lowest rungs of the social ladder and were seen as a separate race from the white colonists and their descendants; indeed, in the South, Irish laborers were often given work that was considered too dangerous for an enslaved person to do. However, Ignatiev argues, partially through adopting the white culture of oppression of African Americans, Irish migrants eventually became defined as white.
Interestingly for the UMass Dartmouth community, as many of our students are Portuguese American, the racial/ethnic classification of Portuguese Americans remains vague. For a while they were federally classified as Hispanic, but now they are classified as white. The state of Florida, however, still classifies Portuguese Americans as Hispanic, while California does not. In Massachusetts there are laws and regulations that treat them as a separate minority group for some purposes; for example, through a “Portuguese business enterprise" status, which makes them eligible for special consideration on specific projects.
Even if race DOES biologically exist, the problem is that psychological and even moral characteristics are associated with different races. In other words, racial categories are NOT value neutral; rather, race is about political and social domination: the creation of “superior” and “inferior” groups. The historical construction of race has created systems of global socio-economic privilege for the dominant white “superior” group.
Racial categorization has been crucial in the United States, initially for supporting the slave economy, and then for maintaining the lowered social status of African Americans, a lowered status that served to advantage white Americans. Initially, for example, children born to a Black mother (regardless of the race of the father) inherited her enslaved status, thus providing a continuous supply of enslaved workers. After Emancipation, "Black codes" were laws enacted to control newly freed Black Americans. For example, vagrancy laws in the South meant that unemployed Black Americans were subject to arrest and forced labor as a punishment, whereas in South Carolina Black Americans were restricted to farming, manual labor or domestic service and forbidden from being artisans or having their own business. Needless to say, Black Americans in the South could do little to change these laws, as they were often restricted from voting or holding office. While the restrictions on Black Americans are no longer explicit nowadays, restrictions on their socio-economic status continue to maintain their oppression and advantage white Americans as a group. For example, racial disparities in access to a good education mean that Black Americans are more likely to be funneled into lower-paid jobs, such as care home workers, while white Americans as a group will benefit from having affordable health care for their aging parents, freeing this group of Americans to take high-paid jobs.
The concept of "differential racialization" is related to the concept of race as a social construct, this concept calls attention to the ways in which the dominant society racializes different minority groups in different ways at different times in response to its shifting needs for domination and marginalization. For example, during the era of slavery Black people were often characterized as childlike, thus "justifying" their control by white people through enslavement. Nowadays, Black Americans, especially men, are often stereotyped as "criminal," thus "justifying" state control through the prison-industrial complex.
Reminder: The analytic lens of intersectionality shows us that nobody is just “raced”; rather, they are also gendered, etc. This makes it difficult to unpack discriminations and experiences and thus dismantle racism. However, it is important to recognize the multi-layered experiences of individuals in order to uproot oppressions.
In your first reading (attached below), Desmond-Harris offers "11 ways that race isn't real." In addition, she includes a brief video to watch debunking the myth of "race."
Even though race is not real, there is no doubt that racial oppression and racism are very real, playing out in state-sanctioned violence, stereotypes in popular culture, disparity in pay, and even the environments in which we live. Racism is “normalized”: it has become an ordinary experience of most people of color. Racism covers a broad range of experiences from unequal pay to microaggressions to police harassment and brutality. This very normality makes racism harder to recognize and even harder to address.
In the second reading, "Defining Racism," (attached below) Beverley Tatum explains how stereotypes, omissions, and distortions all contribute to the development of prejudice, which is hard for any of us to escape as we live in a racist society; indeed, even people of color can internalize such prejudice.
“Racism is a system of advantage based on race.” David Wellman quoted in Beverley Tatum
However, Tatum thinks it is important to distinguish prejudice from racism, which she defines as a system of advantage based on race. And the third reading, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack," is the well-known list of the advantages of white privilege compiled by Peggy McIntosh, although, obviously, not all white people benefit equally or in the same way, as gender, socio-economic states, age, etc. will all play into access to power and status.
Forms of racism (often categorized as follows):
Interpersonal racism: This form of racism is what people most often think about when we discuss racism. Interpersonal racism is not just slurs or overt actions and speech, it can also be microaggressions, medical gaslighting (which we will discuss in section 7), etc.
Institutional racism: Systems of power that unfairly disadvantage racial minorities while often advantaging white people; for example, lower funding for health clinics in areas with a larger population of racial minorities.
Structural racism: Structural racism is sometimes used interchangeably with systemic racism. All the ways our society encourages racism, such as employment and the criminal justice system. This form of racism serves to maintain white supremacy.
These three forms of racism do not operate in isolation. For example, interpersonal racism can affect Black people's health due to stress, while institutional racism can limit their access to health care to deal with the effects of this stress, while structural racism reinforces and "justifies" racist views held by medical professionals.
- Can you think of other examples?
“Racism and other systems of inequity structure open/closed signs in our society…[which creates] a dual system of reality where on the inside it is difficult for us to recognize any system of inequity that is privileging us.” Camara Jones
Finally, in the video below Camara Jones brings many of these points together in her talk on race and racism, using allegories to explain: (1) race as a social classification, not a biological descriptor; (2) the dual reality in our society produced by racism; (3) the three different levels of racism; and (4) how to act to be actively anti-racist, which is different from being "non-racist" or "not-racist." Indeed, while many people may think that being "non-racist" or "not-racist" is the opposite of being racist, being anti-racist is the true opposite of being racist, and, as such, requires action.
Points to consider:
- If asked, could you put into your own words how race is not real?
- Can you see how hard it is to escape absorbing prejudicial attiitudes in a racist society?
- Which of Peggy McIntosh's privileges of being racialized-as-white did you find most striking?
- Can you see some ways that race and social class intersect?
- How do you think we can be actively anti-racist?
Health, Gender, and Race
Introduction
Health and health care are feminist issues. Not only do women provide the "invisible" support that helps maintain the formal health care system, but women and people of color tend to fill the lower-paid "care" jobs in this system. It can be easy to focus on "personal responsibility" for illnesses like diabetes, which are bound up with (often mistaken) assumptions about weight and diet. Yet stress and lack of access to good healthcare (factors that are beyond our control) are also major factors in illnesses like diabetes. It is important to recognize that racism, interpersonal as well as institutional, is a significant stressor as well as an indicator of access to good quality healthcare, and this issue was raised in the previous section. Connected to the stressors and expectations of daily living, we will also look at the "Superwoman" role for Black women, and ask whether it is an empowering or oppressive ideal (this article on the "Superwoman" role is fascinating, by the way).
Our focus in this section is on health and women of color; however, this is not to say that damaging stress is not experienced by other racialized communities or that white women do not experience such stress. The main reason for our focus in this class is that most of the available research is on women of color, especially Black women.
Needless to say, there are many other issues connected to gender, race, etc. and health/health care. In fact, UMass Dartmouth now offers an entire major built around these issues called "Health and Society."
We saw Dr. Camara Jones in the previous section use analogies to explain race and racism. Here she uses the analogy of a cliff to show the impact of social conditions on health—including racism, poverty, and other inequities. She calls for communities and health professionals to take action on those social conditions in order to eliminate health disparities.
Gaslighting: The term "gaslighting" comes from comes from a 1938 play and a 1944 movie in which a husband tries to make his wife go mad by claiming she is hallucinating and imagining things. One of the things he does is to turn the gas lights up and down, saying that the changes are in her imagination. Here is a great scene from the movie...
"Medical gaslighting" is now a recognized phenomenon, where women and people of color are more likely to have their symptoms dismissed by medical practitioners. And your first reading, "Women are Calling Out 'Medical Gaslighting,'" (attached below) provides an introduction to this issue (you can also listen to this article by clicking on the audio link in the attached reading).
The second reading, "The Unequal Toll of Toxic Stress," (attached below) traces the roots of gender inequality and race-gender inequality to early childhood stressors.
Attached next is an audio recording, "How Professional Black Women Still Suffer From A Legacy of Lingering Bias." Click on "Listen" to hear Marlene Harris-Taylor describe how many professional Black women are facing an under-current of stress from racial bias, which has very real implications for their health.
Our final reading,"'We Must Educate Health Providers' about Black Women's Experience," (attached below) is on stress-related health disparities. In an interview with Medical News Today, Professor Cheryl Giscombé, an expert on stress-related health disparities among African Americans, explains a source of pressure that many African American women experience: the obligation to project an image of strength or that of fulfilling a ‘superwoman’ role.
The song and video below from Alicia Keys demonstrate just how much the "superwoman" role or ideal has filtered into our cultural consciousness.
Points to consider:
- Do you see the "superwoman" schema as empowering or oppressive or perhaps as both?
- Were you surprised to find that is a relation between social experiences of oppression, such as racism and sexism, and physical and mental health?
- While you may have come across the phenomenon of gaslighting in personal relationships before, were you aware that medical gaslighting is a phenomenon that affects the treatment and diagnosis of illness, particularly of women and people of color?
Media
Introduction
Before you begin this section, think about how women, men, and/or people of color are portrayed in the mainstream media. For example, do you see older women with facial lines and grey hair represented as having social power? Do you see gay men who are NOT living privileged lives in NYC? Do you see Black men (who are not former President Obama) having political power?
The visibility in the media of some culturally dominant groups, and the concomitant invisibility of some marginalized groups, means that we may not recognize the problematic nature of the systems and structures that hold in place this domination or marginalization.
“We have to constantly critique white supremacist patriarchal culture because it is normalized by mass media and rendered unproblematic.” bell hooks
In the first reading, "Media," (attached below) the authors discuss just how much we are exposed to media everyday (advertising, music videos, movies, etc.). While we may like to believe we are not influenced by advertising, recent studies have shown that children as young as two-years-old can recognize brand logos for corporations like McDonalds, potentially laying the foundations for a loyal consumer base in the future.
Media reflects our culture, but it can also create that culture. The example the first reading uses is of Disney movies that you may have watched as a child. The movies tell narratives about normative gender and sexuality. Even the Harry Potter series (both books and films), which introduced us to an amazing fantasy world of creatures and magic, ends with the characters pairing into rather imbalanced couples and leading lives of heteronormativity.
The media, especially mainstream media, also reproduces racialized and gendered normative beauty ideals. You may already be familiar with the problems of female body ideals, but there is also growing concern about the effects of male body ideals on young men leading, in particular, to an obsessive desire to be more muscular.
Some social groups either have little to no representation in the media at all OR these social groups are plot twists or used for comedy: "symbolic annihilation." For example, the trans woman as a plot twist (watch the video in this first reading) or the Black character being the first one to die in a horror movie (which has now become such a well-known trope that it is itself a self-referential joke).
In the second reading, "Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender," author Julia T. Wood, identifies three themes in the way gender is represented in the mainstream media: women are underrepresented; protrayals of men and women are often stereotypical, thus reinforcing societal views of gender; and depictions of relationships between men and women often emphasize traditional roles and normalize violence against women.
The work of Carol J. Adams is recognized for the originality of its comparisons of the literal consumption of meat and the visual consumption of women (by men), especially in the advertising industry, and the third reading is a slideshow by Adams that illustrates her theory. The advertising industry has frequently been critiqued for its sexual objectification of women, but here Adams shows how this objectification intersects with the objectification of animals, thus reinforcing the disposability of women (like animals, they can be thrown away) and the sexualizing of meat-eating (animals are portrayed as actually wanting to be eaten). Problematically, once a woman has become an object (objectified), then violent or abusive treatment becomes normalized: it becomes acceptable to treat her like a thing. What Adams shows that if a woman is objectified as animal in some way, then violence becomes justifiable, as humans are allowed to dominate animals. Note: how many of the images in Adams' slideshow demonstrate the "fragmentation" of women (like animals) into body parts.
- Now that you have considered Adams' slideshow, what do you make of this parody intended to sell a Chicken Cookbook? What hidden messages about feminization, sexualization, dehumanization, and control can you see?
Feminist theorizing offers, among other things, an analysis of, and response to, the ways that cultural ideas of the body have served to oppress women. An inability to achieve such cultural ideals of the body for "normal" women is tied to assumptions about a lack of self-control and of personal responsibility; for example, think of the discourse around obesity and the "policing" of overweight people. It is similar to the thinking of "American individualism" that is connected to class status: anyone can achieve the goal of thinness (which is not necessarily the same as health) if they just try hard enough.
This analysis, in its turn, can illuminate the ways that these ideals serve to marginalize people with physical disabilities. People with disabilities represent the existence of the opposite of "normal," as they are culturally understood to lack independence and to have a body they cannot control. Failure to achieve these (impossible) cultural ideals in so-called "normal" women can lead to a feeling of alienation from one's own body and a devaluing of those who are less than perfect. For women with physical disabilities, this failure is so magnified that they are not always perceived as "real" women: women who can have sexual relationships, children, etc.
Much the same follows for women with so-called "invisible" disabilities (for example, mental illness). Women who are not compliant in their expected social/cultural roles may be marginalized or "policed" by the medical establishment. Moreover, as we have seen, oppresions and traumas (such as concerns for safety and the cultural ideal of the superwoman) that may lead to psychiatric problems are often not taken seriously.
If someone fails to achieve these (impossible) cultural ideals, then they may experience "shaming": either shaming by others or self-shaming. The media often plays an outsized role in this shaming, especially through its visual presentations of women who have been photoshopped. To paraphrase Black feminist bell hooks, we need to realize that such shaming is a tool of societal control that runs so deep it can often produce mental, emotional, and political paralysis, Interestingly, some contemporary (fourth-wave) feminists are fighting back at body shaming through online activism centered on body positivity, and, in this way, they fight the trauma-induced paralysis of body shaming. See, for example, Jameela Jamil's Instagram account I_Weigh, where she she challenges defining weight in terms of pounds and ounces, replacing the definition in terms of our contributions to society and what we value in our lives.
The final reading, "A Group Left Behind," is on the invisibility of disability in the media, even though approximately 20% of people in America have a disability. Make sure to click on the links for the video clips. Even if people with disabilities are represented in mainstream media, their disability can be connected to their life of crime or an explanation for their murderous villainy.
- Can you think of an example where the disability of a character in a movie is connected to their evil actions and/or evil nature?
However, it would appear that small changes are happening. Recent TV series have offered us authentic depictions of people with disabilities, such as Isaac in Sex Education or Rebecca Hall-Yoshida in Never Have I Ever. Moreover, there is starting to be a recognition of the beauty of people with disabilities. Here is an image of Jillian Mercado, an in-demand model who uses a wheelchair.
When we think of disability, we most likely use the “medical model” of disability: “a physical or mental condition that limits a person’s movements, senses of activities.” Oxford English Dictionary. But what if we step back and see disability less as an individual/medical issue and more as one that society has contributed to? It is society’s insistence on putting curbs and stairs everywhere, for example, that is problematic for someone who uses a wheelchair. Consider UMass Dartmouth! In other words, the problem is not with the person but with the lack of accessibility in society. Or, as some disability theorists put it, disability is a social construct. Moreover, making the world more accessible can help everyone. For example, accessible buildings can help a parent with a stroller, while "closed captions" can help students concentrate/take in more.
Points to consider:
- The majority of the discussion about representation of women and other marginalized groups in the media is about their underrepresentation or misrepresentation in mainstream media. Now that anyone with a smartphone and an internet connection can make their own media, do you think that these problems with representation could disappear?
- Julia T. Wood identifies three themes in the way gender is represented in mainstream media, can you see any one of these themes in the mainstream media you typically consume? (For example, movies, TV, music, videogames, etc.).
- Can you find an example in advertising that demonstrates the sexualization of meat-eating?
- How frequently do you see people with disabilities portrayed in the mainstream media you consume?
Work and Poverty
Introduction
“Gender biases and inequalities that have placed women in low-wage occupations, such as differences in jobs and hours worked, as well as women’s disproportionate caregiving responsibilities, contribute to the gender wage gap.” World Bank, 2023
In 1945 Congress introduced the Women's Equal Pay Act, which failed to pass. It was not until 1963 that the Equal Pay Act was passed in the U.S., which guarantees equal pay for equal work for men and women in the same workplace (this work need not be identical; it must be substantially equal).
Yet the stark fact is that there is a gap between the overall pay for women and the overall pay for men, with women in full-time work earning on average 84% of what men earned in 2024 (U.S. Dept. of Labor). This gap is substantially more for women of color, with Black women earning approximately 70% as much as white men and Hispanic women earning 65% as much (Pew Research Center, 2022). The gap is narrowing, but very slowly, and it is estimated that the pay gap will remain until 2059.
Researchers have also uncovered evidence of discrimination in the hiring of other marginalized groups, such as LGBTQ+ people or those with disabilities, such discrimination may produce differences in earnings by excluding these groups of workers from opportunities. Interestingly, some women may have a false consciousness about gender discrimination and/or sexual harassment at work, believing it to be individual-to-individual, not systemic.
Multiple interconnecting factors lead to the gender wage gap. "Occupational segregation," where women are overrepresented in lower-paid occupations such as nurses, primary school teachers, retail or childcare workers, the so-called "feminized" occupations. Moreover, overt discrimination or socialization may channel women into these lower-paid occupations. Even though there is nominal gender equality in the U.S., women disproportionately shoulder the burden of childcare, and they are more likely to seek employment with flexible hours and little to no evening or weekend work commitments. Unfortunately, the work culture in the U.S. values the "always-on" employee, while more flexible employment with shorter hours tends to receive lower compensation. Connected to women's cultural role as caretaker is the fact that women are more likely than men to take time out of work to care for elderly parents or sick children. Any significant break from work responsibilities means that the "clock" is also stopped on eligibility for promotion and pay raises, or they will have less work experience to offer a prospective new employer.
We should not underestimate the importance of this final factor. According to the 2023 Nobel Prize winner for economics, Claudia Goldin, differences in education and occupational choices historically provided the explanation for the gender pay gap. However, the continuation of the pay gap in the modern workforce between men and women in the same occupation arises with the birth of the first child, a "motherhood effect," a pattern that can be seen in other countries. Structural barriers, such as access to education and career opportunities, have now been removed; instead, policy makers should now focus on what is needed for women to work productively and profitably after having children if we want to close the pay gap.
- Can you see how closing the gender pay gap would not just benefit women?
Economic justice is not just a moral and political requirement; it is a prerequisite for economic growth. If all working women were paid the same as comparable men (men of the same age, education, geographical location, and number of hours worked), this would amount to an earnings increase of $482.2 billion, or 2.8 percent of this country’s gross domestic product (GDP) (2014 estimate). An increase that would boost taxes, local economies, and consumer spending (Status of Women In the States). A more recent report (2023) by Moody's Analytics argues that narrowing the gender pay gap could boost the global economy by 7% (7 trillion).
Significantly, equal comparable pay in the US would reduce women's poverty; for example, the 2014 poverty rate in Massachusetts was 7.2%, but it would be reduced to 3.2% if the gender pay gap was closed. The 2014 poverty rate for working single mothers in Massachusetts was 24.6%, but would be reduced to 13.1% if the pay gap was closed. The Massachusetts state economy would be boosted by 3% if there was gender equity in pay.
The "glass ceiling" is the invisible social and cultural barrier that prevents the promotion of women and other marginalized groups to top-level positions. The "sticky floor," on the other hand, describes a discriminatory pattern of employment that keeps women and other marginalized groups at the ground level. Typically, these workers are "pink collar" - clerical or service jobs - and approximately half of working women hold pink collar work as opposed to one-sixth of working men.
In the first reading, "Quick Facts About the Gender Wage Gap" (attached below), Robin Bleiweis identifies the main drivers of the wage gap and explains its impact on women and their families.
In the second reading, "What Is the Gender Wage Gap in Your State?" (attached below), we see that there is a pay gap between the earnings of men and women in Massachusetts. This gap is especially troubling considering that Massachusetts was the first state in the country to pass an equal pay law. In 2018 this law was updated to clarify unlawful wage discrimination and to add further protections to ensure equity in the workplace. In addition, it is anticipated that Massachusetts will pass a pay transparency bill in 2023. Pay transparency can reduce pay gaps by preventing unintended hiring bias and discrimination, while empowering women to negotiate their pay, moreover, a culture of openess has been shown to benefit the business itself.
- Given that Massachusetts has a (well-deserved) reputation for being a progessive state, were you surprised to see how its gender pay gap ranked compared to other states?
If you click on Massachusetts on the map, you should be able to find the answer for the gap.
The third reading is "The Basic Facts About Women in Poverty" (attached below), which explains the major reasons why more women than men, and especially women of color, live in poverty.
The "feminization of poverty" was a term first used in the 1970s by researcher Diana Pearce to frame gender and poverty in the United States, which she saw as rooted in the lack of government support for divorced and single women. The term gained global recognition at the Fourth United Nations Conference on Women in 1995. The feminization of poverty is a deceptively simple concept, but the causes of women's poverty are complex. Most of the world's poor are women, but, as with health, the notion of personal responsibility can cloud over the structural inequalities that lead to this poverty. Among the main structural inequalities are the facts that women are often responsible for the unpaid labor of childcare; that they may lack opportunities or access to education to raise themselves up economically; their vulnerability to gender-based violence; and that they are often paid less than their male counterparts.
“Not only is gender still correlated with poverty, but…gender is an increasingly important factor underlying current poverty trends, and that is true for all racial and ethnic groups.” Diana Pearce, 1989.
Points to consider:
- Could you find an explanation for the pay gap in Massachusetts?
- Whatever your gender identity, do you think your future career/occupation is gendered?
- Despite the fact that pay equality laws have been passed and the existence of the gender wage gap has been formally recognized, the gender wage gap remains. What do you think is the most compelling reason for its continuation?
Feminist Movements
Introduction
The readings talk about "waves" of feminism but acknowledge that there are no clear delineations between these waves; rather, the image of waves is a useful metaphor. Roughly speaking, the first wave in the U.S. was the nineteenth century up until the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920 (image above), which granted women the right to vote.
However, it is important to recognize that prior to the nineteenth century, there had been centuries of criticism by both men and women of the lower status of women, their oppressions, and their mistreatment. For example, the equality of the sexes is part of the discussion in Plato's Republic (circa 375 BCE) of the ideal state, whereas Chinese woman philosopher Ban Zhao (45/49 - 117/120) framed Confucian philosophical precepts for the needs of women.
As we shall see, women's suffrage was only part of the solution for the equality of the sexes, and the struggle continues in various formulations until the present day. Reviewing our histories offers us the benefit of hindsight, as we should ask WHO is, and WHO should be, part of the struggle? And WHO are/should be our allies?
The first reading, "Overview of the first wave of feminism" (attached below), is a good resource as it aims to be inclusive, giving a more diverse picture of the early feminist movement than we often see in standard history books.
The second reading (attached below) is from "Lighting the Way," a local history project that tells the stories of historic women from the South Coast of Massachusetts. Some of these women were clearly feminist activists, while others embodied a "lived feminism" by breaking gender barriers. Click on the drop down menu under "profiles" and you can see their different contributions of these historic women by topic, such as, abolition, activism, voting rights, and women's rights, or by geographical location, such as Dartmouth or New Bedford.
The third reading is "Feminism: The Second Wave" (attached below). The "second wave" of feminism covers the period from roughly the 1960s to the 1980s in both the U.S. and Europe. A central reason that this second wave arose in the United States was the recognition that, despite improvements in the legal and civil rights of women, they had not yet achieved true equality. This second wave was not a unified movement; however, two major approaches can be identified: a primarily liberal feminist approach and a more radical feminist approach.
The liberal approach is typified by the National Organization of Women (NOW), which was officially founded in 1966 to campaign for the equal rights of women in all areas of society, such as employment, education, and family. We have these liberal activists to thank for their work on, for example, The Equal Pay Act of 1963, which makes it illegal for private employers to pay different rates based on gender. The second - radical - group was composed of a variety of connected groups who had been part of other protest movements in the 1960s but who had recognized that even these progressive movements were sexist or male-dominated. We owe radical feminists thanks for their work on women's safety; for example, the creation of shelters for domestic abuse survivors. Perhaps the best known action of these radical feminists is the 1968 Miss America protest, which is discussed in detail in your fourth reading (attached below). View a collection of photos from the 1968 Miss America Protests from Duke University.
Here is a flyer about the pageant, which really reflects the anger and frustration of the Miss America protesters. The comparison of the treatment of women to chattel slavery began in the 1850s. While it is certainly a powerful rhetorical move, do you have concerns about this comparison?
Prior to strategizing and performing political action, consciouness raising was a central strategy during the second wave of feminism, used particularly by radical feminists. Driven by the insight, "the personal is political," small groups of women would meet to share what they had previously seen as merely personal or individual experiences. This sharing would then lead the group to see that there were common themes in their experiences due to the structural and institutionalized nature of women's oppression.
However, in the second wave, feminism was still implicitly a white, heterosexual, cisgendered woman's movement. Even though many individual liberal feminists and radical feminists were progressive and anti-racist, the groups themselves engaged in racism through not explicitly including women of color and their needs. Whereas in 1970 Betty Friedan, the president of the (liberal feminist) National Organization for Women, described lesbians as a "lavender menace" who threatened the feminist movement by potentially stereotying feminists as just man-hating lesbians. In response, women in the more radical Gay Liberation Front crashed the NOW congress, wearing t-shirts emblazoned with "lavender menace" and demanded to be heard. NOW members agreed, and within a year voted to respect lesbian rights. While we may think anti-trans feminism (also more euphemistically known as "gender critical feminism") is a modern phenomenon, it has its roots in the criticism by some 1970s radical feminists of trans folks, when these radical feminists claimed that trans men were betraying other women and trans women were invading women's safe spaces. Don't forget to take a look at a photo archived by the New York Public Library of Rita Mae Brown, in a Lavender Menace t-shirt, at the Lavender Menace Action.
By the 1980s more women of color began to participate in the feminist movement and in feminist theorizing. Because of mainstream feminism's legacy of racism, some women of color reject the label "feminist," and prefer another label, such as "womanist."
The "third wave" of feminism began in the United States in the 1980s and continues until today, or, as some feminists claim, up until the 2010s, which is when the "fourth wave" of feminism began. The distinct characteristics of this third wave aimed/aims towards increased inclusion in terms of geography, race, ethnicity, sexuality, gender, etc., and third wave feminists recognize that there is no universal "women's experience"; rather, they emphasize the intersectionality we discussed in section two of this work.
The central achievement of the third wave of feminism is its expansion of the notion of sexual liberation. Whereas the second wave framed sexual liberation in terms of freeing women to explore their own sexuality through, for example, easy access to birth control or removing the stigma of lesbianism, third-wave feminism understands gender and sexuality as social constructs, and thus liberation is becoming free to explore and express our authentic gender and sexual identities.
While third-wave feminists continue to aim for the liberation of women, they do not see this as a separate task from the liberation of other subordinate groups. Third wave feminism is a coalition politics formed from diverse communities; it is a collective voice, not a single, unified voice. As such, it resists a too-easy or oversimplified definition.
What, however, is the strength of third-wave feminism is also its weakness, as it has no particular theoretical identity, even though it has identifiable key issues.
Is there a "fourth wave of feminism"? It really depends on who you ask. Some feminist theorists consider contemporary activism as a development of the third wave, while others see it as a distinct entity that began in the 2010s. UMass Dartmouth's WGS department falls into the latter category and offers a course on the fourth wave. One of the defining characteristics of the fourth wave is the use of social media for activism. While consciousness raising groups have fallen out of fashion as a political strategy since the second wave, some theorists suggest that their place has been taken by feminist websites, hashtags, etc. which allow their audiences to recognize their own oppressions, speak out against these oppressions, and join with others (virtually or IRL) in resisting them.
Below is the enduring meme of the 2017 "Women's March on Washington": the "pussy" hat. Participants marched to demonstrate the inauguration of President Donald Trump after his offensive remarks about women, a march that was sparked by a FaceBook post from Teresa Shook. Similarly, #BLM began as a FaceBook post by Alicia Garza, one of the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. In addition to its primarily virtual location, fourth-wave feminism is explicitly queer, trans inclusive, sex positive, and body positive.
Points to consider:
- Where and when did you first learn about the feminist movements or is this information new to you?
- Why is it important for the feminist movement to be inclusive?
- Do you follow any fourth-wave feminist social media?
Our Transcestors
The Trans Flag
Introduction
"Trans people…have no choice but to become experts in resistance." Mariah Moore, trans activist
Within the already marginalized LGBTQ+ community, trans folk are often the most marginalized. As such, they may have what is termed "epistemic privilege": a knowledge that is gained from the particular standpoint of living at multiple intersections of oppression, and this is something we will see with Pauli Murray and Ravyn Wngz. In this final section of the course we will discuss the contributions of trans activists (aka "our transcestors") to the feminist movement, and to social justice movements more generally. We will also see how their work links social justice movements such as feminism, anti-racism, disability rights, etc. Indeed, as the first reading, "Our Love is Radical" (attached below), demonstrates, trans activists have been central to the battle for social justice for decades. Mariah Moore, a trans activist, says activism naturally comes out of trans folk. This seems less of an essentialist claim and more of a claim about their social/political location: they need to fight for freedom or be subsumed. There is no choice but to fight/resist.
- Why should we move trans activists from the margins to the center?
With Adrienne Rich at the very beginning of the course we talked about the dominant (white) male eye through which the (political, social, etc.) world is seen. If we see the world through this white male eye, then we do not have the knowledges gained from the experiences of women and/or people of color, etc. Seeing through this eye means that we neglect, for example, the histories of Indigenous peoples and enslaved Africans who were part of the history of this country, or we may not recognize the contributions of women or people of color to such fields as literature or science; instead, we will be looking for their connections to white male figures in order to legitimize them. Moreover, legal gains for trans folks have often translated into gains for other marginalized groups, so placing trans folks at the center may translate into literal changes.
In this first reading, we were introduced to Pauli Murray. Here is the official trailer from a recent documentary about Pauli Murray.
While Murray's contributions to social justice are - rightly - becoming more visible, this visibility often happens at the expense of her intersectionality. The United States Mint celebrates Murray on a quarter (2024) as part of its "American Women Quarters" program. The Mint describes Murray as "a poet, writer, activist, lawyer, and Episcopal priest."
- Can you see what this description leaves out about Murray's identity? Why is this invisibility concerning?
In the second reading (attached below), we are introduced to contemporary trans activist of color, Ravyn Wngz (make sure to watch the video of her speech as well). In the article we find that, growing up, Wngz did not know of the existence of trans activists of color, leaving her without role models. In the video of her speech she expresses to the audience her frustration at their inability to draw attention to, and create an understanding of, Black rights, when the humanity of her community should be self-evident.
Finally, we all need heroes in popular culture as well as in real life. The third reading (attached below) is an illustrated interview with Rachel Pollack, who created "Coagula," the first trans super hero for DC Comics. Pollack's work is important because it also "normalizes" trans folk for popular culture. Too often a trans individual is the plot twist or the punchline, as we saw in the section on media.
Points to consider: (thank you to my Spring 2023 WGS 101 students for suggesting these questions)
- Why are the contributions of our trancestors not included in our history books and what might have changed if they were?
- How can we honor our transcestors and acknowledge their contributions to the feminist movement?
- How would the world look or what would change if someone like Ravyn Wingz or Pauli Murray was seeing from the center?
- Do you think our transcestors would be proud of what American feminism has become?
Acknowledgements
This resource was supported by funding from the OER Creator Program at UMass Dartmouth.
https://www.umassd.edu/faculty/heoa-textbook/oer-resources
Section 1: Introduction to Women's and Gender Studies
UMass Dartmouth Women's and Gender Studies website. https://www.umassd.edu/cas/wms/
Adrienne Rich, "Claiming an Education." Speech delivered at convocation of Douglass College, 1977. https://net-workingworlds.weebly.com/uploads/1/5/1/5/15155460/rich-claiming_an_education-1.pdf
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, "We should all be feminists," TEDx 2012.
https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_we_should_all_be_feminists?language=en
Section 2: Intersectionality
Image: Womankind Worlwide, "Intersectionality 101: what is it and why is it important?" https://www.womankind.org.uk/intersectionality-101-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-important/
"What is Intersectionality? All of Who I am." The Conversation. 2019. https://theconversation.com/what-is-intersectionality-all-of-who-i-am-105639
Kimberlé Crenshaw, "What is Intersectionality?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDtnfQ9FHc&t=24s
"#SAYHERNAME" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49-jhS-H50c&t=32s
"Intersecting Axes of Privilege, Domination, and Oppression." Adapted from Kathryn Pauly Morgan, "Describing the Emperor's New Clothes: Three Myths of Eductional (In)Equality." In The Gender Question in Education: Theory, Pedagogy & Politics, Ann Diller, et al. Westview, 1996.
Yelda Tehranian. "More than an Afterthought: Authentically Representing Intersetionality in Media." Center for Scholars and Storytellers. https://www.scholarsandstorytellers.com/blog/diversity-in-hollywood-the-importance-of-representing-intersectional-identities#:~:text=While%20the%20show%20had%20limited,Moonlight%2C%20and%20Girls'%20Trip.
Marilyn Frye, "Oppression." The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory. The Crossings Press, 1983.
Iris Marion Young, "Five Faces of Oppression," in Oppression, Privilege, and Resistance, eds Heldke and O'Connor, McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Section 3: Gender
Image: iStock. Katrinaelena. Stock photo ID:474374621.
"Introduction to Binary Systems," in Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies." Kang et al. 2017.
http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/chapter/introduction-binary-systems/
"An Introduction to Gender" (excerpt edited for length), Eckert and Mcconnell-Ginet in Language and Gender, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2013. https://assets.cambridge.org/97811070/29057/excerpt/9781107029057_excerpt.pdf
Michael Kimmel: On Gender. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgaOK74HqiA
"Gender and Sex - Transgender and Intersex," in Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies." Kang et al. 2017. http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/chapter/gender-and-sex-transgender-and-intersex/
Geena Rocero, "Why I Must Come Out." 2014 TEDTalk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCZCok_u37w
Gender icons: iStock-1134593976.jpg
Section 4: Sexuality
Image: iStock-1134593976.jpg
"Sexualities," in Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies." Kang et al., 2017. http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/chapter/sexualities/
Lady Gaga, "Born this Way" (official music video), 2011. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV1FrqwZyKw
Lisa Diamond, "Why the "born this way" argument doesn't advance LGBT equality." TEDx, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjX-KBPmgg4
Rachel, "The Lesbian Until Graduation." Autostraddle, 2011. https://www.autostraddle.com/the-lesbian-until-graduation-now-a-new-york-times-most-emailed-article-81758/
Yasmin Benoit, "Twisted Expectations to Dress the Part." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQXkXFbIvBo
Section 5: Social Class
Image: iStock-1257170453
"Key Terms." From Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice, Third Edition. © Taylor & Francis 2015.
"Wealth distribution in the United States in the second quarter of 2023." Statista, 2023. https://www.statista.com/statistics/203961/wealth-distribution-for-the-us/
The Silence of the Lambs. MGM, 1991. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnMV60UDuF0
Jo Littler, "Meritocracy: the great delusion that ingrains inequality." The Guardian. 3/20/2017 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/mar/20/meritocracy-inequality-theresa-may-donald-trump
President Donald J. Trump's address to a joint session of Congress, 2017 https://edition.cnn.com/2017/02/28/politics/donald-trump-speech-transcript-full-text/
Section 6: Race, Racism, and Privilege
Image: iStock photo ID: 1473513712. Meeko Media
Noel Ignatiev, How The Irish Became White. Routledge, 1995.
Jenée Desmond-Harris, "11 ways race isn't real," Vox. 10/10/2014.
Beverley Daniel Tatum, "Defining Racism, Can We Talk?" from "Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" and Other Conversations about Race, Perseus Books 1997: 3-13. https://wmbranchout.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/defining-racism-beverly-daniel-tatum.pdf
Peggy McIntosh, "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." https://psychology.umbc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/57/2016/10/White-Privilege_McIntosh-1989.pdf
Camara Jones, Allegories on Race and Racism. TEDx, 2014. https://youtu.be/GNhcY6fTyBM
Section 7: Health, Gender, and Race
Camara Jones, "The Cliff of Good Health." 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to7Yrl50iHI
Gaslight (1944). Movieclips. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFhDGoJh4O4
Melinda Wenner Moyer, "Women are Calling Out 'Medical Gaslighting'" The New York Times. 3/28/2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/28/well/live/gaslighting-doctors-patients-health.html
CAP Report. "The Unequal Toll of Toxic Stress." 11/17/2017. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/unequal-toll-toxic-stress/
Marlene Harris-Taylor, "From Overt to Covert Racism - How Professional Black Women Still Suffer From A Lingering Legacy of Bias." Ideastream Public Media. 11/17/2017. https://www.ideastream.org/news/from-overt-to-covert-racism-how-professional-black-women-still-suffer-from-a-lingering-legacy-of-bias
Medical News Today. "'We must educate health providers' about Black women's experience." 7/31/2020. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/we-must-educate-doctors-about-black-womens-experience-says-expert#1
Alicia Keys, "Superwoman." 10/03/2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AphKUK8twg
Section 8: Media
"Media," in Introduction to Women, Gender, Sexuality Studies." Kang et al. 2017. http://openbooks.library.umass.edu/introwgss/chapter/media/
Julia T. Wood, "Gendered Media: The Influence of Media on Views of Gender." https://pages.nyu.edu/jackson/causes.of.gender.inequality/Readings/Wood%20-%20Gendered%20Media%20-%2094.pdf
Promotional trailer for F.L. Fowler, Fifty Shades of Chicken: A Parody in a Cookbook. Clarkson Potter, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa3eC02delM&t=110s
Image of Jillian Mercado, Everett Collection Inc / Alamy Stock Photo (worldwide usage in presentation or newsletter purchased).
Section 9: Work and Poverty
Jessica Schieder and Elise Gould, "Women's work" and the gender pay gap." Economic Policy Institute, 2016.
Data on economic impact of comparable pay; https://statusofwomendata.org/featured/the-economic-impact-of-equal-pay-by-state
Rakesh Kochhar, "The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap," Pew Research Center, 03/01/2023. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/03/01/the-enduring-grip-of-the-gender-pay-gap/
Robin Bleiweis, "Quick Facts About the Gender Wage Gap," CAP fact sheet, 3/24/2020. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/quick-facts-gender-wage-gap/
Megan Wisnierwski, "What Is the Gender Wage Gap in Your State?" 03/01/2022. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2022/03/what-is-the-gender-wage-gap-in-your-state.html (United States Census Bureau).
Robin Bleiweis, et al., "The Basic Facts About Women in Poverty," CAP fact sheet, 08/03/202. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/basic-facts-women-poverty/
Diana Pearce, "The Feminization of Poverty: A Second Look." Paper presented to the ASA, 1989: 2.
Section 10: Feminist Movements
Istock Stock photo ID:172640647
Section 11: Our Transcestors
Sam Levin, "'Our love is radical': why trans activists lead the way in protest movements." The Guardian. 9/29/2020. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/29/trans-activists-civil-rights-lgbt-pauli-murray
My Name Is Pauli Murray, official trailer, Amazon Prime Movies. 8/30/2021. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uh4r95VBU2Q
Ravyn Wngz, "As a queer, trans and Afro-Indigenous woman, I believed that I could never be a representative of Black liberation," Maclean's, 7/31/2020.
Annie Mok, "A Superhero on Your Own Terms: An Interview With Rachel Pollack," The Nib. 09/13/2019.
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All images courtesy of Pixabay.com unless otherwise noted.