Term
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Definition
- Gender performance is simply the act of performing gender.
- Butler states that there is no true gender, that all gender is a performance
- “If the inner truth of gender is a fabrication and if true gender is a fantasy instituted and inscribed on the surface of bodies, then it seems that genders can be neither true nor false, but are only produced as the truth effects of a discourse of primary and stable identity” (136).
- All genders show characteristics that are scripted, rehearsed and performed.
- Butler states that gender is not something that people are born with, but it’s something that is of constant show. People are always putting on a performance when it comes to gender. |
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Term
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Definition
- The disciplining of gender is the act of disciplining ourselves and each other to conform to gender appropriate behaviour
- conforming to gender norms is to produce them, to repeat them is to make them stronger, more disciplinary.
- Butler tackles this by showing that there are normative gender roles that society wants us to follow. The reason people perform gender is to get out of these roles and to choose their own gender roles
- The disciplining of gender is also addressed in Wright and Clarke’s article of Compulsory Heterosexuality, there are many references to women
- The practice of drag is to de-stabilize the boundaries set by society for a gender
- All genders show characteristics that are scripted, rehearsed and performed.
- Genders and bodies are both shaped by regulatory practices which people participate in by disciplining their own and others’ genders and bodies. |
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Term
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Definition
- White privilege could be described as the perks of being white. This would include all of the advantages that one receives for being Caucasian.
- McIntosh observes that whites in the U.S. are “taught to see racism only in individual
- acts of meanness, not in invisible system s conferring dominance on m y group.”
- MacIntosh shows that white privilege is a very real thing in society. It is presented as a list of effects of being white. A checklist of privileges is provided and the point of the identification of these effects is to show that only certain people can receive these treatments and are usually not even aware of them
- Unearned entitlement-not deserved. Others have a disadvantage because of this
- “Many, perhaps most, of our white students in the United States think that racism doesn't affect them because they are not people of color; they do not see "whiteness" as a racial identity.”
- “whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average and also idea, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work that will allow ‘them’ to be more like ‘us’” |
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Term
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Definition
- Similar characteristics as white privilege.
- Male privilege refers to all of the advantages that one gains from being a male.
- Deutsch states that men are paid more than women
- Men also tend to be unaware of their own privileges as men. |
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Term
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Definition
- Gender aptitude is a reflection of who we feel we are. It is the degree of comfort we are at with our own gender.
- Bornstein presents a quiz that helps one to discover more about themselves and their relationship to gender.
- Each section of her quiz is supposed to help the person to discover more about their own gender and the facts that surround it.
- Gender is personal, messy, and flexible
- The Elusive “Real Me” “… does your gender (identity) match up with who you feel yourself to be? Do you think your gender is an accurate reflection of everything you are? Everything you could possibly be? Does your gender identity match up with the real you?” (Bornstein)
- Bornstein says that interactions of most every type change us, little or big. It is not encouraged not to have a gender, although Bornstein does not have a defined gender.
- Regarding gender, Bornstein feels the key to the whole workbook is that “the way you live without gender is you look for where gender is, and then you go someplace else”
- The workbook is created to help discover where you are at in your own quest for gender.
- Bornstein approaches gender aptitude as a simple discovery of yourself which does not have huge significance, but rather it is presented as a simple insight into your own relationship with your gender. |
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Term
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Definition
- Wrong bodies are defined as any body types that are not of the normative type.
- This includes bodies that are considered queer, disabled, ‘fat’, racialized. The definition of wrong bodies really depends on what society defines the norm as. Since society has defined the normative body type as one that is Caucasian, thin, and completely able, anything that does not fall into those categories is regarded as “wrong”
- Eli Clare addresses this issue in his article, “Stolen Bodies, Reclaimed Bodies” by speaking to disabled bodies as wrong bodies. He presents four dominant paradigms that people regard people with disabilities with, the medical model, the charity model, the supercrip model and the moral model. Each of these paradigms attempts to show the problem that disability is.
- The medical model looks upon disability as a disease or condition that is curable or treatable
- The charity model declares disability to be a tragedy, a misfortune that must be tempered or erased by generous giving.
- The supercrip model frames disability as a challenge to overcome and disabled people as superheroes just for living our daily lives
- The moral model transforms disability into a sign of moral weakness
- Eli Clare also states that he, himself feels as though he is in a “wrong body”, he addresses his own body as queer. His body feels awkward and not belonging, since he didn’t fit into the normal body conception, he was irrevocably different. White supremacy, patriarchy, and capitalism is held in high consideration but he chooses to be passionate about his own personality and reclaim his stolen body
- “Homophobia is all about defining queer bodies as wrong, perverse, immoral. Transphobia, about defining trans bodies as unnatural, monstrous, or the product of delusion. Ableism, about defining disabled bodies as broken, tragic. Class warfare, about defining the bodies of workers as expendible. Racism, about defining the bodies of people of colour as primitive, exotic, or worthless. Sexism, about defining female bodies as pliable objects. These messages sink beneath our skin” (362).
- Other theorists: Julia Serano, “Performance Piece”, Kim Anderson |
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Term
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Definition
- The theory suggests—and seeks to examine how—various socially and culturally constructed categories such as gender, race, class, disability, and other axes of identity interact on multiple and often simultaneous levels, contributing to systematic social inequalities
- Intersectionality holds that the classical conceptualizations of oppression within society, such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and religion-based bigotry, do not act independently of one another; instead, these forms of oppression interrelate, creating a system of oppression that reflects the "intersection" of multiple forms of discrimination.
- In her article, Stepan shows the relationship between science and citizenship and reveals how scientific ‘facts’ are historically contingent and generally reflect the interests and values of the dominant group in society.
- She states that it is clear that science does not simply step in to provide an answer to the question of how to explain certain groups or explain social and other inequalities; the relations of science and medicine to social, political, and economic life are […] not that simple” ( 32). |
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Term
| Women as Object of Study vs. Women as Subject of Study |
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Definition
- When women are seen as the object of study, they are often regarded as victims of an issue and their opinions are not taken into consideration. When women are the subjects of study their values and opinions are observed, they are understood to have knowledge about said issue, the observers want to find out what they know and not just observe their reaction to what is happening to them
- Smith addresses this matter stating that the sociology for women preserves the presence of subjects as knowers and as actors, she states that the methods of thinking have to keep the experiencing subject active and realize that to truly understand the matter, one has to grasp the knower’s experience, where she stands and how she experiences it
- The method of thinking has to include social relations that the knower is both in, and the ones that extend beyond them.
- Smith’s main concern is to be able to write sociology in a way that is complete for a reader who is situated just as she is, reflecting upon it, expanding it, and to enlarge her grasp of the world she reads in, the article formulates alternatives to explore the world in the standpoint of women
- When women are seen as objects, they are often excluded in the analysis of the actualities of everyday lives
- Smith states that a standpoint in the everyday world is the fundamental grounding of modes of knowing developed in a ruling apparatus. Therefore, women as the subject of knowing is the standpoint that we strive for, we want to see the women’s opinions and feelings, really get a full knowledge of their experience rather than just an objectification of what we simply observe. To fully understand and acknowledge women’s standpoint, one has to regard her as a subject of knowing with
- Standpoint Theory: rather than try to ‘observe’ women’s lives, a feminist standpoint attempt to explain how women see the world and tries to explain the relations of power that produce the positions from which women experience the world and how women experience those positions
- rather than look at women as isolated objects of inquiry, a feminist standpoint method. Tries to reflect the experiences of women in the context of their community and the world they live in (Smith) |
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