PSYC 220: Psychology of Gender Midterm Exam Spring
2021 – Portage Learning
Note: please don’t rely simply on ‘cutting and pasting’ quotes from the readings;
make sure that you can – wherever possible – respond in your own words.
Chapter 17 – The Eternal Feminine
1. How does the author explain the idea of the eternal feminine? (2)
• The author explains the idea of the eternal feminine as the idea that women possess an
immutable nature that makes them fit for some things and unfit for others has been a
part of the Western philosophical, religious, and intellectual traditions from the very
beginning (p. 121). This idea places women into roles such as wife, loving mother, and
daughter as being the most eternal feminine, making it so there is no room for any
differences than these gendered stereotypes. From the time of Adam and Eve, this
suspicion that the “ought” of the norm represses the “is” of women (p. 121) has been
put in place and this eternal feminine punishes women for being curious of any other
way of living.
2. “Questioning authority created the authority of the eternal feminine.” (p.121). What
example(s) does the author give/use to support her argument?
• The examples that the author gives to support this argument of “questioning authority
created the authority of the eternal feminine”(p. 121) are subordination to one’s
husband, compulsory motherhood, and confinement to the home.
3. How did Socrates and Aristotle uphold the idea of the eternal feminine? (2)?
• Socrates upheld the idea of the eternal feminine by sending his wife away while he was
on his deathbed so she could remember the last rational moments of his life, whereas,
Aristotle argued that men and women could never be friends because of their
inequality.
4. What question did Beauvoir pose with regards to the idea of the eternal feminine? (2)
• The question Beauvoir posed with regards to the idea of the eternal feminine is “Do
women exist?”(p. 122).
5. What issue/problem does Simone Beauvoir have/see with the idea of the eternal feminine?
(2)
• The issue/problem Simone Beauvoir has/sees with the idea of the eternal feminine is
the claim that as the embodiment of this idea woman can contest or redirect the course
of history or civilization (p. 124). She looks the idea of the eternal feminine as a ploy to
make sure women are hidden from the public realm and dependent on men to maintain
power and politics. She believes that the public and private domains between the two
genders are by no means equal and the sexual difference creates the difference
between the sex that claims the rights of the absolute subject, the one who has the
right to establish the moral and secular laws, and the sex that exists as the Other, the
one destined to live according to his desire (p. 124).
This study source was downloaded by 100000829881683 from CourseHero.com on 03-31-2022 04:14:06 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/95428614/Midterm-exam-1-Psych-Gender-Spring-2021pdf/
, 6. What does the author say about “Hegel’s image of woman” (p.122)? (2)
• The author says that “Hegel’s image of women” is nothing less than eternal irony. It
exposes the secret of the eternal feminine and women’s challenges to the unjust laws
of the state can neither be dismissed nor ignored. The author believe the woman Hegel
is thinking of when he calls woman the eternal irony of the community is Antigone and
exposes the flaw in a society that relies on the authority of men’s law. Hegel sees this
flaw and its tragic consequences resolved in the dialectic of history, where women’s and
men’s laws discover (p. 122).
7. “From the perspective of the idea of the eternal feminine two things in Hegel’s reading are
significant.” (p.124). What are these two things? (2)
• “From the perspective of the idea of the eternal feminine two things in Hegel’s reading
are significant.” (p.124). These two things are Identifying women with the divine
universal removes them from the transformative dialectic of history and Regarding
women as the eternal irony of the community, human law sees women’s disobedience
as a transgression rather than as expressions of a legitimate moral demand (p. 123).
8. List the similarities and differences in arguments posed by Luce Irigaray in Hegel’s reading of
Antigone? (2)
• Some of the similarities in arguments posed by Luce Irigaray in Hegel’s reading of
Antigone are how Luce Irigaray pays special attention to the fact that the ethical laws of
the city are said to operate at the level of consciousness, whereas those of the divine
are unconscious, she aligns women with, the unconscious forces that root and foster
conscious life, and she she finds that, as powerless on earth, “the forces of the world
below become hostile because they have been denied the right to live in daylight (p.
123-124). Some of the differences in the arguments posed by Luce Irigaray in Hegel’s
reading of Antigone are that Luce Irigaray insists that women have the right to “demand
the right to pleasure, jouissance, even to effective action (p. 124), which Hegel looks at
as a threat that women pose to public life.
9. Explain Freud’s take/perspective on the idea of the eternal feminine. (2)
• Freud’s take/perspective on the idea of the eternal feminine is similar to Hegel’s reading
where Hegel saw the laws of Reason successfully absorbing women’s ironic
contestation, Freud, identifying the eternal feminine with Eros, saw the antagonism of
civilization to Eros unleashing the death instinct’s fury (p. 122). Having no use for the
idea of divine laws, ethical or otherwise, Freud retains an affinity for the idea of
immutable forces and for the belief that the contest between these forces, the life
drives of Eros and the death drives of aggression, tell the story of civilization (p. 124),
whereas Hegel looks at woman as a guardian angel almost that keep the bonds of
family together with men being the source of necessities.
10. What is the importance of the fraternité according to Beauvoir? (2)
This study source was downloaded by 100000829881683 from CourseHero.com on 03-31-2022 04:14:06 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/95428614/Midterm-exam-1-Psych-Gender-Spring-2021pdf/
2021 – Portage Learning
Note: please don’t rely simply on ‘cutting and pasting’ quotes from the readings;
make sure that you can – wherever possible – respond in your own words.
Chapter 17 – The Eternal Feminine
1. How does the author explain the idea of the eternal feminine? (2)
• The author explains the idea of the eternal feminine as the idea that women possess an
immutable nature that makes them fit for some things and unfit for others has been a
part of the Western philosophical, religious, and intellectual traditions from the very
beginning (p. 121). This idea places women into roles such as wife, loving mother, and
daughter as being the most eternal feminine, making it so there is no room for any
differences than these gendered stereotypes. From the time of Adam and Eve, this
suspicion that the “ought” of the norm represses the “is” of women (p. 121) has been
put in place and this eternal feminine punishes women for being curious of any other
way of living.
2. “Questioning authority created the authority of the eternal feminine.” (p.121). What
example(s) does the author give/use to support her argument?
• The examples that the author gives to support this argument of “questioning authority
created the authority of the eternal feminine”(p. 121) are subordination to one’s
husband, compulsory motherhood, and confinement to the home.
3. How did Socrates and Aristotle uphold the idea of the eternal feminine? (2)?
• Socrates upheld the idea of the eternal feminine by sending his wife away while he was
on his deathbed so she could remember the last rational moments of his life, whereas,
Aristotle argued that men and women could never be friends because of their
inequality.
4. What question did Beauvoir pose with regards to the idea of the eternal feminine? (2)
• The question Beauvoir posed with regards to the idea of the eternal feminine is “Do
women exist?”(p. 122).
5. What issue/problem does Simone Beauvoir have/see with the idea of the eternal feminine?
(2)
• The issue/problem Simone Beauvoir has/sees with the idea of the eternal feminine is
the claim that as the embodiment of this idea woman can contest or redirect the course
of history or civilization (p. 124). She looks the idea of the eternal feminine as a ploy to
make sure women are hidden from the public realm and dependent on men to maintain
power and politics. She believes that the public and private domains between the two
genders are by no means equal and the sexual difference creates the difference
between the sex that claims the rights of the absolute subject, the one who has the
right to establish the moral and secular laws, and the sex that exists as the Other, the
one destined to live according to his desire (p. 124).
This study source was downloaded by 100000829881683 from CourseHero.com on 03-31-2022 04:14:06 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/95428614/Midterm-exam-1-Psych-Gender-Spring-2021pdf/
, 6. What does the author say about “Hegel’s image of woman” (p.122)? (2)
• The author says that “Hegel’s image of women” is nothing less than eternal irony. It
exposes the secret of the eternal feminine and women’s challenges to the unjust laws
of the state can neither be dismissed nor ignored. The author believe the woman Hegel
is thinking of when he calls woman the eternal irony of the community is Antigone and
exposes the flaw in a society that relies on the authority of men’s law. Hegel sees this
flaw and its tragic consequences resolved in the dialectic of history, where women’s and
men’s laws discover (p. 122).
7. “From the perspective of the idea of the eternal feminine two things in Hegel’s reading are
significant.” (p.124). What are these two things? (2)
• “From the perspective of the idea of the eternal feminine two things in Hegel’s reading
are significant.” (p.124). These two things are Identifying women with the divine
universal removes them from the transformative dialectic of history and Regarding
women as the eternal irony of the community, human law sees women’s disobedience
as a transgression rather than as expressions of a legitimate moral demand (p. 123).
8. List the similarities and differences in arguments posed by Luce Irigaray in Hegel’s reading of
Antigone? (2)
• Some of the similarities in arguments posed by Luce Irigaray in Hegel’s reading of
Antigone are how Luce Irigaray pays special attention to the fact that the ethical laws of
the city are said to operate at the level of consciousness, whereas those of the divine
are unconscious, she aligns women with, the unconscious forces that root and foster
conscious life, and she she finds that, as powerless on earth, “the forces of the world
below become hostile because they have been denied the right to live in daylight (p.
123-124). Some of the differences in the arguments posed by Luce Irigaray in Hegel’s
reading of Antigone are that Luce Irigaray insists that women have the right to “demand
the right to pleasure, jouissance, even to effective action (p. 124), which Hegel looks at
as a threat that women pose to public life.
9. Explain Freud’s take/perspective on the idea of the eternal feminine. (2)
• Freud’s take/perspective on the idea of the eternal feminine is similar to Hegel’s reading
where Hegel saw the laws of Reason successfully absorbing women’s ironic
contestation, Freud, identifying the eternal feminine with Eros, saw the antagonism of
civilization to Eros unleashing the death instinct’s fury (p. 122). Having no use for the
idea of divine laws, ethical or otherwise, Freud retains an affinity for the idea of
immutable forces and for the belief that the contest between these forces, the life
drives of Eros and the death drives of aggression, tell the story of civilization (p. 124),
whereas Hegel looks at woman as a guardian angel almost that keep the bonds of
family together with men being the source of necessities.
10. What is the importance of the fraternité according to Beauvoir? (2)
This study source was downloaded by 100000829881683 from CourseHero.com on 03-31-2022 04:14:06 GMT -05:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/95428614/Midterm-exam-1-Psych-Gender-Spring-2021pdf/
