Gender and Feminism QUESTIONS
WITH CERTIFIED ANSWERS
New Social Movements -✔✔-emerged in the 1960s
-challenged traditional political allegiances of
.Western liberal politics
.Worker-based movements (labor unions)
.State socialism (Western and Eastern Europe)
.broad-based and identity-based
Broad-Based Movements -✔✔.Civil rights movements
.Anti-Vietnam War activism
.Environmental movement
.Free speech on campus movement
Identity-based Movements -✔✔-Black Power Movement
-American Indian Movement
-Chicano/a Movement (La Raza)
-Feminist Movement
-Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement
Identity Politics -✔✔"involve claiming one's identity as a member of an oppressed or marginalized
group as a political point of departure."
-identity becomes a "major factor in political mobilization." (Kathryn Woodward)
,Appealing to Identity Two distinct ways: Essentialist position -✔✔-claims the group's uniqueness
Ex: assumes women are more caring and peaceful because of their biological capacity to give birth
-Problem: doesn't account for women who advocate war or for men who advocate peace
Appealing to Identity Two Distinct ways: Non-essentialist position -✔✔-Identities seen as
-relational and dynamic, not static
-multi-dimesional
-fluid and evolving
Ex: working-class feminists; gender queer feminists; feminists of color (Chicana feminists, Black
feminists, Asian American feminists; trans-gender feminists)
What's New About New Social Movements? -✔✔-Critical of "class reductionism" of Marxism
-Recognition of the complexity of multiple social divisions (gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity,
disability, citizenship status)
Karl Marx on class struggle -✔✔-Capitalism-a small minority owns the forces of production ('capitalists
or 'ruling class') main goal is profit
-Class divisions in capitalist societies
-Bourgeoisie-those who owned the means of production; the wealthy owner of business and factories;
the ruling class
-Proletariat- the working people whose labor produces profit for the bourgeoise business/factory
owner; the working class
-Communist revolution-workers unite; cast off their chains; build an egalitarian society
Kollontai's critique (1909) -✔✔-Experiences of working-class women are very different from those of
middle-class and wealthy women
-Asks if a single united women's movement is possible in a society based on class contradictions
,-"Women can become truly free and equal only in a world organized along new social and productive
lines."
K's critique of liberal feminism -✔✔-"for the majority of women of the proletariat (working-class), equal
rights with men would mean only an equal share inequality, but for the 'chosen few', for the bourgeois
(ruling-class) women, it would indeed open doors to new and unprecedented rights and privileges that
until now have been enjoyed by men of the bourgeois class alone."
Without a revolution -✔✔...each new concession won by the bourgeois woman would give her yet
another weapon for the exploitation of her younger sister (working-class women) and would go on
increasing the division between the women of the two opposite social camps." (Alexandra Killontai)
Socialist Feminism -✔✔"A woman can posses equal rights and be truly free only in a world of socialized
labor, of harmony, and justice."
-Mapping the Margins (Kimberle Crenshaw)
-Main argument: the concept of a generalized 'essential' gender identity does not address differences
among women based on race or culture
-Proposed method: recognize intersectional identities to understand the complexity of belonging
simultaneously to several groups
Modes of Oppression -✔✔-Do not operate independently of one another
-they intersect to form an interlocking matrix oppression
Crenshaw on Identity Politics -✔✔-Mainstream liberal discourse regards race, gender, and other
identity categorizes as negative frameworks
-Liberal discourse prefers "color -blind" or "gender neutral"
-Can't we all just be people? Why do you have to focus on being (a woman, a black person, a queer
youth, etc.)
Axes of Differences (Intersectionality) -✔✔-Systems of Privilege and Domination
, -Class
-Gender
-Race
-Identities
-Racial Identity
-Gender Identity
-Class Identity
Identity and Social Power -✔✔-Identity-based politics can be a source of strength, community, and
solidarity
-Delineating difference can be the power of domination but also can be the source of social
empowerment and reconstruction
Crenshaw's critique -✔✔-Identity politics "frequently conflates or ignores intragroup differences."
-Ignoring differences within groups contributes to tension among groups
Evidence: two cases illustrating the multiple dimensions of violence against women of color
Crenshaw's critique
Case One: Battered Women's Shelters in Minority Communities -✔✔-Who are the clients?
-Unemployed or underemployed
-Low or no income
-Childcare responsibilities
-Lacking educational or job skills
-May be non-English speaking
-May be undocumented
-Predominantly women of color
WITH CERTIFIED ANSWERS
New Social Movements -✔✔-emerged in the 1960s
-challenged traditional political allegiances of
.Western liberal politics
.Worker-based movements (labor unions)
.State socialism (Western and Eastern Europe)
.broad-based and identity-based
Broad-Based Movements -✔✔.Civil rights movements
.Anti-Vietnam War activism
.Environmental movement
.Free speech on campus movement
Identity-based Movements -✔✔-Black Power Movement
-American Indian Movement
-Chicano/a Movement (La Raza)
-Feminist Movement
-Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement
Identity Politics -✔✔"involve claiming one's identity as a member of an oppressed or marginalized
group as a political point of departure."
-identity becomes a "major factor in political mobilization." (Kathryn Woodward)
,Appealing to Identity Two distinct ways: Essentialist position -✔✔-claims the group's uniqueness
Ex: assumes women are more caring and peaceful because of their biological capacity to give birth
-Problem: doesn't account for women who advocate war or for men who advocate peace
Appealing to Identity Two Distinct ways: Non-essentialist position -✔✔-Identities seen as
-relational and dynamic, not static
-multi-dimesional
-fluid and evolving
Ex: working-class feminists; gender queer feminists; feminists of color (Chicana feminists, Black
feminists, Asian American feminists; trans-gender feminists)
What's New About New Social Movements? -✔✔-Critical of "class reductionism" of Marxism
-Recognition of the complexity of multiple social divisions (gender, race, class, sexuality, ethnicity,
disability, citizenship status)
Karl Marx on class struggle -✔✔-Capitalism-a small minority owns the forces of production ('capitalists
or 'ruling class') main goal is profit
-Class divisions in capitalist societies
-Bourgeoisie-those who owned the means of production; the wealthy owner of business and factories;
the ruling class
-Proletariat- the working people whose labor produces profit for the bourgeoise business/factory
owner; the working class
-Communist revolution-workers unite; cast off their chains; build an egalitarian society
Kollontai's critique (1909) -✔✔-Experiences of working-class women are very different from those of
middle-class and wealthy women
-Asks if a single united women's movement is possible in a society based on class contradictions
,-"Women can become truly free and equal only in a world organized along new social and productive
lines."
K's critique of liberal feminism -✔✔-"for the majority of women of the proletariat (working-class), equal
rights with men would mean only an equal share inequality, but for the 'chosen few', for the bourgeois
(ruling-class) women, it would indeed open doors to new and unprecedented rights and privileges that
until now have been enjoyed by men of the bourgeois class alone."
Without a revolution -✔✔...each new concession won by the bourgeois woman would give her yet
another weapon for the exploitation of her younger sister (working-class women) and would go on
increasing the division between the women of the two opposite social camps." (Alexandra Killontai)
Socialist Feminism -✔✔"A woman can posses equal rights and be truly free only in a world of socialized
labor, of harmony, and justice."
-Mapping the Margins (Kimberle Crenshaw)
-Main argument: the concept of a generalized 'essential' gender identity does not address differences
among women based on race or culture
-Proposed method: recognize intersectional identities to understand the complexity of belonging
simultaneously to several groups
Modes of Oppression -✔✔-Do not operate independently of one another
-they intersect to form an interlocking matrix oppression
Crenshaw on Identity Politics -✔✔-Mainstream liberal discourse regards race, gender, and other
identity categorizes as negative frameworks
-Liberal discourse prefers "color -blind" or "gender neutral"
-Can't we all just be people? Why do you have to focus on being (a woman, a black person, a queer
youth, etc.)
Axes of Differences (Intersectionality) -✔✔-Systems of Privilege and Domination
, -Class
-Gender
-Race
-Identities
-Racial Identity
-Gender Identity
-Class Identity
Identity and Social Power -✔✔-Identity-based politics can be a source of strength, community, and
solidarity
-Delineating difference can be the power of domination but also can be the source of social
empowerment and reconstruction
Crenshaw's critique -✔✔-Identity politics "frequently conflates or ignores intragroup differences."
-Ignoring differences within groups contributes to tension among groups
Evidence: two cases illustrating the multiple dimensions of violence against women of color
Crenshaw's critique
Case One: Battered Women's Shelters in Minority Communities -✔✔-Who are the clients?
-Unemployed or underemployed
-Low or no income
-Childcare responsibilities
-Lacking educational or job skills
-May be non-English speaking
-May be undocumented
-Predominantly women of color
