Feminist Philosophy Final Flashcards
racialization
assigned a nonwhite race (having one’s culture devalued, “double consciousness”, pressure to assimilate, denied white privilege)
first wave
WOC feminist liberal feminist focus, often excluded African American women
second wave
Combahee River Collective (Black lesbian feminists, believed that all forms of oppression are co-constitutive. CRC fought for reproductive rights, healthcare, desegregation, and against police brutality), Comision Femenil Mexicana National
multiculturalism
political movement recognizing the collective identity of oppressed groups
intersectionality
Kimberle Crenshaw, 1989, axes of oppression and highlighting unique struggles of WOC and failures of institutions to recognize them
third wave
multiculturalism, intersectionality
Sojourner Truth
“Ain’t I a Woman?”, first wave feminism, emphasized freed slave women’s experiences aren’t the same as bourgeoisie white women’s
Audre Lorde
poet, lesbian, Black feminist. First wave feminism. Women’s power is not white or surface level.
bell hooks
feminism is a movement of women and men to end sexism with lesbians at the center
Patricia Hill Collins
African American women’s oppression is economic, political, and most importantly ideological
epistemology
theory of knowledge (concrete, subjective, partial)
Latin American/Latina/Chicana Feminism
calls out submissiveness of Mexican American women in Chicana culture
Gloria Anzaldua and Cherrie Moraga
women of mixed cultures, “mestiza”, Latin American women experience themselves as “the other” in the mainstream
Maria Lugones
reminds us that Latin American women must participate in the Anglo world, but not vice versa.
Asian American Feminism
critiqued feminists of color for ignoring Asian American women, cultural stereotypes
Grace Lee Boggs
solutions to oppression are beyond categorization.
Leslie Bow
Asian is the third race in the Jim Crow era and the U.S. Black/white binary
interstitial populations
between racial categories
Mitsuye Yamada
- It’s easier for white women, more so than WOC, to achieve equality with white men.
- WOC shouldn’t have to choose between fighting sexism and fighting racism. - “Out group” are often seen as having “personal” angers that aren’t validated
Indigenous Feminism
includes problem of colonization, refusal to be erased, seeking difference alliance, recognizing indigenous ways of knowing and stressing sovereignty
Paula Gunn Allen
Criticized Women of All Red Nations (WARN), the meaning of “woman” is different in indigenous vs. European context. Tribal perspective: women as agents.
Color-blindness
seems well-intentioned, but neurologically impossible. Promotes ignorance of racial diversity. Erases history of marginalized groups and progress made.
race
a social construct, no such thing as biological subspecies
Critiques of WOC feminisms
“of color” is objectifying, hard for feminists to unite, intersectionality is limited (the categories themselves are problematic)
Globalization
economic, political, and social integration resulting from migration and communication across the world
global feminism
links between global oppressions, no one is free until all women are free, work within local communities, implications of action on an international scale
Reproductive technology
can be effective, but governments often use it to control women and girls. Contraception can be unsafe in countries with no follow up care.
abortions and population control
China’s one child policy created a sex imbalance, female infanticide and dowries in India
Susan Moller Okin
women as “second sex”, general + specific women’s needs, gender inequality is experienced by all women in some way or another.
Postcolonial feminism
former colonizers have stigmatized, defined, controlled, and devalued the cultures of colonized peoples
stresses economic and political issues as colonized people more than as women
Critiques of Postcolonial feminism
- only so many global resources and they are unevenly distributed.
- “Colonial world order” must perpetrate economics gaps to keep all of its power.
- Women’s affluence in developed countries depends on women’s poverty in developing countries.
- women in developed countries vs developing countries: they’re in competition
human trafficking
mostly women and children, reflects global marketing trends and all humans are degraded. Governments overlook prostitution’s effect on women “trapped in sex work”
Transnational feminism
sensitive to women’s differences, interest in “specific activist movements”
Critiques of global, postcolonial, and transnational feminism
too much “rights talk - privileges first generation over second
Neglects particular women’s experiences - “universality” as just cultural imperialism, no first-hand experience with women in other countries
Doesn’t address real concerns of the formerly colonized
is there a common good?
Yes: things can be universally morally wrong, regardless of their cultural context - makes it hard to realize some cultures as “objectively wrong” (ex. Holocaust, FGM)
No: cultural relativism makes it so there is no objective, natural morality. - seems attractive in that it seems to honor diversity. Subjective.
Psychoanalytic feminism
fundamental explanation of women’s acts comes from their psyche. Freudian and Lacanian. Infantile and early childhood experiences are key. Society privileges masculine over feminine. Must change the language of gender.
Sigmund Freud
not a feminist, stages of psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital.
“Normal”: boys are masculine, girls, feminine, everyone cis and straight
superego
voice of reason, ego/id (animal instinct)
Girls (psychoanalytic feminism)
Freud beliefs:
- Love begins with mother, but then switches gender.
- harder to achieve “normal sexuality” due to switch in love object
- penis envy - wants baby instead of penis
- learns to derive sexual pleasure from vagina
- undesirable traits: narcissism, vanity, shame
- no fear of castration
- inferior sex
Boys (psychoanalytic feminism)
Freud beliefs:
- first love is mother
- wants to possess mother and kill father, but also wants father to love them
- fear of castration
Dorothy Dinnerstein
women as “mermaids, men as “minotaurs”
for infants, mother is unpredictable and unreliable (causes pleasure and pain) so infant comes to feel ambivalent towards her
Destructive Paradigm
- Men: intense desire to control
- Women: fears power of mother within herself and seeks to be controlled, wants to satisfy man, personal sentiment is tied to sex
- Women begin as “it” (infant does not know mother), men begin as “I” (father comes after child has made it/I distinction)
- Men displace fears onto women’s bodies.
- We associate women’s bodies with sickness and injury, so “scapegoat” women for society’s wrongs.
“object relational” experiences
experiences of infants with mothers (boy senses mother’s body as different)
Critiques of psychoanalytic feminism
- root causes of women’s oppression are not just psychological (social systems, material conditions, etc.)
- fail to see diverse family structures (not just white, straight, 2-parent, bourgeoise)
Juliet Mitchell
(Psychoanalytic feminism)
- Freud’s theories show how social people come to be from their biology
- essence of it is universally acceptable
- incest taboo is necessary for human society
patriarchy and religion
- Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) think of god as “the father”
- Psychoanalytic feminists recommend therapy to realize that male does not equal authority, god is not male, etc.
- spiritual idea of many deities or “the goddess”
Care focused feminism
gender-specific values and virtues
Carol Gilligan
- moral reasoning stressing particular individuals’ needs and responsibilities
- the ideal moral agent may actually be more care-oriented
- humans shouldn’t be taught to suppress emotions
- moral strength of women
Nel Noddings
- Traditional ethics favored “male” values
- society tends to undervalue care
- believes ethics of care to be better than ethics of justice
Critiques of care feminism
- caring is a two edged moral concept (there are negative consequences to associating women with care.)
- Justice is also feminist – justice can be a great defense against racism, sexism, xenophobia, etc.
- Is care unconditional?
Maternal ethics
mother/infant relationships are the paradigm for care; care is both public and private.
Virginia Held
Justice is important in legal/economic spheres, care is important in child rearing and the importance of society cultivating emotions and trust
Eva Feder Kay
“dependency workers” (avoid the idea that all women are born to be mothers. Dependency workers assume daily responsibility for one’s survival.) theory of justice and care is necessary for equality
Critiques of maternal ethics
- Unbalanced: unequal relations should not be basis for society
- Mother/child has a shaky ethical basis (ex. Parents can control children)
- Concerns mostly white women. (care is already basic in Black households)
- many defenders of maternal ethics say we can rescue care from the patriarchal structures that would misuse or abuse it.
ecofeminism
- domination of human world is tied to feminist issues
- nature and women are analogous, and men hold domination over both.
- Androcentrism is the main problem
- irrational dominations as social constructs
value-hierarchal (ecofeminism)
power assumptions
logic of domination
it is natural and justifiable that one group/thing has power over another
human centered environmentalism
harming the environment harms people. Sometimes need to sacrifice environment for human interests. May be due to Judeo-Christian teachings or mechanistic science. Dominant until 1940s.
earth-centered / biocentric environmentalism / deep ecology
earth as an organism itself. Nature as having intrinsic value. Life is rich and diverse; humans have no right to reduce it.
nature ecofeminism
women’s natural connection is undervalued, nature/women is better than culture/men, men’s pollution, death, dispirit - Mary Daly
Spiritual ecofeminism
women should abandon the idea of an omnipotent male spirit. Gaia, goddess worship, etc.
Starhawk
Wiccan priestess and social activist. Women are better at knowing the connection to nature. Earth-based spirituality that is responsible, interconnected, and compassionate.
critiques of ecofeminism
reduces women to just bodies, spiritual feminism isn’t secular enough
transformative ecofeminism
sought to transform nature-women connection
Karen J. Warren
dualisms as social constructs, feminism as a movement to end sexism AND naturalism, interlocking oppressions in many forms
global ecofeminism
women and elements, criticizes west’s idea of “one”, nature is exhaustive and we should conserve it.
vegetarian ecofeminism
opposed to animal’s pain and suffering.
environmental ecofeminism
production and consumption should enhance life for all. Sustainability.
sustainability
satisfy present generation without compromising future generations
critiques of ecofeminisms (plural)
transformative ecofeminism requires too much commitment. Global feminism is self-contradictory, associating women with rationality, western women vs. western culture, or all-is-one vs. plurality
ecofeminist nesting
creating a private home with less negative impact on the earth
intellectual empathy
trying to think critically about social identity differences together with people we don’t agree with (not about being “nice” or “politically correct”, but rather critical thinking)
Linker’s five skills of intellectual empathy
- knowing that social identity is intersectional
- recognizing that privilege is typically invisible to those who have it
- conduct critical thinking with cooperative, rather than combative, reasoning
- attempting to build/create trust based on certain conditions.
- recognize mutual vulnerability
Social identity
how people define themselves and others in terms of social groups
critical thinking
can allow us to develop different perspectives, but it can be difficult because social identity is so personal
false dichotomies
we are convinced there are two opposing roles people take in issues of social difference
three parts of a good argument
- acceptability: believability on the premises and the source of the premises
- relevance of the premises to the conclusion
- grounds: the sufficiency of the reasons for believing the conclusion is true (justification)
pseudoreasoning
persuasion that doesn’t meet the criteria for a good argument (i.e. not engaging with issues, no evidence, no justification)
systemic unseeing
Sarah Ahmed, focuses on the individual and ignores institutions such as media, business, education, etc.
Socrates - “know thyself”
how our behavior affects others and the importance of our self awareness
cognitive dissonance
contradictory beliefs or beliefs that don’t align with reality
metacognition
thinking about what we think
- comfortable with being uncomfortable
cooperative reasoning
openness, willing to question one’s own beliefs, offer evidence to understand another’s POV ( we can still disagree, but our goal is to relax our defenses and assess)
conditional trust
when faced with a biased or stereotypical claim, we trust that the person who made it is reasonable and well-intentioned, so we engage with them about the claim.
essentials for conditional trust
- the person must be willing to consider counterevidence
- we must remain open to consider counterevidence
- if they admit to making a joke, we acknowledge that mistakes happen.
- if pressed with questions to reflect on their beliefs and potential bias, we offer reassurance that they won’t be hated or distrusted in the future.
bias/stereotypes
rooted in fear, are unjustified, and are faultily reasoned
humor
can be helpful or harmful. Can allow us to laugh with the speaker and unpack complex stereotypes
playfulness
the “wise fool” and self awareness - not assuming you know everything
world traveling
refers to traveling between different social identities and cultural norms (ex. family, friends, job)
virtuous hearing
listening in which we are self-aware and try to correct for our own prejudice in judging credibility
loving perception
Marilyn Frye: desire to know and assess the lives of those from other worlds. Compassion mutuality, and dependency. Go into a world and try to understand what it is to be them. Contrasts with arrogant perception.
agnostic attitude/colorblindness
social divisions are shaped by institutions and reinforced when we fail to see difference.
double consciousness
minority peoples must understand the beliefs and cultures of the majority to survive
feminism
active resistance to sexism and oppression
liberal feminism
the political equality of men and women - prioritized individual and legal rights
radical feminism
true gender equality requires a radical reordering of society
- rejected traditional sex-gender system
radical libertarian feminism
believed the feminine gender is limiting and women should be androgynous
radical cultural feminism
affirm womanhood, femininity, and its associated virtues.
- it is better to be feminine
- men should become more like women
lesbian separatist feminism
women should have as few dealings with men as possible
classical Marxist feminism
believe that classism is the fundamental cause of women’s oppression
socialist feminists
understand women’s oppression systematically (class, race, etc.)
socialist feminism
women’s work is still unpaid, underpaid, and devalued worldwide
value-dualisms
men over women, white over Black, wealthy over poor, etc.
