Feminist Theory

Question 1

Patriarchy:

Answer 1

A system (social, political, economic) dominated and controlled by men, modeled after family structures in which the father rules the household. This is embedded within Western Culture

Question 2

Oppression

Answer 2

A type of injustice; the use of authority, law, or physical forces to prevent others from being free or equal; men maintain dominance by oppressing women

Question 3

Male Privilege:

Answer 3

The unearned privileges that men receive as a result of living in a male dominated society

Question 4

Misogyny

Answer 4

An attitude that is perceived to be negative and demeaning toward women as a group; an assumption that women are less deserving than men

Question 5

Backlash

Answer 5

A strong negative reaction to women’s civil rights and encourages women to reject the gains they are making for equality

Question 6

Stereotype

Answer 6

A simplified, standardized conception or image invested with special meaning and held in common by members in the group

Question 7

Infantilization:

Answer 7

The process by which women are stereotyped to look or act childlike and innocent and be reduced to an infantile state

Question 8

Appearance & Aging:

Answer 8

The belief that women are only valuable for their beauty and when they are young, and so they lose value as they age

Question 9

Female Dichotomy:

Answer 9

The belief that women are either pure and innocent or promiscuous and salacious

Question 10

Female Competition:

Answer 10

The belief that women are in constant competition with one another in society

Question 11

Male Gaze:

Answer 11

Female characters are ‘objects’ for the male gaze in which they are no longer subjects in their own bodies but are objects of others’ appreciation and based entirely on physical traits

Question 12

Gender Roles:

Answer 12

Behavioural expectations that are socially constructed and meant to justify and maintain the current ‘social norm’

Question 13

Domesticity

Answer 13

Belief that a woman’s natural place is in the home

Question 14

Criticism critiques patriarchal language and literature by exposing

Answer 14

how a work reflects masculine ideology

Question 15

Examines gender politics in works and traces the subtle

Answer 15

construction of masculinity and femininity, and their relative status, positionings, and marginalizations within works

Question 16

Feminist criticism is concerned with “…the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions)

Answer 16

reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women”

Question 17

Women are oppressed by patriarchy economically, politically, socially, and psychologically;

Answer 17

patriarchal ideology is the primary means by which they are kept
In every domain where patriarchy reigns, woman is other: she is marginalized, defined only by her difference from male norms and values

Question 18

All of western (Anglo-European) civilization is deeply rooted in patriarchal ideology, for example,

Answer 18

in the biblical portrayal of Eve as the origin of sin and death in the world
While biology determines our sex (male or female), culture determines our gender (masculine or feminine)

Question 19

All feminist activity, including feminist theory and literary criticism,

Answer 19

has as its ultimate goal to change the world by promoting gender equality

Question 20

Gender issues play a part in every aspect of human production and experience,

Answer 20

including the production and experience of literature, whether we are consciously aware of these issues or not.

Question 21

Consider it through her eyes; this criticism explores

Answer 21

the female experience (missing or present), as well as the division of power.