Gender And Society Flashcards
What is the history of the “patriarchal society”?
The history of “patriarchal society” has impacted societal understanding and beliefs about gender because it has meant that women have been seen as inferior to men over centuries. The idea that women are the home/child carer and that their ‘job’ is to get pregnant look after the man is still prevalent in today’s society. To combat these ideas, there is a shift in traditional gender roles and more men are giving up their careers to take care of the children and the home. Even so, only 33% of men stay at home and men are still more likely to do the traditional ‘manly’ jobs around the house like ‘mowing the lawn’ and ‘DIY’. Men still dominate social structures and domestic relationships from how the money is shared to who does the jobs around the house.
Patriarchs, societies tend to be organised in ways that are primarily for men’s benefit, and in ways that enable men to hold on to power. They also tend to offer ways of looking at the world that are largely from a male perspective expressed through male voices. For example, historical events that are considered worth remembering are generally men’s stories and achievements rather than women’s.
It is an ‘accepted truth’ that men and women have different aptitudes which make them better suited to different roles in public and private life. For example, men are seen as more rational whereas women are thought of as more emotional. This has been used as an argument for allowing men to make the important decisions involved in governing, voting and running companies, while women are seen as more suited for caring roles such as looking after young children and the elderly. Such roles are seen as better suited to women because they make the best use of a women’s allegedly softer and more compassionate nature.
Reasons for society becoming less patriarchal:
- Divorce Reform Act 1969.
- Increase in women’s rights in the workplace.
- Increase in effectiveness and availability of contraception.
- Increase in women undergoing in-vitro fertilisation or freezing of their eggs.
- Decrease in rates of marriage.
- Legalisation and acceptance of homosexuality.
- Change in adoption and fertility guidelines, leading to single person and same sex couples being able to have children.
When was feminism introduced?
Feminism became a significant movement in the 19 and 20 centuries, but it can trace its roots back much further. It used to be known as the ‘women’s liberation movement’ because of its emphasis on removing the restrictions that a patriarchal society places on women and allowing them the same freedoms that men enjoy.
What was the first, second and third wave of feminism?
‘First-wave feminism’ is the name given to the movement that worked primarily for women’s rights to vote and began in the late 19th century. ‘Second- wave feminism’ began in the 1960s and took on wider issues including issues surrounding women’s sexual health and reproduction, such as contraception and abortion as well as the issues of domestic violence and rape, and equality in the workplace. ‘Third-wave feminism’ refers to movements that began in the 1990s and continue to the present day.
Women were not allowed to vote on an equal footing with men until 1928 (by 1918 some women over the age of 30 were given the votes but not everyone was allowed to vote). Reliable birth control was not readily available until the army 60s. When the contraceptive pill was introduced, it was originally prescribed for older married women who already had as many children as they could manage. It was not until 1974 that family planning clinics were allowed to prescribe the pill as a contraceptive for a single women. Abortion was illegal until 1967. Equal Pay Act 1970.
What are all the types of feminism?
Liberal feminism is the name given to feminism that seeks equality for women by campaigning for changes in the law, for example, by staging protests against rape or for equal pay.
Radical feminism takes the view that women cannot be liberated within a capitalist patriarchal society, and if advocates a total uprooting and rebuilding of society.
Marxist feminism sees women’ struggle for freedom through the lens of Marxism, so women’s oppression is understood as a symptom of the oppression that occurs when there is private ownership of the means of production.
Black feminism, post-colonial feminism and indigenous feminism are all strands of feminism that aim to give voices to, and further the interests of, non white feminism in their own cultural contexts.
Ecofeminism emphasises a connection between women and the natural world, seeing a relationship between care for the planet and freedoms for women, and placing blame for damage to the planet on patriarchal capitalism.
Separatist feminism seeks freedom for women in isolation from men, seeing heterosexual relationships as inherently disempowering for women. Separatist feminism is closely related to lesbian feminism, which promotes same-sex relationships for women.
Difference feminism is aimed towards the liberation of women no matter what their ethnicity or sexuality.
What did Plato say?
“It is only males who are created directly by the gods and are given souls. Those who live rightly return to the stars, but those who are cowards or lead unrighteous lives may with reason be supposed to have changed into the nature of women in the second generation”.
Being born a women is seen by Plato is something that unfortunately happens to men who did not get it right the first time. However, Plato did support the idea that women should be treated more fairly, and in his book Republic, where he discusses his views on the ideal society, he recommends that women should not be treated as the possessions of men.
What did Aristotle say?
Aristotle writes that women are “more mischievous, less simple, more impulsive, more compassionate, more easily moved to tears, more jealous, more querulous” and says that “the man rules and the female is ruled”. Aristotle believed that women are naturally inferior to men, and therefore it is right that men should rule women and women should submit to men. According to Aristotle’s understanding of biology, reproduction happens because of the male ability to produce semen. He did not know about the female ability to produce eggs and thought that women were just on the receiving end of life - giving force produced by men. He observed that women were unable to produce semen and from this concluded that women were equivalent to an infertile man, seen by Aristotle as ‘defective’. For Aristotle, the male is active in reproduction and the female is passive.
Complementary roles
According to the view that men and women are equal in worth, all people are equally valuable (in Christian terms, all are equally valuable in the sight of God) but men and women have different, complementary characteristics, which equip each gender for different, complementary roles. It is argued that there are occupations which are better suited to men, such as firefighting or the armed forces, and occupations which are better suited to women, such as nursing and primary-school teaching. From this perspective, neither gender is explicitly considered better than the other. This is a position taken by some feminists, who do not claim that there are no differences between men and women beyond biological difference, but claim instead that women’s special skills should be recognised and celebrated as equal with men’s rather than seen as second rate.
Som Christians argue that the different skills men and women have mean that women should not be priests or have other positions of authority in the Christian Church. In particular, they should not take roles where they are representing Christ, such as in the blessing of the Eucharist (Holy Communion). The Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, for example, do not ordain women to the priesthood, arguing that Jesus chose only men to be his disciples. They also argue that God chose to come into the world as a man, not as a woman, and therefore only a man, not a woman, can represent him in the sacraments. However, other Christian denominations, such as the Church of England and the United Reformed Church, have ordained women as well as men, arguing that God calls people to the ministry without gender discrimination.
What do some people argue against complementary roles?
Some argue that designating some qualities and behaviours as masculine and others as feminine is entirely artificial, determined by the cultural norms of society rather than by nature. Women can be aggressive, powerful, rational, or mathematical, just as men can be submissive, weak, compassionate, emotional or artistic. People are individuals with their own personalities. It only appears that some qualities are more prevalent in men and others in women because society encourages and reinforces rigid rules of gender expression.
Behaviours are not intrinsically male or female, they argue; they are cultural norms that are impressed on people from a young age through socialisation.
Some prefer to think of gender as a spectrum and as a matter of choice, where all individuals have the right to decide how they identify and express themselves, and have the right to change their minds about their gender.
What do these quotes from Genesis tell us about gender roles?
- “So God created mankind in his own image in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”. Genesis 1:27
- “So the Lord God cause the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a women from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man”.
- “‘You will not certainly die,’ the serpent said to the women. ‘For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil’. When the women saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it”.
These can be shown to say that Males are more important than Females because in each story females become second; women were made from the man, ‘male and female he created them’. It could also be said that women are more susceptible to temptation and weak minded so need the man to keep them from going astray. Women are more attracted to looks.
Genesis 1:27 can be used to show that males and females are equal because God created mankind in his own image; ‘male and female’, which means that God does not think of man and woman as having different worth. They’re both equally the image of God. Also, God too, a rib off the man to create women so he doesn’t value the women any less if she can be built from the same parts that make a man. Also, they share equal punishment when they ate the apple.
How can you interpret the quote in Ephesians?
“Wives submit to you own husbands as you do to the Lord” “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy”. “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies”.
These can be used to show that females should just be subservient to their husband and don’t question them like they don’t question the Lord. They have the same authority over them than the Lord has over the Church.
These can be used to show that females and men are equal because it says that the husband and wife should take care of each other as if they mean the same as their religion.
What are St John Paul II’s key points in his book Mulieris Dignitatem?
Humans find themselves full through giving themselves to others. Humans are created deliberately by God to give of themselves back to him.
This helps us to understand the notion of motherhood, which is the fruit of the union of man and woman in marriage when two become one flesh. This is achieved through the full giving of one person in the marriage to the other, fighting against the effects of the Fall where men are said to rule over women and women are said to have desire for their husbands. True giving in marriage is therefore a glimpse of the perfection before the Fall.
A husband and wife giving themselves to each other leads to children and so motherhood is a gift a woman gives by giving a new life: ‘it expresses the woman’s joy and awareness that she is sharing in the great mystery of eternal generation’.
A woman is not only biologically made for motherhood but psychologically the link is established while the baby is in the womb. So motherhood is described as psycho-physical.
Parenthood is shared by the man and the woman but the woman is affected more by her gift of herself and the complete link with the baby. The father, therefore, owes a great debt to the mother.
Both parents are equally important in the upbringing of a child but the mother’s role is described as ‘decisive’.
The gift of a mother is seen in the acceptance of the gift of new life made by Mary which begins the process of the reversal of the effects of the Fall by establishing a new agreement between God and humanity. Motherhood is an immense privilege.
The joy of motherhood replaces any suffering in the same way that a woman forgets her painful childbirth (a punishment from the Fall), in the same way that Mary’s sorrow in seeing Jesus suffering was replaced by the joy of Easter.
Strengths and weaknesses
✅ Men and women are portrayed as equal and do, in fact, have different roles to play.
✅ The man and the woman are equal in the relationship.
✅ Very forward-thinking in terms of the role of the father in child-raising. The father does ‘owe a great debt to the mother’.
❌ The ‘fruit of the union’ isn’t necessarily motherhood. Some people don’t want children.
❌ Sometimes having children is seen more as a financial burden then as ‘joy’. It seems to glorify and fantasise the idea of children.
❌ Motherhood does not necessarily begin at conception thanks to contraception.
❌ Sometimes the mother’s role may not be ‘decisive’. Maybe the father is the primary up-bringer.
❌ It believes that the story of Adam and Eve actually happened.
❌ Women do NOT forget childbirth.
❌ Hard to understand if not religious.
