Gender and Society

Question 1

What is the definition of sex?

Answer 1

•It is the biological physical characteristics of a person (hormones, sex organs, etc.)

Question 2

What is the definition of gender?

Answer 2

•It is the socially constructed characteristics of a person

Question 3

What is the definition of cisgender?

Answer 3

•It is when your gender identity matches the sex that you were assigned with at birth

Question 4

What is the definition of transgender?

Answer 4

•It is when your gender identity does not match with the sex you were assigned with at birth

Question 5

What is the binary view of gender?

Answer 5

•It is the belief that there are only 2 genders (male and female)

Question 6

What is the number in a review of gender?

Answer 6

•It is when there a more than 2 genders (someone may feel both male and female, neither male nor female or a completely different gender)

Question 7

How has gender developed over time?

Answer 7

•It developed through socialisation (primary and secondary)
- This why the colour blue is connected with boys while the colour pink is connected with girls

Question 8

What are most societies around the world?

Answer 8

•Patriarchies
- This means Society favours men and reflects masculine traits

Question 9

Who believes that women are the reincarnation of men who failed in their previous life?

Answer 9

•Plato
- This means he believes that women are inferior to men

Question 10

What does Aristotle believe about men and women?

Answer 10

•He believes that women are naturally inferior so should be governed by men

Question 11

Who argued that the capacity for reason is less developed in women, which means they are subordinate to men?

Answer 11

•Aquinas
- This means he believes women can not educate children alone and that a man is needed

Question 12

5 examples of how the Bible reinforces the views of patriarchal society:

Answer 12

1. Ephesians states that “wives should submit to their husbands in everything”
2. In Genesis Eve was created from Adam’s rib to be his helper
3. In Genesis Eve gave into temptation first (this means women are morally weaker than men)
4. St. Paul argued that “women should remain silent in the churches” as “it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church”
5. In Timothy it states that women should not “assume authority over a man” and that “women will be saved through childbearing”

Question 13

What does the Catholic Church not allow?

Answer 13

•It does not allow women to become ordained or religious leaders

Question 14

What did the Church of England allow in 1994 and 2014?

Answer 14

• In 1994 it allowed women to become ordained
• In 2014 it allowed women to become Bishops

Question 15

What do most churches believe?

Answer 15

•They believe that men and women are equal but that they have different roles

Question 16

What are the 4 waves of feminism?

Answer 16

1. First-wave = 19th & 20th century (they were focused on political rights for women)
2. Second-wave = 1960s & 1970s (they were focused on sexuality and reproductive rights)
3. Third-wave = 1990s (they were focused on the “different layers of oppression” that women face)
4. Fourth-wave = 21st century (they were focused on sexual harassment, body, shaming, and “everyday sexism”)

Question 17

What are the 4 types of feminism?

Answer 17

1. Liberal
2. Marxist
3. Naturalist
4. Radical

Question 18

What do liberal feminists believe?

Answer 18

•They focus on legal and political changes for women to ensure equality of opportunity and equal rights
- They challenge the view that women should be housewives as they believe women should be educated and working as men are

Question 19

What do Marxist feminists believe?

Answer 19

•They believe women are exploited by men and capitalism due to owning women and being seen as the “means of production” within the family
- They challenge the view that women’s work in the home is less valuable and recognise domestic work limits women’s advancement in the workplace

Question 20

What do the 2 different types of naturalist feminists believe?

Answer 20

1. They believe that reproduction and motherhood give women their own identity and that artificial means of reproduction give power to men
2. They believe that reproduction oppresses women and that artificial means of reproduction give power to women
   - This means they both focus on the biological differences between men and women
   * Type 2 of naturalist feminists challenge the view that reproduction and motherhood are essential parts of the nature of a woman

Question 21

What do radical feminists believe?

Answer 21

•They believe that women and men are so different, that they should remain separate for the most worthwhile life achievable for women
- This means they challenge the view that women find fulfilment in relationships with men, and that the “best” relationships or families are heterosexual

Question 22

Who supports the radical feminist view?

Answer 22

•Daly
- She believes that the only
satisfactory, non-exploitative sexual relationship is with other women

Question 23

Who argues that motherhood forces women to suspend their own interests and personalities?

Answer 23

•Beauvoir
- This is because she believes women are forced into motherhood which means they are unable to develop as individuals and are left empty and without a purpose when their children grow up

Question 24

What did Oakley discover about women?

Answer 24

•She discovered that women felt frustration at having to stay at home with their children
- This she argues means that there is no such thing as a “maternal instinct”
* She argues that this means women wanting children is developed through socialisation

Question 25

What does the Catholic Church reinforce?

Answer 25

•It reinforces the importance of motherhood as a natural part of the role of women and something that gives women dignity and importance within society and religion

Question 26

What are the 4 examples of the Bible supporting that women are equal to men?

Answer 26

1. In Genesis, it states that “in the image of God he created them, male and female”
2. In Galatians it states that “all are one in Jesus Christ”
3. There is a woman in the Bible named, Deborah, who was a judge and who led the Israelites
4. Jesus spent his time with women and prostitutes

Question 27

Who presents 4 stories of the horrific treatment of women from the Bible?

Answer 27

•Trible
- She argues that she wants to confront misogyny and ensure that these stories are not forgotten, so we can learn from them

Question 28

What open letter about the dignity and rights of women did Pope John Paul 2 write?

Answer 28

•He wrote Mulieris Dignitatum
1. This argued that women’s main role in society was reproduction and motherhood
2. This argued that the differences between men and women was due to women being better at looking after children
3. This argued that woman are central to Christianity due to motherhood (supported through the example of Mary)
4. It argued that the family should be nuclear and that men and women are equal within the family

Question 29

Who are the 2 examples of feminist Catholic theologians?

Answer 29

1. Shüssler Fiorenza
2. Halkes

Question 30

What does Shüssler Fiorenza argue we should do with the Bible?

Answer 30

•She argues that we should reinterpret the Bible in ways that demonstrate the importance of women to Christianity
- She explains this through reinterpreting St. Paul’s seemingly sexist passage (she argues that he actually treated all the women he met as equal partners in the work of spreading Christianity)

Question 31

What did Halkes fight for?

Answer 31

•She fought for reform within the Catholic Church as she wanted women and married men to be allowed to join the clergy
- She was also disappointed that feminism was becoming increasingly secular as she wanted to work within the church to develop a religious and spiritual approach to feminism

Question 32

What do Conservative Protestants reinforce?

Answer 32

•They reinforce traditional Christian beliefs about gender roles and the family
- They do this because they argued the Bible is clear there are only 2 genders and that God has different roles for each of them (they also believe that marriage is between a man and a woman)

Question 33

What organisation supports the Conservative Protestant beliefs?

Answer 33

•Focus on the Family
- They emphasise the traditional family values of permanence of marriage and the sanctity of human life

Question 34

What are 3 examples that support liberal Protestantism?

Answer 34

1. The Church of England as they allowed women to become priests and Bishops
2. The LGBTI Mission as they are “campaigning for full acceptance and affirmation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people in the Church of England”
3. Quakerism as they believe all humans are equal and are strongly involved in the fight for equal rights (they helped women fight for equal rights during the 19th century in America)