Gender and society Flashcards
society
socialisation
-how we learn the norms of our society
-develop our gender identification and expression
patriarchy and feminism
-men tend to dominate society: governments, workplaces, households - ‘head of the household’
-most societies in world are patriarchal
-education – women weren’t educated
-Mary Wollstonecraft (1792), ‘A Vindication of the Rights of Woman’, argued for educating both women and men to the same standard
Malala Yousafzia – “I raise up my voice-not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back”
-Women’s Liberation Movement (feminism), worked on removing restrictions of a patriarchal society so that women can enjoy same freedoms
Aristotle quote
“more mischievous, less simple, more impulsive…more compassionate…more easily moved to tears…more jealous” - ‘History of Animals’
-women are naturally inferior to men
-men have right to rule over women, women should submit
-women are ‘defective’ can’t produce semen, therefore can’t reproduce
Historical views of male and female gender roles – Plato
-Plato – believed that women were inferior to men
-“it is only males who are created directly by the Gods and are given souls” - Timaeus
-being born a women was unfortunate
-did support idea that women should be treated fairly and shouldn’t be treated as possessions
Historical views of male and female gender roles – Aristotle
-opinions were highly influential on Western thought (support of science)
-women were ‘naturally’ inferior to men (observations of society), men have a right to rule women, women should submit
-according to Aristotle women couldn’t produce semen, are ‘defective’ (didn’t know about women having eggs
-men = active in reproduction, women = passive
Historical views of male and female gender roles – Aquinas
-women are inferior to men in physical strength and intelligence (was correct in Aquinas’ time, women didn’t have any education)
-women are ‘defective’ when comparing women to men
-did say that women have a special high place in heaven with Virgin Mary
-influential in Catholic Church
Christianity in gender crisis
-traditionally taught that men and women were created by God to have different, complementary qualities
-Bible teaches that within a marriage, a man should be in charge, wife should submit to authority
-wedding vows, women in original wedding vows says “and to obey” men didn’t have to say this
-feminists - women should have the same rights and freedoms as men
-object to idea that men have a ‘natural’ authority over women
Christianity: men and women are equal in worth
-could be argued that men and women have equal worth but different skills and aptitudes
-certain occupations are better suited to men
-women shouldn’t become priests or have other positions of authority within Catholic Church – not all denominations
-shouldn’t take on any role where they are representing Christ
-example, Catholic Church doesn’t ordain women to priesthood, Jesus only had male disciples – did he?
-God chose Jesus to be a man not a woman
-however, Church of England ordains females, God calls people not gender specific
-Christianity is blamed for perpetuating injustice, constantly keeping injustice going, giving support to idea that women don’t need to be treated as well as men
traditional christian views
-“so God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female” - Genesis 1:27
-God is given a male pronoun, if God is male, male is God
-defence; pronoun had to be used
-male superiority comes from male being created first and woman being created second, from Adams rib, as his companion and ‘helper’
-woman first to succumb to temptation, passage is sometimes used to support belief that women are weaker willed than men
-men should take the lead in decision making and shouldn’t be swayed by a woman
Ephesians 5:22
-“wives submit to your own husbands as you do the Lord. for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the Church… husbands, love your wives, just as christ loved the Church”
-women have to submit, men just have to love their wife
-women compared to a church building
-husband is head of wife
-condemning of woman
-defence: taken out of context, history, condemning on men - husband needs to actually love wife like he loves himself, have to remind them to love their wife
Biblical patriarchy
-Bible cited as justification for the men having complete authority in the home
-Ephesians = biblical patriarchy
Christian Egalitarianism
-within marriage, husband and wife should be mutually respectful and supportive without dominating the other
-equality
Pope John Paul II
-wrote open later in 1988 - ‘Mulieris Dignitatem’ - on the dignity and rights of women
-response to accusations that Church was sexist
-Pope wrote about different skills and qualities of women, focused on examples of Christian devotion set by European saints
-emphasised that men and women have different, complementary characteristics
-God came to earth as Jesus, only possible due to a woman
-fulfilment of female personality = virginity and motherhood – contradictory
motherhood: Pope John Paul II
-enable a woman to be self giving as she has a ‘special openness’ to that new person
-women = ‘naturally disposed to motherhood’, both physically and psychologically = gift from God
-parenthood = shared, husband ‘owes a special debt to the woman’
-does repeat ‘passive’ to describe pregnancy as something that happens rather than actively done
-pain of childbirth is due to original sin but also gives insight into the pain of Christ – synoptic link = saint Augustine, evolution?
-limitation, contradiction, woman suffer pain just like how Christ did but woman can’t be a priest or give people bread and wine?
motherhood: liberating or restricting?
-Simone de Beavoir (1940s) wrote about ways that motherhood forces women to suspend their own interests and personality to take care of children
-unconventional but struck a cord with many women who still didn’t have birth control readily available (1960s for married women, 1974 for single women)
-Ann Oakley (sociologist), wrote about negative side of motherhood, interviewing women who said:
-during giving birth they felt powerless as when men (doctors) take over (men don’t have anything to do with this, its the doctors job)
-maternal instinct is due to socialisation not biology (girls have dolls that they ‘look after’)
-how frustrating it is to be a stay-at-home mother (fortunate to be a stay at home mum, financial security
feminist theologian: Mary Daly (1928-2010)
-women’s abilities and knowledge are superior to those of men, and therefore women ought to govern men as this would result in a more peaceful society and would also be better for the environment
-only taught females not males
-“I saw women that were repressed. When they’re in classes with young men, they shut up all the time. They’re laughed at if they have unusual ideas. They have to be sexy then, they can’t really think”
-radical feminist
