Gender Studies Glossary Flashcards
Feminism
A movement to promote women’s rights and raise them up socially, politically, and economically
Patriarchy
A societal construction where cis gender men hold the majority of power, are seen as the center of society, and are seen as the default gender/sex
Misogyny
Fear or hate, and the active perpetuation of that fear and hate, against people who identify as women or female on the basis that they are inferior to men and males due to their gender or perceived sex categorization
Discrimination
The pattern of treating members of a group on the basis of group membership rather than individual qualities and merit; dismissal or marginalization of those against whom one holds a prejudice
Hegemony
One group’s multiple levels of dominance over another, including the suppressed group’s consent to domination; hegemony is less a domination by force than a means of encouraging participation in one’s own oppression
Privilege
An advantage a person has or embodies based on certain identities or statuses that grant them power and agency within a social structure. Having one or multiple privileged identities/statuses does not mean a person will have no problems in life, but rather that those particular identities or statuses will not be there as on for their problems. In society, privileged identities/statuses include being male, cisgender, heterosexual, white, able-bodied, neurotypical, middle class or higher, formally educated, etc
Gender
A personal label used to denote how a person identifies on a feminine to masculine spectrum. Gender identities include but are not limited to female/woman, male/man, nonbinary, gender fluid, bigender, and a gender. Most often infants are assigned one of two binary genders at birth (male/boy or female/girl) based on genitalia. A person’s gender assigned at birth may be the same or different than the one they personally identify with.
Gender expression
A person’s outward presentation including clothing, hairstyle, cosmetics, speech patterns, body language, etc. that is understood to display feminine, masculine, or androgynous characteristics based on a given culture’s ideas of gender roles and expression. A person’s gender expression may not always “match” their gender identity.
Cisgender
An adjective used to describe a person whose gender assigned at birth is the same as the gender they identify with. This is often shortened to and can be used interchangeably with “cis.” Correct usage: That woman is cisgender; She is a cisgender woman
Transgender
An adjective used to describe a person whose gender assigned at birth is not the same as the gender they identify with. This is often shortened to and can be used interchangeably with “trans.” Some transgender people elect to under go a partial or complete physical transition involving hormone replacement therapy and/or surgery. Correct usage: That woman is transgender; She is a transgender woman
LGBTQIA
An acronym for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning, Intersex, and Asexual community. This is often shortened to LGBTQ+, LGBTQ, or LGBT and is understood to encompass all non-cisgender, non-straight identities.
Queer
A label used to describe a wide variety of sexual and/or romantic identities with in the LGBT community. Although there has been a recent trend of using it as an umbrella or replacement term for LGBT, queer has a history of being used as a homophobic slur against members of the community and thus should only be used to describe people who explicitly express this as their identity.
Empowerment
Sociological empowerment provides marginalized groups with methods to obtain full privilege within a society, eliminating marginalization and discrimination. Individually, empowerment implies self-confidence in one’s skills and a sense of belonging necessary to success in achieving one’s goals
Intersectionality
The understanding that identities and systems of oppression are connected and overlap. For example, all women do not share the same experiences as their lives as women can be affected differently by the intersections of race, class, nationality, sexual orientation, etc. A black woman for instance will experience both racism, sexism, and a blend of the two.
Essentialism
The insistence that things, even people, have certain innate characteristics that make them who they are. Gender essentialism posits that men and women have natural physical and personality traits that define their gender, i.e. men are strong and confident, women are weak and self-conscious
Social constructionism
“Sociological and psychological theories of knowledge that consider how social phenomena develop in particular social contexts. Within constructionist thought, a social construction is a concept or practice which may appear to be natural and obvious to those who accept it, but in reality is an invention or artifact of a particular culture or society. Social constructs are generally understood to be the by-products (often unintended or unconscious) of countless human choices rather than laws resulting from divine will or nature.”
Heteronormativity
The prevailing social atmosphere that enforces the idea that heterosexuality and heterosexual relationships are the norm and default way for humans to feel and behave, with all other identities and behaviours being deviant
Heterosexism
Biases, prejudice, and/or discrimination against non-hetero sexual identities as a result of hetero normative views.
Sexism
Bias ,prejudice, and/or discrimination against a person sexed or perceived to be sexed female, or who identifies as female or a woman, with those identities being inherent in the reasoning behind the bias, prejudice, and/or discrimination. Feminism adheres to a sociological definition of sexism in which power is inherent to the action, hence sexism against men/males does not exist.
Objectification
The treatment of a person as something to be owned and/or acted upon rather than a sentient being capable of individual action and agency; literally thinking of and treating a person as if they were an object.
