M8: Gender & Health

Question 1

What is a Buzzword?

Answer 1

The term “buzzword” refers to an important-sounding word or phrase that becomes popular through frequent usage, particularly within the media

▪ Many sociological theories and concepts pertaining to gender have become buzzwords

▪ As these terms become ‘popular’ they often lose the intended meaning and have connotations different than the original purpose

▪ It is important to understand the true meaning but also interesting to compare to the ‘popular’ meaning

Question 2

What is Toxic Masculinity?

Answer 2

Toxic masculinity refers to cultural norms and behaviors associated with traditional ideas of masculinity that emphasize dominance, aggression, emotional repression, and the suppression of traits considered “feminine.” These norms can harm both men and society by discouraging emotional expression, promoting violence, and perpetuating gender inequality.

Question 3

What is Feminism?

Answer 3

Theories and movements for women’s rights and liberation

Question 4

What are Femenist theories?

Answer 4

• Response to previous theories/theorizing – mainstream sociology is ‘male-stream’ sociology
• Inequities and unequal power relations are shaped by gender/gendered understandings
• Many perspectives, voices and paradigms housed within the feminist theory umbrella – e.g., liberal, radical, Marxists, Black and Indigenous feminisms (and many more)

Question 5

What are the Assumptions of Feminist Theories?

Answer 5

a. Concerned with power inequity stemming from gender relations.

b. Concerned also with redressing gender inequity.

c. Power can be:

• Structural: systemic privileging of one gender over another through formal structures and institutions in society (e.g. laws, income)
• Relational: one gender may experience more privilege in relationships or interactions with others (e.g. who is heard, who makes decisions)
• Sociocultural: How genders are valued (e.g. preference for a son over a daughter)

Question 6

What is the First Wave (Late 19th Century – early 20th Century)

Answer 6

Right to vote (“suffrage”) granted provincially to some women beginning in 1916 (Alberta, Saskatchewan, & Manitoba)

• Asian men and women – 1948
• Inuit men and women – 1950s
• First Nations men and women – 1960s

BNAA amended to recognize women as persons (1929)

• The Famous Five: “Does the word ‘Person’ in section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, include female persons?”
• Supreme Court of Canada → Privy Council of England

Led by educated upper-middle class white women

Question 7

What is the Second Wave (1960s-70s) of feminism?

Answer 7

Prominent inequities challenged: gender role socialization, control of body, reproductive rights, access to opportunities

Betty Friedan – The Feminine Mystique (1969)

• “the problem that has no name” = assumption that women’s destiny = housewives

Examples of outcomes: domestic violence shelters, women’s health clinics, contraceptives, legal abortions, credit card / bank loans without male co-signers

Critiqued for being white-, hetero-, uppermiddle-class-centric

Question 8

What are the Key Concepts of the Second Wave?

Answer 8

1. Patriarchy
2. Sexual division of labour
3. Socialization
4. Gender role/norm

Question 9

Key Concepts of the Second Wave

What is Patriarchy?

Answer 9

A system of power, including social institutions, which functions to subordinate women and children and privilege men

Question 10

Key Concepts of the Second Wave

What is Sexual division of labour?

Answer 10

nature of work performed as a result of gender roles (e.g., men = breadwinner; women = homemaker)

Question 11

Key Concepts of the Second Wave

What are Gender Roles/Norms?

Answer 11

role or behaviour considered to be appropriate to a particular gender as determined by prevailing cultural norms

Question 12

Key Concepts of the Second Wave

What is Socialization?

Answer 12

process of learning the culture of a society (e.g., its language and customs), which shows us how to behave and communicate → gender role socialization

Question 13

Third Wave (1990s-present)

What is Intersectionality?

Key words: Diversity, Individualism
Key figure: Kimberlé Crenshaw

Answer 13

“A term coined by American critical race scholar, Kimberlé
[Crenshaw] in 1989 to examine how race and sex/gender were mutually constituted…how various biological, cultural, and social categories interact on multiple (and often simultaneous) levels that lead to oppression and inequality”

Question 14

How has the definition of Intersectionality evolved over time?

Answer 14

Crenshaw’s conceptualization has been expanded over time to include other social positions and forms of oppression beyond (but still including) gender, class, and race

Question 15

Fourth Wave (2010s – Present)

What is happening in the 4th wave?

Answer 15

Question 16

Four Waves: Summary

Answer 16

• Weaving thread: Gender as an organizing principle of society
• Some waves focus on gender socialization and gender roles;
  other waves have highlighted how gender intersects with other forms of exclusion like racism, or homophobia, and transphobia.

Question 17

How do Equality and Equity play a factor in the four Waves?

Answer 17

Equality : Everyone should be treated the same

• 1st wave: right to vote
• 2nd wave: equal pay for equal work, pay, opportunities

Equity : Everyone should be treated fairly and according to their own needs.

-3rd wave: Diversity and individualism
- 4th wave: Social justice, allyship, gender inclusive