Module 7, Gender and Health Flashcards
Feminist Theories
society is gendered such that women and men have different access to power, opportunities, and decision-making. these differences, however, are not natural but are socially constructed
- they are not biological or inevitable
- our society is arranged in ways that put gender as the organizing structure and explanation for how society works
Feminist theories (2)
- response to previous theories/theorizing – mainstream sociology is ‘male-stream’ sociology
- inequities and unequal power relations are shaped by gender/gendered understandings
- gender informs how one experiences the world (the structures of society as well)
- what about the women?
my notes:
- there was concern on being too focused on the concerns of men and ignoring the experiences and concerns of women and being gender blind, not considering the role of gender - critique on symbolic interactionism (what are the gender dynamics in these interactions - gender was not considered in the previous perspectives)
- marxism was writing about labour relations disregarding women rather shaped around understanding the different economic roles of men in society
- need a sociological theory that centers around women’s experiences and focuses on gender specifically looking at the inequities in the unequal power relations and how they are shaped by gender, gender roles and like gendered understandings of the world - creation of feminist theory
- originates from the idea that women’s experiences and lives have largely been left out of sociological theory but it is not exclusively about women rather it is about the understanding that all of us have gender and all of us engage in gender relation
Feminist Theories (3) - goes beyond just females
- many perspectives, voices and paradigms housed within feminist theory umbrella
- the textbook references liberal, radical, Marxists, Black and Indigenous feminisms (as some examples)
- the ‘waves’ of feminism references the different priorities over time and changing understandings (takes about how different eras of feminism have exhausted particular concerns or focus - reflects the needs, priorities and understandings of different generations and eras)
- there are lot of different theories that all trace back to feminist thinking
- first wave feminism is associated with women getting to vote, women being recognized as citizens, women have the right to own property and women not being owned by or beholden to husbands and fathers
- second wave feminism go into what are the conditions of work place
- third wave looks at women in leadership roles and growing awareness that feminism has not served all women well rather white women
Feminist Theories: Assumptions
a. concerned with power inequity stemming from gender relations
- who gets paid more, who has opportunities for employment, why do we think of men’s sport as more competitive, who are some jobs considered prestigious - power can be traced back to issues of gender
b. concerned also with redressing gender inequity (call to action)
- a social movement and a form of advocacy - changing relations
Feminist Theories: Assumptions power can be (3 things)
- structural: systemic privileging of one gender over another through formal structures and institutions in society (e.g. laws, income)
◦ dress codes - work places that have norms around what you are going to wear where they are more stricter for women - relational: one gender may experience more privilege in relationships or interactions with others (e.g. who is heard, who makes decisions)
◦ head of the household like father - specific dynamic to some cultures (socially constructed expectation as some have women as head)
◦ women commenting on men’s sport can be seen as wrong despite someone’s experiences (hockey is considered to be mens’ domain even when talking about it) - sociocultural: how genders are valued (e.g. preference for a son over a daughter) - expectations for a son over daughter
Feminist Theories: Key Concept
equality and equity, patriarchy, hegemonic masculinity and femininity, and intersectionality
Feminist Theories: Key Concept (equality and equity)
equality: everyone should be treated the same (being equal and receiving the same treatment)
- 1st wave feminism – right to vote (focused on idea that women should be equal to men)
- 2nd wave feminism – equal pay for equal work
equity: everyone should be treated fairly and according to their own needs (everyone has different needs, not everyone is starting from the same place and not everyone needs the same thing)
- 3rd wave feminism - diversity and individualism (how women are different from one another and similar and how we have all have gender)
- 4th wave feminism – social justice, allyship, gender inclusive (where we are at now)
- providing people with what they need to have similar opportunities or similarly flourish and thrive
Feminist Theories: Key Concept (patriarchy)
- “a system of power, including social institutions, which functions to subordinate women and children and privilege men.”
- patriarchy may privilege men over women but also some men over other men and some women over other women (and other configurations – it is ‘relational’ and ‘contextual’)
- ultimately, feminists contend that patriarchy undermines everybody!
my notes:
- patriarchy refers to like a system or arrangement of power which puts an individual male figure ahead and women and children that follow him which privileges men (it also privileges some men over other men as it is a hierarchical system)
- the father can be the patriach where the son is submissive to the father (the mother in some way can be privileged more than the son but as he grows that can change)
- relationships are relational but they are organized around gender or privilege masculinity over femininity
Feminist Theories: Key Concept (hegemonic masculinity and femininity)
- hegemonic masculinity and femininity refer the qualities deemed ‘manly’ or ‘womanly’ (the ideal form of being a man or women) - have the greatest power when they closely approach this ideal
- they are the qualities that a man or woman is believed to have or should have in order to be perceived as a man or woman (in any given society)
my notes:
- how different groups of people more closely match or demonstrate idealized forms of masculinity or femininity and therefore collectively get some power and privilege in society
- athletes get power and privilege in society because the meaning of being an athlete is so closely associated with the meaning of being male in society so the two work together in that being an athlete is one of the ways that you can sort of demonstrate your manhood or masculine masculinity and then equally, men use sport as a way of maintaining power and privilege
HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY
characteristics: stoic (not showing too much emotion and being level - tough it out), aggressive, control of emotions, sexual prowess, etc.
body ideals: strong, muscular, machine-like, invulnerable, able-bodied, etc.
HEGEMONIC FEMINITY
characteristics: docile, submissive, sexy/sweet, emotional, etc.
body ideals: thin, toned, youthful, etc.
dominant messages that have circulated within our culture and dominant but there are always changing and they are new definitions of what is is to be feminine or masculine as they are constantly emerging and there is resistance to some of these ideas as well
Feminist Theories: Key Concept
(intersectionality)
- the idea that one needs to examine how various biological, cultural, and social categories interact on multiple (and often simultaneous) levels that lead to oppression and inequality
- we can never just consider gender specifically but we need to consider gender in relation to race, age, ethnicity, nationality, ability and disability that all interact within our own identities and shape our experiences
- how different interacting systems of power and oppression come together to position people differently in different conversations and contexts
Intersectionality (who was behind it?)
Kimberlé Crenshaw
- law professor
- critical race theory
- black feminist theory
- civil rights
- talks about how gender equity was used against the interest of women to deny to experience of black women and women of colour - where a group of black female employees tried to sue the company for discrimination saying they have been denied promotion but it was rejected because they said they promoted black men and women but not those two combined for black women
- she’s saying that we need to think about these things together because the experiences of white women are not the experiences of black women and the experience of someone with a disability are not the experience of someone able bodied, although both will have gender is still relevant to both of those conversations (intersectionality theory - think about them all together)
Sample questions for using feminist theories to understand health
- why do men and women experience different health outcomes that cannot be explained by biology?
- what traits or behaviours are considered ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ and how to they relate to healthy behaviours or healthy living?
- how is our health system shaped by gendered stereotypes? how does our health system reproduce gendered stereotypes? - men might be less inclined to seek health care, ingrained in health care that mom often will talk to doctors, back in the day doctors were more for men and nurses were more for women (where doctors would dominant nurses)
Sex
sex: “a multidimensional biological construct that encompasses anatomy, physiology, genes and hormones, which together affect how we are treated in the world”
- “DO use sex to refer to the classification of people into the categories of male and female. this is a medical and legal assignment made at birth, based largely on the external genitals of newborn infants.
