the importance of myths and stories Flashcards
1st Wave myths
1st Wave myths
Man-hating
Flat-footed
Ugly, unfeminine
Against the family/religion
Whining
Unmarried, no children
2nd wave myths
All feminists were thought to be lesbians
Men-hating; believed in female supremacy
Unfeminine, ugly
Didn’t understand anything beyond the domestic sphere
Radical and angry
3rd wave myths
Man hating
Feminists do not attack or hate men, and work to support them as much as women
Goals are to dismantle the evils associated with patriarchy and destroy all forms of oppression
It is to make both genders/sexes EQUAL
Feminism encompasses not only gender, but all aspects of identity (e.g. race/ethnicity, class, religion, sexuality, ability, culture, language, appearance, etc.
It is the basic notion that all humans should be treated equally regardless of their background or identities
Women and men are already equal
We have taken huge strides in the direction of gender equality, but there is still work to be done on closing the gender pay gap, giving access to reproductive healthcare, protection against sexual assault/violence/gender representation in media, etc.
Feminism is against PoC
Some believe that feminism is aimed towards white, upper class, heterosexual women and excludes women who belong to minority groups and lower socio-economic standing
Feminism is the idea that all people, regardless of identity/background should be treated equally
Humourless
Victim complex
Angry
Not feminine
Lesbian
All feminists are career women and do not support stay-at-home mums
feminists can only be women
feminists don’t believe in marriage
feminism is only beneficial for women
1st wave stories
The death of Emily Davison
At the 1913 Derby horse race, suffragette Emily Davison tried to stop the king’s horse at a protest that would be seen by the royal family and all the world’s media- sadly she was knocked down and her skull was fractured by the horse’s hooves, and died three days later.
at first the media and the general public were angry at what seemed a pointless death from an irresponsible act , however the WSPU organised two massive funerals for her, making her a martyr for the cause of votes for women
The suffragettes generally managed to get massive media interest (newspapers) in their campaign, although only a small number of women were ever involved in violence/protest. This was because:
women breaking the law/being arrested was dramatic
Edwardian society valued modest, decent women who happily served as wives/mothers. suffragettes were shocking to many and thus made a good story
the suffrage movement put the government under pressure and this was interesting to newspaper readers
newspapers were either for or against women’s suffrage
the authorities used violence against newspapers that supported women
the suffragettes were very good at publicity- their tactics were always designed to get newspaper coverage to spread the word and awareness for women’s suffering
A 1921 magazine
advertisement for Schrader Universal Valve Caps serves as a self-explanatory example of sexual
objectification as a means of marketing (Lukas, 2002). The advertisement features a scantily clad
(for the times) woman as the main focal point of an informative message in which her presence bears no relevance to the automobile products in question. Perhaps this represents objectivity in advertising: there is no purpose for the woman’s presence in the ad other than to provide an audience with “something pretty” to view
2nd Wave stories
2nd Wave Stories
women of colour (and some who were even queer) were the pioneers of 2nd wave Feminism, like Gloria E. Anzaldua, Audre Lorde, Angela Davis
Women with Feminist Disabilities Collective 1981
recognition of women with disabilities and their stigmatisation by the media
in 1981, prominent disability rights activist Lesley Hall and others from the Women With Feminist Disabilities Collective bought tickets to the Miss Australia Quest beauty pageant, which was a charitable event to raise funds for the Spastics Society (now known as Scope). They smuggled in placards, then stormed the stage to protest the sexist portrayal of women and the way the fundraiser contradicted itself by stigmatising people with disabilities through promoting specific ideals of beauty. Hall opposed the fact that women with disabilities weren’t able to enter the beauty pageant as they were not considered beautiful, and brandished a sign that read “Spastic Society oppresses women.”
Gender Ads Project
Another magazine advertisement compiled within The Gender Ads Project, this one a Lux ad of 1956, continues the media tradition of depicting women
as housewives held hostage by their “wifely duties.” Such as many marketing messages of the
period, the ad features images of a husband and son clearly enjoying their leisure time while the apron-clad wife must deal with an overwhelming stack of dirty dishes. The advertisement also includes stereotypical, cliche-ridden text that extols the inevitable messes made by men that the wives of the world must inevitably clean up. Here, while informing a female audience about a
house cleaning product, marketers designed their bias to appeal to the housewife who at least
wishes to be free of her gender restraints.
3rd wave stories
Laura Bates
use of hashtags to connect collective experiences
Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale
symbol for women’s reproductive and abortion rights
scarlet outfit and white bonnet worn by the women in the novel are being donned by women in Latin America, Britain and the US who are rallying for abortion rights and fighting against policies/politicians seeking to restrict those rights
Women’s March, 2017
This Women’s March was an example of a huge-scale international protest: an estimated 7 million people marched peacefully all over the world—even in Antarctica— to advocate human rights, freedom, and equality for all. Largely organised through social media, it became the biggest single-day protest in the United States, with around 1-1.6% of the population attending. One of the most iconic images of the march was the pink “pussyhat”, a project that encouraged crafters all over America to knit and sew over 1 million hats in order to create a lasting visual statement across the march.
