Feminist sociology

Feminist sociology

Feminist sociology approaches sociology by observing gender and its role in social structure.

Feminist sociology studies the current climate of feminism in relation to all other interactions of society. Feminism is in its third wave of thought, and this is reflected in feminist ideology by the current awareness of differences in women throughout the world. In the previous waves of feminism, only the needs of a specific type of women were addressed.Fact|date=July 2008 In third wave feminism, feminists have attempted to stop making generalizations of all women, and instead, have focused on the needs of their gender with intersection of sexual orientation, race, economic status, and nationality differences among women. Third wave looks to give voices to the women who have gone unheard throughout the previous waves of the feminist movement.Fact|date=July 2008 As a result, other issues have arisen within feminist sociology.

Oppression

The core element to the feminist movement and feminist sociology is the idea of systematic oppression against women. Feminist sociologists argue that this oppression exists and is essentially due to patriarchal systems that they claim exist in society.Fact|date=July 2008 The basic theory of oppression is that all women, no matter where they live or what religion, race, or social status they possess, are oppressed due to their sex.Fact|date=July 2008 Oppression can overlap if women are in other oppressed groups, such as a race that is oppressed or a sexuality that is oppressed within a certain society. These overlapping oppressed identities can create issue of which oppression to fight and which to accept.Frye, Marilyn. The Politics of Reality. The Crossing Press: 1983.]

exism and sex politics

People are socialized to give a certain degree of respect and power to a person based solely on his or her appearance. In most societies, this is true for age and race, as well as sex. When someone encounters another person, one of the first things he or she will do is to try to determine whether this person is male or female. Cues varying from a person’s clothes to physical features to voice could cue a person to what sex someone is. Because this is one of the first things that happens when an encounter is made, sex is a status category with political implications. A person has to determine what sex a person is in order to know how he or she should address him or her. [Millet, Kate "Theory of Sexual Politics" 1968.] Sexism has been defined as any cultural or economic structure which creates or enforces the patterns of sex-marking, which divide the species into dominates and subordinates.

Language (English)

Certain words have become commonly attributed to each sex. This is a result of socialization and gender power structures and has no true basis in biology or gender differences.:Male versus Female:Aggressive versus Passive:Intelligent versus Ignorant:Outspoken versus Quiet:Emotionless versus Emotional:Strong versus Weak:Virile versus Virtuous:Detached versus NurturingThis language affects not only everyday speech, but also finds its way into academic arenas such as science, which in turn creates a new type socialization that is potentially more dangerous due to its covert infiltration of an educational and academic setting that is supposed to be unbiased. A classic example of this is how the process of fertilization is commonly described in textbooks and other scientific sources of information. Cultural stereotypes about gender have affected and biased society’s ideas about the egg and the sperm. Writers of textbooks in the past have put the sperm on a hero’s quest to conquer, penetrate, and overpower the helpless and passive egg. [Martin, Emily "The Sperm and the Egg…" 1991]

The feminist movement has been criticized in the past for catering to issue of primarily white, heterosexual, middle class women, ignoring the needs of women of color, lesbians and bisexuals, and women of lower class.Haslanger, Sally "Gender and Race: What are they? What do we want them to be?" 2000.]

Heterosexism

At one point, heterosexual marriage was the only lawful union between two people that was recognized and given full benefits in the United States. This clearly put homosexual couples of both sexes at a disadvantage, making their relationships less valid in the eyes of the government than that of a relationship between a man and a woman.

States in the US regulate "many aspects of marriage law affecting the day to day lives of inhabitants of the United States are determined by the states, not the federal government, and the Defense of Marriage Act does not prevent individual states from defining marriage as they see fit."Fact|date=July 2008

:Massachusetts has recognized same-sex marriage since 2004. Connecticut, Vermont, New Jersey, California, and New Hampshire have created legal unions that, while not called marriages, are explicitly defined as offering all the rights and responsibilities of marriage under state law to same-sex couples. Maine, Hawaii, the District of Columbia, Oregon and Washington have created legal unions for same-sex couples that offer varying subsets of the rights and responsibilities of marriage under the laws of those jurisdictions. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States]

Feminism and race

Feminism and race sometimes seem to be at odds. Women who already suffer from oppression due to their race find themselves in a double bind. They are forced to choose between backing issues important to their race and betraying their sex, or backing issues important to women and betraying their race. Feminists who are not oppressed due to their race have overlooked this issue in the past.Fact|date=July 2008

Feminism and culture/religion

The question has been raised as to whether it is possible to be a feminist and a multiculturalist at the same time. The reason this is an issue is because there are conflicting factors on certain stances.Clarifyme|date=August 2008 Some practices that are carried out by cultures or religions are clearly not beneficial and are oppressive to women. But a multiculturalist would argue that a culture should not go in and attempt to insert its own ideals and beliefs on another culture.Okin, Susan "Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?" 1999.]

Marriage

In some cultures, women are forced into arranged marriages according to the cultural customs of their region or their religion. Taking away a woman’s right to choose a life partner would clearly be an issue with feminists.

Rape/ Infidelity and Honor Killings

Some cultures punish women after a rape has occurred, claiming that her impurity has brought shame on the family. Women are also tortured or killed in other cultures throughout the world for infidelities that bring shame to the family.

Mutilation

In various cultures throughout the world, female genital mutilation (FGM) is a cultural practice that has been allowed and even encouraged to occur. If a woman has not undergone FGM, she is thought to be unclean and un-marriageable in her culture.

References

Further reading

*cite book |last=Abbott |first=Pamela and Claire Wallace |title=An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives |year=1990 |publisher=Routledge |location=London, UK; New York, NY |isbn=0415010365 |oclc=19887117

*cite book |last=Chafetz |first=Janet Saltzman |editor= |title=Gender Equity: An Integrated Theory of Stability and Change |edition= |year=1990 |publisher=Sage Publications |location=Newbury Park, CA |isbn=0803934017 |oclc=20131005

*cite book |last=Chambers |first=Clare |editor= |title=Sex, Culture, and Justice: The Limits of Choice |edition= |year=2008 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |location=University Park, PA |isbn=9780271033013 |oclc=153772741

*cite book |last=Cudworth |first=Erika |editor= |title=Developing Ecofeminist Theory: The Complexity of Difference |edition= |year=2005 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke, England; New York, NY |isbn=1403941157 |oclc=59098859

*cite book |last=Enns |first=Carolyn Zerbe and Ada L. Sinacore |editor= |title= Teaching and Social Justice: Integrating Multicultural and Feminist Theories in the Classroom |edition= |year=2005 |publisher=American Psychological Association |location=Washington, DC |isbn=1591471672 |oclc=55625673

*cite book |last=Frye |first=Marilyn |editor= |title=The Politics of Reality: Essays in Feminist Theory |year=1983 |publisher=Crossing Press |location= Trumansburg, NY |isbn=0895941007 |oclc=9323470

*cite book |last=Gottfried |first=Heidi |editor= |title=Feminism and Social Change: Bridging Theory and Practice |edition= |year=1996 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana, IL |isbn=0252021983 |oclc=32049514

*cite book |last=Hackett |first=Elizabeth and Sally Anne Haslanger |editor= |title=Theorizing Feminisms: A Reader |year=2006 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York, NY; Oxford |isbn=0195150090 |oclc=61703851

*cite book |last=Harlan |first=Judith |editor= |title=Feminism: A Reference Handbook |edition= |year=1998 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=0874368944 |oclc=38438969

*cite book |last=Hekman |first=Susan J. |editor= |title=Feminist Interpretations of Michel Foucault |edition= |year=1996 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |location=University Park, PA |isbn=9780271015842 |oclc=33665193

*cite book |last=Hekman |first=Susan J. |editor= |title=Gender and Knowledge: Elements of a Postmodern Feminism |edition= |year=1992, 1990 |publisher=Northeastern University Press |location=Boston, MA |isbn=1555531296 |oclc=26683085

*cite book |last=Hekman |first=Susan J. |editor= |title=Moral Voices, Moral Selves: Carol Gilligan and Feminist Moral Theory |edition= |year=1995 |publisher=Pennsylvania State University Press |location=University Park, PA |isbn=0271014830 |oclc=32167823

*cite book |last=hooks |first=bell |editor=Kum-Kum Bhavnani |title=Feminism and "Race" |edition= |year=2001 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford, England; New York, NY |isbn=0198782365 |pages= |chapter=Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory |oclc=45136543

*cite book |last=hooks |first=bell |editor= |title=Feminist Theory from Margin to Center |edition= |year=1984 |publisher=South End Press |location=Boston, MA |isbn=0896082229 |oclc=10923867

*cite book |last=Kafer |first=Alison |editor=Barbara S. Andrew, Jean Keller, and Lisa H. Schwartzman (editors) |title=Feminist Interventions in Ethics and Politics: Feminist Ethics and Social Theory |edition= |year=2005 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers |location=Lanham, MD |isbn=0742542688 |pages= |chapter=Hiking Boots and Wheelchairs: Ecofeminism, the Body, and Physical Disability |oclc=56840300

*cite book |last=Laslett |first=Barbara and Barrie Thorne |editor= |title=Feminist Sociology: Life Histories of a Movement |edition= |year=1997 |publisher=Rutgers University Press |location=New Brunswick, NJ |isbn=0813524288 |oclc=42329296

*cite book |last=Marshall |first=Barbara L. and Anne Witz |editor= |title=Engendering the Social: Feminist Encounters with Sociological Theory |edition= |year=2004 |publisher=Open University Press |location=Maidenhead, England; New York, NY |isbn=0335212700 |oclc=56527256

*cite book |last=Meagher |first=Sharon M. and Patrice DiQuinzio |editor= |title=Women and Children First: Feminism, Rhetoric, and Public Policy |edition= |year=2005 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany, NY |isbn=079146539X |oclc=56903738

*cite book |last=Millett |first=Kate |editor= |title=Sexual Politics |edition= |year=2000, 1970 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |location=Urbana, IL |isbn=0252068890 |oclc=43207076

*cite book |last=Nason-Clark |first=Nancy and Mary Jo Neitz |title=Feminist Narratives and the Sociology of Religion |year=2001 |publisher=AltaMira Press |location=Walnut Creek, CA |isbn=0759101981 |oclc=47718005

*cite book |last=Okin |first=Susan Moller, Joshua Cohen, Matthew Howard, and Martha Craven Nussbaum |editor= |title=Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women? |year=1999 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=0691004315 |oclc=40869793

*cite book |last=Rege |first=Sharmila |title=Sociology of Gender: The Challenge of Feminist Sociological Knowledge |year=2003 |publisher=Sage Publications |location=New Delhi, India; Thousand Oaks, CA |isbn=0761997040 |oclc=51203874

*cite book |last=Scales |first=Ann |editor= |title=Legal Feminism: Activism, Lawyering, and Legal Theory |edition= |year=2006 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York, NY |isbn=0814798454 |oclc=62766074

*cite book |last=Smart |first=Carol |title=Feminism and the Power of Law |year=1989 |publisher=Routledge |location=London, UK; New York, NY |isbn=0415038812 |oclc=19126063

*cite book |last=Wallace |first=Ruth A. |title=Feminism and Sociological Theory |year=1989 |publisher=Sage Publications |location=Newbury Park, CA |isbn=0803933975 |oclc=19777800


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