Day 2 Notes.docx

**1960s Origin:** - New study - Fun fact: Feminism started in France - Rights movements (More than one rights movements) - Civil Rights - LGBTQ+ rights - SDS: Students for a democratic society (protest Vietnam war) - Women's Liberation Movement - All movem...

**1960s Origin:** - New study - Fun fact: Feminism started in France - Rights movements (More than one rights movements) - Civil Rights - LGBTQ+ rights - SDS: Students for a democratic society (protest Vietnam war) - Women's Liberation Movement - All movements had men standing at the forefront - Betty Friedan - Wrote: The Feminine Mystique - "The problem that has no name" - Newspaper editor and professor - Wrote about white, middle class, women and their problems - Consciousness Raising sessions: - Why? - The First Women's class was formed from sessions like this **Intro to Course:** **Feminism is a bad word!** - If you identify as a feminist, in society you are: - A man hater - Lesbian - Bra-less, mannish women with hair on their legs and underarms - Ugly women who are jealous of beautiful women **Modern-day misogynists:** - Pat Robertson: - Evangelist - "Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, and practice witchcraft" - Rush Limbaugh: - Radio talk show host - "Feminism was established to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream society" - John Hagee: - Pastor - "Feminists are witches" **Effects of labeling Feminists/WGS:** - When women complain about labels, they are blamed for seeing themselves as the victim - If they fight back they are - Witches - Bitches - Feminazis - If they don't fight back, they are made invisible - When they talk about inequality, it's construed as male bashing **Bottom line:** attacks on feminists have helped to keep many people away from the feminist movement and WGS **Differentiating Feminism from WGS:** **Feminism:** - Feminism is an ideology/ belief/ realization - Makes several claims - Women and men do not occupy the same social positions - Men are superior than women - Women have traditionally been treated as second class citizens - Women are oppressed because they are women - The Feminist/Women's movement is a social and political expression of feminist ideology - Goal of Feminism: Seek equality and justice for women - Feminist Belief: - Women are human and deserve the same rights as men **1970s:** **1^st^ Women's and Genders Studies** - Sources: - History (Victims) - Why? Asking why things were the way they are - WASP - White - Anglosaxen - S - Protestant - History = Herstory **Knowledge:** - Men's knowledge = human knowledge - Mankind isn't used any more, we use humankind or humanity - No longer use He to refer to everyone **What is Women's Studies:** - Unlike other programs, WGS is difficult to define - Marilyn Boxer: *"Women's studies was an academic strategy with transformative intentions. It meant to change academia so that women would produce and acquire knowledge on an equal footing with men"* - Nancy Mandell: "*women's studies is a label that pulls together into one curriculum any courses that place the study of women and women's own experiences at the center of their investigation"* - The nature of the program necessarily makes it interdisciplinary - Draws knowledge from several disciplines **Links Between WGS and the Women's Movement:** - The Women's movement birthed women's studies - The women's movement provided insights and perspectives for feminist analyses - Feminist research provides the framework for policy affecting Women's Lives - Scholars working in WGS usually identify as Feminist Scholars **Why WGS:** **The Program provides academic framework to:** - Understand the impact of gender on social, political and cultural thought - Question conventional knowledge, especially claims to objectivity and truth - Achieve academic justice for women by putting them at the center of academic inquiry **Myths about WGS:** - WGS is ideological - The charge suggests that WGS is an extension of Feminism; as such it is not real scholarship but propaganda - The charge also suggests that WGS lacks rigor (it's touchy feely) - Women's studies is narrow in its focus - Women's studies is about white middle class women **Achievements:** - Paradigm shift - Intro of new programs: gender, family, LGBTQ+, etc. - Intro of new words and social and academic discourse - Increased women's presence in academia - Increased diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in academia **Early Ideas about men in WGS:** - Men who do WGS are failures in the traditional male disciplines - Men want to join to dominate the one area that women have authority - Men who do WGS are gay - Men who do WGS do so for self-serving purposes