HUMANITIES TEST.docx

III. Liberal Democratic Theory: - new social/political philosophy - included new ideas of "natural rights," "equality," "liberty," all men should have the same rights, should not be governed without their consent. - rationality is the highest, most important human characteristic. - male theorists wh...

III. Liberal Democratic Theory: - new social/political philosophy - included new ideas of "natural rights," "equality," "liberty," all men should have the same rights, should not be governed without their consent. - rationality is the highest, most important human characteristic. - male theorists who developed the natural rights doctrine, and the politicians who were putting it into practice, did not include women. (women - were not allowed to vote, could not bring a civil case to court; if married, had no property rights, had no legal custody of their children.) IV. Ideas/beliefs underlying liberal democratic theory/natural rights doctrine: 3. - rationality, the ability to reason, was a necessary qualification for participating in public affairs and having natural rights. 7. - women not rational / not capable of reasoning – therefore – - women were inferior to men - women had no natural rights (and did not deserve to) - women should be excluded from participation in public life and politics - women should be under male control (page 1 of 5) - quote from Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England (1765-69), on the law of "Couverture": "By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in law (that one person being the husband) that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during marriage, or at least is consolidated and incorporated into that of the husband, under whose wing, protection, and cover she performs everything..." Mary Wollstonecraft: - differed with male liberal thinkers over how women had come to be like this: - male theorists thought women were "naturally" like this; - Wollstonecraft believed that women were emotional, irrational and incompetent because they were raised to be that way, and were encouraged to cultivate the non-rational, sensual side of life in order to please men, and were prevented from developing their critical reasoning. ** Men and women are fundamentally the same, morally and intellectually, therefore natural rights should apply to both, and women deserve equal rights ** - defining ideas of early liberal feminists. 2. Frances Wright: - drew upon ideas from the philosophy of Utilitarianism: - Utilitarianism says that an ethical action is the one that produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people. - Wright: keeping women ignorant and oppressing them was not providing the greatest good for the greatest number of people, and therefore was unethical. Saraha Grimke - agreed with Wollstonecraft and Wright: - that education in critical thinking was crucial for women, - that men had denied women their natural rights, - that women had to discover truth for themselves, and think for themselves. - that men keep women in a subordinate position because men believe it is in their (men's) interests to do so. - that the intellect, the mind, has no gender - that men and women are intellectually and morally the same. - entered into a critique of the family/home/domestic sphere: said that for many married women, the home was a place of tyranny, where men (as husbands) exercise unlimited and brutal power over women. as long as women are confined to the private sphere, they will suffer secretly and be subject to the whims of their husbands. VI. The Declaration of Sentiments: (a document) - presented and discussed at a conference held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. - written primarily by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. - was modelled on the American Declaration of Independence, applied the natural rights doctrine to women. VII. Elizabeth Cady Stanton: - after the Declaration of Sentiments: - wrote other articles, gave speeches where she continued to use natural rights theory to argue for the vote for women and for changes in laws and customs that treated women as if they were not responsible people. VIII. Cooperation & Splits between the Women's Rights groups and the Abolitionist/ Black Rights groups: - the women's rights movement in the 1800s had its origins in the abolitionist (anti-slavery) movement, and had links to the abolitionist movement until the late 1800s. - women who were campaigning for women's rights often were also campaigning against slavery and for Black Rights. - the two movements eventually split up (at least part of the Women's Rights Movement split away - the part that Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony had started) - Background to the split: - during the Civil War “The women’s rights activists put aside their demands for the vote and devoted themselves to the Union cause” (i.e., ending slavery). - the federal government wanted to give black men the right to vote in all states, and refused to include women, despite the fact that the coalition of women’s rights group and black rights groups wanted women included. - the federal government proposed 2 amendments to the American Constitution which would give black men, but no women, the right to vote: - The Split: - a large segment of the Women's Rights Movement did not support the amendments - they wanted to keep pushing for all men and women to get the vote. - the split grew even wider by the late 1800s/beginning of the 1900s: the women’s rights movement was putting most of its energy into getting the vote for women, needed the support of the southern states –where racist attitudes were much stronger and more widespread – so many dropped (at least publicly) whatever focus they had had on the problems of black women, some expressed racist views. - made up of white, upper-class and middle upper-class women. - their beliefs/arguments: - “men and women are divinely ordained to be different.” - “family and the home is a woman’s proper sphere.” - that “women were morally purer than men.” - the public world of politics is corrupt and male and by voting women would become part of this and would become corrupted and would lose their moral superiority and their power to influence (their husbands). II. The Equal Rights Amendment (United States): 1922 – the National Women’s Party issued a Declaration of Principles This was introduced into Congress in 1923. It was now called “The Lucretia Mott amendment, and read: Later was amended to read “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” - became known as the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and still has not been ratified by the United States 2020-2021 - still not in the Constitution, “Political and legal challenges to the ratification process must be resolved before the Equal Rights Amendment can be certified as part of the Constitution.” (source: https://www.equalrightsamendment.org/faq) Main Ideas, Beliefs, Features of Early Liberal Feminism / Feminists: believed that all of the above should apply to women, because men and women are fundamentally the same intellectually and morally (they have the same souls and minds which can be developed to the same moral and intellectual standards) believed that the best way to obtain knowledge is through using reason. Problems with / Criticisms of Early Liberal Feminism / Feminists: (p. 14) did not consider how women were going to be able to make use of any equal rights and opportunities they might be given if they still had all the responsibility for the home and childcare, and if society remained rigidly divided into public and private spheres. Main Ideas, Beliefs, Features of Early Cultural Feminism / Feminists: (pp. 15-29) very critical of established religions (mainly Christianity), and of the institutions of marriage and the home. believed women should have the vote and enter the public sphere in order to bring their unique qualities and perspectives into public life – to change and humanize the public sphere. Differences between the social/political philosophies of Liberalism, Romanticism, and American Transcendentalism: View of the Individual View of the Role of Government Liberalism - in a process of growth in - to protect the natural rights of the individual rationality. - to protect the individual from having those - has natural rights. rights infringed upon. Romanticism - in a process of organic growth - to promote the growth of the individual. (growing in rationality, but - should not do anything that prevents also emotionally, spiritually, growth of the individual. and intuitively). - should abolish anything that stands in the - is like a seed with a unique way of the full growth of the individual. design within it that must be allowed the freedom to grow and unfold in its own way. Transcendentalism - has natural rights. - (same as Romanticism) - should develop to their fullest. - take responsibility for their lives. - be self-reliant. Margaret Fuller: 1845 - stressed that women were also individuals and therefore in a process of organic growth. - women were also like seeds, each with a unique design, therefore women needed the freedom to Margaret Fuller: 1845 – book Woman in the Nineteenth Century. - referred to Native myths of women spending time alone, developing self-reliance, and finding their own truth – said this how all women should live, at least for some period of time, to develop these characteristics. - women also need to spend time with other women (connection to community), to discover collectively who they (women) really are – will discover: - women are fundamentally different from men. } Core ideas of - women have their own unique character. } Cultural Feminism - women’s unique characteristics, according to Fuller: a. an “electric nature”: - women have an electrical intensity or energy about them that men don’t have. - this has been suppressed by confining women to the domestic sphere and menial duties, therefore it sometimes gets expressed (comes out) in destructive ways (irrationality, jealousy, concern with trivial things). (vs. Wollstonecraft’s explanation for these behaviours). b. heightened intuitive capacity: - women’s intuitions are faster and more accurate than men’s. - extends beyond reason/rationality. The Theory of the Matriarchate: - definition of a matriarchal society: a society in which women are the respected authorities, the highest religious and political leaders, the decision-makers and the law-makers. Descent would be traced through female lines (matrilineal). EVIDENCE b. the presence of goddesses in some patriarchal religions (ex. Hinduism). c. many Native North American cultures where, in the historical period, there was a high degree of gender equality – women held important decision-making positions, and had autonomy in their lives and in the community (ex. the Iroquois). Examples of early cultural feminists using The Theory of the Matriarchate - said that when women had ruled: - their values of peace, cooperation, and respect for all living things had been dominant. - the world had been a much more peaceful place for both males and females.. Charlotte Perkins Gilman - a woman-centred, or mother-centred, world would be very different - a positive, nurturing society. we need people who have the power to create and save, rather than the will and power to destroy. Stanton’s Critique of Religion by 1890 Stanton saw the Bible and its alleged doctrine of the inferiority of women as the main source of women’s subjugation. (change from liberal feminism – implies that legal changes alone will not give women equality; need a revolution in social and religious attitudes.) Gage’s Critique of Religion - thought that women’s oppression was rooted in Christian doctrine, particularly the idea from Genesis of women’s inferiority and wickedness. - said Christian doctrines were products of the patriarchate. - advocated the overthrow of established religion. 4. Social Darwinism: (pp. 21-23) conservative theory, used to justify inequality and exploitation. implied dominant groups deserved to be dominant. - implied that war/conflict/aggression were necessary to advance civilization and the human race. Charlotte Perkins Gilman: (in Women and Economics 1898) I. argued that subjugating women interferes with natural evolutionary processes, and is slowing down the natural progress of humanity and civilization: - women are kept in a social and economic environment that is unnatural and artificial – that of economic dependence on men. - this has warped their development, stunted their growth, and is detrimental to the whole species. - pointed out – “We are the only animal species in which the female depends on the male for food, the only animal species in which the sex-relation is also an economic relation. With us an entire sex lives in a relation of economic dependence upon the other sex.” - because of this economic dependency, women’s energy is wrongly channeled into making themselves appealing to men, - which reduces them to the level of prostitution in order to survive, and makes marriage a form of prostitution. Solution: - eliminate women’s economic dependence on men - change the structure of the family – urges the breakup of the family as an economic unit. - women need to be allowed into all occupations, have their own income. - suggests changes: - domestic work should be professionalized - people (males and females) should be trained in these professions and paid for doing them. - services like laundry should be collectivized. - child rearing should take place in collective nurseries. - communal dining rooms and collectivized kitchens could feed several families at once. Social Reform Pacifist Feminists: (early 1900s) (pp. 26-28) - the first generation of college-educated women. - believed it was their responsibility to use their education and their female values to improve the world by transforming the male-dominated and corrupt public sphere. - set up settlement houses in urban slums – provided health care, education, nutritional advice, legal advice. - established the Women’s Peace Party in 1915: - argued that women should have a role in international affairs – to express themselves and because the world needed women’s special qualities and perspectives. - had a pacifist ideology. - wanted to: - establish new values, - to make women’s values the main cultural values, - to create a strong sense of the sacredness of life, - to put an end to war. - delegates from the party attended the International Congress of Women held at The Hague in 1915, issued a statement on the special role women must play – “As women, we feel a peculiar moral passion of revolt against both the cruelty and the waste of war. As women, we are especially the custodians of the life of the ages. We will no longer consent to its reckless destruction.” - the Women’s Peace Party and the International Congress of Women were the embodiment of cultural feminist ideals: - united in a belief in common female values and interests (different values and interests than men) - dedicated to extending those values into the public, male-dominated world. Romanticism: Emphasizes emotion, nature, and individuality over reason and society's norms. Think poets like Wordsworth and artists like Turner, celebrating the beauty of the untamed world. Native North American Traditions: Diverse cultural practices and beliefs of indigenous peoples in North America, encompassing spiritual connections to nature, storytelling, and community rituals. Theory of the Matriarchate: A theoretical framework proposing that early human societies were matrilineal and matriarchal, with women holding significant social, economic, and political power. Social Darwinism: Applies Darwin's theory of natural selection to human societies, suggesting that societal progress comes through competition and the "survival of the fittest," often used to justify imperialism and inequality. Utopian Socialism: Envisions ideal societies based on principles of equality, cooperation, and social justice, often critiquing capitalist exploitation and advocating for communal ownership and shared resources. Think of thinkers like Robert Owen or early socialist communities like the Shakers.