Download Feminisms and sociology (PowerPoint)

Feminism: belief in the social, economic
and political equality of the sexes and the
movement organized around this belief
Feminist Theory and
Sociology
Why sociology
needed feminism
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Dominance of men as sociologists
Dominance of men as objects of study
Universalizing of men’s experiences
Standpoint theory
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Dorothy Smith
We all have a standpoint based on our social
location
All views are partial
Including standpoints of marginalized groups
provides more objective knowledge
Multiple feminisms
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Liberal feminism
Radical feminism
Marxist/socialist feminism
Psychoanalytic feminism
Multicultural/global feminism
Liberal feminism
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Women have been systematically
discriminated against and denied
opportunities for success in the public world
Social institutions need to allow women to
participate equally
Focus on fairness in laws and customs
Radical feminism
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Modern social institutions have been created
and maintained by men
Social institutions and norms need to be
fundamentally transformed
Focus on creating new institutional structures
Marxist/socialist feminism
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Patriarchy is inextricably linked to capitalism
and class inequality through exploitation
Feminists cannot achieve gender equality
without also addressing underlying class
inequality
Focus on how gender inequalities benefit
capitalist class
Psychoanalytic feminism
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Subordination of women rooted in Freudian
Oedipal process
Need to change gender roles around work
and family to shift Oedipal dynamic
Focus on child development and family
dynamics
Multicultural/global feminism
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Much of feminist theory universalizes the
experiences of all women
Feminist theory needs to include
perspectives of marginalized women
Focus on intersectionality of different social
locations with gender
Feminism’s impact
in sociology
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Women’s presence as sociologists
Studies that include or focus on women
Gender as an important analytic category
Methodological impact
Connection to activism
Tensions within
feminist thought
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Cultural vs. structural focus
Essentialism vs. social construction
Studying gender through
a sociological lens
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Draw on various feminisms to understand a
social phenomenon
Be aware of tensions
Think about intersections of gender with
other social locations