Feminism RATED A+

Why is it important to study gender? - Gender is the perceived masculinity or feminitiy, it extends past the biological aspects of sex-gender is directly associated with ones identity, gender norms help affirm authority within relationships (especially in the political arena); Gender is learned through social norms and reinforcement in different cultures. Socially and politically gender plays a role in patriarchal societies as more masculine members of society gain leverage and dominance over those identifying with the female gender. Feminist attitudes according to Bettencort, Byrnes, Vacha Hasse - • Ways of thinking have changed between generations Every generation shares common views based on "historical and social context" • The purpose of the study was to explore attitudes toward feminism between different generations in the families of college students, their parents, and their grandparents on a religious, political, gender, and educational level. • Feminism is defined as "the movement organized around the doctrine that women should have the same economic, social, and political rights as men." Attitudes were measured using the Attitudes toward Feminism and the Women's Movement Scale (FWM) Generational Differences • Younger people, compared to older people, "tend to rate the women's movement more positively" • The age when a social event happens changes the impact it has Childhood Early adulthood Mature adulthood Later adulthood • "Social events become particularly meaningful when they coincide with early adulthood versus other life stages" • There are specific values that each generation associates with Religion and feminism Religion and politics Political affiliation Education • Studies focus on college students because college "tends to have a liberalizing effect on individuals in several domains related to gender attitudes." Attitudes are also effected by the education of family Family Influence • Parents tend to be more traditional than their offspring "In the US the greatest difference was reported between mothers and daughters." • The focus of the study is between individual experience and societal events • College student's attitude towards women is related to the mother's religious and educational background "Highly educated mothers are associated with daughters who endorse less traditional feminine values, while the opposit Feminist attitudes according to Adu-Poku - . He makes the point that on numerous occasions women have linked all "men" together in the exact fashion of what they themselves don't want to be viewed as. iii. Claims that by analyzing various modalities such as race, culture, sexuality, class, education and gender we can better assess people as individuals, and not just of being either a man or a woman iv. Not claiming that he will be able to speak on behalf of all feminists, but hopes that his autobiographical perspective will shed light onto the black male feminist's frame of mind on the topic. v. Felt in his first women's studies course that he needed to alter both his mindset in terms of race and gender to be able to offer quality insight on the issue. b. Insight from early years in Ghana i. Was raised to believe that boys and girls would fill different roles in society 1. Boys would go to school and become professional in something if money was available, while girls learned household tasks and received minimal formal education 2. This theme was due to patriarchal practices 3. Women were viewed as second class citizens, and in many cases did not have the option to choose their own destiny 4. Believes that every women not given the opportunity to get a formal education is a waste, and that the state is suffering because of it c. Colonisation and the Subversion of Gender Roles and Relations in Africa i. Colonialism is based on the idea of superiority 1. Masculine over feminine, colonizers over colonized, and in his case, White over Black 2. Western philosophy consistently preacher that men were of reason, and women were of the body. a. This leads to men being put into more powerful stances in society and politics 3. Feminism has refused to acknowledge the face that before colonization, many African nations, such as Ghana, did not have these preconceived gender Women's status in politics according to Greiwe and Paxton and Hughes - Women make up half of the population of every country in the world, but there are only 20% of women in Parliament, and of 190 countries in the world only 13 have a woman as head of the government • Finland was the first country to elect a female leader to parliament in 1907 • From years , the average number of women in parliaments nearly doubled from 11.7% to 19.4%-- displaying the trend of the importance of women gaining political power • Sweden was the country with the highest percentage of women in politics for many years until Rwanda reached a higher percentage in 2003 • Rwanda became the first country in the world to reach 56% women in its legislature in 2008 - This was due to the promotion of women by international organizations, the influence of local women's organizations, the amount of men killed and imprisoned after their genocide Arguments for Women Representation in Politics • Those who hold official positions in government get to decide how to distribute scare resources • Politicians hold power over important social institutions (sometimes with force) and have authority