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Sociology v. Commonsense
Commonsense: Ideas that are so completely taken for granted that they have never
been seriously questioned and seem to be sensible to any reasonable person.
Sociology challenges common sense. The goal of sociology is to find answers/valid
conclusions/truth. They frame their truth within various paradigms.
Structural Functionalism:
A view that society is a stable, orderly, system in which the majority of its members
share a common set of values, beliefs, and behavioral expectations.
This is referred to collective as social consensus.
A social system comprised of interrelated parts that operate together to keep society
balanced or as functionalists would say in equilibrium
Each element of society functions in some unique way to maintain social
order
Social change under this paradigm must occur slowly and at the same pace for each
element, otherwise society would fall apart.
Structural functionalists view men and women as distinctly different beginning with
biology
Men are bigger and stronger
Women bear and nurse children
From these biological differences, it was only natural that gender roles were constructed
for each sex
Gender role a set of behavioral requirements expected of a person based on
their sex
Feminist Perspective:
Gender relations are power relations; therefore, in order for women to have more
power, mens power must be reduced
Men have tried to counter the feminist movement by saying that patriarchy is a
feminist myth.
Media representations have portrayed feminists and masculine and unattractive
which has caused many women to consider themselves feminists.
All three accounts of men (accounts meaning level of feminism) said that the
position of women has improved in society
Evolution by definition means that things change gradually and overtime. There
are consequences to rushing anything. Therefore, even the feminist-men believe
that it cant be rushed. Its just going to take time. However, it is subtly implied by
these men that women should be tolerant of the current inequalities women face
because their social positions are improving.
Ms Jeckyll is the ordinary women who wants equality. Ms Hyde is the
unfeminine feminist who is contentious and an extreme political activist. This
binary fosters an equivocal view in regards to feminism.
Sensitive
Emotional
Nurturing
Weak
Shopping/Fashion
Domesticity
Humanities
Cleaning
Cooking
Men:
Strong
Independent
Assertive
Powerful
More athletic
Outdoorsy
STEM
Bread winner
Auto mechanic/Engineering occupations
Gender binary:
Sex v Gender:
Sex Spectrum:
1. Male
2. Female
3. Hermaphrodite
a. People who have one ovary and one tests
4. Puesdo-hermaphrodites
a. Merms XY chromosome and has testes, but does not ovulate. Has a
vagina and may develop breasts.
b. Ferms XX chromosome and has ovaries. No testes. May grow an adultsized penis.
The first wave of feminism coincided with suffrage movements in both Europe
and the US. Many women were suffragettes.
Other women were more radical pushing for more sexual freedom and the
expansion of middle-class women in the workplace.
o White women were concerned with the expansion of the workforce
because they were not paid for outside work. Slaves however were not
paid in general. Sojourner Truth drew attention to the disparities between
women of color and whites.
The first wave was successful in gaining the right to vote in 1920!!
When people think of feminism their frame of reference is the second wave
feminist movement that began in the 1960s in the global North. This movement
was part of a larger, global social movement cycle that included independence
movements in the developing world as well as the civil rights movement in the
US.
Like the first wave, the second wave was characterized by diversity in the types of
women involved and in the articulation of their goals. There was no one group of
people and no one unanimously agreed upon agenda.
Feminists focused on finding connections between their personal lives and the
politics of gender.
Many feminists developed theories around gender by their own experiences.
Lesbian feminists and feminists of color started to feel like their voices were not
heard. It was all about upper-middle class white women.
Liberal Feminism
Inequality between men and women stems from existing institutions and how said
institutions treat men and women.
The methods of liberal feminism prescribe for achieving equality to gain and
ensure basic rights that give women the opportunity to compete on an equal
playing field with men.
The assumption under liberal feminism is that once these barriers to competition
are removed, the experiences, views, and attitudes of men and women will
converge, or become increasingly similar.
Radical Feminism
Radical feminism is primarily associated with the second and third waves of
feminism.
Radical feminism starts with the premise that women and men are fundamentally
different.
Gender is a fundamental aspect of the way society functions, according to a
radical feminist perspective, and serves as an integral tool for distributing power
and resources among people and groups.
Inequality is not solely a result of women being denied the opportunity to
compete, but is it built into all aspects of society; gender affects our social and
personal lives, as well as our political and economic institutions.
From a radical feminist perspective, men directly benefit from the subordination of
women, and mens superior position in many societies is premised on ensuring
womens inferiority.