Module4

• Sociology of gender


  The study of how society influences our understanding and perception of differences between masculinity (what society deems appropriate behavior for a "man") and femininity (what society deems appropriate behavior for a "woman")
• Three major sociological perspectives on examining issues of gender

  • Structural-Functionalist
  • Conflict theory
  • Symbolic interactionism
• Structural-Functionalist perspective


  • Examines the relationship between the parts of society and how aspects of society are functional (adaptive)
• Conflict theory perspective


  • Examines competition for scarce resources and how the elite control the poor and weak
• Symbolic interactionism perspective


  • Examines the use of symbols and face-to-face interaction
• Feminism


  The belief in social, economic, and political equality of the sexes
• Early feminist thinkers and activists

  • Marcus Porcius Cato
  • Christine de Pisan
  • Laura Cereta
  • Moderata Fonte
  • Mary Astell
• Intersectional feminism


  The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage
• Feminist theorists focus on both micro and macro aspects of culture and study
• The feminist movement has effected change in women with increased educational opportunities, the right to vote, protections against workplace discrimination, and the right to make personal decisions about pregnancy
• Laura Cereta


  15th-century Venetian woman, known for Humanist and feminist writing
• Laura Cereta


  • Published Epistolae familiares (1488; "Personal Letters"; Eng. trans. Collected Letters of a Renaissance Feminist)
  • Dealt with a panoply of women's complaints, from denial of education and marital oppression to the frivolity of women's attire
  • First to put women's issues and her friendships with women front and center in her work
  • One of the best scholars in Brescia, Verona, and Venice in 1488-92, known for her writing in the form of letters to other intellectuals
• Moderata Fonte


  Pseudonym of Modesta Pozzo (b. 1555 d. 1592), a gifted poet and proto-feminist who championed equal access to education for women
• Moderata Fonte's pen name

  Moderate Fountain or Spring, suggests flowing water, an image often associated with eloquence, and it functions as a clever recasting of the still, unassuming waters suggested by her given name (Modest Well)
• Moderata Fonte


  • Celebrated by her contemporaries for her poetic skill
  • Stands alongside other Venetian women writers, including Veronica Franco, Lucrezia Marinella, and Arcangela Tarabotti, as a seminal voice of European feminism
• Marcus Porcius Cato


  In the 3rd century BCE, resisted attempts to repeal laws limiting women's use of expensive goods
• Christine de Pisan


  The first feminist philosopher in late 14th- and early 15th-century, France, challenged prevailing attitudes toward women with a bold call for female education
• Christine de Pisan


  • Medieval writer and historiographer who advocated for women's equality
  • Her works, considered to be some of the earliest feminist writings, include poetry, novels, biography, and autobiography, as well as literary, political, and religious commentary
• Proto-feminist


  A term used to define women in a philosophical tradition that anticipated modern feminist concepts, yet lived in a time when the term "feminist" was unknown, prior to the 20th century
• Mary Astell


  Widely considered to be one of the earliest English feminists, best known for her prose works A Serious Proposal to the Ladies (Part 1, 1694; Part 2, 1697) and Some Reflections upon Marriage (1700)<|>An English proto-feminist writer, philosopher, and rhetorician<|>Her advocacy of equal educational opportunities for women has earned her the title "the first English feminist"
• Theory


  A rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon (a fact or situation) or the results of such thinking. It is an intelligent statement about anything. It is a conceptual scheme designed to explain the relationship between two or more variables.
• Macro-level theories


  • Relate to large-scale issues and large groups of people
• Micro-level theories


  • Look at very specific relationships between individuals or small groups
• Grand theories


  • Attempt to explain large-scale relationships and answer fundamental questions such as why societies form and why they change
• Sociology


  The study of society
• Gender


  A social classification based on one's identity, presentation of self, behavior, and interaction with others
• Sociologists analyze social phenomena

  1. Concrete interpretations

  2. Sweeping generalizations of society and social behavior

  3. Specific events (micro level of analysis of small social patterns)

  4. The "big picture" (macro level of analysis of large social patterns)
• Feminist theory


  The most known and still alive theory in society about gender