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Notes on lectures Feminist ClassicsSession 1 - Introduction................................................................................................................................. 2
Session 2 – Christine de Pisan....................................................................................................................... 13
Session 3 – Mary Wollstonecraft.................................................................................................................. 19
Session 4 – Sojourner Truth.......................................................................................................................... 26
Session 5 – John Stuart Mill.......................................................................................................................... 35
Session 6 – Emma Goldman......................................................................................................................... 42
Session 7 – Virginia Woolf............................................................................................................................ 49
Session 8 – Simone de Beauvoir................................................................................................................... 59
Session 9 – Luce Irigaray............................................................................................................................... 63
Session 10 – Audre Lorde............................................................................................................................. 69
Session 11 – Judith Butler............................................................................................................................. 74
Session 12 – Sara Ahmed.............................................................................................................................. 80
,Session 1 - Introduction
06-09-2023
- Henry, Astrid. 2012. “Waves” in: Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies. eds.
Catherine M. Orr, Ann Braithwaite. New York: Routledge.
- Akkerman,Tjitske & Siep Stuurman, ‘Introduction: Feminism in European History’ in,
idem (eds) Perspectives on Feminist Political Thought in European History,
London/New York: 1998, pp. 1-33.
Outline
- Introduction / practicalities
- Defining ‘Feminism’?
- Types of Feminism: the Waves and Beyond
- Why Study Feminist Classics Today?
What will we be doing together this semester?
- Weekly lectures devoted to a “feminist classic”
o Please come to class having done the readings beforehand!
o Class: making space for dialogue and exchange
- Examination:
o Contemporary classics assignment (group assignment)
o Take home exam
- Burning questions?
o Look at the syllabus!
o Ask me in/after class
o Email me (in that order ;))
Defining feminism(s)
Discussing (your) feminist symbols
- Share your feminist symbols with each other: what did you choose, and why is it
meaningful to you?
, - Look at the slide with symbols: what do the different images stand for? Which types
of feminism and different feminist themes are represented here? Are there perhaps also
images that you take issue with, and why?
- Discuss in groups of 3
- 5 minutes
Defining feminism (retroactively)
How can we recognize feminism in history before the term emerged in the late 19th century?
To call someone or something feminist/m there is a political notion. Stuurman and Akkerman
(1998, 1) write about this:
In order to trace the intellectual, cultural, and political lineages of what we
today call feminism, we have to know what we are looking for. The assertion
that we recognize a feminist voice in Christine de Pizan necessarily implies
that we have embarked upon our historical inquiry with some preliminary
notion of feminism.
How can we define feminism?
- How do Stuurman & Akkerman define feminism?
The text breaks down feminism into three key parts. First, there’s the critique of sexism and
the belief that men are better, which involves questioning discrimination against women.
Second, there’s the idea that women’s situations can get better and change over time. And
finally, there’s the focus on forming a strong collective identity to support women’s rights.
This definition gives us a broad way to think about feminism, even in times before
people used the word “feminism” in the late 1800s. It helps us identify feminist ideas and
movements throughout history.
- Do you agree with their definition, or would you define ‘feminism’ differently?
[discuss in pairs, 5 minutes]
I agree with this definition of feminism. I think it is focused on the adaptability of the concept
of feminism. Though, I do miss the concept of intersectionality in Stuurman and Akkerman’s
definition as it does not explicitly address how feminism intersects with other aspects of
identity and oppression, such as race, class, sexuality, and disability.
, 3 elements of feminism (according to Stuurman & Akkerman)
1. Criticism of misogyny and male supremacy
2. Conviction that women’s condition is not an immutable fact of nature, but can be
changed for the better
3. A sense of gender group identity.
Diversity of issues, perspectives and styles
“Contemporary feminism encompasses an extremely broad range of substantial issues,
organizational forms and political styles. Its kaleidoscope of programmes seems to condemn
all definitional exercises and neat taxonomies as so much vanity. Its manifold languages have
appropriated and transcended almost all previous feminist discourses… The cultural and
intellectual variety of contemporary feminism is matched by its organizational diversity,
ranging from informal consciousness-raising groups to single-issue campaigns and huge,
nation-wide formal organizations.” (Stuurman & Akkerman 25)
… frictions between feminists / forms of feminism
Feminist ‘waves’
- First wave
o 1848-1920s
o Political rights (the vote, the right to work, to own property)
- Second wave
o 1960s-1980s
o ‘women’s liberation’
o Sexuality and reproduction, freedom and autonomy
- Third wave
o 1990s – present?
o Intersectional? Attention to diversity? Differences between women?
- …Fourth wave?
Problematizing the wave metaphor
Discussion question
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