Lecture notes
Theoretical Notes on Gender and Identity in English Studies
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1. INTRODUCTIONMain issues:
● Distinction between three terms:
○ female (biological sex)
○ feminine (social articulation of your biology)
○ feminist (movement)
● The concept of gender
● Gender Studies, Women’s Studies, Feminist Studies
● Sex / Gender
● Intersex / Transgender
● Biology / Culture
● Essentialism vs. Social Constructionism
A distinction between
❖ misogyny (“primarily a property of social systems or environments, inasmuch
as girls/women face hostility and hatred that function to police and enforce
patriarchal norms and expectations”) the result and specific discriminations
for women based on the sexist belief
➢ is a structural phenomenon, rather than an individual one
➢ it is a political phenomenon, rather than a psychological one
➢ it is not focused on hate-filled individuals
➢ it targets groups of women (not only white, but Black, lesbian, queer,
transgender, fat, etc.) and not individual women as such
❖ sexism (“a set of beliefs, cultural narratives and other facets of ideology that
function to rationalize and naturalize patriarchal norms and expectations (e.g.
by depicting women as “naturally” less suited to masculine-coded roles and
pore suited to feminine-coded roles”, like caregivers) she calls it the
ideological branch of patriarchy, the belief.
They both work together in tandem as forces within patriarchy.
Sexism in the Western Philosophical Tradition or the Ideological Construction of
Gender Difference
- Women: slaves (domestic subjection) for their own good. They are eternal children
and must have a male figure to depend on. Grateful and not complaining
- Witchcraft: Women (sex with demons): worship of Satan. Papal approval given to the
methods for identifying “witches” (torture)
- Women are either pure and frigid or they are sexual creatures and seducers.
, 21st Century
- Patriarchy at its best. Not so evident, more subtle enforcement of sexist beliefs
- Manosphere: men’s rights movements, incels, online resources that advocate the
rights of men
- “Himpathy” (sympathy towards men who have done something bad like rape)
- Male entitlement
Micro-chauvisms (the idea that men are superior to women) : Characteristics
- difficult to recognize
- occasional nature
- mostly not intentional or malevolent
Examples: Reference to menstruation to explain female behavior, mansplaining
2. PATRIARCHY: ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION
How did male dominance arise?
- the biological explanation
- the cultural-materialist explanation (based on archeological evidence)
- the patriarchal system: 5.000 years old. humanity: 300.000 years old
Patriarchy is not a catch-all concept, some synonyms are:
➢ Gender inequality
➢ Patriarchal power
Different versions of patriarchy through time and space (depending on religion, culture,
ethnicity, economy, etc):
● Domestic patriarchy: individual men dominate individual women (husband-wife)
● Societal patriarchy: “institutional arrangements that privilege males”
They both influence each other
Between 3100 and 600bc a gradual construction of patriarchy resulted in the subordination
of women seen as “natural”. Consolidation of patriarchy is a long process:
Hunter gatherer societies→ Agricultural societies→Settled societies
Hunter-gatherer societies (nomadic):
● More egalitarian: equality of value
● Sex-roles but not gender roles, because there was no gender as a concept
● No hierarchy. Women contributed 60% of the food resource, they were valued
Agricultural societies
● Staying in one place to defend crops and properties
● Need to produce children: labor power. Thus, it became important to control women’s
sexuality and they became a resource
● Attacks on other tribes’ fields: kill the men, enslave the women. Tools were
dangerous to be in the hands of men. The first thing men do when these things
happened was rape the women.
, Settled societies or proto-states
● Instead of roaming and conquering: city alliances with other cities: kingdoms
● Treatment of women: institutionalized by early laws (written) and norms (transmitted
orally)
● Beginning of the “nuclear family”
Women’s compliance with the 2 types of patriarchy
1. Gender indoctrination and educational deprivation (women internalized the gender
discourses as they didn’t have an education to question what they were told)
2. The denial to women of knowledge of their history ( until the 20th century only male
written book about male history)
3. Dividing women by defining respectability/deviance because of their sexual activity
4. Restraint and outright coercion (violence)
5. Awarding by giving class privileges to women to conformed
6. Difficult to create a feminist consciousness precisely because of the different class,
race and culture situations
What about matriarchal societies?
There is no historical evidence to corroborate their existence
● Matrilineality: the family line goes down through the female members, whose
husbands join the family, and sons who marry join their wives’ families
● Matrilocality: married couples live with the woman’s parents
Both in the Bronze Age
Origins of Societal Patriarchy: Main Theories
1. Evolutionary/biological
2. Materialist: kinship system where men exchange women
3. Ideological and/or cultural: value system. Hierarchy-making process. Creation of
institutions. Religion: from fertility worship religions to monotheism
Proposal of 6 hypotheses to account for the origin of societal patriarchy (Barbara Smuts):
1. Low probability of female alliances
2. Male-male alliances directed against females, increasing male power over females
3. Increased male control over resources
4. Increased political power and hierarchical formation among men (related to the
nuclear family)
5. Female strategies (pursuing their interests) that reinforce male control over females
6. The development of language and its capacity to create ideology of gender hierarchy
3. PROTO-FEMINIST VOICES AND EXPERIENCES (17TH AND 18TH CENTURY)
The 17th century in Colonial America
Margaret Cavendish: aristocrat, a scientist, philosopher, and poet. His husband did not
interfere with her writing. She was educated. The first woman to attend a meeting of the
Royal Society (1660). She didn’t care about the public opinion and was ambitious.
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