Chapter 2 Ideas and Theories About Women

Definitions of women have often been the result of fear/ ignorance and have almost always been affected by the distorted perspective of one part of humanity seeing another part as “ other “ than itself and drawing unjusted inferences from this partial perspective

• - different

• man = active
• woman = passive
• man (the agent), acts and thinks
• woman (the other) , exists

She began to see how man was the subject and women were the other at age 40

• She is the “flower pot “ [ prime function to bear children ]
• A “good” woman is one who produces children and continues this function
• Virtue for women is different from virtue of men

Many things of “knowledge” are more bias rather than the reflection of a gender-netural view

• Those excluded
• from dominant discourses not only by gender but also by race, class, sexual
• orientation and history

Whatever doesn’t refer to women as they know themselves to be is faulty

• -Means that women have the right to enough information to make informed choices about their lives
• - 3 components : movement- meaning a group
• working to accomplish specific goals the goals are…
• -Social and Political change

ALL are for women’s rights. Believe that women would be a good contribution to society (education)

Sought to overcome discrimination by minimizing differences between sexes

The view that there is an essential, innate human nature based on biological reality

Allows for determinate through fluid identity of women