Elizabeth Lloyd sought the topic of female orgasm as an area of strong interest and delved into the topic to essentially source its origin. In doing so, Lloyd collectively analysed and criticised several theories that as a majority, represented the idea that female orgasm is an evolutionary adaptation. In particular, Lloyd placed emphasis on those that say it stems from evolutionary pressure and critiques each theory. In return, Lloyd proposes her very own idea; that female orgasm is not directly associated to sexual reproduction. In fact, that is another theory she criticises alongside with hormonal determination of sexual behaviour and pair bonding.
Feminism Introduction The theory of feminism sets out to examine gender inequality, and promote women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Feminism is subdivided into many categories. Each type of feminism has it’s own unique views on women’s roles, and status in society. Steven Seidman’s textbook, “Contested Knowledge,” focuses on three main types of feminism. Gynocentric, Difference, and Post-modern feminism are the three fields of feminism that are explored in chapter 14.
The fields that have been greatly influenced by sex and gender are physical anthropology, social and cultural, and archaeology. The importance of the study of sex and gender has greatly opened up the field to the study of women, and has expanded the field from as Miller (1993) puts it “that anthropology has been and still remains to a large degree a male-biased discipline”. The field of anthropology expanded to include more feminist scholars in the 1960’s and 1970’s, and it was during this time that social/cultural anthropologists had a desire to reveal the “invisible” world of women that had been previously ignored (Miller 1993). In the field of physical anthropology most past works and studies have been concerned with gender differences. According to McCown, as cited by Miller (1993) the study of human evolution is still male-biased as evidenced, among other things, by the use of male skeletal remains as the standard measure and the great preponderance of male primate skulls kept in museums (p. 13).
Modern context in where social movement and increasing gender and equality threaten the traditional male dominance may be directed on those woman who challenge the power of a man and the status (e.g. career women), as well as towards women who are alleged as using their sexual appeal to gain power over men. However, sexual reproduction and the dependency and intimacy that man have on women and the domestic fulfillment of women. These roles create a dependency and intimacy between the two counterbalances the sexist hostility with a subjectively benevolent view of women. As per the 22-item ambivalent sexism Inventory (ASI; Glick & Fiske, 1996) initiated and validated in six
Atwood discusses the several genres of fiction that are available in this time and explains how this is not only a time of gender crossover but of genre crossover. By using the comparison she shows how literature has evolved as well as gender relations. In conclusion Margaret Atwood’s speech “spotty handed villainess” is a speech that explores the flaws in extreme feminism, challenges the patriarchal order and examines the intentions of literature and fiction. The speech still has relevance today as it examines gender roles and expectations in modern day
In this paper, I will argue for Butler’s view on how certain gender performance is restricted in these numerous fields, and how Ms. Butler would object to these various situations. In the opening statement of Gender Trouble, Butler states, “feminist theory has assumed that there is some existing identity, understood through the category of women, who initiates feminist interests and goals.” (CITE GENDER TROUBLE PAGE 1 HERE) By this quote, she explains that feminist theory created the problem that it represents, while at the same time preventing its own progression. She supports this claim with her primary example of gender restriction in the field of representation in politics. Although this problem has no surefire resolution, it is suggested that in order for women to have true political visibility, the development of an identity that truly represents one as an individual is key. Butler suggests the following theory as a solution to these multifaceted complications.
The Cyborg Manifesto How does Haraway’s image of the cyborg relate to traditional notions of binaries such as male/female and nature/culture? Reference at least one other theorist in your answer. Introduction First published in the socialist review in 1985 Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century is one of, if not the, seminal text of post-modern feminism and has also been very influential in terms of literary theory. In an introduction to The Haraway Reader (2004) she describes the manifesto as a desperate effort in the early Reagan years to “hold together impossible things that all seemed true and necessary simultaneously”. The manifesto is both a call to action that demonstrates political intent and a critique of essentialist feminisms and identity theory.
next page To what extent do advertisements affect our sex-role perception? There have been many studies about exposure to media and its effects on human beings. In this study, we aim to look specifically at the effect of exposure to magazine advertisements on female college students’ sex-role perception. Sex-roles are “attitudes, behaviors, rights, and responsibilities that a society associates with each sex” (Holt & Ellis, 1998, as cited by Konrad & Harris, 2002, p. 2). Our perception of sex-roles could be either liberal or conservative.
What we must understand is advertisement is all about appearances. It is also about information and what excites us as consumers. Stereotypes alone pave the way to sexism and the idea that one sex is superior to the other. For the purpose of this paper the advertisement projected toward women will be ad number one and the advertisement projected toward men will be ad number two. First let us look at advertisement one.
Through a feminist critique of Othello, it is possible to examine the influences of sexism in the society by inspecting the construction of the patriarchy, the idea that gender is not the same as sex, and lastly, the construction of femininity within the play. Feminism, is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary to be “the advocacy of women’s rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes”, and as A. Balu Vijayaraghavan said, by applying feminist criticism, one could “investigate how Shakespeare’s plays relate to the codes and conventions of the gender system specific to the early modern period”, as well as having an understanding of “how thoroughly Shakespeare shared the gender assumptions of his own time and the ways in which his plays must have disrupted these assumptions”. The