Feminism: the belief that women should have economic, political, and social equality with men

1. Feminism:the belief that women should have economic, political, and social equality with men • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YA13GNT8Mc&feature=related

2. Bra burning, hairy legs, militant, anti-feminine, female supremists, he-woman types, lesbians, dykes, man-haters, man-bashers, femi-nazi, angry, radical – The F-Word; negative connotations of Feminism Do you: • Want equal rights? • Want equal pay for equal work? • Want equal opportunities? • Want to end violence toward women? • Not want to be judged by polarized gender roles? • Want control over your own body? • Want to end sexism no matter how ingrained it is? Then … chances are, you support Feminism Leslie Knope’s “I’m just a girl” rant on Hulu, which calls out just about every gender stereotype http://www.hulu.com/watch/110482 1:30

3. Feminism is a social theory and political movement about the experiences of women. • Focuses on gender inequality and promotion of women's rights • All these are Feminist issues: reproductive rights, domestic violence, maternity leave, equal pay, sexual violence, sexual harassment, discrimination, stereotyping, sexual objectification, oppression, patriarchy. • Modern feminist theory usually associated with Western middle-class academia. But Feminist activism crosses class and race boundaries: genital mutilation in Sudan or glass ceiling in U.S. • Some issues, such as rape, incest, mothering, are universal.

4. History of Feminism • Puritans = wife is subordinate to husband, raise God-fearing children • 1700s – Abigail Adams “Remember the ladies … Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands.”

5. History of Feminism • 1800s -- Be pious, pure, and submissive to men = “the natural state" of womanhood • Wife = “cultivator of morality” for husband and children • true fulfillment to be found in these values • Cult of True Womanhood or the Cult of Domesticity.

6. 3 Waves of Feminism • 1st: challenging laws restricting women (primarily suffrage) • 2nd: 1960s – economic equality, minority rights • “Ms.” “herstory,” “womyn,” “wimmin,” “womban,” “ovester” • 3rd: 1990s – challenging common definitions of gender and sexuality

7. 1st Wave • 18th Amendment • Women’s Christian Temperance Union, Frances Willard, Carrie Nation • 19th Amendment • Susan Anthony, Cary Chapman Catt, Alice Paul, World War I • Social • Margaret Sanger, flappers, Clara Bow “the `It’ Girl,” girl Fridays, Emily Post, Georgia O’Keefe

8. 2nd Wave • Famous feminists • The Pill • Playgirl • Equal Pay Act • Title IX and Education Equity Act • Pregnancy Discrimination Act • Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best • William’s Doll and Free to be … You and Me

9. Famous Feminists • Simone de Beauvoir – The Second Sex analyzed women’s oppression • break assumptions that women = “deviations,” “abnormality” • Betty Friedan – “the problem with no name” • The Feminine Mystique: the stifling role of homemaker • Co-founder and 1st president of NOW • Gloria Steinem – Ms. Magazine • Infamous undercover expose as Playboy bunny • "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle" • Naomi Wolf – The Beauty Myth • Fashion and beauty industries exploit women • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyLSstqMvH8&feature=feedrec_grec_index

10. Gloria Steinem Activist and founder of Ms. Magazine

11. Betty Friedan: “The Mother of Modern Feminism” “The Problem that Has No Name” (1963)

12. NOW: National Organization for Women (1966) Goals: -more child care facilities -improved educational opportunities for women -bans on discrimination in job ads and hiring practices

14. “The Pill” (1960) Allowed women greater reproductive freedom Early on, access was limited to married women only in many states  “Sexual Revolution”

15. Sexual Revolution • Henry Miller: writer who challenged cultural values and moral attitudes • Publication of his Tropic of Cancer in U.S. led to obscenity trials that test laws on pornography • ’64, Supreme Court ruled against the charges of obscenity • Represented one of the notable events of the “sexual revolution”

16. Presidential Commission on the Status of Women (1961) Women were paid far less than men, even when doing the same jobs Women were seldom promoted to management positions, regardless of their education, experience, and ability

17. Pregnancy Discrimination Act (1978) • Banned: • not hiring pregnant women or women likely to become pregnant • -firing pregnant women • -firing women on maternity leave • -docking or lowering pay for pregnant women

20. 2nd Wave, continued • Lucille Ball • “Guidelines for Teenage Girl” from Home Ec textbook • Sex and the Single Girl • Mini-skirt • Protesting Miss America pageant • ERA • Phyllis Schlafly • Integrating “boys’ clubs”: military, NASA, Supreme Court

21. The Bikini • Invented by French engineer Louis Réard  in 1946 • Named it after Bikini Atoll, the site of Operation Crossroads (4th A-bomb) in July `46. • The new, controversial swimwear would create a “burst of excitement like a nuclear device”. • Earlier, French one-piece suit was called “the Atome”; Réard claimed to have "split the Atome"

22. Mini-Skirt • Mary Quant ran a popular clothes shop in London, selling her own designs. In the late 1950s she began experimenting with shorter skirts, culminating in the miniskirt in 1965. • Spread beyond the “Swinging London” of the 60s into a major international trend

23. Sex and the Single Girl • 1962 bestseller by Helen Gurley Brown -- an advice book that encouraged women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships outside of marriage • The original title was Sex for the Single Girl, but was changed since that seemed it “was advocating sex for all single girls” • 2003 edition is endorsed on the back cover by Sex and the City: “a direct descendent of Brown’s sexual politics … connects financial independence with sexual liberation” • Also included advice on driving, eating, decorating, fashion, cooking, sewing, hair bleaching, and contact lenses • Mad Men creator attributes Sex and the Single Girl and The Feminine Mystique as influencing the creation of his female characters and scenarios Betty Friedan found Brown’s message “obscene and horrible”

24. Miss America Pageant - 1968

26. Equal Right Amendment (E.R.A.) (1972) Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

27. Phyllis Schlafly – STOP E.R.A. The ERA is the work of radical feminists who “hate men, marriage, and children” and whose oppression existed “only in their distorted minds.” • Women like Schlafly feared: • ERA would result in a female draft • ERA would result in the breakdown of the family • ERA would enable husbands to leave wives without $$ support • ERA would lead to the elimination of separate bathrooms and other public facilities

28. 3rd Wave • Backlash: The Undeclared War Against Women • Anita Hill • “Year of the Woman – 1992” (Janet Reno, Madeline Albright) • Naomi Wolf and The Beauty Myth • Feminist media products (Bridget Jones’ Diary, Sex and the City, Murphy Brown, and Ally McBeal) • Violence Against Women Act • Take Our Daughters to Work Day • Glass Ceiling Commission

29. Naomi Wolf • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCQI-ougLsg 5:10

31. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmifO2sKT7g&feature=related Submissive and docile housewife

32. The Legacy of Women’s Rights

34. Aristotle (300s B.C.) • women and children: neither developed rationality – keep out of public life – men should rule over both – “woman is a defective man” (Freud: females are defective males: “lack penises”) • women’s role in conception: supply the “flower pot”

35. Religion – all religions hostile toward women – man created by God “in his own image” • the rib: women subordinate to men because made from them • Garden of Eden (women = source of evil) • Eve succumbed to temptation, led Adam to sin • punished: Adam has to work, Eve bears children in pain

36. Themes of Predominant Imagery Frightening Females • anatomical parts are polluting • seclusion during and after childbirth, menstruation • men prohibited from sex before religious rituals or war • fearsome objects: witches, sorceresses, wicked stepmother (no male counterpart) • Hindu goddess Kali: woman as blood-stained monster with fangs • terrifying females of Greek mythology: Scylla (the squeezer), Charybdis (whirlpool), Sirens (singers), Medusa

37. Kali

38. Themes of Predominant Imagery Venerated Madonnas • idealized objects of love: young and pure • unbiological: no blemishes, no body functions • perpetual virginity symbolizes the “good” woman • idealized woman, dangerous elements removed, desires nothing, demands nothing, receives worship, but not equality

39. Themes of Predominant Imagery Sex Objects • Witch image: sex is dangerous to men • Madonna image: sex is unnecessary • Porn reduces humans to objects – witches consume men; objects want to be consumed: reduced to merchandise: “sugar,” “honey,” “dish,” “peach” • object as accessible, harmless: “chick,” “bunny” • reforming bodies to conform to male erotic expectations (foot bindings, neck rings, corsets, padded bras, silicone injections) • “clothing is a costume, make-up is a mask”

41. Math in Mean Girls • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIMSC-RWvF8 9:20