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FEM1100 - Women, Gender, Feminism: An introduction WEEK 1 Jay smooth Video: Systemic Racism 1. What are the four levels of racism Jay Smooth discusses? - Internalized racism: all the prejudice or biases you may have within yourself - Interpersonal racism: when we act out the internalized racism on eachother. It is individual racism These 2 levels are individual racism. - Institutional racism: Occurs within institutions and systems of power,, like schools, governments, corporations, etc. - Structural racism: Occurs among institutions and across society. These are 2 levels of systemic racism. 2. According to Jay Smooth, why is it important to be systemically aware? - We often fail to recognize systemic racism and mainly focus on individual racism, Race forward found that about 2/3rds of race-founded news coverage fails to be systemically aware. And that is a problem when we only focus on individual racism because it encourages us to see racism only as a product of overt intentional racial acts by individuals that can be fixed by simply shaming and correcting those individual defects and that things like having a black president mean there is no longer racism. We need to be aware of systemic racism like incarceration rates of people of colour, immigration policies, inconsistency in education or healthcare, etc. Activity: 1. In what ways does this article individualize racism? Why is this a problem? - solely looking at the celebrities who do the nominations rather than the Oscars itself or even bigger the system in place that encourages white superiority. - people need to look not at the academy but the fact that the majority of films in 2015 were primarily about white people,, the studios should be changing that. 2. How would a deeper awareness of systemic racism change this article?

WEEK 2 1. What is the significance of the phrase “Ain’t I a woman” in Sojourner Truth’s speech? - Truth was trying to persuade people that women, black or white, should be treated as equal to men. They should have rights just like men. - The phrase ain't I a woman is a rhetorical question that was used to challenge societal norms that women, specifically black women were not equal to men. The phrase highlights the intersectionality of her identity and the double discrimination she faces. - She attended a women's conference and wasn't welcomed, and the white women were worried that people would get caught up with black issues rather than white womens - She is asking to be considered in the women's movement while also saying she can do everything a man can do. - 2. Discuss the role that racism played in defining womanhood for Lee Maracle. - It wasn't just about her being a woman but it also involved her being a native woman and how she faces both racism along with sexism. She reveals the damaging impact that systemic racism has had on Indigenous women's identity and their ability to fully realise their potential as women. And although white women may experience some sexism, Maracle as a native woman receives more oppression, needing to be submissive to men or they are seen as intimidating. 3. How does Julia Serano define the gender binary and cissexism? -There are many different forms of sexism that intersect with each other -gender binary to Julia serano is that being assigned as a man at birth must mean you are expected to grow up to identify as a man -Anyone who does not do this is marginalised by society -julia first starts out explaining that to her it's hard to describe what it's like to be a woman because every women will experience different things and even feminists will deny her to not be enough of a women -cissexism is a form of sexism that specifically targets transgender people. Claiming that transgenders identities aren't as valid as cis peoples. She specifically goes on to say that cis people often refuse to respect trans people's lives experiences and face discrimination in medical instances, employment, or government settings. -Julia says the things trans people go through are parallel to of what women go through like being objectified or not having control of their own body -transmisogyny is a word julia uses to describe the transphobia she faces along with misogyny -trans people of colour are also at the forefront of violence

4. Name and explain 2 examples of the ways that “Muslim feminists reclaim the hijab to fight the patriarchy”, according to Pina Sada. - Nadiya Takolia wears it not to protect from mens lust but to exclaim that her femininity is not available for public consumption. She uses the hijab to prove she is taking control of her femininity and says she doesn't want to be part of a system that demeans women. - Another artist hijabizes sexual advertisements and puts a veil over images of women in bikinis, sending out a message that women's bodies are not for sale. Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan: I’m Bored of Talking about Muslim Women 1. According to Manzoor-Khan, British society tends to «pick and choose the issues that it cares about when it comes to Muslim women». Explain using examples discussed by Manzoor-Khan. - People are mainly focussed on what muslim women wear - Picking and choosing the issues that it cares about is only focussing on muslim men rather muslim women and what they go through - She argues that society often focuses on muslims clothing, like the hijab, but ignore more issues that impact muslim women's lives which reduces muslim women to just what they wear - People fail to recognize what muslim women go through, not just others being sexist but being racist and islamophobic as well. - Sexism is not just a muslim problem, it is an everybody problem - Example: the ban on full body bathing suits at a beach, forcing someone to undress is just as wrong as forcing someone to cover up. 2. Why does Manzoor-Khan suggest that the way we understand domestic violence is hypocritical? Explain. It is hypocritical because it perpetuates a double standard. Domestic violence is often framed as a private issue and is seen as a personal problem rather than a societal issue as well. Domestic violence is often used to justify anti-muslim attitudes. Even though domestic violence is not just seen in muslim households people use that they are muslim to kind of ignore that whole issue. WEEK 3

1. What is “the bathroom problem”, according to Jack Halberstam? Use at least one specific example drawn from the reading in your answer. -The bathroom problem is a problem faced by trans people or gender ambiguous people. The bathroom has become a place of fear for some and in some cases leads to questioning and violence. -One example was when Jack was at the airport using the women's washroom, security knocked on the stall, once the security guards heard their voice the security guards quickly apologised. Jack was mistaken for being a boy or man and security was called on them. -Jack says that the bathroom problem has become a political and cultural struggle -Another example: Jess went to use the washroom as a drag queen and two women told her that this was a women's bathroom, claiming to not be able to tell if Jess was male or female, then started laughing and threatened to call security to make sure. Jess says that if they were actually scared they wouldn't be making a mockery of jess and they wouldnt do this to a guy -The idea that women call out other non-feminine women suggests that they are putting energy into policing how “feminine” another woman is, it's less about them using the washroom and more about policing these women. -Mens room are for sexualization, and the segregation protects women from male predators but this also extends an out-dated idea of gender. -The bathroom problem is just that but rather better described in terms of violent enforcement to our gender system 2. According to Rebecca Jade, the assignment of sex and gender is anti-black (5). Explain this idea using a specific example drawn from the reading. -Jade argues that the ways in which gender is assigned upon individuals reinforces white supremacist and capitalist systems of oppression. She argues that the very notion of a binary gender system, which categorises individuals as either male or female based on their genitals is inherently anti-black, as it fails to recognize the diversity and complexity of gender and sexuality within Black communities -She uses the idea that white men are seen as strong, dominant, smart, confident… women are seen as submissive, kind, weak, emotional, maternal… but if look at it from another perspective black men are seen as strong, violent, angry, hypersexual, stupid, dirty… black women are seen as submissive, aggressive, angry, hypersexual, stupid. -This shows that even within gender binary POC are not the standard but white people are -She uses an example of “healthy lungs”, before slavery was abolished they claimed black people are justified slaves because they have worse lung capacity than white people so labour will keep them healthy but to her surprise she went to the doctor to get her lungs checked and it was based on sex. But this doesn't account for intersex people or transgender people. People can be diagnosed wrong based on this cause if the standard is to blow a 10 for male and 7 for female, blowing a 6 as a female would be okay but what if i was born a man blowing a 6 could be life threatening. 3. For Chelsea Vowel, “the goal is not to attain gender equality, but rather to restore Indigenous nationhood, which includes gender equality and respect for gender fluidity” (2). Explain this in your own words.

Indigenous women and two-spirited people experience all of the barriers faced by Settler women and LGBT people, as well as the barriers experienced by Indigenous people in a state defined by Settler colonialism. These barriers cannot be sifted out and separated from one another. If we restore indigenous nationhood, we are also promoting gender equality and fluidity. Gender equality mainly relies on western society whereas restoring an indigenous nationhood would rely on all of society. Indigenous and white people do not experience the same things and therefore their issues are not the same 4. According to Claire Ainsworth, “sex can be much more complicated than it at first seems”. Explain the role that chromosomes, hormones and genetics play in blurring binary understandings of sex using specific examples from the reading to support your answer. - Society has yet to catch up with biology on the idea of sex. - There is a lot of social pressure to conform to a binary model - People who are intersex will often undergo surgery to ‘normalise’ their genitals - Example: a baby born with DSD endured surgery to assign the child as female but that baby grew up to identify as a male - Biology says sex is a spectrum, cells, chromosomes and hormones can affect someone's gender identity and if they are intersex they may not identify as strictly female or male. - Chromosomes challenge the idea of sex because some may have different makeups of chromosomes that makeup both male or female - Activist Janet Mock Flips the Script on Reporter: Asks Her to Prove Her Womanhood 1. What does flipping this interview script reveal about cissexism? Cissexism is a prejudice against transgender ppl - Cisgender is someone who identifies as their sex that they were assigned at birth. - This interview reveals the deep nature of cissexism and how transgender women are seen as not real women and their experiences and identities are not valid. They are constantly questioned and asked deeply personal questions about their bodies. WEEK 4 (What is intersectionality?) Name and explain one specific example of intersectional analysis from the video “What is Intersectionality”

- Because a company hired black men and white women, the courts concluded that a company was not being discriminatory against black women. But black women were experiencing both racism and sexism at the same time. - White women and black women may both experience sexism but a black woman may have deeper concerns and may experience more boldly, and may not be taken as seriously. Therefore white women and black women will experience different sexism - If there is a panel of women talking about feminist issues ut all the women are white, cis-gendered, able-bodied women then this panel will not be addressing all women and white able bodied women's issues are the only issues being considered and the idea of white superiority is reinforced - An oscar winner said that people of the lgbtq community and POC need to fight for “us” now, referring to women but making the assumption that people apart of the lgbtq cant be women or poc cant be women also reinforcing the notion that only white women's issues should be considered. - These examples prove that different women or people of different colours, religions, orientations, etc will experience oppression and marginalisation differently than just the average white woman, and other factors need to be considered to fully understand women's issues as a whole and not just white,able bodied women. How does an intersectional lens change the way we think about the issue of abortion? Non-intersectional : women should have the right to choose. Intersectional: everyone of all colours, sexual orientation, social status, etc should have access to abortion. What is reproductive justice? What are the three characteristics of the movement named in the video? The movement was founded by black women, and includes lots of 1. diversity (women of colour, young women, low-income, lgbtq), this movement is 2. multi-issue ( looks at issues surrounding native women, lack of reproductive rights that some people may face, right not to be shackled during delivery), 3. grassroots organising - this requires collective support and people in the community Reproductive Justice: goes beyond the pro-choice/pro-life debate and has three primary principles: (1) the right not to have a child; (2) the right to have a child; and

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