Gender In History Analysis

Throughout this course, we learned that women’s studies originated as a concern at the time that “women and men noticed the absence, misrepresentation, and trivialization of women [in addition to] the ways women were systematically excluded from many positions of power and authority” (Shaw, Lee 1). In the past, men had more privileges than women. Women have battled for centuries against certain patterns of inadequacy that all women experience. Every culture and customs has divergent female

In Joan Scott’s article Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis, she analyzes the root of gender and its relation to power. Gender is assumed to be directly linked with sex, but Scott asserts that sex and gender are quite distinct; while sex is a biological phenomenon, gender is a socially constructed power hierarchy and it is not biologically predetermined. Gender is used to create and enforce hierarchical relations of power between men and women, and as a result, women become subordinate to men. The hierarchies tend to be accepted as natural, but in actuality, they are socially determined relations that have no relation with sexuality. For Scott (1986), there are four important components of defining gender: 1) culturally common

Throughout history, women were labeled as the inferior sex. It wasn’t until 1920—less than one hundred years ago—that women obtained the right to vote in the United States with the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment (History, par. 11). In recent years, women have obtained much more respect than their ancestors, but sexism still runs rampant in various parts of the world. The social realm is not the only thing affected by male dominance; birth rates and population growth rates in countries such as India and China are also greatly altered by gender imbalance. Mara Hvistendahl provides information on the negative impact of global gender imbalance in her essay, Missing: 163 Missing Women. Alternatively, Kwame Anthony Appiah suggests in his

When putting together historical accounts, historians can run into a lot of problems trying to discover the truth about an event. These problems stem from the fact that history was not often recorded from multiple or impartial sources, so as a result, historians often have to read in between the lines to decipher the facts about a historical event. One particular problem that historians will run into is the issue of gendering. Gendering is when an event is examined with an understanding of how gender can influence all aspects of a society, and in turn, historical events (Abina, p. 163-64). This problem was especially relevant to Trevor Getz and Liz Clarke as they assembled the graphic history of Abina Mansah in Abina and the Important Men. The story revolves around a young woman in the Gold Coast in 1876 bringing a man who had enslaved her to court. In this story, gender is the underlying driving force for many of the events that take place, and can be seen even in parts of the story that were created by the authors. Gendered issues can sometimes be subtle, as they are often unspoken aspects of society, reinforced by cultural norms and behaviors. As a result, gendering was the most important problem faced when constructing this narrative, because gender relations add a series of nuances to social interactions that are easy to overlook despite the deep impacts they can create.

Drawing on Joan Scott's "Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis" and on Alice Kessler-Harris's "Just price, Free Market and the Value of Women", the following questions will be answered, How has the 'equality' of women and men been expressed according to both Scott and Kessler-Harris? Why 'gender' has become a "useful category of historical analysis" for historians? How different (other) historians view 'gender'? What are Kessler-Harris's views on the "equality," "comparable worth" and "equal pay?" Lastly, the importance of the two articles will be highlighted as it relates to the contribution to gender studies.

an image of the role of woman in the past, and how she contributed to

History has always been heavily dominated by men, and for women to earn a spot in history means that they would need to do something extraordinary. In “Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History,” by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, she points out several famous women in history that fit the mold of extraordinary. Through discussing Mae West, Rosa Parks, and Martha Ballard, Ulrich makes the claim that women rarely make history unless they have broken away from the norms of their society. By explaining the individual historical cases and her own opinion, accompanied by visual representations of her view, Ulrich argues how history dictates who gets a spot in history and who gets forgotten. However, a place in history depends on how out of the ordinary

The biggest main idea of this article was that women are not remembered in history. As said by Ulrich, “Many people think women are less visible in history than men because their bodies impel them to nurture” (658). Although, women were

By asking this, you can infer that the friend asking the question is operating based on a sex differences/gender wars perspective, because that’s probably all they’ve been exposed to. To answer their question about what I have learned, I would first explain how I’ve come to understand the myth of the gender wars. Not only does the term “gender wars” outline differences with “opposite” sexes, implying a binary approach, but it implies that there are vast differences between men and women. As the text suggests, “If one thinks of gender and sex relations as a constant battle, with casualties, assigned sides, enemies, and weapons, the ultimate goals of surrender or annihilation become evident. The war metaphor normalizes the idea that relations between the sexes are a perpetual conflict,” (Palczewski xv). I think that explaining the myth of the gender wars would allow me to answer their question concisely, as it explains why studying gender and communication is so

Evolutionary gender determinism proves that men and women are different, not only in a physical way, but in a psychological way as well. As far as history can determine, men were always the hunters who were dominant and competitive. On the other hand, women were known as the gathers, who were cooperative and capable of doing several things at a time. Since men and women are different in their make up. It is a struggle for the two genders to live together and maintain equality and harmony without one gender dominating over the other. In The Gate to Womens Country, Sheri Tepper brings forth a solution that allows the two genders to coincide with each other. She gives a somewhat feminist view in her novel,

Barbara J. Risman (1998:2) defines gender essentialism as “the assumption that basic differences in orientation and personality between men and women are rooted in biology and nature.” Gender essentialism is found in many different aspects of western culture or more specifically American culture. One way gender essentialism subtly sneaks its way into our culture is through music. An example of this occurrence would be the song “God Made Girls” by RaeLynn.

The idea of gender effects humanity tremendously, it is the underlying factor that shapes society as a whole. The gender of a person defines who they are for the rest of their lives. Their roles in society is shaped by their gender, it even establishes how a person views others, and humanity as a whole. Literature such as Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Side of Darkness and Marjane Satrapi’s The Complete Persepolis tries to tackle the tough subject that is gender-identification. Gender expectations and stereotypes hinder many individuals, especially women from reaching their full potential. This issue can only be resolved by educating the general populous by showing them a culture that has gender-equality through proper moral ethics.

Furthermore, women are often seen as a symbol of cultural preservation and a measure of family honor. In conditions of war and colonial rule, which represents an attack on men’s honor and dignity, attention to women’s roles as prescribed by cultural tradition is often intensified. However, the unusual conditions of war and resistance to colonial rule also may provide openings for women to reconfigure their roles and rights, based on new needs of society.

Just as someone believes that the term history comes off as too masculine, someone else could feel that the word herstory is too feminine. Various perspectives creates conflict for both words because everyone looks at things through different lenses. Though both words contribute to sex and gender, each is biased to people who classify themselves in a category different from male and female. History may view thing in light of what men experience and herstory may illustrate what women experience, but what about the experiences of someone who identifies as intersex or considers themselves both masculine and feminine? Therefore, I disagree that the term herstory is valuable in communicating sex and gender.

In “Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis,” Joan W. Scott provides many angles to explore the relevancy of gender. The first thing that needs to be examined is her argument. The main argument that Joan W. Scott is trying to make is how beneficial to history using gender as a category for analysis would turn out. Another factor that needs to be made in assessing her article is how she presents her argument and findings. Scott formats her article with a beginning, middle, and end. She begins by defining “gender,” and how that term has been used in general. She goes on to describe some of the theories that have analyzed gender. The next part that she explains is how, of late, politics has been coincided with the analysis of gender. Finally, she ends her paper by providing her bottom-line opinion about the analysis and approach of gender.