Harding's Standpoint Epistemology And Haraway 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

Fahnestock investigates how original science writing is primarily devoted to presenting facts and assumes the audience has relevant background knowledge and understands the significance. Conversely, accommodated writings shift the genre to become epideictic and thus neglect addressing facts, instead focus on emphasizing the importance of a discovery. One reason Fahnestock provides for the shift in genre is in order for an audience to realize the significance of a discovery accommodators must ensure the audience is able to accept a fact and align it according with existing beliefs. To ensure they are successful, Fahnestock argues that accommodators rely on

It is significant to understand that the beliefs that there is a difference in objectivity based on gender is a societal and cultural, based on the upbringing and environment. When looking at the diction used, Keller implies that although these ideas are man-made by cultural upbringing, they are able to thrive on their own. Because these “cultural and physiological forces” have not been publicly challenged before Keller, they have made their way to the day-to-day lives of many communities, including the scientific community that Keller is focusing on as a whole. Keller not only addresses that these believed differences are purely societal, but later goes on to explain where the societal fallacies come from, therefore, strengthening her challenge.

Throughout Gender and Race in the Physical Sciences, I have been struck by how rarely in STEM we shed a light on the women of color that already exist and thrive in the sciences. Often, when we discuss diversity in the sciences, we only discuss it in the frame of a problem. More specifically, we tend to focus on the problem of there not being enough of these women in the field. As a result of the lack of attention paid to pioneering women in STEM, many young people of all backgrounds are inclined to believe that there are no women of color doing great things in the field- that there are no role models. With this paper, and an on-campus event to be held in the spring, I hope to challenge people’s assumptions about what a scientist looks like, and inspire people through a discussion of innovative women of color.

As per research ‘gender’ provides a perspective from which one could examine the biases that exist in the larger society. Some believe that to arrive at a more eloquent understanding of the problems of women in science , one should begin by asking what is the nature of science space that leads to under-representation and marginalisation of women rather than questioning the situation of a woman’s life that makes it difficult for her to pursue science.

An individual's social location - meaning their ascribed identities, roles and relationships - are of central significance to feminists as it influences the power one possesses, which in traditional IR theory is gendered and patriarchical. According to Christine Sylvester, these scholars suggest that conventional IR has avoided thinking of men and women in the capacity of embodied and socially constituted subject categories by classifying them into 'neutral' categories . Most theorists too readily accept that women are located inside the typically separate sphere of domestic life and "...retreating to abstractions, i.e. the state, that mask a masculine identity." Feminist analysts are suspicious of ungendered IR texts and champion for their subversion while many seek to implement replacement theories. These theorists contend that identity, gender, and indeed women, are social constructs. Key feminist conceptions include liberal ideas of women's equality, socialist conceptions of a sexual division of labour and the Freudian suggestion that identities are produced, often within the evolution of patriarchy . Many academics share the assumption that the world would be less competitive and less violent if women gained dominance in positions of power .

Major Claim: The objectification and “currency” of a women’s body is the pivotal focus for the readings presented in class. It is discussed in the readings about how women are only considered for their looks, and not their personal depth or knowledge. Additionally, intersectionality is observed and how these objectifications effect marginalized groups. Finally, the term of enlightened sexism is introduced and how this concept is dangerous to and reverses feminism.

In Wittig's “One is Not Born a Woman,” biology is a classifier that naturalizes gender distinction between women and men based on the physical discrepancies. Biology, as a field of science associated with historical evidence, constructs social conventions of gender difference and instills the idea as a permanent fact. The differing role of women and men throughout history is justified by the term “biological predisposition” and “holds onto the idea that the capacity to give birth (gender role based on biological function) is what defines a woman” (Wittig 10). The notion of biology in this term defers authority to the image of science -reasoning that concludes to a fixed and proven answer. The deference

An Examination On Sociocultural “Marking” of Women – Rhetorical Analysis of “There Is No Unmarked Woman” by Deborah Tanen

Amid the mid 1900s, women were a rarity in the field of science. Female participation in the field was not encouraged. Women were often discouraged from advancing their education and indulging in advanced academics solely due to gender. The relentless acts of courageous women continued to challenge the lack of diversity within the science world. Rachel Carson was a pioneer in changing the face of science. Carson broke barriers with her ecological education, forcing the acknowledgment of female researchers today.

Generally feminist criticism examines how men and women are presented in artifacts. The human race has a

She argues that white, middle-class men have pioneered the field of science since its inception. Since science has been championed exclusively by this particular party, science discounts aspects from other groups, especially females. In doing so, science is exposed a misguided subjective ideology that casts the feminine perspective—in particular—to the wayside. In addition, this narrow, one-sided mindset lacks the ideas from those who are nonwhite and not middle-class. Keller’s argument regarding science being an “objectivist discourse” is a double-edged sword. In her attempts to critique the whole population of “white, middle-class men,” she ultimately generalizes them. In her arguments, she makes a sweeping assumption that science is a white supremacist, capitalistic, and male-dominated discourse. Her generalizations from which her argumentation is based off is flawed. The basis of her arguments is coded in sexism, classism, and racism. Keller’s entire claim revolves around how science being dominated by middle-class white men is unacceptable. Her claim that science “has evolved under the formative influence of a particular ideal of masculinity” insinuates that science heavily favors white, middle-class men and disregards everyone else. Her assertion of underrepresentation presupposes that these white, middle-class men regard only themselves and fail to represent the rest of the population. This baseless claim paints

Reading descriptions in medical texts, Martin wondered how male-oriented views from textbooks matched so cohesively with those of the interviewees. After some research, Martin realized the thought process of woman during labor matched the text book definitions due the definitions men witnessed during childbirth and illustrated in text books and woman culturally internalized and learned through ideology as a description of contractions vs. giving birth.

Epistemology is a study that seeks to elaborate what knowledge is in the real sense. Riley explains how feminism has been a hindrance to access of standard amenities and knowledge in the society. Females have been oppressed in the various fields terming these career paths as gender-sensitive. Feminism is the ideology and general concept that seeks to deal with equality of those rights given to men and women. Women have been deemed to be of the weaker sex and feminism has gone a long way to negating this notion so that even women will have the courage to face their everyday challenges. This paper will look into Riley’s opinion on feminism seeking to agree with her perspective of argument.

Feminist interaction with the philosophy of science, and in particular a feminist interpretation of epistemology, concerns the extent to which bias influences and shapes knowledge within the scientific community, and means to rectify this. There are three main distinctions of feminist philosophy of science - feminist empiricism, standpoint theory, and postmodernism. I am to be comparing and contrasting two of the three, specifically feminist standpoint theory and empiricism. I shall argue that standpoint theory and empiricism are both legitimate methods for feminist epistemology, yet standpoint theory is a more applicable and plausible method for the analysis of science in particular. I will first explain the main tenets of the feminist philosophy of science, going on to then explain reasons why standpoint theory and postmodernism are legitimate tools of analysis in their own right, and then evaluate their legitimacy.