Author Archives: tekanji

FAQ: What is “sexism”?

October 19, 2007 · by · in clarifying-concepts, FAQ, introductory, sexism

Short definition: Sexism is both discrimination based on gender and the attitudes, stereotypes, and the cultural elements that promote this discrimination. Given the historical and continued imbalance of power, where men as a class are privileged over women as a class (see male privilege), an important, but often overlooked, part of the term is that […]

Feminism Friday: The origins of the word “sexism”

October 19, 2007 · by · in Feminism Friday, Second Wave, sexism

Although it has long since become a household phrase, the origins of the term “sexism” are not widely known. In researching this article, I found that the term is most commonly dated to the 1968 paper “Freedom for Movement Girls – Now”, however there are actually two other known appearances of this word prior to […]

FAQ: What’s wrong with saying that things happen to men, too?

October 18, 2007 · by · in clarifying-concepts, FAQ, FWW, masculinity, netiquette, privilege

Short answer: Nothing in and of itself. The problem occurs when conversations about women can’t happen on unmoderated blogs without someone showing up and saying, “but [x] happens to men, too!” (also known as a “Patriarchy Hurts Men, Too” or PHMT argument, or a “What About The Mens?” or WATM argument). When this happens, it […]

FAQ: What roles should men play in feminism?

October 18, 2007 · by · in allies, FAQ

Just as there’s no easy answer to the question of whether or not a man should call himself a “feminist” or go by a different term, there’s no easy answer for what role men should play in feminism. Below are a collection of different thoughts and perspectives of what men can do to be good […]

FAQ: What is the “male gaze”?

August 26, 2007 · by · in clarifying-concepts, FAQ

Before talking about the male gaze, it is first important to introduce its parent concept: the gaze. According to Wikipedia the gaze is a concept used for “analysing visual culture… that deals with how an audience views the people presented.” The types of gaze are primarily categorized by who is doing the looking. While the […]

FAQ: What is “Post-feminism”?

August 25, 2007 · by · in feminism

According to Wikipedia post-feminism began in the early 1980′s, though the origins, according to Hawkensworth, seem to be from as early as the 1970′s, when journalists and academics began proclaiming that feminism is dead. The basic idea behind the movement is that feminism has achieved its goals and now it is time to distance ourselves […]

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