Wednesday, December 7, 2016

MEN, MASCULINITIES, AND FEMINIST THEORY

This chapter on masculinity by Judith Kegan Gardiner, examines, from a historical and theoretical perspective, masculinity and feminism and how they interact.  Gardiner goes all the way back to ancient Greece and Aristotle.  “The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle portrayed women as naturally men’s inferiors in terms of reason.” 


Of the proponents of women at that time, Gardiner said they “repeatedly asked if God and nature had made women so clearly inferior to men, why were such strong social inducements necessary to retain their subjugation?”  In the chapter, she also touches on white feminism and its implications, as well as “multidimensional feminist theories,” or intersectionality.



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