Women's Realities, Women's Choices An Introduction to Women's Studies

by Hunter College Women's Studies Collective; Bates, Ulku U.; Denmark, Florence L.; Held, Virginia; Helly, Dorothy O.; Hune, Shirley; Lees, Susan H.; Mascia-Lees, Frances E.; Pomeroy, Sarah B.

• ISBN13: 9780195150353
• ISBN10: 019515035X
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-03
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

This landmark text introduces readers to the field of women's studies by analyzing the contradictions between social and cultural "givens" and the realities that women face in society. Written collectively by nine authors from various disciplines, Women's Realities, Women's Choices, Third Edition, has been updated to incorporate the latest research and statistics in the field. Covering the most recent developments in politics, labor, family life, religion, and culture, the book also features extensive research on relevant social issues, such as the impact of the post-Soviet world on women's lives, the experience of homosexuality in family life, and the effects of economic globalization on women worldwide. This edition features a discussion of the cultural construction of women's bodies, the expectations of girlhood, new perspectives on women's partnering roles, and the serious health issues women face today. Boxes and pictures now contain more information on the current cultural scene, including material on popular culture and women in music. Examining women as individuals, as family members, and as a force in the greater social fabric, Women's Realities, Women's Choices remains the most timely, comprehensive, and compelling introduction to the field of women's studies.

Table of Contents

Boxes and Tables	xiii
Foreword to the Third Edition by Donna E. Shalala	xvi
Preface	xvii
The Authors	xix
Introduction	1	(14)
WHY WOMEN'S STUDIES	2	(3)
Women's Studies in the Twenty-First Century,	4	(1)
WHAT IS WOMEN'S STUDIES?	5	(5)
Women's Studies and Feminism,	6	(1)
History of Women's Studies,	7	(1)
Missing Information About Humans,	8	(1)
Changed Views of Women and Men,	9	(1)
ISSUES AND GOALS	10	(2)
Race, Class, and Other Oppressions,	10	(1)
Women's Studies as an Academic Discipline,	10	(1)
Women's Studies as a Source of Strength,	11	(1)
HOW THIS BOOK PRESENTS WOMEN'S STUDIES	12	(1)
REFERENCES	13	(2)
I. DEFINING WOMEN	15	(154)
1. Imagery and Symbolism in the Definition of Women	19	(29)
THE MEANING OF IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM	20	(1)
Experience, Perception, and the Symbolic Construction of Reality,	20	(1)
Classification and Perception,	20	(1)
Shaping of Reality,	21	(1)
IMAGERY AND SYMBOLISM IN THE DEFINITION OF WOMEN	21	(4)
The Construction of Images and Symbols,	22	(2)
The Use of Symbols and Their Influence,	24	(1)
Language,	24	(1)
Myths, Fantasies, and Imagery,	25	(1)
SOME PREDOMINANT IMAGERY	25	(5)
Frightening Females,	26	(1)
Venerated Madonnas,	26	(2)
Sex Objects,	28	(1)
Earth Mothers,	29	(1)
Woman as Invisible,	29	(1)
THE EFFECT OF THE IMAGES ON WOMEN	30	(1)
CHANGING REALITY BY CHANGING IMAGES	31	(1)
PARTICIPATING IN IMAGERY CONSTRUCTION	32	(1)
WOMEN DEFINE THEMSELVES	32	(10)
Women's Search for Self Through Art,	32	(1)
Historical Perspective,	32	(1)
Contemporary Feminist Imagery,	34	(3)
Women's Search for Self Through Literature,	37	(1)
Discovering Models in Women's Culture,	37	(1)
The Heroine,	38	(1)
Women's Words,	40	(1)
Women's Identity in Utopia,	41	(1)
The Propagation of Feminist Imagery of Women,	42	(1)
CONCLUSIONS: BEING WHOLE	42	(1)
SUMMARY	43	(1)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	44	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	44	(1)
REFERENCES	45	(3)
2. Ideas and Theories About Women	48	(30)
DEFINITIONS AND THEORIES	49	(7)
Women as "Other,"	50	(2)
Women's "Nature,"	52	(1)
Contemporary Efforts to Define Woman,	53	(2)
Rethinking "Knowledge,"	55	(1)
Feminist Diversity,	56	(1)
IDEAS ABOUT FREEDOM AND EQUALITY	56	(7)
Liberalism and Feminism,	58	(2)
Wollstonecraft,	60	(1)
Mill and Taylor,	60	(2)
Contemporary Liberal Feminism,	62	(1)
CONSERVATIVE SENTIMENTS AND FEMINISM	63	(1)
ALTERNATIVE CONTEMPORARY FEMINIST VIEWS	64	(6)
Socialist Feminism,	64	(2)
Radical Feminism,	66	(1)
Other Western Feminisms,	67	(1)
The Ethics of Care,	68	(2)
A FEMINIST AGENDA	70	(2)
Principles in Action,	71	(1)
SUMMARY	72	(2)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	74	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	74	(1)
REFERENCES	74	(4)
3. Women's Bodies	78	(26)
THE BODY AS CULTURAL CONSTRUCT	79	(2)
FEMINISM AND THE BODY	81	(1)
MIND/BODY DUALISM	82	(1)
THE BODY AS NATURAL	83	(2)
THE NATURE OF SEX DIFFERENCES	85	(4)
The Gendered Brain,	86	(1)
Sex(ing) Hormones,	87	(1)
Genital Anatomy,	88	(1)
Chromosomes,	88	(1)
The Politics of "Nature,"	88	(1)
DISCOURSE/KNOWLEDGE/POWER	89	(1)
THE MEDICALIZATION OF WOMEN'S BODIES	89	(2)
DISCOURSES OF SEXUALITY	91	(2)
BODY AS TEXT	93	(1)
THE COMMODIFIED BODY	94	(3)
THE VISIBILITY POLITICS OF THE BODY	97	(2)
THE REPRODUCTIVE POLITICS OF THE BODY	99	(1)
SUMMARY	100	(1)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	101	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	101	(1)
REFERENCES	102	(2)
4. Women's Personalities	104	(34)
EXPLANATIONS FOR DIFFERENCES BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN	105	(4)
Nature Versus Nurture,	105	(3)
Biases in Research Studies,	108	(1)
IS ANATOMY DESTINY?	109	(7)
Evolutionary Theories,	109	(2)
Traditional Psychoanalytical Theory,	111	(1)
ALTERNATIVE FEMINIST PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES	112	(1)
The Importance of Culture,	112	(2)
The Importance of Relatedness,	114	(1)
Feminism and the Lacanian Turn,	115	(1)
COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENTAL THEORY	116	(1)
SOCIALIZATION THEORIES	117	(2)
Social Learning Theory,	117	(1)
Gender Schema Theory,	117	(1)
Social Interactions and Gender Roles,	118	(1)
RESEARCH ON GENDER SOCIALIZATION	119	(7)
The Gender Socialization of White Girls,	121	(3)
The Gender Socialization of African American Girls,	124	(1)
The Gender Socialization of Asian American Girls,	124	(1)
The Gender Socialization of Latina Girls in the United States,	125	(1)
The Impact of Gender Socialization,	125	(1)
IS THERE A LESBIAN PSYCHOLOGY?	126	(2)
WOMEN AND AGING	128	(1)
PSYCHOLOGY AND CULTURE: IMPLICATIONS FOR FEMINISM	129	(1)
SUMMARY	130	(2)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	132	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	132	(1)
REFERENCES	133	(5)
5. Diversity Among Women: Gender, Race, and Class	138	(33)
SOCIAL ROLES AND THE INDIVIDUAL	139	(4)
The Determinants of Role Assignment,	139	(1)
Gender,	139	(1)
Race and Class,	141	(1)
Postmodern Perspectives,	142	(1)
SOCIAL ROLES AND SOCIAL STEREOTYPES	143	(9)
The Social Construction of Gender,	143	(3)
Race,	146	(3)
Ethnicity,	149	(1)
Understanding Contextual Difference,	149	(3)
CLASS, RACE, ETHNICITY, AND GENDER: DISCRIMINATION	152	(1)
RATIONALIZATION AND RESISTANCE	152	(3)
Constraints on Choice,	154	(1)
Resistance,	155	(1)
A New Consciousness of Choice,	155	(1)
COMMONALITIES OF EXPERIENCE	155	(3)
Family Roles,	157	(1)
Alternative Roles,	158	(1)
SOCIETY AND SOCIAL CONTROL	158	(2)
The "Heterosexual Prescription,"	158	(2)
THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF HUMAN BEINGS	160	(1)
SUMMARY	161	(2)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	163	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	163	(1)
REFERENCES	164	(5)
II. FAMILIES	169	(94)
6. Daughters and Sisters	171	(27)
DAUGHTER IN THE FAMILY	172	(4)
Female Infanticide,	172	(1)
The Value of Daughters,	173	(1)
Naming the Daughter,	174	(1)
Daughters' Work,	175	(1)
PARENTAL RELATIONSHIPS	176	(7)
Daughters and Mothers,	176	(6)
Daughters and Fathers,	182	(1)
GIRLHOOD	183	(2)
SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS	185	(4)
Sisters as Opposites and Companions,	186	(1)
Sister-Brother Relations,	187	(2)
INHERITANCE	189	(1)
THE SISTERHOOD OF WOMEN	190	(3)
SUMMARY	193	(1)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	194	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	194	(1)
REFERENCES	195	(3)
7. Family Configurations: Wives, Partners, Alternatives	198	(32)
CONVENTIONAL MARRIAGE	199	(17)
Why Marry?	199	(4)
Whom to Marry,	203	(2)
The Marital Household,	205	(1)
The Incorporated Wife,	206	(1)
Children in the Family,	207	(1)
Western Marriage in Historical Perspective,	208	(3)
Infidelity,	211	(1)
Divorce,	212	(1)
Widowhood,	213	(1)
Marriage as an Institution at the Beginning of the Twenty-First Century,	214	(2)
ALTERNATIVES TO CONVENTIONAL MARRIAGE	216	(9)
Religious Communities,	217	(2)
Laboring Communities,	219	(1)
Utopian and Experimental Communities,	219	(2)
Alternative Families,	221	(1)
Single Parents,	221	(1)
Domestic Partners, Cohabitation, Consensual Unions,	222	(1)
Visiting Unions,	222	(1)
Role Reversals,	223	(1)
Families of Women,	223	(1)
Choosing Not to Mother Childless Couples,	224	(1)
Women on Their Own,	225	(1)
SUMMARY	225	(1)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	226	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	227	(1)
REFERENCES	227	(3)
8. Motherhood	230	(37)
IMAGES OF MOTHERHOOD	232	(7)
Perspectives: Who Creates the linage?	232	(2)
"The Happy Mother": A Western Image as Political Ideology,	234	(2)
"Ethnic Mothers" and Social Mobility,	236	(2)
Motherhood and the Media,	238	(1)
Mothers Speak Out,	239	(1)
PARENTAL BEHAVIOR: "INSTINCT" AND CULTURE	239	(4)
Motherhood: Ideology and Reality,	240	(2)
The Assignment of Motherhood: Whose Interest Does It Serve?	242	(1)
THE CULTURAL SHAPING OF BIOLOGICAL EVENTS	243	(6)
Attitudes Toward Pregnancy,	243	(2)
Childbirth: A Cultural or a Natural Event?	245	(2)
Breast-Feeding: Attitudes and Choices,	247	(2)
SUPPORT SYSTEMS: FATHERS, WOMEN'S NETWORKS, AND INSTITUTIONALIZED AND SOCIETAL SUPPORT	249	(4)
Fathers,	250	(1)
Women's Networks, Community, and Institutionalized Support,	251	(2)
Childrearing Manuals,	253	(1)
CHOICES AND CONTROL: THE POLITICS OF MOTHERHOOD	253	(4)
Whether When, and How Often to Become a Mother,	254	(2)
Control over Children,	256	(1)
Working for Wages,	257	(1)
"UNNATURAL" MOTHERS: MOTHERS WHO GIVE UP THEIR CHILDREN	257	(1)
WOMEN OTHER THAN BIRTH MOTHERS WHO MOTHER	258	(1)
Stepmothers,	258	(1)
Foster Mothers and Adoptive Mothers,	258	(1)
Godmothers,	259	(1)
SUMMARY	259	(1)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	260	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	260	(1)
REFERENCES	261	(2)
III. WOMEN IN SOCIETY	263	(185)
9. Women and Religion	267	(36)
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS	268	(3)
What Is Religion?	268	(1)
Religion and Social Reform,	269	(1)
Established Religions,	270	(1)
Religions in Small-Scale Societies,	270	(1)
World Religions,	270	(1)
ORIGIN MYTHS	271	(7)
Females in the Supernatural World,	271	(1)
Immortal Women: Souls, Saints, and Ghosts,	271	(1)
Goddesses,	274	(1)
The Gender of God,	275	(3)
RELIGION AND SOCIAL CONTROLS	278	(6)
Religion and the Family,	278	(1)
Life-Cycle Rituals,	278	(1)
Sexual Controls,	279	(2)
Protection of Women,	281	(1)
Beyond the Family	281	(1)
Women as Worshipers,	281	(1)
Syncretistic and Evangelistic Religions,	282	(1)
Women and Religious Movements,	282	(1)
Fundamentalism and Women's Human Rights,	283	(1)
WOMEN AS RELIGIOUS LEADERS	284	(5)
Healers,	284	(1)
Missionaries and Martyrs,	286	(1)
Religious Rebels	287	(2)
RELIGIOUS EXPRESSION	289	(4)
The Religious Experiences of Women,	289	(2)
Women and Possession,	291	(1)
Women's Religious Groups and Orders,	292	(1)
WOMEN AND RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES	293	(3)
Leadership by Women,	293	(1)
Protestant Denominations,	293	(1)
Jewish Denominations,	295	(1)
Catholicism	295	(1)
FEMINIST CONTRIBUTIONS TO RELIGIOUS CHANGE	296	(1)
SUMMARY	297	(1)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	298	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	298	(1)
REFERENCES	299	(4)
10. Women and Education	303	(37)
EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE POLITICS OF KNOWLEDGE	304	(2)
Epistemologies as Political Systems,	304	(1)
The Politics of Knowledge and the Rise of Feminist Scholarship,	305	(1)
EDUCATION AS A CONTESTED ARENA: WHO SHOULD BE EDUCATED?	306	(7)
Women's Struggles for Formal Education in the Past,	306	(2)
European Colonization and Women's Education,	308	(2)
Education in the Developing World Today,	310	(1)
Affirmative Action in the United States,	311	(2)
Diversity in Higher Education,	313	(1)
EDUCATION AS A CONTESTED ARENA: WHAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT?	313	(3)
Women's Traditional Knowledge,	313	(1)
Formal Knowledge Defined by Men,	313	(1)
The Goals of Women's Education Debated,	314	(1)
The Debate in the United States,	315	(1)
MODERN CULTURE WARS	316	(3)
The Struggle for Equal Access to Knowledge,	316	(1)
Expansion of Access to Higher Education,	317	(1)
Re-entry Women,	317	(1)
Transforming the Curriculum,	318	(1)
SCHOOLS AS SOCIALIZERS	319	(4)
Elementary Schools,	319	(1)
Secondary Schools,	320	(1)
Higher Education,	320	(1)
Schools as Gendered Workplaces,	321	(2)
EDUCATION AS CULTURAL ASSIMILATION	323	(6)
The American Indian Experience,	326	(1)
The African American Experience,	326	(2)
The Immigrant Experience,	328	(1)
EMPOWERING WOMEN LEARNERS	329	(3)
The Importance of Education,	329	(1)
Professional Advancement and Women's Realities,	330	(1)
Women's Studies and Critical Feminist Pedagogy,	330	(2)
SUMMARY	332	(1)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	333	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	334	(1)
REFERENCES	334	(6)
11. Women's Health	340	(36)
THE WOMEN'S HEALTH MOVEMENT	341	(7)
Redefining Health,	341	(1)
New Approaches,	342	(1)
Reforming the Health-Care System,	342	(2)
Uncovering the Gender Dynamics of Western Medicine,	344	(1)
Woman as Deviant,	345	(1)
Woman as "the Weaker Sex,"	345	(3)
THE MEDICALIZATION OF LIFE PROCESSES	348	(5)
Menstruation,	348	(1)
Birth Control,	349	(1)
Abortion,	350	(1)
Childbirth,	351	(1)
Menopause,	351	(2)
Sexuality,	353	(1)
THE IMPACT OF GENDER, SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL DISPARITIES ON WOMEN'S HEALTH	353	(6)
Health Status and Risks,	353	(1)
Poverty,	354	(1)
Racial/Ethnic Discrimination,	354	(2)
Occupational Health Risks,	356	(2)
Holence,	358	(1)
Physical Abuse,	358	(1)
Rape,	358	(1)
WOMEN AND PHYSICAL HEALTH: SOME SPECIFIC CONCERNS	359	(6)
Heart Disease,	359	(1)
Cancer,	359	(3)
Sexually Transmitted Diseases,	362	(1)
Birth Control, Sterilization, and Abortion,	363	(1)
Hysterectomy,	364	(1)
Osteoporosis,	364	(1)
WOMEN AND MENTAL HEALTH	365	(3)
Depression,	366	(1)
Issues in Therapy,	367	(1)
Feminist Therapy,	367	(1)
Addressing Homophobic Bias,	367	(1)
Drug Therapy,	368	(1)
WOMEN AS SPECIAL-RISK/ VULNERABLE POPULATIONS	368	(1)
Refugee Women,	368	(1)
Disabled Women,	368	(1)
Elderly Women,	369	(1)
Incarcerated Women,	369	(1)
CONCLUSIONS	369	(1)
SUMMARY	369	(2)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	371	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	371	(1)
REFERENCES	371	(5)
12. Women and Work	376	(37)
THE LABOR OF WOMEN	378	(3)
Division of Labor by Gender,	378	(1)
Maintenance of the Domestic Unit,	379	(1)
Women's Work in the Marketplace,	380	(1)
The Contribution of Women to Economic Development,	381	(1)
THE DOMESTIC MODE OF PRODUCTION	381	(2)
Food Production,	381	(1)
Maintenance,	382	(1)
Exchange and Marketing,	382	(1)
THE CAPITALIST MODE OF PRODUCTION	383	(16)
Urbanization and Class Distinctions,	383	(1)
Working for Wages: Its Organizational Prerequisites,	383	(1)
Women's Work,	384	(1)
Slaves and Serfs,	384	(1)
Prostitution,	384	(1)
Working-Class Women: Skilled Labor,	384	(1)
Working-Class Women: Domestic Wage Labor,	385	(1)
Working-Class Women: Factory Workers,	385	(1)
The Pink-Collar Worker,	387	(1)
The Contingent Worker,	391	(1)
The Professions,	391	(1)
Corporate Management at the Highest Levels,	392	(1)
Globalization and the Transformation of Work,	393	(2)
Race, Ethnicity, and Work in the United States,	395	(3)
Self Employment,	398	(1)
Unemployment,	399	(1)
THE POLITICS OF WORK: BARRIERS AND STRATEGIES	399	(7)
Conflict and Competition Between Women and Men,	399	(1)
Sexual and Gender Harassment,	400	(2)
Social Support for Working Women,	402	(1)
Unions,	402	(1)
Professional Organizations,	403	(1)
Networks,	403	(1)
Laws Against Sexist Job Discrimination,	404	(1)
Equal Pay-Comparable Worth,	405	(1)
THE IMPACT OF THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT	406	(1)
SUMMARY	406	(2)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	408	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	408	(1)
REFERENCES	409	(4)
13. Women and Political Power	413	(35)
FEMINISM AND POLITICS	414	(2)
"The Personal Is Political,"	414	(1)
Politics and the "Public" Sphere,	415	(1)
POLITICAL POWER	416	(7)
What Is Power?	416	(3)
Power and Authority,	419	(1)
Types of Government,	420	(1)
Women's Political Power in the Past,	421	(1)
Patterns of Male Dominance,	422	(1)
WOMEN AS POLITICAL LEADERS	423	(4)
Recent Political Gains of Women in the United States,	423	(2)
Political Gains of Women in Office Around the Globe,	425	(1)
Do Women in Office Make a Difference?	426	(1)
Obstacles Facing Women in Politics,	426	(1)
WOMEN AS CITIZENS	427	(9)
Women and War	427	(3)
Women and the Law,	430	(1)
Women as Interpreters and Enforcers of the Law,	431	(1)
Women's Voluntary Associations,	432	(2)
Women and Peace Movements,	434	(2)
EQUAL RIGHTS	436	(5)
The Struggle for the Vote,	436	(1)
The Modern Women's Liberation Movement,	437	(2)
The Equal Rights Amendment,	439	(1)
Global Feminism and Human Rights,	439	(1)
The Political Climate in the New Millennium,	440	(1)
SUMMARY	441	(2)
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS	443	(1)
RECOMMENDED READINGS	443	(1)
REFERENCES	444	(4)
Epilogue	448	(3)
Art Credits	451	(2)
Index	453