In the Time of the Butterflies is a book about 4 sisters, Patria, Dedé, Minerva, and María Teresa. The book is about the three girls growing up and their experiences during the time of the underground movement to overthrow Trujillo. The book was written in memory of Dedé’s 3 sisters who had been ambushed and murdered, which we are aware of since the beginning of the novel. The beginning chapter of the book is describing Dedé as she waits for a woman who is going to interview her about her three sisters, she then goes into a flashback she has of her family talking at the dinner table and her father mentions someone named Trujillo, which then gives a hint at who this book might be formed around. Through the book, we read stories about times in the girls’ lives when they were going to school at Inmaculada Concepcion and being at home and falling in love, as well as there run ins with Trujillo himself.
Arlene Stein’s book “Sex and Sensibility” is a literary masterpiece that develops the framework of content that was essential towards explaining the rise of the lesbian movement; though solid in its message, Stein’s bias is recognized throughout the text, she was cognizant of issues and factors that affected the movement but she fails to piece together the entire spectrum. Stein captures three fundamental factors displayed throughout the text: (1). The recognition of new sexual identities and their associated orientations (2). The separation of the Feminist and Lesbianist movements, and (3). The differentiation of the “Old Gay” and “New Gay”lesbian identities.
However, she also mentions how this was primarily the “white women’s movement” for sexuality and how it convinced her that lesbian sexuality was naturally different than heterosexual sexuality (Moraga, 393). This white women’s movement was problematic in that it excluded non-white, non-middle class women. Another relation between political activism and eroticism was between radical feminism and lesbianism. Moraga mentions how “radical feminism” viewed lesbianism as a political response to male sexual aggression (Moraga, 395). The Civil Rights Movement was a key moment that exemplifies the link between political activism and spirituality.
When analyzed correctly, the texts provided by these scholars may offer an excellent insight into the elements of queer politics. One important factor within queer politics is the goal of disrupting social norms and heteronormativity. Many individuals, such as Cathy Cohen and Dean Spade, believe that in order to create an impact, queer politics need to refrain from striving for acceptance and integration within the larger majority. Instead, they support the disruption of social norms and expectations. For example, Cathy Cohen states, “Thus, if there is any truly radical potential to be found in the idea of queerness and the practice of queer politics, it would seem to be located in its ability to create a space in opposition to dominant norms, a space where transformational political work can begin” (Cohen 438).
They negotiate their identity in ways that challenge the gender binary and challenge normative expectations of femininity and masculinity. The concept of social group membership is also discussed in the article. She argues that women who identify as queer often negotiate their group membership to resist heteronormativity. They seek out trans masculine partners to form relationships that challenge societal expectations of gender and sexuality. By doing so, they create alternative spaces that resist marginalization and reinforce their sense of
Overthrowing the Limits Set on Women The Wife of Bath is a strong and prominent character in Chaucer’s The General Prologue. Unlike other characters, she radiates this sense of power that comes from her being, along with the material items that make someone “powerful” during this era.
" This particular exchange showcases how queer hood among Black men is not discussed, unless someone’s sexuality and masculinity is being mocked for not aligning with heteronormativity. Moreover, how if sexuality is not being talked about in a heteronormative way, it should not be addressed by anyone since gayness is understood as a threat to the maintenance of Black masculinity because of homosexuality’s frequent conflation with the feminization of men in some African American circles. These cultural scripts about Black sexuality are tied to the environments in which this discourse has been produced. Some spheres that have constructed these dynamics include barber shops, the church, and Black media outlets like BET. These spaces permit and encourage performances of toxic hyper-masculinity to reaffirm the authority and power of Black men which is challenged in spheres where Blackness is not dominant.
‘If we want to understand the rights revolutions in gender and sexuality commonly associated with “the sixties”, we really need to study the politics of the 1970s.’ Discuss. The rights revolutions in gender and sexuality commonly associated with the sixties represented a major challenge to the heteronormative ideals that had been enshrined within policy making since the New Deal, producing significant progress for women and the LGBTQ+ community. However, whilst the sixties were encapsulated by explosive social movements, it was not a period of linear progress.
Some had been lesbians for as long as they could remember, some were not lesbians at all but lived among women who were, and others politicized their new lesbian sexuality, making the conscious decision to separate their lives entirely from men. This latter group of political lesbians believed in “a superior status for lesbians” in the feminist movement and imagined lesbians as one “homogenized…harmonious group.” Ironically, this mindset created divisions between political lesbians and women who did not
“Lesbian feminism highlighted many lesbians’ feeling that an enormous political and social divide existed between their worlds and goals for liberation movements and those of their male counterparts” (Alexander, Gibson, and Meem 74). There was a strong divide between “the bar” and the more political LGBT work being done outside the bar. LGBT activists critiqued those who they believed “wasted time” in the bar scene as being unconcerned about larger political issues. On the other hand, “it was not uncommon for disco queens and bar dykes to see the earnest activists as outsiders and downers” (Alexander, Gibson, and Meem
Social movements often consist of assimilationists and radicals. Do these groups within a movement enhance the progress made or do they take away from each other? The queer movement of the mid-to-late twentieth century has both of these factions. The wide net cast by the queer label includes a diversity of identities and ideas. All members of the queer community have lived and continue to live under oppression.
Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick in her Epistemology of the Closet claims that “many of the major nodes of thought and knowledge in twentieth-century Western culture are structures—indeed, fractured—by a chronic, now endemic crisis of homo/heterosexual definition” (Sedgwick 2008, 1). Sedgwick argues that it is a crisis “indicatively male, dating from the end of the nineteenth century” (1). This is an interesting point since the male perspective is the pillar, of the Western Patriarchal model of gender role’s construction—and for our purpose sexual identity constraint. The author, in her book, says that “virtually any aspect of modern Western culture must be, not merely incomplete, but damaged in its central substance to the degree that it does not incorporate a critical analysis
My intent would be to use this theoretical foundation to explore patriarchies impact in shaping and constraining gender norms and expressions for queer subjects, and the resultant effects on violence. Through gender performativity I could explore heterosexuality and gender roles as a performance based in repetition, and how that impacts queer gender expression (Butler, 1993). Queer theory can operate in a number of ways in my research. That is, Queer Theory, meaning theorizing about the experience of queerness, and Queer Theory meaning using a transgressive type of theory that challenges reductive paradigms by reading and writing
The identity of Americans today is changing. As we move toward a more liberal and more socially accepting society, we challenge the norms already set in place by religion, by the science we know of and by social norms we’ve established. A new set of ideas ranging from sexuality to gender identity have sparked controversy as more and more people motion into new and unorthodox gender identities and labels. By challenging the norm and creating new sections of gender identity and sexuality many feel more at home with themselves. However, due to this being a more recent phenomenon, those who have had no influence from this new wave of preference based identities, feel left behind.
The aim of this paper is to draw out the implications of liberal feminist framework for the analysis of education. Doing this paper will discuss its conceptual basis, its typical educational objectives, strategies for change and criticism of the approach. Feminist theoretical framework addresses the question of women’s subordination to men: how this arose, how and why it is perpetuated, how it might be changed and (sometimes) what life would be without it. Middle range theories may be less dramatic and consider particular aspect of gender relation and specific sectors of life such as education, the family or politics. Feminist theories serve a dual purpose, as guides to understanding gender inequality and as a guide to action.
