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Definitions: Allan G. Johnson's The Gender Knot

The document defines key terms related to gender, patriarchy, objectification, consumerism, and intersectionality. It provides definitions and explanations for gender performance, patriarchy as a male-dominated social structure, objectification as treating people as objects, consumerism as finding fulfillment through consumption, and intersectionality as how oppressions intersect and are mutually reinforcing. It also defines terms like compulsory heterosexuality, pink think, and the limitations of using the master's tools for liberation.

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215 views3 pages

Definitions: Allan G. Johnson's The Gender Knot

The document defines key terms related to gender, patriarchy, objectification, consumerism, and intersectionality. It provides definitions and explanations for gender performance, patriarchy as a male-dominated social structure, objectification as treating people as objects, consumerism as finding fulfillment through consumption, and intersectionality as how oppressions intersect and are mutually reinforcing. It also defines terms like compulsory heterosexuality, pink think, and the limitations of using the master's tools for liberation.

Uploaded by

Larryisa0547
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Definitions

Gender as Performance

• “There is no gender identity behind the expressions of gender; ... identity is


performatively constituted by the very "expressions" that are said to be its
results.” (Judith Butler, 1990, Gender Trouble, p. 25)
• “Gender is the repeated stylization of the body, a set of repeated acts within a
highly rigid regulatory frame that congeal over time to produce the appearance of
substance, of a natural sort of being.” (Judith Butler, 1990, Gender Trouble, p.
44.)

Patriarchy

• Patriarchal social structures are:

1. Male dominated—[…]the most powerful roles in most sectors of society are held
predominantly by men, and the least powerful roles are held predominantly by
women

2. Organized around an obsession with control, with men elevated in the social
structure because of their presumed ability to exert control… and women devalued
for their supposed lack of control--women are assumed to need men's supervision,
protection, or control

3. Male identified: aspects of society and personal attributes that are highly valued
are associated with men, while devalued attributes and social activities are associated
with women […]

4. Male centered: It is taken for granted that the center of attention is the natural
place for men and boys, and that women should occupy the margins. Public attention
is focused on men. (Allan G. Johnson's The Gender Knot,
http://gray.intrasun.tcnj.edu/Coming%20of%20Age/a_basic_definition_of_patriarchy.
htm)

Objectification

• “to treat as an object” (Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online)


• to “reduce someone exclusively to the level of object… [by portraying them] as
physical objects that can be looked at and acted upon-- and [failing] to portray
[them] as subjective beings with thoughts, histories, and emotions”
(http://medialiteracy.suite101.com/article.cfm/media_objectification_of_women

Consumerism
• “A consumer society is one in which the possession and use of an increasing
number and variety of goods and services is the principal cultural aspiration and
the surest perceived route to personal happiness, social status and national
success.” (Paul Elkins, http://www.greenpathresearch.com/id13.html)
• “Consumerism is the myth that the individual will be gratified and integrated by
consuming … Collectively striving for a media-produced image, our choices are
made for us. Choice is reduced to brand name… the individuating personality
identifies with advertising fantasies and consumer ideals. Who we are merges
with roles and images portrayed in the media.”
(http://westland.net/venice/art/cronk/consumer.htm)

Master’s Tools
• one cannot exact enduring, radical change by using the same tools for their
liberation that were used to oppress them in the first place
• using “the tools of a racist patriarchy…to examine the fruits of that same
patriarchy…means that only the most narrow [sic] perimeters of change are
possible and allowable” (Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tool Will Never Dismantle
the Master’s House, 1984)

Compulsory Heterosexuality

• “the assumption that women and men are innately attracted to each other
emotionally and sexually and that heterosexuality is normal and universal. This
institutionalization of heterosexuality in our society leads to an institutionalized
inequality of power… Under a regime of compulsory heterosexuality, men control
all aspects of women's lives…[and] leads to discrimination against homosexuals
and the intolerance and/or invisibility of gay men and lesbians in society.”
(http://www.glbtq.com/social-sciences/compulsory_heterosexuality.html)
• Belief that “there is a mystical/biological heterosexual inclination, a "preference"
or "choice" that draws women toward men [and vice versa]…[while neglecting
the ways in which] heterosexuality… as an institution powerfully [affects]…
mothering, sex roles, relationships, and societal prescriptions for women, [and is
socialized] as compulsory” (Adrienne Rich, Compulsory Heterosexuality and
Lesbian Existence)

Intersectionality

• Theory of “distinctive systems of oppression as being part of one overarching


structure of domination…[and rearticulating] experiences… [so that they foster]
an enhanced theoretical understanding of how race, gender, and class oppression
are part of a single, historically created system”
• “The interlocking nature of oppressions…[is] structured on multiple levels, from
the individual to the social structural, and… [is] part of a larger matrix of
domination. Adhering to this inclusive model provides the conceptual space
needed for each individual to see that she or he is both a member of multiple
dominant groups and a member of multiple subordinate groups” (Patricia Hills
Collins, Black Feminist Thought in the Matrix of Domination, 1990,
http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/252.html)

Pink Think

• “A set of ideas and attitudes about what constitutes proper female behavior; a
groupthink that was consciously or not adhered to by…the public at large. Pink
think assumes there is a standard of behavior to which all women, no matter their
age, race, or body type, must aspire” (Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many
Uneasy Lessons, Lynn Peril, pg. 7)
• Blue Think: a set of ideas and attitudes about how properly masculine men should
act

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