Deck 13: The Case for Feminism

Question 1

Rebecca Tuvel defines modern feminism as "the intersectional movement to combat gender oppression." Under this definition, what role do men have to play in feminism? Are there any benefits or losses that men as a group would gain or experience if the feminist movement is successful? In your essay, list some examples of some benefits or losses that you come up with.

Answer 1

-Explore men's role in the feminist movement.
-List some ways that we can talk about men as a group benefitting from or losing to a successful feminist movement.

Question 2

Rebecca Tuvel suggests that gender binary pressures women into giving into the norms that we have around feminine appearance (just look at messages telling women to be thin, pretty, and sexy). If she's right, does this mean that feminists shouldn't wear makeup, wax their eyebrows, or shave their legs? Why or why not?

Answer 2

-Evaluate what Tuvel means when she talks about the pressures to conform to stringent standards of feminine appearance.
-Discuss what relationship feminists should have with the kinds of tools that have been used to uphold these standards and demand that women abide by them-tools like makeup, waxing, tanning, dieting, etc.

Question 3

You have two phone conversations back to back: one is with a friend of yours, a cisgender woman that goes to your college; the other is with a cisgender man that you know from high school. Both tell you that they hooked up last weekend, but it didn't go that great (it was consensual but a little awkward, they didn't seem that into it and neither did the person they hooked up with). In your essay, you can fill in the details of these conversations. Then, talk about what questions you'd ask and advice you'd give to each of these people. If you were going to draw from Rebecca Tuvel's essay, what would you want to say?

Answer 3

-Detail the conversations that the author would have with their friends whose experiences are similar, but who are differently positioned with respect to their gendered experience of this context.
-Apply Rebecca Tuvel's concepts about gendered oppression and casual sex to these conversations (her discussion of affirmative consent's insufficiency, the pressures of good femininity, etc.).

Question 4

Why does Tuvel focus on the case for Western feminism?

A) Because feminism is most urgent here
B) Because the argument for feminism elsewhere is so much easier to make
C) Because this is a book for Western audiences
D) Because feminism is not necessary anywhere else
E) Because the argument for Western feminism is the most philosophically important

Question 5

How does Tuvel talk about what it means to be oppressed?

A) A person suffers because of persistent offense and disrespect
B) A person is of lower social, economic, or political status than some other person
C) A person is subject to harsh and authoritarian treatment
D) A person's subjective and lived experience is unpleasant or unbearable
E) A person's objective well-being is pervasively and wrongfully hindered

Question 6

What do contemporary feminists believe about the nature of women's oppression?

A) Early feminists were wrong to say women were oppressed
B) Women are not oppressed anymore
C) Women and men are both oppressed as a group
D) All women are equally oppressed
E) Some women are more oppressed than others

Question 7

Why is there a need for intersectionality in feminism?

A) This is the only way to make feminism relevant in the contemporary era where all women have rights
B) There are shortcomings with stand-alone treatments of sexism
C) There is a need to respond to intersectionality in male power groups
D) This is the best compromise to get women who otherwise disagree to work together
E) All of the above

Question 8

Tuvel discusses the gender binary in her essay. Which of the following is NOT a claim that she makes about the gender binary?

A) It is heteronormative
B) It is responsive to intersectionality
C) It is punitive
D) It is a manifestation of gender oppression
E) It pressures women to adhere to standards of feminine appearance

Question 9

What does "misogyny" refer to, as Tuvel describes it?

A) The set of negative consequences visited upon women who violate norms of 'good' femininity
B) The beliefs and attitudes of sexist men who refuse to acknowledge women's equal status
C) The outgrowth of the patriarchy which is primarily manifest in invisible and intangible power structures
D) The dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women
E) The attempt on behalf of feminists to develop a word that has similar connotations to racism and bigotry

Question 10

Which of the following is an example of oppression that Western women experience?

A) The pressure to adhere to expensive, time-consuming, and stringent standards of feminine appearance
B) Women may consent to sex because they want to please men, serve men, or avoid negative consequences
C) Women are told that their natural bodies are inadequate
D) Women professors are rated more highly when they conform to feminine gender expectations
E) All of these are examples of oppression that Western women experience

Question 11

Tuvel affirms that the gender binary has what effect on people who are gender variant?

A) A positive effect insofar as it gives them something to respond to
B) A neutral effect
C) A similar effect to the one it has on cis women
D) An especially oppressive effect
E) No effect

Question 12

Which of the following is an example of a tool for teaching intersectionality?

A) The good femininity test
B) The misogynoir
C) The privilege walk
D) The gender binary
E) The identity as injury test

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT a goal of intersectional feminism?

A) Framing identity as a kind of injury
B) Understanding oppressive power structures
C) Welcoming fluid ways of inhabiting identity
D) Becoming attentive to the differences among women
E) None of these are goals of intersectional feminism