Annotated Bibliography

Yekaterina Petrova
Andrea Pacor
EN 110-3
10/11/2014

Annotated Bibliography

Tentative title: The Struggle for Women’s Rights in United States of America.
Tentative thesis statement: In the course of his work, I am going to talk about the position of women in the United States in the late XVIII - early XX centuries in the dynamics and development; identify prerequisites of deployment of the feminist movement. Over the past 40 years in the United States, women have made progress towards equality, but they are far from full equality with men in matters relating to professional activities, salaries and policies. Undoubtedly, women in America made many efforts for the struggle to the equality. Work aims to research the way of feminists for equality and the results of the struggle nowadays.
Sources:
1. Beauvoir, Simone de “The Second Sex”.

Book of French writer and philosopher Simone de Beauvoir "The Second Sex" became very popular all over the world after its release, as well as brought fame to its author. One of the most famous works of the author that tells about women's position throughout human history; often regarded as one of the major philosophical works about the feminist movement and as a starting point of the second wave of feminism. In this book, Simone de Beauvoir explains to the reader how and why the position of women in this world differs from that of men. Also, if a woman is able to take place as an independent person, then, under what conditions, in what ways, what circumstances restrict the freedom of women and how to overcome them.

For my research paper, it is very important source because it helps me to find the information about all problems connected to inequality that women meet on their way during a long time. Firstly, I am going to use examples described in this book about unequal attitude towards women. Then, the author tells about the history of women struggle for their rights; describes the reason why they decided to start struggling, which is very useful information for my paper. Moreover, I will write a paragraph about feminists’ psychology with the description of their decisions and steps toward equality with men. Also, this book is useful source because several generations of women grew on it and honored the book almost as a new Bible.

“One is not born, but rather becomes, a woman.” (Beauvoir 15)
“Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with absolute truth.” (Beauvoir 34)

New Terminology:
1) Hetaira- in ancient Greece, a female prostitute. Hetairai were often protected by law and were subject to taxation. Most were simply prostitutes, but others were mistresses of distinguished men.Hetairai apparently originated in Ionia or Egypt and there is no evidence of them at Sparta. Lasthenia was a hetaira who studied philosophy under Plato, and Leontion was a pupil of Epicurus. Aspasia, the mistress of Pericles and perhaps the most famous of all the Greek courtesans, was one of the first advocates of women's rights to education and culture, and was a friend of Socrates. (Credo Reference)
2) Existentialism-A philosophical movement that rejects metaphysics and concentrates on the individual's existence in the world. The forerunner of existentialism, Kierkegaard, reacted against German idealism and the complacency of established Christianity by developing a pragmatic psychologically realistic philosophy of existence. A similar emphasis was adopted by Heidegger and Husserl in the 1930s. A fully developed philosophy of existentialism was adopted by French intellectuals, especially Sartre, after World War II. Sartre's existentialism allows individuals freedom in a nihilistic universe: “All human activities are equivalent, all are destined by principle to defeat.” At the same time a man is responsible for his effect on others, even though only his existence is real to him and he is ultimately his own judge. (Credo Reference)

2. Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette. “Feminism and Migration”.
This article is about changes of the social landscape in United States of America after manifestations of both feminism and immigration. Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo explores articulations and disarticulations between immigration and feminism; article focuses particularly on the intersections of migration and feminist studies. There is the answer on question why the landscape of race, language and cuisine today in USA looks completely different in compare with several decades ago. The society in United States becomes very different at the end of twentieth century in part because of feminism and immigration. The feminist movement and the immigrant rights movement have changed the landscape of civil rights for women and immigrants in America. Nonetheless, there have been few points of intersection between the two.

This article is useful for my research paper because there is the description about influence of three waves of feminism on American social landscape. Mainly, I am going to get the information about relatively points between feminism and immigration rights movements; include to the paper their role on American social landscape changes. I will write about the ways in which gender relations change through the processes of immigration. I am interested in author’s description on traditional sex roles and how they have changed with these movements; in the information about different perception on immigrant men and immigrant women.

“…immigrant women are more likely than immigrant men to participate in community organizations that interface with U.S. institution.” ( Hondagneu-Sotelo 111)
“Women’s experiences are not seen as central in the vast majority of immigration studies, and there are still large-scale surveys conducted of immigrant men that then purport to be about all immigrants.” (Hondagneu-Sotelo 117)

New Terminology:

1. Immigration- is one of the most frequently discussed and multivalent concepts in scholarship on the U.S. experience. A subcategory within studies of “migration,” “immigration” refers in the American Heritage Dictionary (4th ed.) to the activity of “enter[ing] and settl[ing] in a region or country to which one is not native.” The “Usage Note” at “migrate” adds, “Migrate, which is used of people or animals, sometimes implies a lack of permanent settlement, especially as a result of seasonal or periodic movement. Emigrate and immigrate are used only of people and imply a permanent move, generally across a political boundary.” As this wide-ranging definition indicates, many kinds of relocation may be described in everyday vernacular as “immigration.” In partial contrast, academic studies of immigration generally focus on geographic relocations across political boundaries, usually of nation-states.(Credo Reference)

2. Inequality-in general usage, “inequality” refers to the uneven distribution of social and economic resources among different groups of people. It is commonly used to describe the imbalances in economic opportunities, benefits, or results between rich and poor, skilled and unskilled workers, women and men, whites and minorities, or developed and developing countries. Beyond this simple definition, however, it is an incredibly complex term that has given rise to multiple meanings depending on the context and who is using the term. There is much debate over exactly what constitutes equality/inequality, how to measure it, and how it has developed over time.(Credo Reference)

3. Jaggar, Alison. “Globalizing Feminist Ethics”

In this scholarly article author argues that inequalities of power are even more conspicuous in global than in local contexts; she notes that a global discourse community seems to be emerging among feminists. Among others, feminist philosopher Alison Jaggar faults traditional western ethics for failing women in five related ways. Article contains the description of Marxist feminists, ecofeminists, postmodern, global and multicultural feminists and many others; explanation of roles of all these kinds of feminists in the society. Moreover, feminist approaches to ethics focus on how power is used to oppress women in particular; non feminist critics of them have complained that these approaches are "female-biased."

In my research paper I will use definitions of different kinds of feminists with the purpose of deeper research on the “feminist” term. I want to underline in my paper that there is not only general conception on this term, but that there are many kinds of feminists in our world. It will be not a big part of the paper in this case, but citations from this scholarly article are useful for any topic connected to women's struggle for their rights in United States of America. “Globalizing Feminist Ethics” contains different terms that I haven’t seen in other articles about feminism; this is the reason why chosen article is useful for deeper research on my topic.

“First, it shows little concern for women's as opposed to men's interests and rights. Second, it dismisses as morally uninteresting the problems that arise in the so-called private world, the realm in which women cook, clean, and care for the young, the old, and the sick. Third, it suggests that, on the average, women are not as morally developed as men. Fourth, it overvalues culturally masculine traits like independence, autonomy, separation, mind, reason, culture, transcendence, war, and death, and undervalues culturally feminine traits like interdependence, community, connection, body, emotion, nature, immanence, peace, and life. Fifth, and finally, it favors culturally masculine ways of moral reasoning that emphasize rules, universality, and impartiality over culturally feminine ways of moral reasoning that emphasize relationships, particularity, and partiality.” (Jaggar 13)

“All fully feminist approaches to ethics seek to (1) articulate moral critiques of actions and practices that perpetuate women's subordination; (2) prescribe morally justifiable ways of resisting such actions and practices; (3) envision morally desirable alternatives for such actions and practices; and (4) take women's moral experience seriously, though not uncritically.” (Jaggar 25)

New Terminology:

1. Ecofeminists- take a similar approach to environmental issues, focusing on the ways in which the associations of “women” with “nature” in a male-dominated society have legitimated both the subjugation of women and instrumentalist, destructive attitudes towards the environment. Ecofeminism has political, economic, and spiritual/religious components, and has inspired a wide variety of writings and activist strategies. Finally, the “deep ecology” discourse stresses ideas of the interconnectedness of all life and the inherent, intrinsic worth of all living things, human and nonhuman. Deep ecologists generally believe that all species have a right to a natural, unthreatened existence. Earth First!, which has been particularly active in anti-logging protests in the Pacific Northwest, is perhaps the best known deep ecology-based organization.(Credo Reference)

2. Postmodern feminism-has been criticised as being overly theoretical, politically dangerous to feminism in its unwillingness to theorise a category ‘woman’ and not politically useful by not focusing on practical aspects of women’s oppression or on liberatory struggles (Tong, 1998). Many postmodern feminists would argue against these criticisms. For example, Susan Bordo in Unbearable Weight (1993) uses a postmodern approach to analyse the tyranny that contemporary media and advertising has over women’s perceptions and experiences of their bodies. She argues that postmodern analysis can help us to read how the body is made to be text and teaches us to read advertising such that we come to understand how we embody messages. Through this critical lens women can learn to resist the pull of cultural messages about their bodies.(Credo Reference)

4. Okin, Susan Moller. “Feminism, Women's Human Rights, and Cultural Differences”

“Feminism, Women's Human Rights, and Cultural Differences” is research on topic that every culture has its own distinctions from other cultures. Susan Moller Okin in her article opens the theme of difference between women’s rights in different cultures and communities. Additionally, since many of women's rights violations occur in the private sphere of family life, and are justified by appeals to cultural or religious norms, both families and cultures (including their religious aspects) have come under critical scrutiny. Mainly, this article research the recent global movement for women's human rights that has achieved considerable rethinking of human rights as previously understood.

In my research paper I have a part where I pay attention to Hypatia: a journal of feminist philosophy. This source “Feminism, Women's Human Rights, and Cultural Differences” is one of the supporting materials for my research paper because it contains comparison between feminists in United States of America and feminists in other cultures and communities; moreover, article contains several citations that I found useful for my paper because they help to make a deeper research. Susan Moller Okin discusses why it is very important point for women’s rights to become recognized as human rights that is also the theme on which I will do the review in my research paper.
“The continuing and rising influence of cultural or religious justifications for women’s inequality is one important reason why it is so significant for women’s rights to be recognized as human rights.”(Okin 37)
“Many violations of women’s basic human rights both occur within families and are justifies by reference to culture, religion, or tradition.” (Okin 39)
New Terminology:
1. Euphemism-etymologically, euphemism means ‘speaking with good words’. Greek euphēmismós, a compound formed ultimately from the prefix eu- ‘good, well’ and phēmē’ speech, saying’ (a relative of English fable, fame, and fate), originally denoted the avoidance of words of ill omen at religious ceremonies, but it was subsequently taken up by grammarians to signify the substitution of a less for a more offensive word. Its opposite,dysphemism ‘use of a more offensive word’, is a modern coinage, formed in the late 19th century using the Greek prefix dus- ‘bad, difficult’. (Credo Reference)
2. Lesbian- There is no standard definition of lesbian. The term generally refers to a female sexual orientation that may involve one or more of the following components: behavioral, affective, or cognitive understandings of lesbian. The behavioral definition of lesbian emphasizes current or lifetime sexual activity with other women. The affective definition considers the subtleties of sexual or emotional desire and/or attraction for other women (in real time or in fantasy), regardless of whether or not these desires are acted upon. Rounding out the three conceptualizations, the cognitive definition refers to adopting a lesbian identity. Typically, women who self identify as lesbians will also fit the behavioral and/or affective understandings of the term. (Credo Reference)

5 Zinn, Maxine Baca. “Family, Feminism, and Race in America”

Mazine Baca Zinn in his article claims that feminist scholarship has advanced people’s comprehension of the family relationship to the economy and the state over various historical periods. Also, he says that theorizing about gender, class, and life has led humanity to conclude that global explanations of the family are false; knowledge of people about the meaning of racial stratification for family life still remains fragmented. Moreover, “Family, Feminism, and Race in America” article discusses family revolution created by industrialization and deindustrialization, so that it offer concrete examples of the importance of race in defining family life throughout American society.

I decided to write about comprehension of family revolution in United States of America created by industrialization and deindustrialization because it is connected to feminism and race themes. Undoubtedly, I will pay attention to chapter “The Feminist Revision” which contains useful information for my research paper. According to the article, “feminist challenges to traditional family theory have been accomplished by decomposing the family into constituent elements so that the underlying structures are exposed.” (Zinn 70). Maxine’s Baca Zinn work extends aspects of the concept of feminism that is why I will use citations from this article in my paper.

“Feminists have brought into relief three aspects of that structure: ideologies that serve to mystify women’s experiences as wives and mothers, hierarchical divisions that generate conflict and struggle within families, and the multiple and dynamic interconnections between households and the larger political economy.” (Zinn 70)

“Most contemporary feminist thought takes great care to underscore class, race, and gender as fundamental categories of social organization, but when it comes to family patterns, race and ethnicity are used as elements of culture, not social structure.” (Zinn 73)

New Terminology:
1. Industrialization- Process common to capitalist, socialist, and developing regimes that increases the proportion of the workforce engaged in manufacturing and the proportion of national income derived from manufacturing. Industrialization, understood as the process by which Third World countries could catch up to the West technologically and economically, became the object of intense debate with the launching of the Bretton Woods organizations such as the International Monetary Fund designed to stabilize currency (1944), the United Nations designed to prevent future wars (1945), and Truman’s Point Four Program based on his 1949 inaugural address calling for the provision of technological skills, knowledge, and equipment to poor nations (1949). In essence, the debate over industrialization focused on the interpretation of two historical events: the British Industrial Revolution (1780-1840) and Soviet industrialization (late 1920s to early 1950s). (Credo Reference)
2. Deindustrialization-the term refers to the processes in which investment in basic production declined, resulting in plant closings, mass layoffs, and the loss of U.S. manufacturing dominance in the global market. Many locate its genesis in the 1973 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) oil boycott, the hyperinflation of the late 1970s, and the economic policies of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. All played a significant part, but so too did the post–World War II recovery of European and Asian economies as they became manifest in the 1960s. (Credo Reference)

Works Cited:
Beauvoir, Simone de. The Second Sex. Trans. H M Parshley. London: Penguin, 1972. Print.

Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette. “Feminism and Migration.” Annals of the American Academy of

Political and Social Science, 571, Feminist Views of the Social Sciences (September, 2000):107-120. Print.

Jaggar, Alison M. “Globalizing Feminist Ethics.” Hypatia, 13.2, Border Crossings: Multicultural

and Postcolonial Feminist Challenges to Philosophy (Part 1) (Spring, 1998):7-31. Print.

Okin, Susan Moller. “Feminism, Women’s Human Rights, and Cultural Differences.” Hypatia,

13.2, Border Crossings: Multicultural and Postcolonial Feminist Challenges to Philosophy

(Part 1) (Spring, 1998):32-52. Print.

Zinn, Maxine Baca. “Family, Feminism, and Race in America.” Gender and Society, 4.1 (March,

1990):68-82. Print.