Q: What is feminism? How does it relate to our class?
Everyone responds to this or to a classmate's response. Please pick at least one of the following in addition.
Q: Should we be concerned with the number of female scientists? Why or why not?
Q: are men better than women?
Q: is motherhood the highest calling for a woman? (Is fatherhood the highest calling for a man?
Q: are feminists against motherhood?
Feminism is a range of movements and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve equal political, economic, cultural, personal, and social rights for women. This includes seeking to establish equal opportunities for women in education and employment.
ReplyDeleteWe should be concerned with female scientists because for one there aren't very many of them and two women bring to the table different qualities and attributes that men might not have.
This relates to our class because many natural philosophers or scientists were male in the 1800's because that was the standard practice. But many of them thought that a woman's place was in the home and child rearing. To think that if some of those women would have received equal education and equal opportunities, then possibly more women would have made discoveries earlier and so on. Just a thought.
Very well worded Lauren, like you said if there is more opportunities in the word of science for women, there will be more innovative research from new viewpoints than there are currently in a male dominated field. In all we should be embracing the different viewpoints and knowledge of women and not excluding them. This was discussed in the reading with the concept of strong objectivity and feminism. We must share our subjectivity reasoning and influences in order to objectively view data and reach objective, falsifiable, theories and conclusion. Just because something is traditional, that doesn't make it right.
DeleteI forget to answer the second part of the prompt, No motherhood (for females) or fatherhood (for males) is not the highest calling in life. Yes it is an very important need and require certain types of people to be parents (paient, kind, determined) but becames a parent or not doesn't determine your life in a non-feudal society. There are many successfull figures in science who have children and a similar number of those who do not. Having a child is an exterme responsiblity that not everyone can handle that doesnt mean they are any less successfull in life.
DeleteA technical definition of feminism is as follows: "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." Like Lauren stated feminism involves equal opportunity as well. Almost every class we talk about how philosophy and science are pretty much dominated by males, so it would make sense that this is clearly how feminism relates to our class. Another way feminism relates to class is the fact that females opinions and discoveries in science are almost downplayed just because of the gender bias. Are men better then women, no. However, I do believe that men have better opportunities then women in society; i am not sure why this is the case though. As a catholic, I believe that men and women were made in the image of God and therefore are equal.
ReplyDeleteI think that men are perceived as more superior than women in society only because of history. Throughout time men were the "bread winners" when the women couldn't work due to children and other things like that. Having society be like this for hundreds of years hindered us being equal as individuals. Also, governments would not allow women to vote, parents didn't want their daughters to go to college, and husbands didn't want their wives to work, it is just about growing up in society that way that is just how it has been for a long time! I think it's time for a change though!
DeleteSarah, I agree with what you said about men being perceived as being superior just because of history. Although women have come a long way from not being able to vote, go to college, or work, as you mentioned, i think females have made a great breakthrough in the past century. Although I agree that there is still much work to be done to acquire equal rights as males.
DeleteFeminism consists of ideas and beliefs about what culture is like for women just because they are women, compared to what the world is like for men just because they are men. The assumption in feminism is that women are not treated equally to men, and that women are disadvantaged in comparison to men. Feminism relates to our class because we are constantly talking about males as scientist and hardly are we ever giving recognition to women in our class. I don't believe that men are better then women in the science field. I think that there are probably some female scientists out there that are very influential but don't get recognized because of women being looked down upon in science.
ReplyDeleteSawyer, I agree that there are many women out there who probably dont get proper recognition for their scientific discoveries because of the way women are looked down upon on the scientific field. I think that in order to change this, society needs to realize that by accepting woman as credible scientists, we may make much more discoveries than we have been thus far.
DeleteKrista, to your reply I think you are very much correct in saying that women do not get the proper recognition for their scientific discoveries. Just in class today Dr. Cate was discussing the women who helped very much in the discovery of DNA and because she died, her name was not listed in the discoverers. And we do not only need to change the acceptance of women in science, but women in society as a whole.
DeleteIn reply to the replies, I agree that everyone should be given proper credit for discoveries that they make regardless of gender, race, etc. One thing that I think contributes to the current status of gender relations in the scientific community is a lack of women. Just as an example, in our Computer Science department we only have one female that I know of. The Bureau of Labor Statistics and Catalyst in 2006 reported that women make up about 29% of the Computer Science workforce, and this number was on the decline. (It might be closer to 20% now.) I think that the number of female scientists in the workforce is alarming, specifically for the fact that young girls may see these figures and be discouraged in their pursuits. With that being said, I also think that in terms of hiring in job settings that the most qualified person (Whether they be male, female, black, white, etc.) should get the job rather than just hiring people simply to meet a demographic quota. This can potentially lead to high levels of inefficiency. (If the people being hired are not qualified or as qualified as the people who were passed over.)
DeleteFeminism relates to our class in many ways because there are not many women philosophers. This is because society leads people to believe that women cannot possibly be as smart as men therefore are not as easily accepted. This also relates to science for the exact same reason that females are not as accepted in the science world as men. In science, we rely on evidence but also who makes their argument more believable. I think because of how our society is we tend to believe males more because they have been more involved in the industry for a longer period of time. To the question of wether are men better than women I do not believe this is a true statement. I believe that women are different and can bring different elements to the table that men cannot bring. Women are no better then men either. I think they are equals and both have interesting perspectives especially when it comes to evolution and all of science.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that there are not many known women philosophers. Both men and women have been convinced that men are smarter and more superior to women. Sadly, not many realize that there are exceptions to this generalization. Men may be more advanced in some aspects but women are advanced in their own way.
DeleteFeminism is the desire to create equality for both men and women. It relates to our class because in philosophy there is a lot of discrimination towards women because of the hard headedness of male philosophers. Meaning the top male philosophers will mistreat women and downgrade them because they will never accept a woman being smarter or more correct than them. in response to the question "are men better than women?" Absolutely not. Anybody that thinks this is a very closed minded individual and I honestly feel sorry for their ignorance. Because there is no way to measure who is better and both genders have contributed to where we are in society today. Without both pools of knowledge we would not be where we are scientifically, technologically and socially.
ReplyDeleteFeminism is defined as "the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men." As many other have commented above, feminism relates to this class because women are often not given recognition to their discoveries in the scientific field. I think we have reason to be concerned with the number of female scientists because either females are not being given the same opportunities to make scientific discoveries as men are, are they are just not being taken seriously after they make a discovery. Our society is a male dominated society whether we like to accept that or not. Although men and women are equal, males are treated as the dominant sex and are given privileges that females are not.
ReplyDeleteFeminism is a multi-disciplinary approach to sex and gender equality understood through social theories and political activism. Feminism relates to our class because in science there aren't many cases of women being the lead role in research, or you don't see many women philosophers. There aren't many women in majority of the hard sciences. Yes I think we should be concerned about the number of women scientists because women bring different ideas and different ways of doing things to the table, that men can't. Women have a different way of thinking, a different way of handling certain situations than men do, so these new inputs of women could be very useful in science.
ReplyDeleteFeminism is not against motherhood. Feminism is just trying to explain that becoming a mother is not the only important role of women in society. There are women who haven't reproduced that have performed critically important roles in society. Women such as Rosalind Franklin, Harper Lee, and Mother Teresa are all women who were never married and never had children and they all performed incredibly instrumental roles that have changed the world. Women are not just meant to bear children. They can serve whatever purpose they feel is their calling in life.
ReplyDeleteDenise, I agree that feminism is not against mother good and that is it trying to explain that women also have other important roles in society. Many successful woman have not had children and have still placed a key role in society. Females should be thought to have achieved success in society without having children if that is what they choose to do.
DeleteI would have said the same thing if I had not chosen a different aspect to blog about! I like the way you compared this to other important women in history. Most importantly I think it is essential that we teach girls today that it is not only acceptable, but encouraged to work after while being a mother. My mom just retired after working 37 years. She raised a set of triplets and put them all through the catholic school system so I think it is nice to have someone like that to look up to when it comes to working and being a mother at the same time.
DeleteI agree with you that women socially and professionally have much higher calling than having a child, but i think having a child would be the most fulfilling and selfless act as a woman. To bear a child for 9 months and then go through the pains of labor to bring another human in this world i believe would be the highest calling emotionally for a woman. I am not a woman so i cant say i would know but from the outside looking in i dont think there is a more fulfilling and spirtual high moment that a woman or a man has then when they bring a child into this world.
DeleteFeminism is not against motherhood. Feminism is just trying to explain that becoming a mother is not the only important role of women in society. There are women who haven't reproduced that have performed critically important roles in society. Women such as Rosalind Franklin, Harper Lee, and Mother Teresa are all women who were never married and never had children and they all performed incredibly instrumental roles that have changed the world. Women are not just meant to bear children. They can serve whatever purpose they feel is their calling in life.
ReplyDeleteDenise, I completely agree! I don't that being a feminist means you can't / shouldn't have children. Feminism is a idea of how to live your life. It reminds me of the saying "you can't have your cake and eat it too". But today, there are many working moms who manage to raise children and succeed in the workforce. Women are no longer restricted to the home.
DeleteDenise, I like the perspective you chose to blog about! I never thought about people in history or in everyday life who have not been mothers. You are right in the fact that women are not just meant to bear children but to be an important member of society! Women bring a different way of thinking in most cases because we do think more differently than males so that is a great reason women serve an important role in society!
DeleteI like how you gave the the idea of feminists being against stereotypical roles, not motherhood. The main role of a woman throughout the ages seemed to be motherhood and strictly motherhood while the man worked and studied. I like how you said that they can serve whatever purpose they feel is their calling in life. A mother can be a great mother and a renowned scientist if she wants to.
DeleteWow you definitely took on another approach but I really like it. I also agree with what you are saying not every women has to be a house wife. Or even a first lady. They can be there own and achieve just as much as a male can.
DeleteI agree that the Feminism movement is at the core about equality and power struggles between genders. Feminists aim to offer viewpoints of science that stem from a subordinated group mentality. This can be beneficial because it can lead to non-conventional approaches to scientific explanation.
DeleteFeminism is the push for women to be treated as equals to males in all aspects of life. It relates to our class because I've noticed that we haven't talked about many female philosophers. They aren't as active in science and in this field as males are. I think that we should be concerned about the number of females that contribute in a noticeable way in science and philosophy.In these two fields it seems that you don't just need to find evidence to support your experiment or your findings but you also have to be able to argue about why you are right and the other previous findings are wrong. The reason why I feel like there aren't as many females in these fields is because males push their opinion more and harder then women do. It's how science has been brought up and is one field that has not changed to much and I think this is the reason why. Males are definitely not better than women and I think that the majority of society knows this. I just feel like its in the nature of science and philosophy and it is something that needs to change so there are different views throughout these fields.
ReplyDeleteGreat points, i also think another reason male opinions are more recognized and pushed as far as philosophy is concerned because history tells us that that is what is most acceptable. Whether it is right or wrong people listen to men more than women, which in my opinion isn't right, but it is the reality of our world. I would also agree that we don't hear enough about female scientists/philosophers like we should. Our world has come a long way but there are still obvious stereotypes that exist in this world especially when it comes to women and their opinions especially in the science/philosophy field.
DeleteFeminism is defined as women's rights in politics, social, and economic equality to men. I agree with Ian in the aspect of the male opinions going farther because it has been proven acceptable due to history. However, in the sense of philosophy and science, we need more women in this field. Male and females are not different when it comes to equality, but when it comes to differences on the way each gender depicts certain things are much different. Therefore, we need females in this field to help add different depictions to different scenarios and experiments.
DeleteFeminism is an advocacy for human rights on the grounds of equality for women. This applies to our class because, since men are more active in the field of philosophy, there may be inequalities for women due to the fact that they are a minority. Since discoveries and the scientific world has been generally dominated by men for a relatively long time. Some men may not have accepted the equality in the scientific opinions of women due to the history of women in science. Prejudices should be set aside when taking into account the ideas of a female because just because women have not been as actively involved in science historically, does not mean the role can't be shared equally now. Women did not actively get involved in science historically because they did not have many rights that long ago. Due to prejudices that unfortunately exist today still, there is an abundance of untapped knowledge.
ReplyDeleteWe should definitely not be concerned with the number of female scientists and we should expect that number to grow. Women make up about half of the population but not that much of the scientific population. This ratio shows that there is an abundance of untapped potential for discovery but stigmas and discrimination lead women away.from the field.
Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men. Basically it is a term used to make women just as equal to men. It is used in our class philosophy of science because you never hear to much about female philosophers in our class. It is majority male perspectives. This brings kind of a stereotype that there really aren't that many female philosophers that can relate to the idea of the males simply because the females are the minority.
ReplyDeleteWe should not be concerned with the number of female scientist. Simply because I know that number is increasing. An example for me is now in school. I know a lot more female science majors than I do males. This shows that eventually they will not be the minority anymore and will become more relevant. With us talking about this proves my point.
For me feminism is a range of movements and ideologies therefore, it hard define feminism. There are so many groups that call themselves feminists but are just anti-male.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the lack of numbers of female scientists there should be a concern. Philosophy and science is an universal subject "sport". There is no need to separate each other on the basis of gender since it is all about thought and due diligence of interpreting data.
In High School I took a class where feminism was the topic the whole class was based around. After taking this class I have a better idea of what feminism is. The true definition of feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of political, social and economic to men. Feminism is the action of making women equal to men in every aspect of today.s society. No, we should not be concerned with the number of scientist or with any successful woman. Feminist tend to be looked at as men hating women who want all the power, which is not the case. Just because a scientist is a woman does not mean people could be concerned about how many women are becoming scientist. They should be judged on their intelligence, not their gender. Men are not better than women and women are not better than men. For society to be at peace we need to start looking at each other as our equals. Being are mother or father should not be frowned upon. It should be the thing you are most proud of being and that goes for men and women.
ReplyDeleteFeminism is the belief that women are equal to men. It relates to this class because the amount of men scientists to women scientists is very disproportionate. Also, a lot of women have trouble making break through's because not everyone takes them seriously. It is my opinion that no one is better than any other until their actions prove otherwise. I do not think that men are better than women. I think that it is people's actions that dictate whether or not they are better than others.
ReplyDeleteFeminism as I understand it is a movement for equal rights for all. Feminism relates to our class through science. The field of science is male dominated career path. This may be due to women being interested in more social career paths such as teachers, lawyers,and office workers but feminism pushes for more women to not be scared to adventure into the fields of science.
ReplyDeleteParenthood is the highest calling for anyone in their life. This comes from our instinctual drive to carry on our genetics. A drive so strong it causes women to willingly undergo the pains of labor and men and women both sacrifice everything for their children. Nothing else pushes us to act in manners such as these.
I agree with Tim especially where he says that parenthood is the highest calling for anyone in their life. Bring a human into this world is the ultimate sacrifice, there is so much selflessness that goes into having and raising a child that i believe it is the ultimate calling for a human. Women are forced to become mothers and nurture there child and men are forced to become men and protect and provide for their family. The birth alone is an unbelievably painful experience but ultimately leads to the happiest and greatest experience in a woman and mans life.
DeleteFeminism is the movement or belief that women and men are equal to one another. Throughout history there has always been a stigma that men were superior to women. i believe feminism is trying to bring equality to the world. In the science community women were not granted the same privileges and opportunities men were to work in the science world therefore creating a community lacking women. women perspectives and qualities are much needed in the science community. I do not believe men are better than women, I do not believe one human is better than another, until proven otherwise through actions i believe we are all equal.
ReplyDeleteFeminism is the idea that women should be equal to men in social, political and economic fields. So that men and women can be truly equal to one another. I believe that feminism relates to this class for the fact that the both in the field of philosophy and the field of science that men are the dominate sex. This can be very intimidating to women wanting to enter the field, along with concerns of women not being taking seriously. I do believe that it has came a long away, but still has a long way to go.
ReplyDeleteFeminism is the belief that women should be equal to men in the business, political, and social world. We have seen cases of sexual harassment and the degrading of women in the science workplace. We should kind of be concerned about the lack of females in science, not because they are better, or equal, or worse, but because they provide a different viewpoint. I dont believe that there should be a dominance between genders, outside of athletics and physical size and ability, women and men are equals. Motherhood nor fatherhood should be the highest achievement for either gender, but neither of those career choices is harder than the other.
ReplyDeleteThe article stated that Feminist accounts of science expose the ways in which the various sciences exhibit androcentric bias in their theories, practices, and presuppositions. Some (But not all.) of these accounts also raise questions about the extent to which our understanding of what is to be rational, objective, and scientific is itself gender-laden. The focus of Feminist efforts is on scholarship that addresses directly questions relating to the content, methodology, and epistemology of science. It was also stated in the article that there are many branches of Feminist ideology, but that all of them deal with power relations. One thing that I like about Feminist accounts is that it seeks to view science from alternative vantage points. That is to say that since some Feminists consider classical knowledge to have been formed without the assistance of "subordinate groups," and further that they consider women in science to be a "subordinate group," they believe that female scientists can offer unprecedented insights into scientific explanations.
ReplyDeleteI believe that we should be concerned with the number of female scientists, especially in fields such as physics and astronomy, because in their absence we lose their unique insights and it promotes greater potential for women choosing areas of study to be discouraged in their pursuits of these scientific fields.