User:Florenceandree/sandbox

Our project aimed to "clean up" the Wikipedia page on Sexism by rewriting most of its contents, and deleting unnecessary (or irrelevant) subsections. Nevertheless, considering the high activity on the Talk page and the significant amount of time invested by other (outside) editors on the page, we decided to refrain from deleting entire subsections. In that light, I chose to only rewrite the following subsections for the "Objectification" section: the lede, "in advertising", and "pornography". I chose to narrow my focus on these subsections as they are the most salient topics in academic debates concerning the relationship between sexism and objectification. I also rewrote the "gender discrimination in politics" section, which was originally an entire section on its own. In total, my contribution amounts to 720 words, and is located in the sandbox. We have opted for individual grades.

Objectification

Objectification is treating a person, usually a woman, as an object. By being objectified, a person is denied agency .

Nussbaum has identified the seven features of treating a human as an object as the following:

1. instrumentality: treating the object as a tool for the objectifier’s purposes

2. denial of autonomy: treating the object as lacking in autonomy and self-determination-

3. inertness: - treating the object as lacking in agency

4. fungibility: - treating the object as interchangeable with other objects

5. violability: - treating the object as lacking in boundaries-integrity

6. ownership: - treating the object as something that is owned by another (can be bought or sold);

7. denial of subjectivity: treating the object as something whose experiences and feelings (if any) need not be taken into account.

According to objectification theory (Fredrickson & Robert, 1997) objectification can have important repercussions on women, particularly young women, as it can lead to mental disorders (depression, eating disorders, etc…) .

Objectification is pervasive, and is evidenced in a variety of areas, such as advertising and pornography.

Advertising

While advertising used to portray women in obvious stereotypical ways (e.g. as a housewife), women in today’s advertisements women are no longer solely confined to the house. However, advertising today nonetheless still stereotypes women, albeit in more subtle ways, including by sexually objectifying them . This is problematic because there appears to be a relationship between the manner in which women are portrayed in advertising and people’s ideas about the role of women in society ). Research has shown that gender role stereotyping in advertising is linked to negative attitudes towards women, as well as more acceptance of sexual aggression against women and rape myth acceptance . Furthermore, gender role sterereotyping in advertisements may be injurious to women, as it is linked to negative body image and the development of eating disorders.

Pornography

Pornography, according to anti-pornography feminists Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, creates and sustains objectification . Indeed, they argue that pornography reduces women to mere tools. They illustrate the link between objectification and pornography two by stating:

"We define pornography as the graphic sexually explicit subordination of women through pictures and words that also includes (i) women are presented dehumanized as sexual objects, things, or commodities; or (ii) women are presented as sexual objects who enjoy humiliation or pain; or (iii) women are presented as sexual objects experiencing sexual pleasure in rape, incest or other sexual assault; or (iv) women are presented as sexual objects tied up, cut up or mutilated or bruised or physically hurt; or (v) women are presented in postures or positions of sexual submission, servility, or display; or (vi) women's body parts—including but not limited to vaginas, breasts, or buttocks — are exhibited such that women are reduced to those parts; or (vii) women are presented being penetrated by objects or animals; or (viii) women are presented in scenarios of degradation, humiliation, injury, torture, shown as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual."

Gender discrimination in politics

Gender has been used, at times, as a tool of discrimination against women in the political sphere. Indeed, Women's suffrage was not achieved until 1893, when New Zealand was the first country to grant women the right to vote. Saudi Arabia was the last country to grant women the right to vote in 2011 While almost every woman today has the right to vote, there is still progress to be made for women in politics. Indeed, studies have shown that in several democracies including Australia, Canada and the United States, women are still represented using deep-rooted gender stereotypes in the press In fact, multiple authors have shown that gender differences in the media are less evident today than they used to be in the 1980s, but are nonetheless still present. Certain issues (e.g. education) are likely to be linked with female candidates, while other issues (e.g. taxes) are likely to be linked with male candidates . In addition, there is more emphasis on female candidates’ personal qualities, such as their appearance and their personality, as females are portrayed as “emotional” and “dependent” . This is problematic because voters’ views of the female and male candidates may be affected, as well as their views of women’s role in the political sphere

References

We propose to significantly edit the Wikipedia page on Sexism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexism. Our edits will encompass a re-titling of the page to Sexism/Gender Discrimination. We will also rewrite several sections to include a more global perspective and a more neutral and academic viewpoint, delete several sections that we feel do not belong and add several sections that better illustrate and explain the concepts. Where possible we will draw upon theoretical foundations to form our arguments. Our proposal includes the following.

First, we will add a section on “gender discrimination” to the page. The term gender discrimination is theoretically different from the term sexism. Drawing from a conceptual basis that distinguishes sex from gender, our group has decided to add a section on gender discrimination for the purposes of problematizing the differences. Currently, the wikipedia search for gender discrimination results in the page on sexism. Therefore, we propose to add a section on gender discrimination to the sexism page in order to explore the differences. Ultimately, gender discrimination should be developed into its own page, but for the purposes of this exercise, we will develop the section on gender stereotypes as an intersecting practice of gender discrimination.

Next we will rewrite the section on “Gender Stereotypes”. The gender stereotypes section that currently exists takes a very narrow view on gender stereotypes, focusing only on negative views of women. It does not take stereotypes of men into account. Nor does it use any theoretical bases in looking at the effects of gender stereotypes, how gender stereotypes work and how they affect all people. We will include men into the idea of gender stereotyping and bring a more theoretical foundation to the section.

Then we will rewrite the section on “Objectification”. Why must we include objectification? Objectification is a direct consequence of sexism, as it often reduces women to a single body part, thus dehumanizing them in the process. Objectification can take place in a variety of areas, such as in pornography and the media. More importantly, objectification can have important repercussions on women, particularly young women, as had been demonstrated by Fredrickson & Roberts (1997), who have argued that it can lead to mental disorders (depression, eating disorders, etc…) It is important to point out, however, that the section will need substantial editing and reorganization. Some sub-sections, such as “media portrayals,” must be expanded, as there is much more additional scholarship that must be included, while other sub-sections sections such as “sexist jokes” must be minimized, or eliminated altogether.

Following that, we will also rewrite the “Language” section. Language is both descriptive, reflecting reality, as well as prescriptive, in that language can reinforce certain systems. Thus, it is important to examine both what sexism/gender discrimination in language is and what it looks like as well as the effects it has. Theory from both linguists and feminists will be utilized, such as Douglas Hofstadter and Sherryl Kleinman. The current section does not accomplish this, as it only looks at pejorative language with no foundation in theory. We will take a more academic and holistic look at how sexism operates in gender discrimination for both men and women.

We will rewrite the Occupational Sexism section - particularly because it contains very few references to the claims which are being made. The subsection - wage gap can be supplemented with a more global perspective on the discrepancies between wages of women and men around the world.

The section “gender discrimination in politics” must be kept, as gender discrimination in politics is highly problematic. Indeed, on a fundamental level, gender equality in government is necessary for any democracy to thrive. In addition, sexism can manifest itself in politics in more subtly ways, by voters choosing government officials based on perceived qualities of each gender (e.g. women in education) or based on looks. It is important to note, though, that the section will need to be significantly altered, as it is superficial and not thorough enough.

Rather than summing up examples of sexism at the end of the page, we plan to include examples throughout the different sub-chapters. Therefore, we plan to delete the “Examples” section.

We will add to the “Anti-feminism” section.

We will add a section on “Sexism in Education”. Indeed, the education part requires serious improvements due to the lack of academic materials in description of phenomenon and poor analytical cohesion in the paragraphs. Therefore, our mission would be to deal with these theoretical imperfections of secondary data and sequence of description.

We will also add a section on “Criminal Justice”. ‘The criminal justice system is often condemned as an institutionally sexist operation that lets down female victims, fails to help women offenders out of a cycle of crime and prevents professionals reaching the top jobs.’ (Guardian, May 2009) Clearly criminal justice encounters numerous interconnected issues with sexism. The section ‘Criminal Justice’ in Wikipedia requires more balanced view on the problem. It should include broader worldwide vision from theoretical and contextual perspectives. Currently the subject includes only US position towards female criminal justice and sexism. With this regard, our group suggests to add ‘men’ in the sexism’s analysis of criminal justice system.