Blog # 4 - Lorber, Zinn & Dill, Myhre

In her article, Night to his Day, Judith Lorber describes gender as a human production rather than an inherent biological characteristic. An individual’s gender identity is not fixed or predetermined by their genetic makeup, but rather it is constructed and molded to fit into society’s concept of what is truly masculine and feminine. Lorber makes a clear distinction between an individual’s sex and gender, but at the same time shows how the two principles are related. The sex of an infant is determined by anatomical cues such as the type of genitalia and reproductive organs. However a child’s gender identity is developed through social conditioning, in which that individual learns which behavior and responsibilities are socially acceptable for men and women. From the time that a child is born they are molded and taught how to act in a socially acceptable way. “Gendered norms and expectations are enforced through informal sanctions of gender-appropriate behavior by peers and by formal punishments or threat of punishment by those in authority, should behavior deviate too far from socially imposed standards for women and men.” Lorber illustrates how the development of gender identity leads to different “characteristics, feelings, motivations and ambitions,” among the sexes. The characteristics assigned to each gender causes men and women to have different life experiences and ultimately become different kinds of people. The creation of different genders and “different kinds of people” leads to a “stratification system in which gender ranks men above women of the same class and race.” Society has created a gender system in which male is the dominant norm, and female is the other that is different and subordinate. The other lacks the redeeming qualities present in the dominant group. I thought that one of the most interesting ideas in Lorber’s article was the Marxist feminist view of gender inequality. This idea states that gender is created to demean women’s abilities and keep them in a subordinate position so that they can be exploited as a cheap supply of labor. The lower jobs are reserved for women, while the more esteemed, higher paying jobs are reserved for men.

Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism, is an article by Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thronton Dill, which highlights the benefits and necessity for a multiracial feminist movement. Zinn and Dill define multiracial feminism according to six distinct features. The first and most important point that they discuss in their article is that gender inequality does not just stem from differences among men and women, but also from differences in class and race. Zinn and Dill site the matrix of domination, which is a paradigm for individual oppression that involves the interlocking relationships between gender, class, race and sexual orientation. The matrix of domination displays how the experiences of women of different races and classes are not the same and that all women experience different levels of oppression. The importance of a multiracial feminist movement is that it will address not only gender hierarchies, but also racial and socioeconomic hierarchies. “The matrix of domination seeks to account for the multiple ways that women experience themselves as gendered, raced, classes and sexualized.” Multiracial feminism brings together women from all backgrounds and forces them to see the interrelation between privilege and subordination. Through the exchange of different life experiences, women will be able to identify the matrix of domination and see how race and class relations affect all women.