Your Very Own Gender Studies Degree: Gender Essentialism
But first, how can I get my Very Own Gender Studies Degree?
“First, there’s a bit of uncritical gender essentialism at play here. Somehow, investing in women is investing in us all because women are inherently more caring and nurturing. Instead of reinforcing the notions of women’s work and men’s work, we might want to invest in dismantling gender essentialism. Second, global poverty is deeply structural. It is predicated upon centuries of colonialism and inequity between countries in the global North and South. To lay, even rhetorically, the burden of pulling nations out of poverty upon women workers is ahistorical at best and disingenuous at worst. And while we’re on the topic of disingenuous arguments, I take issue with the idea of investing in women for the sake of the global economy and not simply for the sake of the women themselves.” - Eesha Pandit
Please read this whole article, on investing in women here.
Things to Think About:
1. How do we move away from appreciating and promoting only the assumed qualities of women?
2. What does it say to put the economy on the shoulders of promoting women? How is this positive and/or negative?
3. Does gender essentialism flatten or promote a transnational approach to economic growth?
4. For those of you following this project - does this relate to Queer Theory?
