Florida Atlantic Women Rights During the Fourth Wave of Feminism Discussion

The two essays from this week pick up the ideas that Ryan explored in “Gender and Public Access,” and that Fraser raised in “Rethinking the Public Sphere.” McKee is interesting for a couple reasons. First, he begins by looking at women in the 18thcentury, particularly in France.Ryan, remember, began her essay by pointing out that she thinks women in America followed a different path than did women in Europe.

As you read what McKee writes about the “invention” of public and private in 18th century France and its development over time (especially pp. 34-42), think about how it compares with what Ryan had to say about American women in the 19thcentury. How were the experiences of women different in France and America, and how were they similar? How are the ideas of public and private similar and different? Look particularly at how Ryan and McKee talk about the “invention” of public and private.What do they mean by that?

McKee also talks about women’s health and the women’s health movement of the 1970s as a counterpublic. Tierney is talking about similar issues and a similar time period, though she doesn’t use the language of the public sphere. You might find it helpful to try to look at Tierney’s essay as documenting the formation of a counterpublic.

If you look back at Nancy Fraser, “Rethinking the Public Sphere,” she talks about “the late 20th century US feminist subaltern counterpublic, with its variegated array of journals, bookstores, publishing companies, film and video distribution networks, lecture series, research centers, academic programs, conferences, conventions, festivals, and local meeting places.” She continues, “In this public sphere, feminist women have in vented new terms for describing social reality, including ‘sexism,’ ‘the double shift,’ ‘sexual harassment,’ ‘marital, date, and acquaintance rape’” (p. 67).

Which of the things that Fraser talks about as part of the feminist counterpublic does McKee look at? What about Tierney? What about the case of Francine Hughes and the two films about her?

Remember, you can discuss any or all of the questions posed in the module or you can discuss something else that you found interesting in the reading. Discussion posts should be your original ideas that identify important concepts from the readings. You shouldn’t quote or paraphrase extensively, except to point out what aspect of the articles you are commenting on. Discussion posts should deal with the course reading for each week, and not general observations on the public sphere or material you have read in other classes. Material quoted from the readings should total no more than 10% of a discussion post and should include an accurate reference to the source (author and page number). Original posts should explore an issue in some depth, so they should be at least 200 words.

You should also reply to at least one post by your colleagues. Replies can be shorter (50-75 words, minimum), but should indicate that you have read and thought about the material and the post to which you are replying. Replies can, of course, be longer if you have more to say to each other.