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Assignment 7

In “Are Women Human? It’s not an academic question,” Parisi and Peterson look at humans through the binary gendered lens as ‘men’ and ‘women’. The authors argue that men are seen as the dominant, universal human and women are subjugated (seen as dependent and submissive compared to men, who have dominance in sex roles and society). Focusing on human rights through an androcentrist lens actually excludes women while looking at human rights through a gendered lens that focuses on men’s rights.

Heterosexism looks at the institutionalization of heterosexuality as the ‘normal’ sexual identity and thus perpetuates ideas of what is normal for men (masculine behavior) or normal for women (feminine behavior) focused on bio-physical features (like family life and reproduction).

It is problematic to view society through an androcentric role because social norms and gender are controlled by the male dominant ideology, which means women’s right will be ingored (or not properly seen) or subjugated against men’s. The gender hierarchy imposed on women as prevented them from receiving the power and attention in society that is inherently deferred to men. Men’s interests are ultimately privileged and gender identities or sexual identities that exist outside this ‘norm’ are neither respected nor given proper validation. This translates into how children are raised in society – they are confined to the heteronormative expectation that greatly differs depending on the child’s sex. This inequality is transferred to race and socioeconomic class, as well.

The authors argue that a heterocentric view is a more accurate way to view the relationships between men and women and the different rights granted to individuals based on their gender. Women are subject to control and oppression that men will not and do not face (such as reproductive rights, domestic abuse, and more). It is important to not view social relationships through a gender-less lens because our social relationships are very defined by our gender, race and socioeconomic class.