Theorizing the Social Self - Essay Example

Download file to see previous pages The intention of this study has been to understand the implications of the social structures in the formation of individual selves. This has taken into consideration certain writings that include the Women, Church, and State by Matilda Joslyn Gage, Votes for Women by W.E.B. Du Bois, Women and Economics by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Women in Public by Elsie Clews Parsons, The Vindications: The Rights of Men, The Rights of Women by Mary Wollstonecraft, and As to Humanness by Gilman. These studies are relevant for this particular study since they reveal the nature of the society and, hence, their influences towards the formation of the self, bringing forward the discrimination of men and women in the society. Analysis To begin with, it would be appropriate to understand the concepts of Interactionist Theory of Self Formation and the Feminist Theory of Gender followed by an analysis of the cases as obtained from the published sources. According to the Interactionist Theory of Self Formation, .”..the self is a basic concept in symbolic interactionism. ...
e feminist theory of gender has a focus on the struggle of women in the society for their recognition in the midst of the male culture dominations prevailing around. The understanding relies on the thought that “patriarchy privileges men by taking the male body as the 'standard' and fashioning upon it a range of valued characteristics (such as good health, mastery, reason and so on) and, through a comparison, viewing the female body as deficient, associated with illness, with lack of control and with intuitive rather than reasoned action” (Annandale & Clark, 1996, p. 19). Women, Church, and State: Matilda Joslyn Gage Gage had herself worked on the recovery of feminist recognition and focused on the fact that women are in need to “rediscover their history all over again” (Gage, 2007, p. 201). Gage, who paid significant attention on the women recognition, however, reflects a story where “neglect and active suppression” had been received by her owing to her criticisms on “culture dominations” (Gage, 2007, p. 201). She had written a book, Women, Church, and State, where she significantly disclosed how the nuisance of men had to be suffered by women, how the women used to be ill-treated and made to work day and night, but providing them with lesser facilities in comparison to men. Such a case, according to her, has been relevant in several regions like New York, Paris, France, and Germany among others. Be it the compensation for the work or the quality of treatment including food that were provided to them, all were found to be degraded for women. Gage, who criticized and brought forward these issues, had suffered herself negligence to such levels that eventually she herself reached a stage from where other socialists had to help her recover her recognition ...Download file to see next pagesRead More