1. Geography, gender and the gender of geography Dr Lee Thompson

2. Overview The gender of geography – challenging the single perspective Different approaches to gender –reflect shifts in social theoretical thinking Examples of geographical research that pays specific attention to gender

3. Gender Gender does not only ‘belong’ to women Gender is socially constructed – rather than inherent “One is not born a woman, one becomes one” (Simone de Beauvoir, 1972: 525) Gender makes a difference

4. The gender challenges to/in geography Unequal experiences and opportunities for men and women in geography and the masculinity of geography, 1970s-1990s –Women overwhelmingly positioned at lower scales –Experience of white middle class men seen as norm

5. Feminist theories How we think about gender in/and geography – influenced by shifts in feminist thought –Radical feminism –Liberal feminism –Post-structural feminism

6. Radical feminism Women oppressed as women by men Replacement of motherhood via reproductive technology – motherhood free from patriarchal control Radical lesbian feminist separatism alternative to patriarchal system

7. Liberal feminism All individuals equal in the eyes of the law – should have equal access to the rights of citizenship (emancipation of slaves and women’s suffrage) –Right for married women to own property –Claims for equality in the workplace –Equality the focus

8. Post-structural feminism Emphasis on difference No longer searching for ‘the’ grand theory More focus on equity rather than equality –Notion of equality based on an individual who is a bourgeois man –Claims for equal rights in the workplace fail to take account of women’s particular needs (or increasingly men’s)

9. What counts as knowledge and how do we produce it? Core challenge from gender theorists –Knowledge is not out there waiting to be found or revealed – we actively participate in producing what counts as knowledge –Multiple ways of knowing –Knowledge production is never value-free or unbiased

10. Situated knowledge –All knowledge is positioned or situated – it comes from somewhere –Objectivity – researchers make decisions about research questions, data gathering, analysis and writing –Individual perspectives influence which types of knowledge we privilege

11. Feminist research Upsurge of qualitative methods Focus on power relations between researcher and researched Concerns with interpretative authority Ownership of research

12. Gender and monuments Kate Sheppard Robert Falcon Scott Rolleston Statue Godley Statue Captain Cook

13. Masculinities Masculinity as subject/object of investigation –Historical factors –Embedded representations –Objects and activities –Race, class and ethnicity

14. Masculine branding What kind of masculinity is being represented in the advertisements? Are there any traces of femininity evident in them? In what ways is identity being linked to place in them? (From Le Heron et al. 1999 Chapter 6 “Gendering Place” in Explorations in Human Geography)

15. Rural Health Care “My fear is that they will go out there and start practicing independently, not fully trained or supported, and that would be an absolute disaster” “I’m sick of being seen as a stop-gap” Gender, power, professional status

16. Gender and development Gender, work and single motherhood in post- revoluntionary Nicaragua Male passivity and female activity Single motherhood viable ‘Good’ mothering – providing financially as well as providing care for children