Summary
Contents
Subject index
The new edition of Key Concepts in Gender Studies is a lively and engaging introduction to this dynamic field. Thoroughly revised throughout, the second edition benefits from the addition of nine new concepts including Gender Social Movements, Intersectionality and Mainstreaming. Each of the entries: • begins with a concise definition • outlines the history of each term and the debates surrounding it • includes illustrations of how the concept has been applied within the field • offers examples which allow a critical re-evaluation of the concept • is cross-referenced with the other key concepts • ends with guidance on further reading. A must-buy for undergraduate and postgraduate students in a range of social science and humanities disciplines.
Androcentrism
Androcentrism
Deriving from the Greek word for male, androcentrism literally means a doctrine of male-centredness. Androcentrism occurs when the experiences of men are assumed to be the norm, and so are seen to provide the objective criteria through which women’s experiences can be organised and evaluated. As Bem (1993: 2) explains, androcentrism means that ‘a definition of males and male experience [is taken as] a neutral standard or norm, and females and female experience as a sex-specific deviation from that norm’. Some writers, particularly those influenced by psychoanalytical theory, prefer the terms phallocentrism or phallocentric, in order to draw attention to the way the penis (or phallus) acts as the symbolic representation of male-centredness. A related concept is that of phallogocentrism. Deriving from the work ...
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