F eminist and g ender t heories

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY IN THE CONTEMPORARY ERA
of Lévi-Strauss and structuralism . . . [but] at this 
juncture it is already clear that one way the inter-
nal stability and binary frame for sex is effec-
tively secured is by casting the duality of sex in 
a prediscursive domain. This production of sex 
as the prediscursive ought to be understood as 
the effect of the apparatus of cultural construc-
tion designated by gender. How, then, does gen-
der need to be reformulated to encompass the 
power relations that produce the effect of a pre-
discursive sex and so conceal that very operation 
of discursive production?
Discussion Questions
1. Smith (1987:64) states, “So as I walk 
down the street keeping an eye on my dog I 
am observing some of the niceties of different 
forms of property ownership.” In what ways 
do you “do class” in your everyday life? In 
what ways do you “do gender”? How do your 
class and gender performances reaffirm forms 
of domination? To what extent do your gender 
performances reflect, reaffirm, or challenge 
normative heterosexuality, or what Butler 
calls the heterosexual matrix?
2. According to Smith (1987:68), “The 
role of women is central both in the work 
that is done and in the management of its 
routine daily order . . . whatever the relations 
between school achievement, career success, 
and the ‘intricate psychosocial processes’ of 
the family, the conscious, planned thoughtful 
work of women as mothers has been part of 
its actuality.” Discuss the extent to which 
“behind-the-scenes” women’s work is still 
taken for granted in both schools and the 
workplace today, including the class dimen-
sions of this issue. Do you think that this 
aspect of gender roles has changed in the last 
twenty years? How so or why not? Do you 
think full gender equality can be achieved? 
Why or why not? 
3. According to P. Collins (1990/2000:228), 
“A matrix of domination contains few pure 
victims or oppressors. Each individual derives 
varying amounts of penalty and privilege 
from the multiple systems of oppression 
which frame everyone’s lives.” Give concrete 
examples of moments or situations in which 
you have found yourself a “victim” and con-
crete examples of moments or situations in 
which you found yourself an “oppressor.” 
Explain how your examples reflect the matrix 
of domination at the level of personal biogra-
phy, the community, and the systemic level of 
social institutions.
4. Discuss the neo-Marxist or critical 
dimensions of Smith, Collins, Chodorow, 
Connell, and Butler. In addition to critical 
theory, what other traditions and concepts 
does each draw from to produce her own dis-
tinct perspective?
5. Compare and contrast Butler’s concep-
tualization of “performativity” with Goffman’s 
dramaturgical theory (Chapter 5).