Gender Troubles

Gender Troubles

By Emma Austin and Eva EspenshadeHistory
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Gender Troubles episodes

  • Standpoint Theory

    In this week’s episode, Emma tells Eva about Standpoint Theory, a method of doing research that rejects traditional notions of objectivity and instead, prioritizes thought created from the experience of oppression. Standpoint theory has been popular method of researching and writing in feminist history, so we figured it deserved it’s own mini episode!

    Reading List:

    Harding, Sandra. “RETHINKING STANDPOINT EPISTEMOLOGY: WHAT IS ‘STRONG OBJECTIVITY?”.” The Centennial Review, vol. 36, no. 3, 1992, pp. 437–470. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23739232. Accessed 29 July 2021.

    Video-- Sandra Harding: On Standpoint Theory's History and Controversial Reception- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOAMc12PqmI

    13 min
  • Neoliberal Feminism, AKA the girl boss-apocalypse

    In this episode, Eva tells Emma about Neoliberal Feminism, or as we like to call it, the girlbossopocapopolous...or something like that. Eva uses the case of Sophia Amuroso's book #girlboss to discuss this type of feminism and it's limits.

    Reading List:

    Rachel Thwaites "Making a choice or taking a stand? Choice feminism, political engagement and the contemporary feminist movement." Feminist Theory 18.1 (2017) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1464700116683657

    Eda Ulus "White fantasy, white betrayals: On neoliberal ‘feminism’ in the US presidential election process." Ephemera: Theory and Politics in Organization 18.1 (2018) https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/ws/files/40108414/18_1ulus.pdf

    Sarah Banet-Weiser, Rosalind Gill, and Catherine Rottenberg "Postfeminism, popular feminism and neoliberal feminism? Sarah Banet-Weiser, Rosalind Gill and Catherine Rottenberg in conversation." Feminist Theory 21.1 (2020) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1464700119842555

    33 min
  • Mini Episode: The Wave Debate

    In this mini episode, Emma discusses the controversial topic of feminism’s “waves”. Are these a helpful framing tool, or a reductive method of remembering history?


    Reading List:

    Laughlin, Kathleen A., et al. “Is It Time to Jump Ship? Historians Rethink the Waves Metaphor.” Feminist Formations, vol. 22, no. 1, 2010, pp. 76–135. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40835345. Accessed 14 July 2021.

    Crenshaw, Kimberle. “Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of Color.” Stanford Law Review, vol. 43, no. 6, 1991, pp. 1241–1299. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/1229039. Accessed 14 July 2021.

    Spade, Dean, and Craig Willse. “Sex, Gender, and War in an Age of Multicultural Imperialism.” QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, vol. 1, no. 1, 2014, pp. 5–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.14321/qed.1.1.0005. Accessed 14 July 2021.

    DRISKILL, QWO-LI. “Stolen From Our Bodies: First Nations Two-Spirits/Queers and the Journey to a Sovereign Erotic.” Studies in American Indian Literatures, vol. 16, no. 2, 2004, pp. 50–64. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/20739500. Accessed 14 July 2021.

    Lorde, Audre. “‘THE MASTER’S TOOLS WILL NEVER DISMANTLE THE MASTER’S HOUSE.’” Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader, edited by Reina Lewis and Sara Mills, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2003, pp. 25–28. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/10.3366/j.ctvxcr9q0.5. Accessed 14 July 2021.

    Hooks, Bell. “Feminism and Militarism: A Comment.” Women’s Studies Quarterly, vol. 23, no. 3/4, 1995, pp. 58–64. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/40003500. Accessed 14 July 2021.

    10 min
  • Anti-Canada Day Special: Emily Murphy

    In this Anti-Canada Day episode, Eva & Emma discuss famous Canadian ‘feminist’ Emily Murphy. Murphy was known for her role in the passing of various laws related to women’s rights in the early 20th century, such as the Dower Act and the Person’s Case. She was also a fervent racist and eugenicist. Listen to her story in this week’s episode.

    Content warning – this episode deals with some seriously disturbing content around eugenics, racism, ableism, and forced sterilization.

    Reading List:

    “Emily Murphy”- Library and Archives Canada

    “Why the Persons Case Matters”- Senate of Canada
    The Black Candle by Emily Murphy
    Emily Murphy by Susan Jackel
    Emily Murphy, The Eugenics Archive, by Sheila Gibbons
    Alberta Passes the Sexual Sterilization Act, The Eugenics Archive, by Luke Kersten
    Canadian History: Post-Confederation by John Douglas Belshaw

    Gordon, Todd. “Neoliberalism, Racism, and the War on Drugs in Canada.” Social Justice, vol. 33, no. 1 (103), 2006, pp. 59–78. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/29768352. Accessed 26 June 2021.

    Backhouse, Constance. “The White Women’s Labor Laws: Anti-Chinese Racism in Early Twentieth-Century Canada.” Law and History Review, vol. 14, no. 2, 1996, pp. 315–368. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/743786. Accessed 26 June 2021.


    Bonilla, Tabitha and Cecilia Mo. The Evolution Of Human Trafficking Messaging In The United States And Its Effect On Public Opinion,  Journal of Public Policy, Volume 39, Issue 2 June 2019 , pp. 201-234. Cambridge University Press, 2018. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0143814X18000107

    30 min
  • Liberal Feminism

    In this week’s episode, Eva and Emma discuss the roots, ethos, and heroes of Liberal Feminism.

    Reading List:

    Mary Wollstonecraft- A Vindication for the Rights of Women
    bell hooks- Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center
    Lucy Bailey- Liberal Feminism in The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Gender & Sexuality Studies
    "GoArmy" Army recruitment video featured in this episode 


    37 min

About Gender Troubles

From the publisher's feed

Gender Troubles is a podcast dedicated to debunking, demystifying and making accessible the world of academic feminism. Eva and Emma talk through different feminist movements and moments from a critical, leftist lens. Episodes aim to shake up the feminist canon and provide a new spin on feminist history, movements, and icons.