User:Skigoat/Superwoman (sociology)

Lead
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Origin of the term
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Criticism
The term and its concept have been critiqued by people within the feminist movement. English feminist and historian Lucy Delap argues that the idea of the "superwoman" has been perceived as exclusionary by many feminist scholars. [Insert text here about Betty Friedan quote -- cannot copy over yet] This yearning for balance within a feminist framework was called a "shift from the Superwoman ideal to the Balanced Woman ideal" by American feminist Catherine Rottenberg.

As the role of the "superwoman" became less popular going into the 1990s, the continued model of the "superwoman" still used in advertisements also received criticism. One ad in particular featured a woman dressed in 1950's garb posed above text that reads, "It's not easy to pull together the perfect holiday."

The notion of the "superwoman" also faced backlash from critics of second-wave feminism primarily in the 1980s-1990s. According to American journalist and feminist Susan Faludi, these critics deemed "superwomanhood" a feminist goal that could not be achieved due to the juggling act the role required women to undertake. This reaffirmed, in the postfeminist era, the idea that was propositioned by anti-feminists before the second-wave: that women could not have a career, a family life, and be fulfilled all at once.

The United States
Despite the modern woman's increased role in the workforce within present western culture, domestic responsibilities and child care are still perceived primarily as female work. In today's cultural climate, evidence of this can be found through studies as well as in modern resources, such as online parenting guides and discussion sites.

Australia
A 2007 study done in Australia concluded that the everyday lives of both fathers and people without children were less strained than women who fell under the "superwoman" role.

Popular Media and Texts
The term was used in a somewhat similar context in the Stevie Wonder song "Superwoman", released 1972. It was the title of a 1975 book by Shirley Conran; she also wrote Superwoman 2 (1977); Superwoman in Action (1979); and Down with Superwoman: for everyone who hates housework (1990).

Modern examples of the superwoman are also pervasive in contemporary film and television shows. Sarah Orem identifies Miranda Bailey of Grey's Anatomy as an appropriate example of "superwomanhood" due to her extreme competence within her doctoral field while simultaneously raising a family and acting as a social leader.

References (most not in article yet but will be used)
Delap, Lucy. “The Superwoman: Theories of Gender and Genius in Edwardian Britain.” The Historical Journal, vol. 47, no. 1, Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp. 101–26, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4091547.

Julie E. Press, and Eleanor Townsley. “Wives’ and Husbands’ Housework Reporting: Gender, Class, and Social Desirability.” Gender and Society, vol. 12, no. 2, Sage Publications, Inc., 1998, pp. 188–218, http://www.jstor.org/stable/190530.

Kates, Steven M., and Glenda Shaw-Garlock. “The Ever Entangling Web: A Study of Ideologies and Discourses in Advertising to Women.” Journal of Advertising, vol. 28, no. 2, Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 1999, pp. 33–49, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4189108.

Pascoe Leahy, Carla. “From the Little Wife to the Supermom? Maternographies of Feminism and Mothering in Australia since 1945.” Feminist Studies, vol. 45, no. 1, Feminist Studies, Inc., 2019, pp. 100–28, https://doi.org/10.15767/feministstudies.45.1.0100.

Rashley, Lisa Hammond. “‘Work It out with Your Wife’: Gendered Expectations and Parenting Rhetoric Online.” NWSA Journal, vol. 17, no. 1, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005, pp. 58–92, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4317102.