After the 1970s, researchers began to argue that is important to study “gender” instead of “women.” Why did researchers believe that this is an important shift in focus to make?
a. Researchers noted that demographically there are more males than females in the world; therefore, it is important to study the lives of men in addition to the lives of women.
b. The term “gender” actually refers to the study of women. Since the job of research is to create new knowledge, researchers preferred the term “gender” to “women” because it sounded more up-to-date and in vogue .
c. After the 1970s, researcher acknowledged that Western societies’ concepts of femininity and masculinity are defined in opposition to one another. In order to understand the experiences of women, it was deemed necessary to understand the entire system of gender meanings, and not just the experiences of women.
d. Researchers have never argued that focusing on “gender” is more important than focusing on women.