Women and Family - the “double day” (balancing work and family) focussing on Mothers
Your essay must apply an intersectional analysis. As you cannot possibly discuss all groups of women
affected by the issue you have selected to write about in a short paper, you need to narrow your topic
further. To this end you should select a particular group of women. The group you select may be
privileged OR marginalized by the intersection of gender with race/ethnicity/indigeneity, class, sexuality,
or ability. For example, if you are discussing dating and hook-up culture in Canada, you may focus on
female college students, many of whom are white and middle class.
Consider the following questions when planning and researching your essay:
Which theoretical concepts will be helpful to develop an analytical framework that explains the problem
you have identified from a feminist perspective? To this end, the first section of your essay after the
introduction will begin by explaining the workings of patriarchy in relation to your broader topic. The
specifics of the framework you build will depend on your topic. If you are focusing on Aboriginal women,
for example, you will draw on key ideas from anti-racist feminism. Your framework is not meant to be a
summary of a particular theory (e.g. liberal feminism).
What kind of background information, including history is needed to understand the present situation?
What is the scope of the problem? What are some of the causes (depending on the topic, this could be
partially addressed in Q.2)? How have the lives of this group of women been negatively affected?
What types of resistance and feminist advocacy are being undertaken to address the problem? How
effective are these in leading to positive change?
Sample Solution