Task 8: What is Essentialism?

Essentialism is a belief that people and things have qualities that cannot be changed, especially through time. It is almost as if people were inherited with characteristics that cannot be changed. Essentialism seems to be synonymous to "conservative idealism."

The classroom example shows how in an essentialist's perspective that a classroom should traditionally have clear defined roles between the teacher and the students. Teachers should act as the primary source for sharing knowledge, while the students merely listen and take in the knowledge. In a sociological perspective, the classroom example reminds me of Karl Marx's notion of Conflict Theory, in which the usage of experience in lecture can potentially disrupt the stereotypical, authoritative status of a professor. As a result, the "marginalized other," the students, will contribute more to the discussion rather than only from the professor. This renders the students as being somewhat on equal levels with the professor.

Another example to solidify my definition of essentialism is how Hook mentioned the gender inequalities of men and women from Fuss's literature on how she extracted evidence profoundly in men's work than women's. The notion that men have experience gives a biased assertion on Fuss's account. All of history, women were subjugated by men in any societies in terms of status and education.