THRESHOLD CONCEPTS, FEMINIST PEDAGOGY, AND STUDENT LEARNING IN WGS CLASSES

Jessica Lyn Van Slooten Associate Professor of English, Writing Foundations, and Women's and Gender Studies UW Green Bay WHAT ARE THRESHOLD CONCEPTS?

Threshold concepts, a framework developed by Jan Meyer and Ray Land, “can be considered as akin to a portal, opening up a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking about something. [...] As a consequence of comprehending a threshold concept there may thus be a transformed internal view of subject matter, subject landscape, or even world view” (1).

Meyer, Jan H.F. and Ray Land. "Threshold Concepts and Troublesome Knowledge: Linkages to Ways of Thinking and Practising within the Disciplines." Improving Student Learning –Ten Years On. C.Rust, ed. Oxford, 2003. INTEGRATING THRESHOLD CONCEPTS IN WGS CLASSES oStudents read the textbook, interweaving chapters with primary sources (romance novels, music videos, documentaries). oStudents write concept application responses for three concepts covered in the book: the social construction of gender, privilege and oppression, and intersectionality. For more information, and/or to receive a copy of this assignment, please reach out to me:

THANK YOU Jessica Lyn Van Slooten [email protected] 920-683-2747 The Social Construction of Gender Alison Staudinger

How does one become a woman, a man, or neither? And what sort of “bandwidth” is taken up by managing gendered expectations in the classroom or on campus? SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER

(COMPLEX) DISTINCTION BETWEEN SEX AND GENDER

Sex “focuses on the biological, genetic, and physiological features” while gender “characterizes the behavioral (and changing/evolving) characteristics that we define as feminine and masculine.” NOT IMMUTABLE “ideas and constructions of gender change across time, between and within cultures, and even within one’s lifespan.” But intersex people, as well as some trans people, also SOCIALIZATION undercut the sex/gender distinction itself. If gender is about how we perform (or fail to), then “family, education, religion, popular culture, and the media, sports, and the legal and criminal justice systems” offer models, rewards, and punishments. A FEW WAYS TO BRING ”SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER” INTO YOUR CLASSROOM

EDUCATION AND EMBODIMENT SOCIALIZATION LABOR MARKET POP CULTURE

Explore occupational Help students explore Use magazines, TV, comic Use reflective journaling, gender segregation and through exercises which books, or art to decode the dialoguee, or art to messages we receive about explore the history of pay gaps, or discussions play with gender how to “be” our gender. of the abilities of woman expression, like skits. Or gender socialization- or the Consider in relation to race, “double binds” that and men in STEM ask them to “break” a trans*ness, etc. confront young us all.. gender norm for a week. SYSTEMS OF PRIVILEGE AND OPPRESSION

VALERIE MURRENUS-PILMAIER IMBALANCES TO EQUITY RELATED TO POWER DYNAMICS OR WHO HAS WHAT TYPE OF POWER, WHEN AND WHY OPPRESSION

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND • Is defined in by Launius and Hassel as “prejudice and discrimination directed toward a group and perpetuated by the ideologies and practices of multiple social institutions” (91). • Dependent upon a majority group versus a minority group, where the majority experiences significant benefits (privilege) due to the power differential. • Types: Sexism, Racism, Ableism, Classism, Heterosexism, Transphobia WHEN IS IT ME? WHEN IS IT OPPRESSION?

• Individual (prejudice) = beliefs and values • Interpersonal (bigotry) = actions and beliefs • Societal/cultural = beliefs (language, thoughts, actions) perpetuated by a larger body • Institutional = Power-wielding systems that may privilege one group over another. The legal system, education system, social

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA media, etc. HOW BELIEFS BECOME OPPRESSION

• (Systemic) Racism = “prejudice plus bigotry plus power” (Launius and Hassel 94). • When inequity is ingrained into the fabric of the institutions of society, such that the system favors the majority group to the detriment of the marginalized group/s. Example: Same-Sex Marriage is legal at the federal level, yet only 21 states have laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. SIDE-EFFECTS OF OPPRESSION

• Internalized oppression: believing the erroneous beliefs that the majority group perpetuates about your group. Example: Women refusing to vote for female presidential candidates because they feel that women are too emotional to be presidential.

• Horizontal hostility: using the dominant group’s erroneous beliefs to police others’ behaviors. Example: the privileging of lighter-skinned individuals as members of African-American institutions during Jim Crow. PRIVILEGE

• is defined by Launius and Hassel as “benefits, advantages, and power that accrue to members of a dominant group as a result of the oppression of the marginalized group; individuals and groups may be privileged without realizing, recognizing or even wanting it” (95). • The benefits are unearned. • Creates personal, social, and institutional opportunity for those in the privileged class. MOVING FROM “I” TO “WE”

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA •Recognizing that it is not about creating guilt or assigning blame, but acknowledging inequity, and working to change the landscape via language, social roles/mores and the law. ACTIVITY

• Please read through McIntosh’s list from “Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” If you feel comfortable doing so, please indicate which statements prove true for you by putting a “check” next to the statements that apply to you. Now consider it in relation to sexual orientation. Things to consider: • How did reading this list help you to consider issues of privilege and oppression? • What did you find most impactful? Why? INTERSECTIONALITY A LENS FOR ANALYSIS

ALISON GATES & CHRISTINE SMITH In 1989, attorney Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term "intersectionality" as a way to help explain the oppression of African-American women*. Crenshaw argued that the experience of being a black woman cannot be understood in independent terms of either being black or a woman; it must include interactions between the two identities, which frequently reinforce one another.

*”Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics." Intersectionality is an analysis related to identity. Everyone has multiple identities. Systems of hierarchy have been created around our identities, and the combinations (or intersection) of those systems affect how life goes for us. copyright Peter Gorman BarelyMaps etsy.com used with permission HOW YOU CAN “DO” INTERSECTIONALITY

• How might multiple identities or backgrounds be considered

• … in your role as an instructor?

• …In your campus roles and experiences? Feminist Praxis

Intersection of theory and practice

“involves a visible and deliberate set of actions informed by theory, by research, and by evidence.” Everyday Activism

How we confront oppression with individual life choices, raising awareness, Resistance to building communities, or stepping in a Feminist Practice bystander intervention

Backlash to feminist actions, as well as debate within the social movement or academic discipline about policy, the role of students in social change, or feminism itself Until Praxis! Each presenter will move to a table and host activities 11:15 related to their topic or feminist pedagogy more broadly. Feeling quiet? Try out a version of the “threshold concept” response assignment. Discussion (and, Thanks!)