Women, Culture and Society GWST 101 Winter Quarter, 2004 MWF, 5th period (1:20-2:30) GDH 203
Instructor: Michelle M. Day Office Location: GDH 309C E-mail: [email protected] Office Phone: x7311 Office Hours: Wednesdays 2:30-4 p.m. (and by appointment)
Teaching Assistant: Natalie McCarty E-mail: [email protected]
Course Description: This course serves as an introduction to Gender and Women’s Studies. Through the category of gender, we will be examining issues such as the distribution of power in society, diversity and commonality in women’s experiences, and interrogate how gender is linked to issues of class and race in both our society and cross-culturally. One of the main objectives of this course is to develop critical thinking and writing skills, and it is hoped that the analytical skills learned in this course can be applied both to other subject of study and your personal life experiences.
Course Requirements: Course material will be presented through readings, short class lectures, films and during class discussion. Attendance is required and will be taken at all class meetings. Participation in classroom discussion is also expected – students are required to have come to class having done the required reading for that day and to be prepared to discuss the readings. Students are also required to write a four to five page critical review of one of the required texts for the class listed below (and excluding Feminist Frontiers), and will be tested in the form of in-class quizzes and a final exam. The FINAL EXAM will be given during the period scheduled by the registrar.
Required Texts:
1) Simone de Beauvoir. 1989 [1952]. The Second Sex. Vintage Books. 2) Margaret Mead. 2001 [1928]. Coming of Age in Samoa. HarperCollins. 3) bell hooks. 1981. Ain’t I a Woman? South End Press. 4) Richardson, Taylor, Whittier (eds.). 2001. Feminist Frontiers. Fifth edition. McGraw-Hill.
Grading Breakdown:
Quizzes: 40% of grade (eight quizzes/each worth 5% of grade) Book Report: 10% of grade Final Exam: 30% of grade Participation: 10% of grade Attendance: 10% of grade
Quizzes and the Final Exam cannot be made up. Late papers will have points deducted. Any cases of suspected plagiarism, cheating or other forms of academic dishonesty will be referred to the Student Honor Board. Weekly Reading Assignments
Week One: Diversity and Difference
Monday, January 5: No Class
Wednesday, January 7: Introduction to Gender & Women’s Studies & Class Requirements
Read: “Part One: Introduction”, “Section One: Diversity and Difference” and Reading One, “Oppression” by Marilyn Frye (pp. 1-8) in Feminist Frontiers (FF)
Friday, January 9: Diversity and Difference
Reading Two, “Distinctions in Western Women’s Experience: Ethnicity, Class and Social Change” by Rosalinda Méndez González (FF, pp. 9-17)
Reading Three, “Where I Come From Is Like This” by Paula Gunn Allen (FF, pp. 18-22)
Reading Four, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” by Audre Lorde (FF, pp. 22-24)
Reading Five, “Confessions of a Nice Negro, or Why I Shaved My Head” by Robin D. G. Kelley (FF, pp. 24-29)
Week Two: Theoretical Background
Monday, January 12: QUIZ #1 – On Assigned Readings from Section One of FF
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex. Read the introduction to the Vintage Edition (pp. vii-xviii) and the author’s introduction (pp. xix-xxxv)
Wednesday, January 14
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex. Read Part I, Chapter I – “The Data of Biology” (pp. 3-37)
Reading Nine, “The Medical Construction of Gender” by Suzanne Kessler (FF, pp. 74-87)
Friday, January 16
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex. Read Part I, Chapter II – “The Psychoanalytic Point of View” (pp. 38-52) and Chapter II, “The Point of View of Historical Materialism” (pp. 53-60)
Week Three: Theoretical Perspectives
Monday, January 19: QUIZ #2 – On Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex, Part I
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex: Read Part III, Chapter IX “Dreams, Fears, Idols” from pp. 139-169, and Part III, Chapter XI, “Myth and Reality”, pp. 253-263.
Wednesday, January 21
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex: Read Part IV, Chapter XII “Childhood” from pages 267-288 and “The Young Girl” from pages 328-358.
Friday, January 23
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex: Read Part VII, Chapter XXV, “The Independent Woman” (pp. 679-715)
Reading Eleven, “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire” by Judith Butler (FF, 98-105)
Week Four: Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Monday, January 26: QUIZ #3 – On Simone de Beauvoir and Judith Butler
Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa. Read the “Introduction to the Perennial Classics Edition” (pp. xv-xix), and the “Preface to the 1973 Edition” (xxiii-xxviii), and the “Introduction” (pp. 3-11)
Wednesday, January 28
Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa. Read pp. 12-60 (Chapters 2-6)
Friday, January 30
Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa. Read pp. 61-109 (Chapters 7-10)
Week Five: Gender, Culture and Representation
Monday, February 2: QUIZ #4 -- On Margaret Mead (Chapter 1-10)
Margaret Mead, Coming of Age in Samoa. Read pp. 110-170 (Chapters 11-14)
Wednesday, February 4: * IN CLASS FILM: BARBIE NATION *
Reading 13: “Women and the Knife: Cosmetic Surgery and the Colonization of Women’s Bodies” by Kathryn Pauly Morgan (pp. 116-127)
Boxed Insert, “The Beauty Myth” by Naomi Wolf (FF, pp. 142-143)
Boxed Insert, “Bully in the Mirror” by Stephen Hall (FF, 130-133)
Friday, February 6
Reading 14: “Selling Hot Pussy” by bell hooks (FF, pp. 134-143)
Reading 15: “Empowering Women? The Oprah Winfrey Show” by Corinne Squire (FF, pp. 144-153).
Reading 17: “En Rapport, In Opposition: Cobrando cuentas a las nuestras” by Gloria Anzaldúa (FF, 168-172)
Week Six: Gender and Socialization
Monday, February 9: QUIZ #5 - On Chapters 11-14 of Margaret Mead and Readings 13- 15 & 17 in FF
Read the Introduction to Section Four: Socialization (FF, pp. 173-174)
Reading 18: “Family Structure and Feminine Personality” by Nancy Chodorow (FF, pp. 175-188)
Boxed Insert: “Gender in the Context of Race and Class: Notes on Chodorow’s ‘Reproduction of Mothering’” by Elizabeth Spelman (FF, pp. 189-191)
Wednesday, February 11
Reading 20, “Girls and Boys Together … But Mostly Apart: Gender Arrangements in Elementary Schools” by Barrie Thorne (FF, pp. 201-207)
Boxed Inset, “Learning to Fight” by Geoffrey Canada (FF, pp. 208-211)
Reading 21, “Women’s Psychological Development: Implications for Psychotherapy” by Carol Gilligan (FF, 215-224)
Friday, February 13
Reading 22, “Ideology, Experience, Identity: The Complex Worlds of Children in Fair Families” by Barbara Risman (FF, pp. 224-234)
Reading 19, “’The Means to Put My Children Through’” Child-Rearing Goals and Strategies among Black Female Domestic Servants” by Bonnie Thornton Dill (FF, pp 191-200)
Week Seven: Work , Family and Bodies
Monday, February 16: Quiz #6 - On Section Four of FF
Read the Introduction to “Section Five: Work” (FF, pp. 237-238)
Reading 23, “The Wage Conceived: Value and Need as Measures of a Woman’s Worth” by Kessler-Harris (FF 239-252)
Reading 24, “Sex Differences in Moving up and Taking Charge” by Reskin and Padavic (FF, pp. 253-262)
Boxed Insert: “The Mommy Test” by Barbara Ehrenreich (FF, pp. 262-263)
Boxed Insert: “The Realities of Affirmative Action in Employment” by Barbara Reskin (pp. 264-267) Wednesday, February 18
Reading the Introduction to “Section Six: Families” (FF, 297-298)
Reading 28, “Peer Marriage” by Pepper Schwartz (FF, 299-304)
Reading 29, “Working at Motherhood: Chicana and Mexicana Immigrant Mothers and Employment” by Denise Segura (pp. 305-318)
Reading 30, “Race and ‘Value’: Black and White Illegitimate Babies, 1945-1965” by Rickie Solinger (FF 318-331)
Reading31, “Negotiating Lesbian Motherhood” by Ellen Lewin (FF, 332-343)
Friday, February 20
Read the Introduction to “Section Eight: Bodies” (FF, pp. 397-398)
Reading 36, “Hormonal Hurricanes: Menstruation, Menopause, and Female Behavior” by Anne Fausto-Sterling (FF, 399-411)
Boxed Insert: “If Men Could Menstruate--” by Gloria Steinem (FF, 411-412)
Boxed Insert: “When the Political Becomes the Personal Or an Abortion that Wasn’t an Abortion” by Eleanor Miller (FF, 428-430)
Reading 39, “The Politics of Breast Cancer” by Love and Lindsey (FF, 431-436)
Week Eight: Social Protest and Feminist Tensions
Monday, February 23: Quiz #7 - On Sections Five, Six and Eight of FF
bell hooks, “Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism”: Read the Introduction and Chapter One (pp. 1-49)
Wednesday, February 25
bell hooks, “Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism”: Read Chapters Two and Three (pp. 50-117)
Friday, February 27
bell hooks, “Ain’t I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism”: Read Chapters Four and Five (pp. 119-196)
Week Nine: Sexuality and Violence
Monday, March 1: QUIZ #8 - On bell hooks’ Ain’t I a Woman
Reading 34, “Doing Desire: Adolescent Girls’ Struggles for/with Sexuality” by Deborah Tolman (FF, pp. 375-385)
Boxed Inset: “Sex Ed: How Do We Score” by Carolyn Mackler (FF, 386-388)
Reading 35, “Getting Off on Feminism” by Jason Schultz (FF, 389-395)
Wednesday, March 3
Reading 32, “Oral History and the Study of Sexuality in the Lesbian Community: Buffalo, New York, 1940-1960” by Davis and Kennedy (FF, 351-360)
Reading 33, “ ‘Imagine My Surprise’: Women’s Relationships in Mid-Twentieth- Century America” (FF, pp. 361-372)
Boxed Insert: “’In Praise of ‘Best Friends’: The Revival of a Fine Old Institution” by Barbara Ehrenreich, pp. 373-374.
Friday, March 5
Reading 40, “ ‘The Man in the Street’: Why He Harasses” by Benard and Schaffer (FF, pp. 441-444)
Reading 41, “Fraternities and Rape on Campus” by Martin and Hummer (FF, pp. 444-453)
Reading 42, “ ‘I am Not a Rapist!’: Why College Guys are Confronting Sexual Violence” by John Stoltenberg (FF, 454-459)
Boxed Insert: “Behind Closed Doors” by Kristen Golden (FF, 459-461)
Reading 43: “Supremacy Crimes” by Gloria Steinem (FF, 462-465)
Boxed Insert: “A Letter from Claudia Brenner” (FF, pp. 464-465)
Week Ten: Violence (continued) and Global Politics
Monday, March 7 (No Quiz) * BOOK REPORT DUE *
Reading 44: “Accountability or Justice? Rape as a War Crime” by Mary A. Tetreault (FF, pp. 466-478)
Reading 46: “The Year of the Woman, the Angry White Male and the Soccer Mom: Media Framing of Gender in Recent Elections” by Susan Carrol (FF, 495-550)
Reading 51: “Gender Politics for Men” by R. W. Connell (FF, pp. 532-537)
Reading 53: “The Next Feminist Generation: Imagine My Surprise” By Ellen Neuborne (FF, pp. 556-559)
Reading 54, “The Women’s Movement: Persistence through Transformation” by Taylor et. al. (FF, 559-574)
Wednesday, March 9: Reading Day (no class)