WGSST 2550 HISTORY OF FEMINIST THOUGHT Class meetings: Wednesdays and Fridays 11:10 am-12:30 pm University Hall 86 Fall Semester 2013 (August 21-December 3, 2013)

University Documented Disabilities

Students with a university-documented disability certified by the Office of Disability Services should discuss with me any special accommodations needed for the course. Please make me aware of your needs as soon as possible. The Office of Disability Services, located at 150 Pomerene Hall, offers services for students with documented disabilities. Contact the ODS at 2-3307292-3307, TDD 292-0901; http://www.ods.ohio-state.edu/.

Instructor: Dr. Debra Burrington, Senior Lecturer in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Office: TBA Email: [email protected] or [email protected] Office Hours: By appointment in office or more flexibly via email or phone (310) 592-0854

Course Description and Objectives

The primary objective of this course is to provide students majoring and minoring in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies with a foundation in the history of feminist thought, a category of inquiry that is both an intellectual and a political construction. However, this enterprise is not as straightforward as it may sound, and the construction of this singular sounding entity called ‘history of feminist thought’ is fraught with at least a few difficulties. Thus, while attempting to understand developments in feminist thinking about key concepts and experiences we must also take up the project of recasting the central terms – ‘history’ (singular), ‘feminist’ (singular) and ‘thought’ (singular) – to consider who has written the narratives of intellectual history, who benefits from these narratives, and who has been excluded. This will require that we be open to deconstructing the predominant wave narrative of and its white, western centrality while at the same time considering the historical voices in feminist thought beginning roughly in 19th century Europe and continuing into the early 21st century. We will engage in our endeavors with an eye focused on feminist thinking within the context of histories of imperialism, colonialism, racism, heterosexism, classism and increasing globalization in an effort to weave a richer tapestry comprised of multiple, intersectional narratives, Western-influenced though they may be. No matter how we approach this enterprise we will encounter gaps, flaws, exclusions, erasures and injustices, but we will take our best shot at approaching our material from a variety of angles while also recognizing that each is incomplete by itself. Our approach to the course will emanate from the structure of our primary required text, Reader: Local and Global Perspectives (2013), edited by Carole R. McCann and Seung-kyung Kim. Rather than being another attempt to contain the diversity of feminist thought within a historical-chronological frame that implicitly accepts the ‘wave metaphor’ for understanding developments in feminist thought over time, this newly available text anchors the material included in the anthology in key theoretical concepts that are central to feminist thinking, places them into conversations and debates within ‘multiracial and transnational U.S. feminism’ and in turn situates these within a global perspective. As the editors state in their introduction to the text, “…our guiding principle has been to make the theoretical foundations of U.S. women’s studies intelligible to contemporary students by including a mixture of old and new material, which represent pivotal moments of intellectual insight.” This material will be supplemented by readings that provide important touchstones to primary writings from particular periods of time, location and perspective.

Course Texts

Required: Carole R. McCann and Seung-kyung Kim, eds. Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives (Routledge, 2013) ISBN 978-0-415-52102-4 (Shown as FTR on reading list) Angela Y. Davis, Women, Race and Class (Vintage, 1983) ISBN 0-394-71351-6 (Shown as Angela Davis on reading list) Estelle B. Friedman, ed. The Essential Feminist Reader (Modern Library, 2007) ISBN 978-0-8129- 7460-7 (Shown as EFR on reading list) Emma Goldman, Anarchism and Other Essays (CreateSpace, 2013) ISBN 9-781456-494872 (Shown as Emma Goldman on reading list) (These texts all have been ordered from SBX.) Note: A small handful of readings can be accessed via Carmen and are designated as such by ‘(Carmen)’ after the article title.

Assignments and Responsibilities

Participation (200 pts = 20%): This is defined as your physical and intellectual presence. Please arrive at each class session on time and fully prepared to take part in our ongoing discussion. Being fully prepared means that you will have completed the assigned readings, reflected upon them, and formulated some questions and themes to contribute to the conversation. In addition to lecture-discussion where participation opportunities will be plentiful, we will also engage in small group activities to help us address aspects of the topics. Attendance will not be taken in the class; it is your responsibility to choose to be here. However, you will be asked for your own self-assessment of your presence and overall contributions to the class around the mid-point and end of the semester. The mid-point self-assessment will enable you to target areas where you feel your participation could be improved, and the end-point self-assessment will allow you to evaluate whether you met your own targets for participation. Important note: You may be called upon randomly from the course roster at any time to comment upon or respond to a question about an assigned reading.

Take Home Mid-Term Exam (300 pts = 30%): This will be a cumulative exam of several short essay questions through Part II of the syllabus. It will be distributed in class on Friday 10/4 and will be due via the Carmen Dropbox on Friday 10/11 by 5:00pm. Late exams will be accepted only under really, really extenuating circumstances.

Proposal for Final Essay (200 pts = 20%): A one-page proposal will be submitted identifying your final paper topic, key questions you plan to investigate, and a bibliography of at least five possible research sources you intend to employ. This is due in class on Wednesday 10/23. If you have to miss class on this date the proposal is still due but can be submitted via email by 5:00pm.

Final Essay (300 pts = 30%): Your final paper for the course is to be a 7-10 page essay that explores the genealogy of a contemporary feminist issue, tracing its conceptual framework and situating its key assumptions and aims in the various histories of feminist thought we engage in this course. The essay must pay careful attention to both differences from and transformations of previous theories/ways of thinking about this issue. This is due by 5:00pm Wednesday December 4th in the Carmen Dropbox. Late essays will not be accepted.

Course Grading

Grading

A = 93-100% B- = 80-82% D+ = 67-69% A- = 90-92% C+ = 77-79% D = 63-66% B+ = 87-89% C = 73-76% D- = 60-62% B = 83-86% C- = 70-72% F = below 60%

Academic Integrity/Plagiarism

Students are expected to maintain complete academic integrity. Please become familiar with the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Department’s statement on plagiarism: As defined by University Rule 3335-31-02, plagiarism is “the representation of another’s works or ideas as one’s own; it includes the unacknowledged word for word use and/or paraphrasing of another’s work, and/or the inappropriate unacknowledged use of another person’s ideas.” Plagiarism is one of the most serious offenses that can be committed in an academic community; as such it is the obligation of this department and its instructors to report all cases of suspected plagiarism to the Committee on Academic Misconduct. After the report is filed a hearing takes place and if the student is found guilty, the possible punishment ranges from failing the class to suspension or expulsion from the university. Although the existence of the Internet makes it relatively easy to plagiarize, it also makes it even easier for instructors to find evidence of plagiarism. It is obvious to most teachers when a student turns in work that is not his or her own and plagiarism search engines make documenting the offense very simple. You should always cite your sources (I can help you with this if you are unfamiliar with proper styles of documentation). Always ask questions before you turn in an assignment if you are uncertain about what constitutes plagiarism. Always see your TA or professor if you are having difficulty with an assignment. To preserve the integrity of OSU as an institution of higher learning, to maintain your own integrity, and to avoid jeopardizing your future, DO NOT PLAGIARIZE!

Writing Center

The Writing Center allows you to make appointments to get assistance from trained writing tutors. To utilize this university-sponsored service, contact the Writing Center at (614) 680-4291 or visit their website at http://cstw.osu.edu/writingcenter. Please also note that the Resources section of the Writing Center website contains a variety of extremely helpful materials on topics such as source citation, drafting and style, editing and grammar.

Course Topic Outline and Reading Schedule

Introduction to the Class “…how and why did things get to be the way they are?” “…there are many histories of feminist theory…”

W 8/21 The course framework; key concepts, issues and questions that are our focus Read: “Introduction” (FTR, 1-10)

Part I: Feminist Thought in Times and Spaces “As a framework for telling feminist histories, the wave metaphor obscures more than it illuminates.”

A Few ‘Pre-Feminist’ Beginnings “…because of doubt and a low opinion of myself and because of diverse sayings of men, I refused for a long time a call to write…”

F 8/23 Scheherazade as an early feminist: http://www.npr.org/2013/06/09/189539866/scheherazade-from-storytelling-slave-to-first- feminist Hildegard von Bingen (1098-1179): http://www.hildegard.org/documents/flanagan.html http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/med/hildegarde.asp Female Troubadors (Trobairitz) ca. 1150-1250: http://www.umich.edu/~eng415/topics/women/Female_Troubadours.html Christine de Pizan (1365-1430), The Book of the City of Ladies (EFR, 3-9) François Poullain de la Barre, “On the Equality of the Two Sexes” (EFR, 10-14) Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, “The Reply to Sor Philotea (EFR, 15-19) Mary Astell, “A Serious Proposal to the Ladies” (EFR, 20-23) Mary Wollstonecraft, “A Vindication of the Rights of ” (EFR, 24-36) Li-Ju Chen (ca. 1800), Flowers in the Mirror (EFR, 37-46)

Feminist Movements “politics and conditions of emergence”

W 8/28 Section I Introduction, FTR pp. 11-27 Nancy A. Hewitt, “Re-Rooting American Women’s Activism: Global Perspectives on 1848” (FTR, 31-39) Angela Davis, Women, Race and Class Chapters 1-5 Qasim Amin, “The Liberation of Women” (EFR, 145-152) Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, “Sultana’s Dream” (EFR, 153-164) Qui Jin, “Stones of the Jingwei Bird” (EFR, 165-167) Elizabeth Cady Stanton, “Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions” (EFR, 57-62) Sojourner Truth, “Two Speeches” (EFR, 63-66) Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (EFR, 128-144)

F 8/30 Amrita Basu, “Globalization of the Local/ Localization of the Global: Mapping Transnational Women’s Movements” (FTR, 68-76) Michelle V. Rowley, “The Idea of Ancestry: Of Feminist Genealogies and Many Other Things” (FTR, 77-82) Angela Davis, Women, Race and Class Chapters 6-9 Kishida Toshiko, “Daughters in Boxes” (EFR, 99-103) Shareefeh Hamid Ali, “East and West in Cooperation” (EFR, 217-219)

W 9/4 Linda Nicholson, “Feminism in ‘Waves’: Useful Metaphor or Not?” (FTR, 49-55) Becky Thompson, “Multiracial Feminism: Recasting the Chronology of Second Wave Feminism” (FTR, 56-67) W.E.B. Du Bois, “The Damnation of Women” (EFR, 204-210) Virginia Woolf, “Three Guineas” (EFR, 220-230) Simone de Beauvoir, “: Introduction” (FTR, 40-48)

Local Identities and Politics “…it was myself, split open, unable to speak, in exile from myself”

F 9/6 Muriel Rukeyeser, “The Poem as Mask” (FTR, 84) T.V. Reed, “The Poetical is the Political: and the Politics of Women’s Rights” (FTR, 85-97) Deniz Kandiyoti, “Bargaining with ” (FTR, 98-106) Emma Goldman, “Woman Suffrage” in Anarchism and Other Essays Ramirez, Akiko, Oppenheim, “Three Poems” (EFR, 182-185) “Bread and Roses”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK6U24syzxI Yosana Akiko, “The Day the Mountains Move” (FTR, 30)

W 9/11 Carole Pateman, “Introduction: The Theoretical Subversiveness of Feminism” (FTR, 107-112) Elizabeth Martinez, “La Chicana” (FTR, 113-115) The Combahee River Collective, “A Black Feminist Statement” (FTR, 116-122) Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” (EFR, 331-335) Adrienne Rich, “Notes Toward a Politics of Location” (EFR, 367-384)

F 9/13 Margaret Sanger, “Women and the New Race” (EFR, 211-216) , “The Culture of Romance” (FTR, 123-128) Charlotte Bunch, “Lesbians in Revolt” (FTR, 129-133) Adrienne Rich, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” (Carmen) Sônia Correa and Rosalind Petchesky, “Reproductive and Sexual Rights: A Feminist Perspective” (FTR, 134- 147) Leslie Feinberg, “Transgender Liberation: A movement Whose Time Has Come” (FTR, 148-158) Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, “Our Bodies, Ourselves” (EFR, 295-299)

Part II: Intersecting Identities in Feminist Thought “Like a kaleidoscope in which a jumble of objects is refracted through a prism in constantly shifting patterns…”

Social Processes/Configuring Differences “…gender is one axis of the matrix of domination that, along with others, imposes boundaries on any woman”

W 9/18 Bonnie Thornton Dill and Ruth Enid Zambrana, “Critical Thinking About Inequality: An Emerging Lens” (FTR, 176-186) Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. “We Had Equality till Britain Came” (EFR, 247-250) Committee on the Status of Women in India, “Towards Equality” (EFR, 304-310) Raewyn Connell, “The Social Organization of Masculinity” (FTR, 252-263)

F 9/20 Heidi Hartmann, “The Unhappy Marriage of Marxism and Feminism: Towards a More Progressive Union” (FTR, 187-201) Friedrich Engels, “The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State” (EFR, 104-111) Alexandra Kollontai, “The Social Basis of the Woman Question” (EFR, 175-181) Luisa Capetillo, “Mi opiñion” (EFR, 187-191) Angela Davis, Women, Race and Class Chapter 10 Emma Goldman, “The Tragedy of Women’s Emancipation” in Anarchism and Other Essays Mariarosa Dalla Costa, “A General Strike” (EFR, 300-303)

Media: If you are interested in learning more about Emma Goldman, some of the connections between the 19th and early 20th century anarchist movement, developments in feminist thought, and contemporary activism around anti-capitalism (e.g., the “Occupy” movement) watch “Emma Goldman: An Exceedingly Dangerous Woman” here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjLwzBi78Lg Due to class period length it is not possible to view this film together during one class session, but please watch it on your own so you can add your thoughts during our class discussion

W 9/25 Rhacel Salazar Parreñas, “Servants of Globalization: Women, Migration and Domestic Work” (FTR, 202-217) Emma Goldman, “The Traffic in Women” in Anarchism and Other Essays Lila Abu-Lughod, “Orientalism and Middle East Feminist Studies” (FTR, 218-226) Mrinalini Sinha, “Gender and Nation” (FTR, 227-245)

Boundaries and Belongings “Sick of being the damn bridge for everybody”

F 9/27 Donna Kate Rushin, “The Bridge Poem” (FTR, 266-267) Minnie Bruce Pratt, “Identity: Skin, Blood, Heart” (FTR, 285-291) Gloria Anzaldúa, “The New Mestiza Nation: A Multicultural Movement” (FTR, 277-284) W 10/2 Audre Lorde, “I Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities” (FTR, 292-295) Lionel Cantú, Eithne Luibhéid and Alexandra Minna Stern, “ Well Founded Fear: Political Asylum and the Boundaries of Sexual Identity in the U.S. – Mexico Borderlands” (FTR, 296-305)

F 10/4 ***Take-home mid-term exam distributed F 10/4; cumulative through Part II*** June Jordan, “Report from the Bahamas” (FTR, 268-276) , “The Veil Debate Again” (FTR, 306-316)

W 10/9 Obioma Nnaemeka, “Forward: Locating /Feminists” (FTR, 317-320) Andrea Smith, “Native American Feminism, Sovereignty, and Social Change” (FTR, 321-331) Mari J. Matsuda, “Beside My Sister, Facing the Enemy: Legal Theory Out of Coalition” (FTR, 332- 340)

Part III: The Multiplicity of Feminist Standpoints “Can we turn the insights from the complex and diverse experiences of women into effective knowledge?”

Standpoint Epistemologies/Situated Knowledges “…human consciousness emerges in our interactions with nature and other humans as we work to make our lives”

F 10/11 ***Take-home mid-term exam due F 10/11 in Carmen by 5:00pm*** Uma Narayan, “The Project of : Perspectives from a Nonwestern Feminist (FTR, 370-378) Susan Brownmiller, “Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape” (EFR, 311-317) Hélène Cixous, “The Laugh of the Medusa” (EFR, 318-324) Monique Wittig, “One is Not Born a Woman” (FTR, 246-251)

W 10/16 Patricia Hill Collins, “Defining Black Feminist Thought” (FTR, 379-394) Cheshire Calhoun, “Separating Lesbian Theory from Feminist Theory” (FTR, 395-411) Gloria Anzaldúa, “La Conciencia de la Mestiza: Toward a New Consciousness” (EFR, 385-390) bell hooks, “Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory” (Carmen)

F 10/18 Nancy C.M. Hartsock, “The Feminist Standpoint: Toward a Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism” (FTR, 354-369) Donna Haraway, “Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective” (FTR, 412-423) Dorothy Allison, “A Question of Class” (Carmen)

Poststructuralist Epistemologies “…woman has sex organs just about everywhere”

W 10/23 Luce Irigaray, “This Sex Which Is Not One” (FTR, 426-432) Luce Irigaray, “When Our Lips Speak Together” (Carmen)

F 10/25 Lata Mani, “Multiple Mediations: Feminist Scholarship in the Age of Multinational Reception” (FTR, 433-476)

W 10/30 Sandra Bartky, “Foucault, , and the Modernization of Patriarchal Power” (FTR, 447- 461) Judith Butler, “Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory” (FTR, 462-473)

Part IV: New Imaginings in Feminist Thought and Experience “The metaphors of ghosts, haunting, impossible subjects, and circumstantial knowledge…”

Bodies and Emotions “…feminist and other outlaw emotions can help in developing alternatives to prevailing conceptions of reality…”

F 11/1 Allison Jaggar, “Love and Knowledge: Emotion in Feminist Epistemology” (FTR, 486-501) bell hooks, “To Love Again: The Heart of Feminism” (Carmen) bell hooks, “Liberating Marriage and Partnership” (Carmen) Emma Goldman, “Marriage and Love” in Anarchism and Other Essays

W 11/6 Kathy Davis, “ Women’s Bodies: Colonialist Trope or Critical Epistemology?” (FTR, 502-516) Sarah Ahmed, “Multiculturalism and the Promise of Happiness” (FTR, 517-532)

F 11/8 Carolyn Pedwell and Anne Whitehead, “Affecting Feminism: Questions of Feeling in Feminist Theory” (Carmen) Kristyn Gorton, “Theorizing Emotion and Affect: Feminist Engagements” (Carmen)

Solidarity Reconsidered “…relations of mutuality, co-responsibility, and common interests, anchoring the idea of feminist solidarity…”

W 11/13 , “Under Western Eyes Revisited: Feminist Solidarity through Anticapitalist Struggles” (FTR, 536-552) Bernice Johnson Reagon, “Coalition Politics: Turning the Century” (Carmen)

F 11/15 Suzanna Danuta Walters, “From Here to Queer: , Postmodernism, and the Lesbian Menace (Or, Why Can’t a Woman be More Like a Fag?)” (FTR, 553-570)

W 11/20 Paula M.L. Moya, “ and Postmodern Theory” (FTR, 571-588) Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, “Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future” (EFR, 424-426) Rebecca Walker, “Becoming the Third Wave” (EFR, 397-401) Malika Ndlovu, “Out of Now – Here” (FTR, 589-590)

F 11/22 Wrap up and Evaluations

W 11/27 (NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING BREAK)

F 11/29 (NO CLASS – THANKSGIVING BREAK/COLUMBUS DAY OBSERVED)

Final paper due: Carmen Dropbox 5:00pm December 4th