WS 3358F FEMINIST PERSPECTIVES ON Prof. Katherine McKenna Fall 2015 Tuesday 1:30 - 4:30 pm STVH 3166 Office Hours: TBA E-mail: [email protected]

This outline will be subject to revisions prior to September 2015.

Course Description:

Gender-based violence was one of the earliest issues identified by feminists as a focus for grass- roots organization and continues today to be an important subject for community work, research and political struggle. This seminar will provide an overview of both the theory and practice of feminist anti-violence work locally and globally.

Violence against women was a virtually invisible social problem until it was brought to light by feminist activists some 35 years ago. Since then, there have been a number of political and scholarly controversies surrounding this issue. This course will examine key aspects of these debates in and the United States, as well as in other parts of the world. These theoretical issues will also be connected with practice, that is, with the front-line work that is undertaken in the community to counter violence against women and their children.

Course Objectives:

 To understand the historical background to contemporary issues of violence against women and the many different forms it takes  To learn about the broad systemic nature of gender-based violence while at the same time how it effects women differentially due to their multiple identities (such as race, class, ethnicity, etc) and locations globally and in North America  To analyze and understand research trends and debates on this subject  To examine and evaluate the different theories of the root causes of gender-based violence  To become informed about the many ways in which the community, particularly grass- roots feminist organizations respond to abused women and children  To consider what would be necessary to ensure a violence-free future

Assignments and Evaluation:

Students will be assigned readings for each class based on their preferences (readings will be provided in digital format) and will present these to the class and introduce discussion. These presentations should not be detailed summaries of the readings, but rather overviews raising major points and discussion questions. The following week students will be expected to submit an 7-8 page paper based on these readings. Doubling up and dividing readings for the presentations will be allowed, but each student must submit their own essay based on all of the readings for that week.

There will also be a research paper of approximately approx. 3000-3500 words (12-14 pages) on a topic of the student’s choice connected to violence against women. Students are required to submit for approval a proposal for their essay by November 5, and are strongly encouraged to consult with the professor about their topic before this date. The proposal should consist of a 1-2 page outline of the essay with an annotated bibliography including a minimum of 8-10 sources. The annotations should consist of a short paragraph stating the main points made in each source 1 along with a statement of how it is relevant to your paper.. The final paper is due in hard copy in the final class of term, and also must be submitted electronically to turnitin.

Class participation and preparation by completing the assigned readings will be expected. 10% of the participation grade will be based on the class presentation and 20% on participation. An additional 5% is allocated to a class assignment which will require each student to make a short 2-3 minute presentation on a community agency working to end violence against women. These agencies must be selected in consultation with the professor. This course does not have a final exam. Persistent absenteeism may be rendered grounds for failure in the course, in accordance with the policy of the Department of Women’s Studies and Feminist Research.

The mark breakdown will be as follows:

Essay based on class readings 20% approx. 1,800 words (7-8 pages)

Class Participation 35%

Essay proposal 10% approx 5 pages (8-10 sources) and annotated bibliography

Final Research Paper 35% approx. 3000-3500 words (12-14 pages)

Course Website:

All course information and readings will be posted on the course website at https://owl.uwo.ca/portal.

Policies:

It is the expectation that students will submit assignments by, and sit tests and/or examinations on, the assigned dates; in the event that this expectation cannot be met, students are advised that the policies and practices of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities will be followed. Short extensions of a week or less can be negotiated on a case-by-case basis with the professor.

Prerequisites:

“Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enroll in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.” (http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/exam/crsout.pdf, and the 2007 Western Academic Calendar, p. 19.) The prerequisites for this course are WS 2220E or WS 2256E or WS 2257E or permission of the Department.

Turnitin:

"All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under licence to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers submitted will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is subject to the licencing agreement currently between the University and 2

Turnitin.com (http://www.turnitin.com." (http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/exam/crsout.pdf)

Scholastic Offences:

“Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy, specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site: http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholoff.pdf .”

Students with Disabilities:

Please contact [email protected] if you require any information in plain text format, or if any other accommodation can make the course material and/or physical space accessible to you.

Course Schedule:

1. September 15 Introduction

Video: Status Quo? The Unfinished Business of in Canada

2. September 22 Historical Roots of Violence Against Women

Video: The Burning Times

Reading:

Marianne Hester. "The Witch-Craze in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century England as Social Control of Women." in Jill Radford and Diana E.H. Russell, eds. : The Politics of Killing. (Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan Canada, 1992) 27-39.

Nell Irwin Painter. “Soul Murder and Slavery: Toward a Fully Loaded Cost Accounting.” in Linda K. Kerber, Alice Kessler-Harris and Kathryn Kish Sklar, eds. U.S. History as Women's History: New Feminist Essays. (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press, 1995) 125-46.

Gerda Lerner. The Creation Of . (New York: Oxford 1986) 3-35, 212-29.

3. September 29 The Normalcy of Everyday Violence Against Women

Video: Killing Us Softly 4

Reading:

Walter DeKeseredy. Violence Against Women: Myths, Facts, Controversies. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press 2011) 17-41.

Jill Filipovic. “Blogging White Female: How Internet Parallels ‘Real-World’ Harassment.” Yale Journal of Law and Feminism. 19 (2007) 295-303.

Holly Johnson. Dangerous Domains: Violence Against Women in Canada. (Toronto: Nelson, 1996) 91-110.

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Statistics Canada. Violence Against Women in Canada. 2013. http://www.swc- cfc.gc.ca/initiatives/vaw-vff/kf-pc-eng.html

4. October 6 Theories of Violence Against Women

Reading:

Lori L. Heise. “Violence Against Women: An Integrated, Ecological Framework”, Violence Against Women. 4, No. 3 (1998) 262-90.

Holly Johnson and Myrna Dawson. Violence Against Women in Canada: Research and Policy Perspectives. (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2011) 13-36.

5. October 13 The Multiple Intersections of Violence

Video: Finding Dawn

Reading:

Douglas Brownridge. Violence Against Women: Vulnerable Populations. (New York: Routledge, 2009) 164-176, 198-200, 232-4, 252-9.

Kimberle Williams Crenshaw. "Mapping the Margins: , Identity Politics and Violence Against Women of Color." in Raquel Kennedy Berge et al eds. Violence Against Women: Classic Papers. (Boston: Pearson, 2005) 282-313.

Elizabeth B Erbaugh. “Queering Approaches to Intimate Partner Violence.” in Laura O’Toole, et al eds. Gender Violence: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. (New York: New York University Press, 2007) 451-9.

Statistics Canada. Violence Against Aboriginal Women. 2013. http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/initiatives/vaw-vff/kf-pc-eng.html

6. October 20 Sexual Assault and the Legal System

Reading:

Joanne Belknap. “Rape: Too Hard to Report and Too Easy to Discredit Victims.” Violence Against Women. 16, No. 2 (2010) 1335-44.

Jane Doe. “10 Groups that Should STFU.” in Trish Hennessy and Ed Finn, eds. Speaking Truth to Power. (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2010) 27-30.

David Lisak. “Behind the Torment of Rape Victims Lies a Dark Fear.” Violence Against Women. 16, No. 2 (2010) 1372-4.

Nicole Pietsch. “‘I’m not that Kind of ’: White , the Other, and the Legal/Social Sanctioning of Sexual Violence Against Racialized Women.” Canadian Woman Studies. 26, No. 1 (2009/10) 136-40.

Louisa Russell. “What Women Need Now from Police and Prosecutors.” Canadian Woman Studies. 26, No. 1 (2009/10) 28-36. 4

Elizabeth Sheehy. “The Victories of Jane Doe.” in Elizabeth Sheehy, ed. Sexual Assault in Canada. (Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2012) 23-38.

Statistics Canada. Sexual Violence. 2013. http://www.swc-cfc.gc.ca/initiatives/vaw-vff/kf-pc- eng.html

7. October 27 Intimate Partner Violence: Gender Symmetry?

Reading:

Walter DeKeseredy. Violence Against Women: Myths, Facts, Controversies. (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011) 43-58.

Molly Dragiewicz and Walter DeKeseredy. “Claims About Women’s Non-fatal Force in Intimate Relationships: A Contextual View of Canadian Research.” Violence Against Women. 18, No. 9 (2012) 1008-26.

Holly Johnson and Myrna Dawson. Violence Against Women in Canada: Research and Policy Perspectives. (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2011) 63-92.

Statistics Canada. Intimate Partner and Spousal Violence. 2013. http://www.swc- cfc.gc.ca/initiatives/vaw-vff/kf-pc-eng.html

Video: Sin By Silence

8. November 3 Pornography and the Media

Assignment:

Each student will be required to bring to class some examples from the mainstream media of images which might promote violence against women.

Video: The Price of Pleasure

Reading:

Gail Dines. Pornland: How Porn Has Highjacked our Sexuality. (Boston: Beacon Press, 2010) xv-xxxi.

Sheila Jeffreys. Beauty and Misogyny: Harmful Cultural Practices in the West. (New York: Routledge, 2005) 67-86.

Robert Jensen. “Pornography is What the End of the World Looks Like.” in Karen Boyle, ed. Everyday Pornography. (New York: Routledge, 2010) 105-13.

Robert Jensen. “Stories of a : Pornography as Propaganda.” in Melinda Tankard Reist and Abigail Bray, eds. Big Porn Inc: Exposing the Harms of the Global Pornography Industry. (North Melbourne: Spinifex Press, 2011) 25-33.

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9. November 10 Prostitution: Sex Workers or Victims of Abuse and Trafficking?

Video: Buying Sex

Reading:

Sheila Jeffreys. The Industrial Vagina: The Political Economy of the Global Sex Trade. (New York: Routledge, 2009) 15-37.

PATHS. Like Any Other Job? An Analysis of Potential Changes to Canada’s Prostitution Legislation. Regina: Provincial Association of Transition Houses and Services of (March 2014) 3-37. http://pathssk.org/resources/paths-fact-sheets/

Keira Smith-Tauge. Ending the Harm. (Vancouver: Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter, June 27, 2014) 1-10. http://www.rapereliefshelter.bc.ca/learn/news/vancouver-rape- relief-and-womens-shelters-submission-parliamentary-committee-justice-and-

Kara Taylor. Letter of Opposition to Bill C-36. (Victoria: Victoria Sexual Assault Centre, August 25, 2014) http://vsac.ca/2014/08/vsac-takes-a-stance-on-sex-work/

10. November 17 Violence Against Women as a World-Wide Political System

Assignment:

Each student will be required to bring to class an example of a recent international incident outside of North America relating to violence against women.

Video: TBA

Reading:

Holly Johnson, et al. Violence Against Women: An International Perspective. (New York: Springer, 2008) 1-16.

Caitlin Maxwell. “Moving Beyond Rape as a ‘Weapon of War’: An Exploration of Militarized Masculinity and its Consequences.” Canadian Woman Studies. 26, No. 1 (2009/10) 108-120.

Peggy Reeves Sanday. “The Socio-Cultural Context of Rape: A Cross-Cultural Study.” in Laura L. O’Toole et al. Gender Violence: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. (New York: New York University Press, 2007) 56-71.

Jacqui True. The Political Economy of Violence Against Women. (New York: Oxford, 2012) 53- 76.

11. November 24 Masculinity: Why are Some Men Violent?

Reading:

Christopher Kilmartin and Julie Allison. Men’s Violence Against Women: Theory, Research, Activism. (Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2007) 37-63.

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Michael Kimmel. “Contextualizing Men’s Violence: The Personal Meets the Political” in Laura L. O’Toole et al. Gender Violence: Interdisciplinary Perspectives. (New York: New York University Press, 2007) 99-110.

Diana Scully and Joseph Marolla. “Riding the Bull at Gilley’s: Convicted Rapists Describe the Rewards of Rape.” in Raquel Kennedy Bergen et al eds. Violence Against Women: Classic Papers. (Boston: Pearson, 2005) 317-334.

Video: Tough Guise 2

12. December 1 Community and Institutional Responses to Violence Against Women

Shelagh Day. “Poorest Women Trapped in a ‘Vicious Circle’” in Trish Hennessy and Ed Finn, eds. Speaking Truth to Power. (Ottawa: Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, 2010) 23-6.

Erin Graham. “This Trauma is Not Vicarious.” Canadian Woman Studies. Vol. 25 Nos. ½ (2006) 17-19.

Holly Johnson and Myrna Dawson. Violence Against Women in Canada: Research and Policy Perspectives. (Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2011) 150-92.

Stephanie L Martin. “Bearing Witness: Experiences of Frontline Anti-Violence Responders.” Canadian Woman Studies. Vol. 25 Nos. ½ (2006) 11-15.

Assignment:

Students will be asked to bring information to class on agencies involved in working to deal with the issue of violence against women.

13. December Looking to a Violence-Free Future

Jill Cermele. “Telling Our Stories: The Importance of Women’s Narratives of Resistance.” Violence Against Women. 16, No. 10 (2010) 1162-1172.

Walter S. DeKeseredy and Molly Dragiewicz. “Woman Abuse in Canada: Sociological Reflections on the Past, Suggestions for the Future.” Violence Against Women. Vol. 20, No.2 (2014) 228-244.

Walter S. DeKeseredy and Martin D. Schwartz. Male Peer Support and Violence Against Women. (Boston: Northwestern University Press, 2013) 137-53.

Research Paper Due

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