Women’s Studies 201-002 Introduction to Women’s Studies
Fall 2003, MW 3-4:30, Clow 109
Liz Cannon
Office: Gruenhagen 369 Email: cannon@uwosh.edu Office
Phone: 0963
Office Hours: T 1:30 – 2:30, Th 9:45-10:45 Home Phone: 920-623-0547
And by appointment
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Course Description:
This
course will introduce many of the issues that arise when women become the focus
of inquiry. We will discuss how our society views women, what concerns women as
they navigate life in the 21st century, and what changes women have
brought and hope to bring to their daily lives. In doing so, we will discuss who is included when we say “women,”
and how women’s experiences are shaped by their class, race, and sexuality, as
well as by gender. This course will
also examine feminism as an ideological construct and lens through which to
view society.
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Required Texts:
Susan
M. Shaw and Janet Lee, Women’s Voices,
Feminist Visions (2001)
Toni
Morrison, The Bluest Eye (1970)
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Course Requirements:
3 Response Papers—30%
Choose 3 of the 4 assigned to your
group
Group A: Gender, Sexuality, Bluest
Eye, Religion
Group B: Women’s Bodies,
Privilege, Bluest Eye, Religion
Portfolio of 6 Assignments—20%
Choose 6 of the following
assignments:
Letter,
Ad, Gender, Health, Sexuality, Work, Women and Violence (each assignment will
get .5 or 1 pt. 6pts=A; 5.5pts=AB;
5pts=B; 4.5pts=BC; 4pts=C; 3.5pts=CD; 3pts=D)
1 events papers—1-2 pages analyzing a women’s event on
or off campus—5%
Midterm (in-class)—10%
Final Project and Presentation—15%
Final Exam(out-of-class)—10%
Participation (attendance and discussion)—10%
Attendance
is required: you must be here mentally as well as physically. You are allowed one free absence; after
that, absences will lower your participation grade. If you cannot finish an assignment or response paper on the day
it is due, talk to me to arrange an extension of up to one week. Otherwise late response papers and
assignments are not accepted.
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Please
do not hesitate to come see me if you have any questions or problems with this
class. My office hours are listed
above, but we can make an appointment if these are not convenient for you. Students with disabilities needing a
reasonable accommodation should inform me as soon as possible.
Calendar
Sept 3
W: Introduction: What is Women’s Studies?
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8 M: Reading: Rich, “Claiming an
Education” 18-20
Chesler, “Letter One: Your Legacy”
21-24
Shae and Lee, Chpt 1,pp.
10-17
Due: Assignment #1: Letter:
write me a 2 page letter telling me about yourself and
discussing, in response to Rich and Chesler, the education YOU want to
claim
and the legacy YOU want to leave.
Video: Killing Us
Softly 3
10
W: Reading: Henke, Umble, and
Smith, “Construction of the Female Self: Feminist Readings of the
Disney Heroine” 376-80
Due: Assignment #2: Ad.Find an advertisement in a magazine that
uses an image
of a woman in a
way that elicits some kind of reaction from you (surprise,
anger, admiration,
pleasure). Write a paragraph that 1)
states your reaction, 2) discusses why you have the
reaction you do, 3) discusses how the
ad uses
the image to sell its product, and 4) refers to something you learned in
the film
Killing
Us Softly3. Make sure you attach the advertisement to your paragraph
and with its source identified.
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15 M: Reading: Morgan, “From Fly-Girls to Bitches
and Hos” 380-3
Stoltenberg,
“Pornography and Freedom” 423-27
17 W: Reading: Gould, “X: A
Fabulous Child’s Story” 119-21
Lorber,
“The Social Construction of Gender” 121-4
Sapiro,
“The Plurality of Gender-Based Realities” 125-9
EVENT: Thursday,
September 18. Student/Faculty
Panel: “The Vagina Dialogues:
Possibilities for Activism and Education.”
Women’s Studies Welcome to Students, MEC, 7-9pm, refreshments!
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22 M: Reading: Wong, “When I was Growing Up” 130-1
Angier,
“Spiking the Punch” 131-5
Nelson,
“Boys Will Be Boys and Girls Will Not” 135-41
Kimmel,
“What are Little Boys Made Of?’ 141-4
Due: Assignment #3: Gender.
Ask 5 men and 5 women their gender’s 2 MOST
IMPORTANT advantages and disadvantages. Record their responses and
write a paragraph discussing your reaction to what you found.
24
W: Reading: Brumberg, “Breast
Buds and the ‘Training Bra’” 197-202
Steinem, “If
Men Could Menstruate” 202-3
Chambers,
“Dreadlocked” 212-4
Miya-Jervis, “Hold that Nose” 214-6
Angelou,
“Phenomenal Woman” 220-1
EVENT:
Thursday, September 25. “The
Women’s Health Movement,” 4-6pm. Public
Lecture by UW Madison Professors Mariamne Whatley and Nancy Worcester
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29
M Reading: Thompson, “A Way
Outa No Way” 205-12
W. Charisse
Goodman, The Invisible Woman: Confronting
Weight Prejudice in
America Chapter One (e-reserve)
(in-class:
women’s concern for next week’s
assignment will be assigned)
Due:
WOMEN’S BODIES RESPONSE PAPER—Group B
EVENT: Monday, September 29. “From Pathbreakers to Partners: Celebrating
30 Years of Title IX.” Exhibit opening
and Panel Discussion. Reeve, 7pm.
Oct 1
W: Reading: Harvard Women’s Health Watch, “How Far We’ve Come” 238-43
Cool,
“Forgotten Women” 247-49
Germain,
“Man-made Threats to Women’s Health” 250-1
Sanger, “My Fight for Birth Control”
255-7
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6 M: Reading: Schwartz and Rutter, “Sexual Desire and Gender” 158-65
Wolf,
“Radical Heterosexuality” 166-9
Ochs, “Bisexuality, Feminism, Men and Me”
169-72
8
W: Reading: Tanenbaum, Slut! Intro and Chpt 1 (e-reserve)
Lorde,
“The Power of the Erotic” (e-reserve)
Due: Assignment #5: Sexuality. Go
to a store that sells greeting cards.
Determine the types of themes for romantic cards aimed at heterosexual
men
and those for romantic cards aimed at heterosexual women. Determine
what options a same-sex couple
would have if they were to buy a romantic card for their partner.
Write a paragraph on your findings.
Then, make a card that is
EITHER a feminist romantic card or a card that is specifically aimed at
a
same-sex partner.
_____________________________________________________________________________ 13 M: Film: If These Walls Could
Talk, 2
Reading: Moraga, “La Guera” 174-8
Pharr,
“Homophobia” 74-8
Due: SEXUALITY RESPONSE
PAPER—Group A
15
W Reading: Collins, “Toward a New Vision” 57-65
Frye,
“Oppression” 66-8
Richardson, “Gender Stereotyping in
the English Language” 68-73
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20 M: Reading: McIntosh, “White Privilege and Male
Privilege” 78-86
Yamato, “Something About the
Subject Makes It Hard to Name” 86-9
Hand-Out: Midterm
Study Guide
22
W: Reading: Langston, “Tired of Playing Monopoly?” 89-94
Copper,
“Voices: On Becoming Old Women” 94-7
Wendell,
“The Social Construction of Disability” 97-105
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27 M: Reading: Unifem, “Assessing
Progress in achieving Gender Equality,” in “Progress
of the World’s Women.”
http://www.unifem.undp.org/resources/progressv2/
Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Status of Women in Wisconsin
(e-reserve)
29 W: Midterm
EVENT: Musical on Helen Farnsworth Mears, Opera
House, Dowtown Oshkosh. Oct 31, Nov 1, 2, 7, 8, 9
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Nov. 3 M: Reading: Woolf, “Thinking About Shakespeare’s Sister” 369--71
Lorde,
“Poetry is Not a Luxury” 371-3
Morrison, The Bluest Eye 3-58
5 W: Reading: Morrison, The
Bluest Eye 61-131
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10 M: Reading: Morrison, The
Bluest Eye, 132-216
12 W: Reading: Gilman,
“Women and Economics” 317
Hesse-Biber
and Carter, “A Brief History of Working Women” 317-31
Morrison
et. al., “Breaking the Glass Ceiling and Hitting the Wall” 334-8
_____________________________________________________________________________ 17 M: Reading: Ehrenreich, “Maid to Order” 338-44
Alexander, “Prostitution” 344-8
Enloe,
“The Globetrotting Sneaker” 349-53
Hughes,
“The Internet and the Global Prostitution Industry” 427-31
Johnson,
“Her Toughest Case” 417-22
Speaker: Christine
Ann Center
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24 M Reading: Women in Action,
“Violence Against Women” 407-8
Boswell
and Spade, “Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture” 411-7
Speaker: C.A.R.E.
Due: Assignment #7: Women and Violence. Write
1-2 pages discussing the
similarities and differences between the violence suffered
by battered
women and that suffered by
rape victims. How do the responses to
each type of violence differ?
26 W: THANKSGIVING
Dec 1 M:
Reading: Brown, “Fundamentalism
and the Control of Women” 496-500
Allen,
“Grandmother of the Sun” 501-4
Hijab,
“Islam, Social Change,” 504-7
Starhawk,
“Witchcraft and Women’s Culture” 511-4
Due: RELIGION RESPONSE
PAPER—Groups A and B
XII. Feminism and Activism
3 W: Reading: Ruth, “Feminist
Activism: Historical Context” 24-32
Hogeland, “Fear of Feminism” 532-5
Kimmel,
“Real Men Join the Movement” 536-40
Beijing
Declaration, 545-9
Rosen,
“Epilogue: Beyond Backlash” 552-9
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8 M: PRESENTATIONS
10 W: PRESENTATIONS
Due: Final Exam
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