*How do you summarize well? Read the material thoroughly and think about it.  What stands out in your memory?  Imagine you just read an article and someone asks you, “What was that about?”  How would you quickly sum up the article?  Without looking back at the article, write down your thoughts.  Make sure you cover the main points, then include anything interesting that piqued your interest.

*How do you summarize poorly? Poor summaries can take many forms – from not getting the author’s point, to badly paraphrased, to blatant plagiarism.  Most people realize that when you copy another person’s writing and do not properly credit them, that is plagiarism.  I recommend writing your summary without looking at the original text because it then becomes too easy to use the author’s words.  Without looking, you may use some of the same words; but unless you have a photographic memory, you will not recall them in the same order.

Paraphrasing is taking what the original author said and trying to put it in your own words.  This can be a slippery slope to plagiarism, especially if you are looking at the original work.  Copying the writing but changing a few words here and there is still copying.

Summary vs. reflection I would like you to label your work “summary” and “reflection” as a reminder that these are separate tasks.  I do want to know what you thought of the work, what you learned from it, how it may challenged some of your beliefs/assumptions.  Keep your personal opinions and reactions in the reflection area, don’t allow it to creep into your summary.

Tips

• Write your summary soon after reading each article, when it’s fresh in your mind.  You can always edit it later.
• If you take any of the text word for word, you must quote it (enclose in quotation marks) to properly credit the original author.
• Direct quotations should be kept to a minimum.  I want to read your take on the work – I already know what the original work says.

From the syllabus:

Academic honesty is expected of all students. Evidence of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will result in failing the entire course and may be be subject to further disciplinary action.  Make sure you have read [this page] and also the plagiarism handout in Blackboard.

To get your blog set up to automatically post comments, first log in to your blog at wordpress.com.

At the very top, go to My Blog > Dashboard.

Then scroll down to Settings > Discussion (on the left side, at the very bottom).

Then make sure on that page that under the Before a comment appears section that both of these are UNCHECKED: “An administrator must always approve the comment” and “Comment author must have a previously approved comment” (see below)  THEN MAKE SURE you scroll all the way down and click the blue Save Changes button!

Please email me to confirm that you’ve updated these settings.  Thank you!

Welcome! I’m pleased to have you enrolled in this section of WOST W210, Introduction to Women’s Studies. Women’s Studies is a fascinating academic discipline and I’m sure this class will leave you eager to learn more. The challenge of designing this course to be delivered online comes from the desire to preserve the discussion-based class. As we will never meet together in a traditional classroom, the assignments have been devised to allow us to still interact and work through the topics together.

The online nature of this course also brings an interesting twist – its basis of technology. We will talk about your level of comfort with technology. Please write down this class blog address so you can access the class info even if/when Blackboard is down/unavailable. Please know I am always available to help you if you get stuck – you don’t need to know everything before we begin. I hope that those of you with more computer experience will be willing to lend a hand to those who may need some help. We’re here to learn together.

Blog?
Speaking of which, you might be wondering about this whole “blog” thing. I am using this blog to run the course (though we will still use Blackboard discussion boards to post almost all assignments). You will also be creating and posting own your own blog. This short (3 minute) video gives a quick overview of what a blog is:

Work together each week
Some online courses may be set up so that you may work through the material at your own pace and once you are finished, you are done — not this one. We will work together on each chapter: reading, posting, and discussing as a class.

While there are due dates for each assignment, you may work on your own schedule from there. That is, we do not have to be online at the same time. There is no set meeting schedule. You may post a reaction early, but may have to wait for others to also post so you may start your replies. I will generally assign only selected readings from each chapter, and the online supplements have been added for a reason. Read what is assigned. It will help you to understand the topics and be better able to discuss them together.

You have two simple assignments due this first week.

Did you catch that? Two assignments due this week. They are quick things, just to get us started. Be sure to check the syllabus and and the Assignments list. This blog is full of stuff to help you in the class – you just need to poke around.

Contact me

Feel free to contact me at any time if you have questions or any concerns. I can’t see your face for clues as to how you are picking up the material, you need to let me know what’s going on for you. I’m always happy to help! You can email me or call me anytime.  If you’d like, we can meet face-to-face – just contact me to set up a time.

I look forward to a great semester. Please hang in there as we work out the wrinkles in the first couple of weeks. Every online course is set up differently.  After two or three weeks, you’ll understand the rhythm of this class.

Women’s Studies is a way to look at the social construction of gender. What does it mean to be a woman in today’s society? Women’s Studies is “offering to more and more women [and men] a new intellectual grasp on their lives, new understanding of our history, a fresh vision of the human experience, and also a critical basis for evaluating what they hear and read in other courses, and in the society at large.” (Rich, “Claiming an Education”, WVFW, p.23) I hope many of you decide to take further Women’s Studies courses. As we focus on topics, I will highlight other WOST courses available at IPFW you may wish to explore.

Central to the discipline of Women’s Studies is the concept of feminism. One of the Women’s Studies program goals is “[t]o analyze academic disciplines from a feminist and antiracist perspective.” Our studies will involve looking at the world through the lens of feminism.

Merriam-Webster defines feminism as:

1 : the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes 2 : organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests

Feminist
Originally uploaded by acoustic_punk_sound

We will cover various definitions of the term throughout the course. My goal is not to have students leave the class as feminists, but rather with a balanced view of the theories and principles of feminism. Feminism has a bad reputation, and many who agree with its principles refuse to claim the label.

We are first introduced to ‘waves’ of the feminist movement in the first chapter. The following ‘Women’s Liberation Manifesto’ highlights some of the primary concerns of feminism and the rights we are working towards. Its roots are from the Second Wave – the 1960s and 1970s. While First Wave feminism focused largely on changing laws, like winning suffrage (the right to vote); Second Wave feminism focused on seeing the personal as political and reevaluating society’s influence on how women are treated. While Second Wave feminism saw measurable gains, such as the Equal Pay Act and the Civil Rights Act, the battle was far from over. How much have things really changed? How much progress has been made? Pay close attention to the readings, especially those by Baumgardner & Richards, Walker, and Quindlen, for the answers.

Image courtesy of the NOW store

Women’s Studies is an interdisciplinary study. That is, it refocuses information covered in other courses of study and evaluates its effects on women. One of the major ideas of feminism is patriarchy, a strange, old-fashioned sounding word used to describe male centered societies. Our textbook defines patriarchy as “a system where men dominate because power and authority are in the hands of adult men.” (Chapter 1 introduction, WVFV, p.4) I really like Allan G. Johnson’s (an adult man) explanation of patriarchy in his book “The Gender Knot” (1997):

“What is patriarchy? A society is patriarchal to the degree that it is male-dominated, male-identified, and male-centered. It also involves as one of its key aspects the oppression of women. Patriarchy is male-dominated in that positions of authority – political, economic, legal, religious, educational, military, domestic – are generally reserved for men. Heads of state, corporate CEOs and board members, religious leaders, school principals, members of legislatures at all levels of government, senior law partners, tenured full professors, generals and admirals, and even those identified as “head of household” all tend to be male under patriarchy. When a woman finds her way into such positions, people tend to be struck by the exception to the rule, and wonder how she’ll measure up against a man in the same position. It’s a test we rarely apply to men (“I wonder if he’ll be as good a president as a woman would be”) except, perhaps, on those rare occasions when men venture into the devalued domestic and other “caring” work most women do. Even then, men’s failure to measure up can be interpreted as a sign of superiority, a trained incapacity that actually protects their privileged status (“You change the diaper, I’m no good at that sort of thing”).” (p. 5)

Please remember to note any part of the readings you did not understand. If a term or concept is broached with which you are unfamiliar, it’s likely others are also wondering about it. Ask questions! It’s how we learn. You will be graded as to how you apply the information gained from your readings, so you’ll want to make sure you have the correct understanding.

Chapter 1 readings

Please complete all of the assigned readings before posting your reading reaction.

Textbook readings:

• Chapter 1 introduction, Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions (WVFV), 3rd ed: p.1-21; 4th ed.: p.1-24
  Please note that chapter introductions will not always be required reading, but there is a lot of essential information in these pages – especially for chapters 1 & 2. This is not to be missed.
• Reading 2 “A Day Without Feminism”, Baumgardner & Richards, 3rd ed.: p.25-28; 4th ed.: p.28-31
• Reading 4 “Feminist Politics: Where We Stand”, hooks,  3rd ed.: p.41-44; 4th ed.: p.40-42
• Reading 5 “We Are Using This Power to Resist”, Walker, 3rd ed.: p.44-48; 4th ed.: p.43-46
• Reading 6 “The Global Stage and the Politics of Location”, Freedman, 3rd ed.: p.48-55; 4th ed.: p.47-53
• Reading 7 “Denials of Inequality”, Rhode, 3rd ed.: p.55-56; 4th ed.: p.54-55

Supplemental readings:

• “Girl, Unreconstructed: Why Girl Power Is Bad for Feminism”, Fudge, pp.155-161, from BITCHfest: Ten Years of Cultural Criticism from the Pages of Bitch Magazine, Lisa Jervis & Andi Zeisler, eds., 2006. (See “chap 1 article” in Blackboard).
• The F Word, Traister, http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2005/07/05/f_word/index.html
  Note: To read Salon articles for free, you must watch an ad and then click “Enter Salon” to read the entire article
• “Future of Feminism“, Talk of the Nation, NPR.  (46 minutes)  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1111971 [Click on ")) Real Media" to listen]
• “Feminism Survey: Men on the Street”, uploaded by TrixieFilms, http://youtube.com/watch?v=3pdbnzFUsXI

Chapter 1 summary

Please complete your chapter summary in Blackboard.

On the class blog there are weekly assigned readings from each chapter and supplemental online materials.  Link to each week’s readings from http://wostprof.wordpress.com/ OR in Blackboard under the weekly discussion boards.  You will write a summary in Blackboard each week over what you have studied.  There is a separate discussion board for each chapter.

On the class blog there are weekly assigned readings from each chapter and supplemental online materials. You will write a summary in Blackboard over what you have studied.  There is a separate discussion board for each chapter.   Pretend like you are summarizing what you have read/watched for a friend who isn’t familiar with the subject. What would you tell them?   You must refer to specific readings (at least 3 textbook readings, and at least 3 supplemental references are required) so your “friend” would know which item on the reading list to which you’re referring.  You will cite the material, include a summary of its main points in your own words (minimum 75 word summary per article/video), and a reflection on what you learned by reading/viewing/hearing it (minimum 50 word summary per article/video).  I have posted examples for the first week – please use them as a guide.

As with all of your work in any college course, you must use complete sentences, proper punctuation and grammar; and edit / proofread your work.

Please make sure you have read How to Summarize and the plagiarism handout in Blackboard before completing this assignment.

Summaries are generally due on Tuesdays, with some variation due to the IPFW holiday schedule.

Chapter 1 replies

You must reply to at least two of your classmates’ summaries on each weekly Blackboard discussion board and reflect on what they’ve said. Use these replies to pick up on an interesting point someone else has written. Your goal is not to agree or disagree, but rather to create and continue a conversation. The things you learn from others in the course may be the most valuable things you walk away with. This is not a time to simply critique your classmates or argue with their point of view.

Use replies to focus more on how the material made you feel and what you thought about it. What did you think at the time when you read the assigned material? How do you feel a few days later, after reading others’ thoughts? Keep the week’s readings in mind when composing your responses. Your two replies must be 100 words minimum each.

Please remember that these blogs are publicly viewable on the Internet.  You may wish to use an alias when creating your account, and post any personal stories as if they happened to a “friend” in order to retain anonymity.

Note: there is no word minimum for your first blog post.  This is just so you can get a feel for what it’s like.  Subsequent blog postings must be 250 words minimum.

We will be using wordpress.com for your blog. Signing up for this blog will be easy; I’m providing the directions below. If you have any problems or questions, just let me know.

1. Go to wordpress.com and click on the big “Sign Up Now!” button.

2. On the signup page, just fill out the fields. It only will take a couple of minutes.

• username (I suggest keeping this somewhat anonymous; maybe your initials and birthdate, or a nickname. You don’t need to use your last name – after all, this will be searchable on the Internet.)
• password (enter it, then again to confirm)
• your email address
• Check the box next to “I have read and agree to the fascinating terms of service.”
• Keep the option “Gimme a blog!” (You’ll want more than just a username.)
• Then click the “Next >>” button.
• On the next page, choose your blog domain. (Please note: This is the Web address/URL you will email me!!!) The class blog is wostprof.wordpress.com; you might use km1011.wordpress.com or soccerfan.wordpress.com…
• Then choose a blog title – This will show up at the top of your blog.  You can use your first name: Kim’s blog
• Select your language.
• For privacy, you may want to remove this checkmark to make your blog less widely publicized, though it will still be publicly available on the Internet.
• Now click the “Create Blog >>” button.

3. An email from “WordPress.com” <support@wordpress.com> will be sent to your email address.

4. You can now log in at wordpress.com – just enter your username and password there (right under the big “Sign Up Now” button). This is how you’ll get back later to log into your blog.

Hey – you just created a blog! Now here’s how to use it….

5. Once you are logged in, you will create your first blog post. Click on “New Post”.

You’ll need to enter a title — please use “Blog 1″ for this, and “Blog 2″ for the next, etc.   Then simply type a little bit .

Your first blog post can be as simple as “I am just testing my new blog.”  Your blog posts in the future will be 250 words minimum.

You don’t need to do anything else (don’t worry about tags, categories, etc.).

6. After you’ve finished your first post, click on “Publish” and that’s it! Click on “View Site >>” at the very top of the page to see what you’ve just created!

You need to email me your blog address (also called domain, URL, etc.) by the due date. (Remember the domain you chose? You selected it at signup: for example, km1011.wordpress.com or soccerfan.wordpress.com) I will then post a link to all students’ blogs on the side of the class blog.  Your blog must also have your first Blog 1 (test post) published.

Your weekly blog posts and replies will be due each Thursday evening; the same night your weekly replies are due on the Blackboard discussion boards.  There is further instruction about requirements  for future blog postings.

Under the Chapter 1 grade book column, there are actually three grades. The first is for your summary (10 possible points), the next two are for your replies (5 possible points each). Each grade is separated with a plus sign. So, for each chapter, the best possible grade to see in that column is “10+5+5″.

If there is an assignment missing, you may see a slash mark (/) instead of a grade.

If you have not received a grade for something (please be patient), or have questions about a grade you’ve received, please let me know.  I’m always happy to double-check on anything.

Your blog posts #2-10 will be 250 words minimum each. These are to be completed as posts on the blog you created.

Write about anything you notice in your life that you connect with this class. You DO NOT need to relate your posting to the topic we are covering that week, but anything that relates to any topic we cover all semester long. Be on the lookout for how women are represented in (y)our world. Post an observation about something you encountered – a reading or interaction in one of your other courses, an ad you saw in a magazine, a plot on a TV show, spam you got in your email – and describe it. You will examine it through a feminist lens – what does it say about women?

Your blog postings do not have to be personal, or journal style. Your writing here can reflect a more personal tone, but please check your spelling/grammar/punctuation.

Please title your post “Blog 2″ – it helps me when grading.

See a blog example from a student in a previous semester:
http://manoe01.wordpress.com/

All women are different. We know this to be true. Yet there exists a mythical norm of woman – as if because we share the same gender, all women have the same experiences and the same feelings. While there are many commonalities, each of us is unique. We will look at ways in which society labels people and how this affects their lives.

‘Woman’ is not the only mythical norm. When greater value is assigned to a certain characteristic, it is generally assumed to be the default. Have you noticed that people will sometimes only qualify if something is perceived as other than the standard? “Female doctor.” (Have you heard someone talk about their “male doctor”?) Subtle clues like this can give you great insight. Members of privileged groups are taught not to see the ways in which they are favored. The privilege becomes invisible.

We are often taught that things are not as simple as black and white. It’s true, there are always complexities. There are many polarized differences in our world (like black and white, gay and straight, old and young, etc.) There is nothing wrong with difference.. But it is when value is assigned to these differences and one option is seen as better that it becomes a problem. One is assigned more value by society. What makes one thing better than another? What makes one person better than another? The readings for this week will explore how the systems of inequality are interconnected and reinforced by society. Figure 2.1 in your textbook (p. 61) lists some of the dichotomies we will examine in this course. A simplified version of this, and the social ills caused by these views, is below:

Adapted from Children’s Creative Response to Conflict (CCRC) Bias Awareness Workshops

When we actually take the time to examine societal binaries, we often study the vantage point of the ‘lesser’. “Oh, those poor _____ people.” This air of condescension sometimes takes the shape of revulsion: “If only those _______ people would _______, they would not have that problem.” This bootstrap myth is one method for continuing oppression. It implies that the person in question is at fault. Quindlen’s article for this week focuses on this view and where it comes from. These judgements are often made without question – they can be deeply ingrained and reinforced. We will examine the ways in which people are viewed as lesser than others and how to break the cycle.

Isms What is an ism? You have likely heard of many of the isms listed in the table above (sexism, racism), but what do they mean? The text defines them as “[s]ystems that facilitate privilege and inequality” (p.62). A person cannot pick their place on the societal chart and point to their one “place” in society. A leftist bumper sticker slogan reads, “Every bigot will be reincarnated as a gay homeless person of color.” What does this mean? A person removed from their privileged status can more easily see the power often granted to non-target groups. How would such a switch occur? Perhaps by means of something which will not happen in their lifetime, like reincarnation, as the bumper sticker suggests.

But transitions between power groups do – and will – occur in some people’s lives. Note that the table above discusses the power group for ability as “temporarily able-bodied”. This reinforces the fact that not everyone is born with their disability. Ability can change – it can happen to anyone at any time. A person who fits easily into the ‘power groups’ above is able to take advantage of the privileges that come, often without a second thought, with their identity. McIntosh’s article about privilege “explains, it is easier to grant that others are disadvantaged than to admit being overprivileged.” (p.62, WVFV) We will analyze the institutions that create and maintain these privileges.

Some people feel uncomfortable with the term oppression, which will crop up in this chapter from time to time. Perhaps it is seen as minimizing other injustices in the world, such as slavery and genocide. While these are certainly horrific atrocities, it should not keep us from examining other injustices and naming them as such.

“The reluctance to see women as oppressed has several sources. The first is that many women enjoy race or class privilege and it’s difficult for many to see them as oppressed without, as Sam Keen put it, insulting “truly oppressed” groups such as the lower classes or racial minorities. How, for example, can we count upper-class women among the oppressed and lower-class among the oppressors?

Although Keen’s objection has a certain logic to it, it rests on a confusion between the position of women and men as groups and as individuals. To identify “female” as an oppressed status under patriarchy doesn’t mean that every woman suffers its consequences to an equal degree, just as living in a racist society doesn’t mean that every person of color suffers equally or that every white person shares equally in the benefits of race privilege. Living in patriarchy does mean, however, that every woman must come to grips with an inferior gender position and that whatever she achieves will be in spite of that position. With the exception of child care and other domestic work and a few paid occupations related to it, women in almost every field of adult endeavor must labor under the presumption that they are inferior to men, that they are interlopers from the margins of society who must justify their participation. Men have such experiences because of their race, ethnicity, or other minority standing, but rarely if ever because they’re men.” (“The Gender Knot” Allan G. Johnson, 1997)

Your readings in this chapter include an audio clip. I find it much more powerful to hear about Fannie Lou Hamer’s life in her own words. Compare the external reading and audio clip with the Activist Profile of her on p.72 in the text (both 3rd and 4th eds.). Does it have more meaning for you? Is it easier to view her as a real person (as opposed to some abstract historical figure) when you can hear her voice?

Chapter 2 readings

Textbook readings:

• Chapter 2 introduction, Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions, 3rd ed.: p.60-75; 4th ed.: p.59-75
• Reading 10 “Oppression”, Frye, 3rd &4th eds.: p.84-86
• Reading 11 “Tomorrow I’m Going to Rewrite the English Language”, Keith, 3rd &4th eds.: p.86-87
• Reading 12 “Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism”, Pharr, 3rd &4th eds.: p.87-91
• Reading 13 “White Privilege and Male Privilege”, McIntosh, 3rd &4th eds.: p.91-98
• Reading 14 “Something About the Subject Makes It Hard to Name”, Yamato, 3rd &4th eds.: p.99-101
• Reading 15 “Tired of Playing Monopoly?”, Langston, 3rd &4th eds.: p.101-106
• Reading 16 “Voices: On Becoming an Old Woman”, Copper, 3rd &4th eds.: p.106-109

Supplemental readings:

• Condoms in, anatomy out: Grocery chain pulls latest issue of Seventeen Callimachi, Seattle Times. 28 October 2005 http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20051028&slug=17magazine28 [updated 1/26/10]
• Fannie Lou Hamer oral history transcript New URL: http://digilib.usm.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/coh&CISOPTR=2957&REC=1 (click on each page on the left)
• On http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/audio.html, listen to
  “Fannie Lou Hamer talks about registering to vote” http://www.ibiblio.org/sncc/realaudio/fannie_lou_hamer.ram (Real Audio file, 2 minutes)
• A New Kind Of Poverty, Quindlen, Newsweek, Dec 1, 2003, http://www.newsweek.com/id/60779?tid=relatedcl
• Read the abstracts and browse the links for these two books on Barbara Ehrenreich’s Web site:
  • “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” (2001) http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/nickelanddimed.htm
  • “Bait and Switch: The (Futile) Pursuit of the American Dream” (2006) http://www.barbaraehrenreich.com/baitandswitch.htm

Please complete your summary in Blackboard. Your summary must include explicit references (that is, name the author and/or partial title) to at least three of the textbook readings and three supplemental readings.

Your two replies to your classmates’ summaries are due on Blackboard Thursday.

The debate raging around the issues of ‘biology versus culture’ (nature versus nurture) is as intense as it is fascinating. Do boys and girls act differently because they are ‘wired’ to do so, or because of the way they are raised? The answers are not simple. But the research is engaging. The notion of “gender” as distinct from “sex” is also interesting, if you have never considered that there may be a difference. Think of it as how you are expected to act versus chromosomes.  “Sex, as noted researcher Milton Diamond puts it, is what’s between your legs; gender is what’s between your ears.” (Taken from the Malisow article in the supplemental readings.)

“Sugar and spice and everything nice, that’s what little girls are made of.” From birth we are taught what is acceptable behavior for boys and for girls. Even those parents who attempt to raise their children with non-gender specific toys can not shield their kids from the blue vs. pink reality of American society. Gender socialization is alive and well. Many of you gave examples of expectations of women in your families. Gender is taught; and learned. The presence or absence of sports one plays is highly affected by gender. Girls are now taking up more sports today (thanks in part to Title IX, which forbids gender discrimination in schools) – including fields outside those considered appropriate for girls. But if a girl does not want to play sports, it’s no big deal. But boys who shun sports are treated as if something is wrong with them. What other gender expectations/double standards can you think of?

Billie Jean King
Originally uploaded by dbking

Gender conformity may not be as strict as it was in the 1950s, but there are still clear roles assigned to men and women. The blurring of traditional gender lines has advanced to the point that girls are allowed to wear pants to school (in the Fort Wayne area, some schools did not allow this until the 1970s). Boys may even have their ears pierced. But society does not generally tolerate those individuals who threaten their ideas of gender.

Androgyny, the “lack of gender differentiations or a balanced mixture of recognizable feminine and masculine traits”, makes many people very uncomfortable. Why? Why is it so distressing to not be able to ascertain someone’s gender? Does it really matter?

While popular culture has brought transgendered individuals to light somewhat in the past few years (think of the movies “Boys Don’t Cry” or “Transamerica“), intersexuality is still relegated to the shadows. Throw in cross-dressers, and people are thoroughly confused. Be sure to really study the Transgender Glossary of Terms on the GLAAD Web site. The definitions clearly explain the differences between transgender, cross-dressing, and intersex.

Sexism is a reality in our society, but there are additional stratifications that rank women as we discussed in Chapter 2. Feminine expectations are influenced by a variety of factors, including our multiple identities. Some Women’s Studies classes analyze gender socialization by looking at ways in which gender is marketed to young children. Take a look at the toy aisles in any store – can you tell which toys are marketed to girls, and which to boys?

P1160074
Originally uploaded by the undergraduate

There are many expectations of women to conform with feminine ideals. We have covered some of these ideals and the consequences they bring: like the virgin/whore dichotomy. Family and work expectations place a large burden on many women, and the goal of perfection, a “super woman”, is exhausting to live up to. Feminism works to ensure women are able to make choices beyond the traditional, but what if a woman makes a traditional choice? Many of you expressed concern that feminism was not in accord with women who like taking care of their family. But modern feminism respects the choices of women and can embrace all women’s roles in the family.

Women are free to make wider choices thanks to feminism, as we learned in the “Day Without Feminism” article in Chapter 1. But have men’s choices been widened as well? The textbook’s editors argue “[i]t is okay to emulate the masculine and act like a boy, but it is not okay the emulate the feminine” (p.136). This points to the ranking of gender, that masculine is viewed as more valuable than feminine. Men who ‘give up their privilege’ by taking care of their family at home (Mr. Mom style) are viewed with contempt by society. Gender roles not only limit women, but they limit men as well. Wouldn’t it be great if people were really allowed to be who they would like to be?

The Bem Sex Role Inventory Test is fascinating to see how different personality traits are ‘scored’ masculine or feminine. Why is self-reliance a male trait? Why is helpfulness considered feminine? One of the major themes I hope you pick up in this class is to question where societal norms, and even your own beliefs, come from. Where did your views come from? Were they influenced by your family? Your place of worship? The media? Sometimes strong cultural norms are not backed by fact or have even been disproved by research, but people still cling to long-held beliefs. I do not wish to change your views, but rather have you understand where they come from. As you read and complete your assignments for this course, please remember to question where you got your ideas. It is often very hard to do, but the results can be interesting.

Chapter 3 readings

Textbook readings

• Chapter 3 introduction, Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions 3rd ed.:  p.124-138; 4th ed.: p.124-139
• Reading 19 “Two Sexes Are Not Enough”, Fausto-Sterling, 3rd ed.: p.139-141; 4th ed.: p.140-142
• From chapter 5 Reading 35 (3rd ed.) Reading 34 (4th ed.) “Hermaphrodites with Attitude”, Bloom, 3rd ed.: p.248-253; 4th ed.: p.244-249  Be sure to also read the NOTE at the end of the article, which discusses the frequency of intersexuality.
• Reading 20 “The Social Construction of Gender”, Lorber, 3rd ed.: p.141-144; 4th ed.: p.142-145
• Reading 22 “When I Was Growing Up”, Wong, 3rd ed.: p.149-150; 4th ed.: 154-155
• Reading 24 “Trans on Campus”, Greenaway, 3rd ed.: p.154-157; 4th ed.: not available
• Reading 24 “(Rethinking) Gender”, Rosenberg, 3rd ed.: not available; 4th ed.: p.158-162

Supplemental readings:

• Censored Cover Raises Question: Why Are Breasts “Obscene,” But Not Chests? Lisa wade.  Ms. magazine blog. May 18, 2011. http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2011/05/18/dossier-mag/
• Caster Semenya is Woman Enough for the IAAF, After All.  Naima Ramos-Chapman.  July 6, 2010.  Colorlines. http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/07/caster_semenya_cleared.html
• “This Doctor Does What to 6-Year-Old Girls’ Clitorises?“  Hanna Rosin.  June 24, 2010. Slate.  http://www.slate.com/id/2257987/
• Doctor Treating Pregnant Women With Experimental Drug To Prevent Lesbianism Dan Savage.  June 30, 2010.  Slog/ The Stranger. http://www.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/06/29/doctor-treating-pregnant-women-with-experimental-drug-to-prevent-lesbianism
• “Bois and Grrls” Craig Malisow. March 16, 2006. Houston Press. http://www.houstonpress.com/2006-03-16/news/bois-and-grrls/
• “Masculine, feminine or human?”  Robert Jensen.  June 2, 2008.  http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/freelance/masculinefeminineorhuman.htm
• “Transgender Glossary of Terms” Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. http://www.glaad.org/Page.aspx?pid=376
• Parents Of Transgender Boys Take Different, Provocative Paths May 8, 2008 http://jezebel.com/388594/parents-of-transgendered-boys-take-different-provocative-paths Be sure to listen to the 2 NPR stories linked at the bottom of the article
• ‘I’m a Girl’ — Understanding Transgender Children Goldberg and Adriano.  April 27, 2007.   20/20.  ABC News.  http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3088298&page=1
• My Life as an Intersexual. Max Beck.  NOVA.  http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/gender/beck.html
• Word Cloud: How Toy Ad Vocabulary Reinforces Gender Stereotypes March 28, 2011. http://www.achilleseffect.com/2011/03/word-cloud-how-toy-ad-vocabulary-reinforces-gender-stereotypes/
• Ma Vie en Rose clips (French movie about a little boy who feels like he is a girl) from YouTube:
  http://www.youtube.com/v/0r3CPsVKgxs
• Transgender Children – Out Of The Shadows from YouTube

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ87kFONtos

We will examine queer sexualities and the particular issues faced by non-heterosexual people. In American culture, one is assumed to be straight – this is called heterosexism. GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered individuals) often face a process called “coming out”, where they may disclose their sexual identity. The way coming out is presented, makes it sound like a one-time thing. “I came out, and now everyone knows I am gay.” However, coming out is a continuous process. GLBT people may constantly examine their comfort level, or even their physical safety, in a new situation. There are several (short) additional Web resources for this chapter focusing on GLBT experiences – please read them carefully.

As Schwartz and Rutter point out, “[g]endered phenomena, like marriage, tend to appear “naturally” so.” (p. 180). There may be many aspects of sexuality that you have not taken the time to dissect academically. bell hooks makes the case for the way romance is created by culture and thus sets us up for failure and disappointment. I look forward to reading your examinations of the politics of sexuality.

Chapter 4 reading list

Textbook readings:

• Chapter 4 introduction, Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions 3rd ed.: p.165-179; 4th ed.: p.170-185
• Reading 26 “Sexual Desire and Gender”, Schwartz and Rutter, 3rd ed.: p.180-187; 4th ed.: p.186-193
• Reading 27 “Romance: Sweet Love”, hooks, 3rd ed.: p.187-191; 4th ed.: 193-197
• Reading 28 “Biphobia”, Deihl and Ochs, 3rd ed.: p.191-195; 4th ed.: not available
• Reading 28 “What Is Bisexuality?”, Baumgardner, 3rd ed.: not available; 4th ed.: p.197-203
• Reading 29 “I Was a Cosmo Sex Deviant”, Berkowitz, 3rd ed.: p.195-198; 4th ed.: not available
• Reading 29 “Gate C22″, Bass, 3rd ed.: not available; 4th ed.: p.203-204
• Reading 30 “La Güera”, Moraga, 3rd ed.: p.199-202; 4td ed.: p.204-208
• Reading 31 “Prue Shows Her Knickers”, Oxford, 3rd ed.: p.203-205; 4th ed.: p.208-210

Supplemental readings:

• “Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Glossary of Terms” Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. http://www.glaad.org/Page.aspx?pid=375
• Cass Model of Sexual Identity Development (PDF)

  http://www.ecu.edu.au/equ/resources/docs/Sexuality_cass_model.pdf

• How Does Homophobia Hurt Us All? From GLSEN, (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network)
  Adapted from Warren J. Blumenfeld, ed. Homophobia: How We All Pay the Price

  http://www.glsen.org/cgi-bin/iowa/all/library/record/1279.html

• Heterosexual Privileges From Allies Committee, Texas A&M University http://allies.tamu.edu/resources/heteropriv.htm
• Heterosexual Questionnaire [Reversal of Questions Frequently Asked of Gays Based on Homophobic Premises] by Martin Rochlin, Ph.D. http://monster-island.org/tinashumor/humor/quest.html
• Gloria Steinem biography http://www.gale.com/free_resources/whm/bio/steinem_g.htm