Syllabus

Readings

 Thinking About Women. 2003. Margaret Andersen. Boston: Allyn and Bacon is available in the bookstore

Requirements

3 essay exams @ 100 points

Formal presentation @ 50 points

Written speech @ 50 points (draft and revised)

In-class writing/speaking exercises @ 100 points

Total = 500 points

A = 450 points, B = 400 points, C = 350 points, D = 300points

Schedule of Topics and Assignments

1 Introduction to the course January 13

What does it mean to be a woman in today's world? What problems do women face and what are people doing to try to solve the problems? Scholars have answered these questions from a variety of frameworks. In this class we will use the sociological imagination to explore women's lives. We will also be using feminist theories to help us to sort out the different experiences of women. Most of the course will focus on women in the United States.

 Read: Chapter 1 Studying Women: Feminist: Perspectives

Writing exercise: What is a feminist?

2 Nature or nurture January 20

What is the difference between sex, gender and sexuality? And how do these three fit together (or not) to create our ideas about women? The problem of equality and difference and the links between biology and social life are especially salient in our understanding and experience of gender. Not surprisingly, these problems have created debates among scholars. What are the debates and what do we know that can help us to determine which arguments are more valid? What do contrasts among different cultures tell us about these debates?

 Read Chapter 2 The Social Construction of Gender (first half)

Writing exercise: What should the judge decide in the Baby M case?

3 Socialization and social construction of gender January 22

One of the first sociological explanations for gender to emerge was the idea that gender is learned. What does the research show about the ways in which we learn to be girls? More recently, scholars have argued that social construction and social structure are better explanations for gender. How do all of these theories differ from one another?

Read Chapter 2 The Social Construction of Gender (second half)

Writing exercise: What does the Internet tell children about how to be girls

 4 Education January 27

The social institution of education is gendered. It also has a varying affect on girls as they move from early childhood to adulthood. What lessons do we learn in school and how are the lessons delivered throughout our academic lives? What is the experience of teachers and what social policies have been offered to try to eliminate gender inequality?

Read: Chapter 11 Gender, Education and Science

 Writing exercise: Observing discrimination against women in the college classroom

5 Media February 3

Media includes everything from television to movies, music, advertisements and sports. All of these send powerful messages about how we should think, feel and behave in specific gendered ways. Some of the messages the media sends about girls and women are so controversial, for example in pornography, that debates flare over censorship. What are the messages we get from the media and are they influenced by the gender of those employed in the media? What are the different voices over the disagreements over censorship?

Read: Chapter 3 Gender and Culture: The Social Construction of Knowledge

Writing exercise: What does your favorite television program tell you about women?

Exam 1 February 10

6 Religion February 12

Religious institutions play an important role in shaping women's lives and ideas about women in general. Three areas of religious life are especially important: the role of women in religious institutions; rituals that create ideas and practices of gender such as christening, weddings, and funerals; and messages given to members and society at large about what it means to be a good woman. Fundamentalisms from a wide range of religions around the world seem to be particularly influential on issues related to women. What are fundamentalist beliefs about women and how do they promote those ideas?

Read: Chapter 8 Women and Religion

Workshop on using the library

7 Violence February 17

Violence against women by men and by social institutions dominated by men is an especially difficult example of problematic gender relations. How prevalent is this problem and what are the varieties of ways in which it is experienced? How does our understanding of the problem affect the kinds of solutions we develop to address it? What does violence tell us about the social construction of femininities? How does violence against women present a challenge to feminists internationally who must weigh ethnocentrism, cultural relativism and human rights in trying to decide how best to address issues like female genital mutilation, honor killings and rape in war?

Read: Chapter 9 Women, Crime and Deviance

Proposal for speech is due February 19

Writing exercise: Theories and policies about violence against women

8 Work February 24

How does the experience of women in the paid labor force differ from mens in terms of the kinds of jobs they hold as well as the difference in financial rewards for their work. How do the glass ceiling, the glass escalator, sexual harassment, affirmative action and comparable worth fit into the picture? What about unpaid work in families? How is housework divided between women and men and girls and boys? And what about unpaid work in the informal labor market around the world?

Read: Chapter 5 Gender, Work and the Economy

Writing exercise: How to read graphs on the distribution of wages

9 Families March 2

In our examination of socialization and unpaid work we have already seen how important families are in regard to gender. But families are important in other ways as well. The relationships we have with other adults and children and the experience of family change through divorce and death are have different affects on women and men. The task of balancing paid work and family obligations is an especially critical arena of gender.

Read: Chapter 6 Women and Families

Writing exercise: Balancing work and family: listening to womens voices

 Exam 2 March 18

Spring Break March 8-13 no classes

10 Sexuality March 23

Many people believe that proper behavior for women includes heterosexuality. Early in the semester we looked at the social construction of sexuality and the links among sex, gender, and sexuality. Now we will further explore sexuality by looking at the ways in which gender affects our experience of sexuality and the ways in which gender ideologies are influence by ideologies about sexuality. How do all of these connections vary cross culturally and why is sexuality so closely identified with gender?

Read: Chapter 4 Sexuality and Intimate Relationships

 Writing exercise: Womens beliefs about sexuality: traditional, relational and recreational sex

First draft of speech due March 25

11 Health Care March 30

Life expectancy and cause of death varies for women and men. How does this contrast vary by social class, race ethnicity and nation? And what are the explanations for the variation? How do research on health problems, drug use, health care and mental health care contrast for women and men? And what about women and major international health issues like HIV/AIDS and malaria? What role do women play in the provision of health care. How have they changed in recent years?

 Read: Chapter 7 Women, Health and Reproduction

Writing exercise: What differences does the gender of your doctor make?

12 Politics April 6

Womens and mens experience varies within several branches of the government. Women in the United States are more likely to vote and seem to have different criteria for choosing candidates than do men. But women are much less likely to run for office and to be elected as executives, legislators or judges around the world. But the place of women in government varies from one place to another. In some nations the lack of representation for women has been addressed by quotas while in other nations women still are not allowed to vote. Besides electoral politics, women and men are connected differently to the government in their different roles in the military and their different experience in the criminal justice system. All of these gender gaps have caused scholars to even begin to question the concept of power itself.

Read: Chapter 10 Women, Power and Politics

Writing exercise: Why does the gender gap exist?

13 Social Movements April 13

Throughout the semester we have looked at a number of actions people have taken to address the problem of womens rights. In this last week we will develop this theme by looking at the character, strengths and weaknesses of the social movements that challenge gender inequality. What can we use as criteria for assessing how far we have come and how much further we need to go? What role has the United Nations played in helping to organize people and crystallize ideas about gender equality? What role can smaller grassroots activists play?

 Read: Chapter 10 last section Womens movements April 20  

Writing exercise: Mapping a plan: Local activism, global activism or both?

Student oral presentations (final draft of speeches due) April 22, April 27 & April 29

14 Frameworks of Feminism April 20

This last week we return to some of the ideas we have reviewed during the course to help to understand gender and the social experience of women. What are the varieties of feminist thought? How are they similar and how do they differ from one another? Which have been most useful to you this semester?

Read Chapter 12 women and Social Reform: Liberal Feminism Chapter 13 Contemporary Frameworks in Feminist Theory

Writing exercise: How did you define feminism at the beginning of the course and how have your ideas changed?

Last day of class May 4

Exam 3 May 11