Interview 3-4 other students and prepare to report another student’s:

-    name

-    major

-    an interesting factoid about her

Course objectives:

-    to examine the roles gender plays in shaping society

-    to understand difference broadly defined (gender, ethnicity, sexuality)

-    to appreciate the contributions of feminism to late twentieth-century scholarship

-    to be able to articulate the above goals to others

WMST 102 / Nielsen        FEMINISM

Definitions:

Modified from the Oxford English Dictionary:

1.    [After French, féminisme.] Advocacy of the rights of women (based on the theory of equality of the sexes).

2.    Rel. to Womanism: Advocacy of or enthusiasm for the rights, achievements, etc. of women.

Examples of Some Feminist Values:

•    reproductive rights

•    protections against violence within a domestic partnership

•    maternity leave

•    right to equal pay

•    rights to pursue action against sexual harassment

•    defense against discrimination

•    protection against sexual violence.

>> Discuss in groups of 4 to 5 people:

1.    What is missing from the above definition of “feminism”? How might you change it or add to it?

2.    What is missing from the list of feminist values? Add at least one other “feminist value.”

3.    Based on the above definitions and values, do you consider yourself a feminist? Why or why not?

Review of L. 1

Course objectives:

-    to examine the roles gender plays in shaping society

-    to understand difference broadly defined (gender, ethnicity, sexuality)

-    to appreciate the contributions of feminism to late twentieth-century scholarship

-    to be able to articulate the above goals to others

ADDENDUM:

-    Assume everything is going to be on the midterm and final; you are responsible for all material in the reading and discussed in class

-    Review material is available on the web and if you pay attention in class

•    history of feminism
•    vocabulary
•    ability to show sophisticated understanding of issues discussed in Women's Worlds

-    Presentations: opportunity for you to research and write about a specific topic in women’s studies
-    Essays: Personal account of the ways in which gender affects your life

FEMINISM

1.    [After French, féminisme.] Advocacy of the rights of women (based on the theory of equality of the sexes).

2.    Rel. to Womanism: Advocacy of or enthusiasm for the rights, achievements, etc. of women.

ALSO: Analyzing and examining stereotypes about women, femininity, etc.

Examples of Some Feminist Values:

•    reproductive rights

•    protections against violence within a domestic partnership

•    maternity leave

•    right to equal pay

•    rights to pursue action against sexual harassment

•    defense against discrimination

•    protection against sexual violence.

ALSO: Accepting all body types; Getting rid of double standards

Tough Questions:

>> Why has the term feminism been co-opted to demonize women who actively pursue rights for other women?

>> What stands in the way of solidarity among women to enact feminist values?

Discussion L. 2

GROUP WORK I

Using the textbook, collate answers to the following two questions. Keep track of where (e.g., in which article) you find information.

1. What is Women’s Studies? (cf. 8, 38)

2. Why do we need women’s studies? (cf. 11, 20, 25, 30, 32-4)

Review of L. 2

What is women’s studies, and why do we need it?

>> Among other things, women’s studies is an interdisciplinary field (history, literature, sociology, psychology) that examines women’s lives and experiences. One of the many reasons why we ‘need’ women’s studies is that previous research ignored data from 50% of the population.

Women of Color

Black feminism, according to Alice Walker, is sometimes called “womanism.”

Feminists like bell hooks have argued for “multiple consciousness,” or awareness of the ways which race, gender, and class affect women’s lives.

Vocabulary: Gender; Matriarchy; Patriarchy

Review of L. 3

Vocabulary: first-wave and second-wave feminism; consciousness raising

Our Extended List of Black feminists:
-    Alice Walker
-    bell hooks
-    Angela Davis
-    Sojourner Truth
-    Mary Stewart of Boston was one of first to speak to groups of men and women
-    Mary Ann Shadd Cary: women eligible to vote
-    Ida B. Wells: crusade against lynching
-    Ana Cooper spoke at the World’s Congress of Representative Women in 1896
-    Barbara Smith (Home Girls)

>> the importance of AUDIENCE in reading “texts” from the feminist movements

My favorite quote from the reading: “As Rebecca West wrote sardonically in 1913, ‘I myself have never been able to find ou precisely what feminism is: I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat” (qtd. in Faludi 547).

Presentation Assignments (End of Class)

GROUP WORK: The Beauty Myth (123-28); Write down your answers so that you can report back to the class.

1. According to Naomi Wolf, what is the myth of beauty that advertisers and cultural messages perpetuate? (According to the dictionary, a myth is “a popular belief or story that has become associated with a person, institution, or occurrence, especially one considered to illustrate a cultural ideal; or a fiction or half-truth, especially one that forms part of an ideology.”) What proof does she find for her argument?

2. According to Wolf, why do women spend nearly a quarter of their earnings on beauty products and engage in risky practices such as cosmetic surgery and dramatic weight loss?

3.    The following are critiques of Wolf’s book from reviews on Amazon.com. Do these critiques have any substance? Why or why not?
-    Steve in Chicago writes: “Naomi Wolf was a lovely young slip of a girl when she wrote this remarkably brainless book. The only reason people paid attention to this idiotic book was because Naomi was young and hot-looking . . . Naomi has done a lot of growing up since then, and I imagine she must be pretty humiliated that people are still reading this deeply awful book.”

-    Title = “Triggering Sensationalism:” “What an awful book this is. On the pretext of telling women not to be preoccupied with their looks and weight, Wolf has written several hundred pages about women's looks and weight. Her intentions, I am sure, were righteous; but the "empowering" framing message fades away in comparison to the hypnotically graphic struggle-porn that forms the bulk of the text . . . The cumulative effect was similar to that of the women's magazines Wolf deplores, but more inimical. I am a college-educated female with a history of mild eating disorders, and I closed the book feeling more insecure and depressed about my looks and weight than I had in years. In conclusion, anyone with a history of bulimia and / or anorexia ought to stay well away . . . unless she has total confidence in her immunity to triggering materials.

Constructing Gender in the Family II: Write your answers to the following on a separate piece of paper.

1. What point about learning gender does the author of “X: a Fabulous Child’s Story” (110), Lois Gould, try to make?

2. Order the following ethnic groups in order of wage earnings, from the highest to the lowest: white women; black women; Asian American women; Latinas; white men.

3. List at least two reasons why economic inequality exists between men and women.

4. True or false: The majority of American households consist of “traditional” nuclear families with heterosexual parents.

5. True or false: In the majority of married-couple American households, women work outside the home.

6. True or false: Most divorced men are impoverished by alimony payments to their ex-wives and children.

7. In what ways does the feminist vision of the family differ from the “traditional” one?

8. How can the wage gap be overcome? 

Bonus Questions:

-    Why are so many women teachers? (cf. p. 180)

-    What is the average wage gap between men and women?

-    In what ways is the concept of the "traditional" family linked with racism?

Discussion Questions: Re. FAMILY

Barbara H.: How does society view single women? Why does society view single women as lesser?

Dana: What is the double standard about single men and women? Why are single men treated differently than single women?

Yadhira: Is there still an emphasis on no sex before marriage?

Jasmine: Is it true that if you expose people to sexual information that they’ll do it (288)? Does “just say no or die” work? (289)

Desiree: Should there be feminist-based management training?

Linda: How would a marriage contract like the one by Alix Kates if it were written by a fundamentalist Christian?

Review for Final
I. Vocabulary (20 Points [10 each]): Define the following terms as completely as possible with concrete examples. Use the opposite side of the page if necessary. Give equal attention to explaining why these terms are important in today’s society:

II. Feminist History (20 points [2 each]): Ex. Who’s Who— (e.g., Name a famous Black feminist writer/historical figure; another leading feminist); When and Where: (e.g., milestones like suffrage movement)

Major Feminist Figures and Important Dates:

1791: Olympe de Gouges, Declaration of the Rights of Woman and Citizen

1848: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Seneca Falls, NY: meeting of Suffragists

1852: Susan B. Anthony joins Women’s Rights movement

1920: Women’s Suffrage Amendment

1923: Alice Paul writes the Equal Rights Amendment

1963: Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique

1970: Kate Millet, Sexual Politics
    First rape crisis center founded in Berkeley (593)

1973: Roe v. Wade

1973: First woman’s shelter opens

1991: Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth; Susan Faludi, Backlash

1997: Leslie Heywood and Jennifer Drake, Third Wave Agenda: Being Feminist, Doing Feminism

2000: Amy Richards and Jennifer Baumgardner, Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism and the Future

Other current feminists: Camille Paglia

III. Facts about Women (See also review on Lesson 14) (40 points [2 each])
A.    Fill in the blank
1.    According to Jhon Velasco, every _____ hours a woman is raped on a college campus.

2.    At the time our textbook was written, ___________________ and _______________ women represented 75% of the women with HIV/AIDS.

3.    At least 1 in _______ women are battered during pregnancy. (449)

B.    True or False?
According to the AMA, women are under greater risk of dying from heart failure, lung cancer, and kidney failure.  T      F

Parental consent laws for abortion attempt to control the skyrocketing problem of aborted teen pregnancies.   T        F

Since African American women get breast cancer in lesser numbers than white women, African American women die less often from breast cancer.     T        F

C.    Multiple Choice

The following group has the greatest chance of dying from breast cancer: African American women; Asian women; Caucasian women; Latinas; Native American women

90% of teenage pregnancies were caused by: men under 18; men over 18; their fathers

The US is the only country that has not signed:

-    CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women)

    - Universal Declaration of Human Rights

-    Both of the above

Rape  

-    is grossly underreported

-    occurs to one in five or six women

- is usually perpetrated by someone you know

-     All of the above

IV: 2 Short Essays: How would you respond to one of the following misogynist statements (in words and actions)? (20 points [10 each])

Be specific!

“Don’t all feminists have to have hairy legs and to hate men?”  

Discussion: WOMEN AND WORK

1. What are the psychological impacts of poverty? (p. 371-93)

2.    What things can be done to fight against poverty? (189, 190, 192-93, 237, 241, 391)