Indiana University

Department of Gender Studies

GNDR G101 – Gender, Culture and Society

Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams Email: cthomasw@indiana.edu

Memorial Hall West – Room 214

Office Hours: Mondays, 3:00 PM -5:00 PM and by appointment

E-Reserve URL: http://ereserves.indiana.edu/eres/coursepage.aspx?cid=6505

E-Reserve Password: gender

Course Description

Gender, Culture & Society provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary study of

gender - the social creation and cultural representation of femininity and masculinity
- by examining relevant beliefs, practices, debates and political struggles. Readings
and class discussions consider how people of different races, ethnicities, classes and
nationalities in various historical periods have assumed gendered identities.

Your Obligations

This course serves multiple functions. On the one hand it is intended to introduce
you to the literature and analytic methodologies of a specific area of intellectual
inquiry—in this case, gender studies. On the other hand, it is also meant to serve as
an occasion for you to begin refine a more general set of skills, including your ability
to read carefully, write persuasively, and express your thoughts and opinions in
language that is sufficiently nuanced and precise to communicate their depth and
complexity. Thus, regardless of how you feel about a particular day’s reading, or a
given writing assignment, there’s always something to be learned from coming to
class and participating in discussion. To that end you are obligated first and
foremost to show up—physically and intellectually—and to be prepared when you
do. You must attend class regularly, do the assigned reading, turn your
written work in on time, and actively participate in discussions even if doing
so feels a little awkward or uncomfortable. Your instructor is fully committed to
doing their part to create a classroom environment in which thoughtful, respectful
debate is the norm. In the end, though, it is your responsibility to use this class to
practice making yourself heard in the context of an ongoing conversation that should
be engaging, rigorous and fun.

Beyond these very simple obligations, you will also be required to complete a take
home midterm examination, a take home and final examination, and several in-class
presentations the specific instructions for which will be provided at appropriate points
throughout the semester.

Required Texts

The following texts are required and are available for purchase at Boxcar Books
which is located just around the corner from the Bloomington Bagel Company at 408
East 6th Street. All other readings are available for download in .pdf from IU E-
Reserves.

Bernard Lefkowitz. Our Guys. New York: Vintage, 1998. ISBN: 0375702695

Ariel Levy. Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. New
York: Free Press, 2006. ISBN: 0743284283

Toni Morrison. Sula. New York: Vintage, 2004. ISBN: 1400033438

Virginia Woolf. A Room of One's Own. New York: Harvest, 1989. ISBN: 0156787334

Detailed Course Schedule

NB: Readings marked with a  are available online through IU E-Reserves.

Date Description

MO January 12 Introductions and Course Overview

What is Gender and How Does One Study It?

WE January14 Pink and Blue Exercise

FR January 16  Judith Lorber, “Night to His Day: The Social Construction of

Gender” in Paradoxes of Gender (New Haven: Yale University
Press, 13-36.

Critical Terms Presentation Assignment Distributed in Class

MO January 19 NO Class Meeting – MLK Day

WE January 21  Simone de Beauvoir, Selection from “Childhood,” The

Second Sex (New York: Vintage, 1989 [1952]), 267.

FR January 23  Sigmund Freud, “Some Psychological Consequences of the

Anatomical Differences Between the Sexes,” in The Masculinity
Studies Reader (New York: Blackwell Publishing, 2002), 14-20.

MO January 26  Simone de Beauvoir, “Childhood,” The Second Sex (New

York: Vintage, 1989 [1952]), 267-327.

WE January 28 Critical Terms Presentations

FR January 30 Critical Terms Presentations

Gender, Democracy and Formal Equality

MO February 2  National Assembly of France, Déclaration des droits de

l'Homme et du citoyen [Declaration of the Rights of Man and
of the Citizen] [1789]

 Olympe de Gouges, Déclaration des Droits de la Femme et

de la Citoyenne [Declaration of the Rights of Woman and of
the Female Citzen] [1791]

 Declaration of Independence [1776]

 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, et al., “Declaration of Sentiments”

[1848]

WE February 4  Angela Davis, “The Anti-Slavery Movement and the Birth of

Women’s Rights” and “Class and Race in the Early Women’s
Rights Campaign,” in Women, Race and Class. (New York:
Vintage, 1983), 30-69.

FR February 6  Alice Paul, “The Lucretia Mott Amendment” [1923]

MO February 9 Movie: One Woman, One Vote

WE February 11 Movie: One Woman, One Vote

FR February 13 Discussion of One Woman, One Vote

Gender, Labor, and Women’s Work

MO February 16 Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (New York: Harcourt,

1989), 3-40.

WE February 18 Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own (New York: Harcourt,

1989), 41-114.

FR February 20  Dorothy Sue Cobble, “Halving the Double Day” New Labor
Forum 12(3): 63-72. Fall 2003.

Gender, Race and Intimacy

MO February 23  Patricia Hill Collins, “Black Women’s Love Relationships,”

and “Black Women and Motherhood” in Black Feminist
Thought (New York: Routledge, 2000), 161-215.

WE February 25 Toni Morrison, Sula, Part One

FR February 27 Toni Morrison, Sula, Part Two

MO March 2 Review Session – Midterm Exam Distributed in Class

WE March 4 TBA – Mini Unit

FR March 6 TBA – Mini Unit

MO March 9 NO CLASS MEETING – Midterm exam due no later than 4 PM.

WE March 11 TBA – Mini Unit

FR March 13 TBA – Mini Unit

MO March 16 NO CLASS MEETING – Spring Recess

WE March 18 NO CLASS MEETING – Spring Recess

FR March 20 NO CLASS MEETING – Spring Recess

Gender and “Tradition”: Marriage and the Family

MO March 23  John Demos, A Little Commonwealth: Family Life in

Plymouth Colony. New York: Oxford University Press, 60-99.

 Anthony Rotundo “Marriage” in American Manhood:

Transformations in Masculinity from the Revolution to the
Modern Era (New York: Basic Books, 1993), 129-166.

WE March 25  Stephanie Coontz, “The Way We Wish We Were: Defining

the Family Crisis,” “’Leave It To Beaver’ and ‘Ozzie and
Harriet’: American Families in the 1950s,” in The Way We
Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap (New
York: Basic Books, 1992), 8-41.

FR March 27  Betty Friedan, “The Happy Housewife Heroine,” The

Feminine Mystique (New York: Norton, 2001), 33-68.

What’s So Radical About Feminism?

MO March 30  Robin Morgan, et al. “HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS,” in

Sisterhood is Powerful: An Anthology of Writings From the
Women’s Liberation Movement (New York: Vintage, 1970),
passim.

NOW (National “NOW Bill of Rights,” 512-513.

Organization for
Women)
SCUM (Society for “SCUM Manifesto,” 514-519.
Cutting Up Men)
New York Radical “Principles,” 520.
Women
No More Miss “No More Miss America!,” 521-524.
America!
Women Against “Our Statement,” 530.
 Daddy Warbucks
The Feminists “Women: Do You Know the Facts About
Marriage?” 536-537.
WITCH Leaflets, 538-553.

WE April 1  Gloria Steinem, “If Men Could Menstruate,” in Outrageous

Acts and Everyday Rebellions, Second Edition (New York: Owl
Books, 1995), 366-369.

FR April 3  Susan Douglas, “ERA as Catfight” in Where the Girls Are:

Growing up Female With the Mass Media (New York: Three
Rivers Press, 1994), 221-244.

 “The Equal Rights Amendment” [1972]

ERA Debate Assignment Distributed in Class

Masculinity, the Male Body

and the Exercise of Power

MO April 6  Susan Bordo, “What Is a Phallus” in The Male Body: A New

Look at Men in Public and Private (New York: FSG, 1999), 84-
104.

WE April 8  Toby Miller, “The First Penis Impeached,” in Our Monica,

Ourselves (New York: New York University Press, 2001) 116-
135.

FR April 10 Bernard Lefkowitz, Our Guys, xi-109

MO April 13 Bernard Lefkowitz, Our Guys, 121-341

WE April 15 Bernard Lefkowitz, Our Guys, 345-502

FR April 17  Michael Kimmel, “Men, Masculinity, and the Rape Culture”

in Transforming a Rape Culture, Revised Edition (Minneapolis:
Milkweed Editions, 2005), 139-157.

The Female Body,

Sexual Liberation and the Politics of Representation

MO April 20  Barbara Ehrenreich, “Playboy Joins the Battle of the

Sexes,” in The Hearts of Men: American Dreams and the Flight
From Commitment (New York: Anchor Books, 1987) 42-51.

 Catherine MacKinnon, “’More Than Simply a Magazine’:

Playboy’s Money,” in Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life
and Law (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988), 134-
145.

WE April 22 Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of
Raunch Culture (New York: Free Press, 2005), 1-117.
FR April 24 Ariel Levy, Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of
Raunch Culture (New York: Free Press, 2005), 118-212.

Course Wrap Up

MO April 27 ERA Debate

WE April 29 Review Session – Final Exam Distributed in Class

FR April 30 Student Evaluations and Course Wrap Up Discussion

WE May 6 Final exam due no later than 3 PM

Grading and Evaluation

Quality grades will be determined using the following formula as a guideline:

Attendance 10% Ongoing

Participation 10% Ongoing
Critical Terms Presentation 10% Due January 28 or 30
Take Home Midterm Examination 25% Due March 9
ERA Debate Presentation 10% Due April 27
Take Home Final Examination 35% Due May 6

To reiterate: this formula will be used as a guideline. Minor adjustments may be

made to final grades in instances where a student who is initially poorly prepared
shows an obvious and consistent commitment to improving their skills over the
course of the semester. Similarly, there are circumstances under which a student
may satisfy all of the requirements for the course in a formal sense, but demonstrate
blatant disregard for their responsibilities as a student in other ways. For example, a
student who submits all the required writing assignments for the course but chooses
to miss class regularly simply because he or she is willing to sacrifice their
attendance and participation grade is demonstrating both personal irresponsibility
and contempt for the integrity of their own education. In such cases it is perfectly
reasonable to adjust their final grade downward accordingly to ensure that that their
permanent academic record reflects this lack of commitment to the collective
enterprise of the course.

Please note too that you will be required to submit an electronic version of all written
assignments for this course to turnitin.com. Instructions for how to do this will be
provided at the appropriate time.

Other Provisions

1. ATTENDANCE IS REQUIRED! Everyone will probably have some conflict and

need to miss one or two class meetings at some point this semester. That’s
understandable and shouldn’t effect your final grade very much. That’s also
quite different, though, than missing three, four or five weeks worth of
classes over the course of a fifteen week semester. Such behavior will effect
your final grade.
2. In order to receive a grade for your work this semester you must complete all
of the assignments for the course. Remember, attendance and participation
are required and they will be evaluated using a graded scale just like any
other assignment.

3. Any request for an extension or incomplete must be approved in advance of

the established deadline. Such requests will be granted rarely, and at the
instructions discretion.

4. Academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated. If you have any
questions about what qualifies as academic dishonesty, ask for necessary
clarification sooner rather than later. Pursuant to the Indiana University Code
of Student Rights instances of academic or personal misconduct will be
reported to the appropriate offices on campus and may result in formal
academic sanctions including automatic failure or the assignment, failure of
the course, or any of the other penalties outlined in the University Code. A
word to the wise: plagiarism is much more trouble than it’s worth.

5. Matters related to grading will not be discussed over email—period. If you

have questions or concerns regarding a grade please arrange to come in and
speak with your instructor in person.

6. Some people feel less comfortable speaking in public than others, and your
instructor will be more than willing to work with you if you feel that any
aspect of this method of evaluation will place you at a serious disadvantage.
It is incumbent upon you, however, to make an effort to let your instructor
know that you need additional help in order to meet the challenges of the
course. Nothing that that you are being asked to do is unreasonable, but that
doesn't mean that any of it is particularly easy either. We therefore have a
responsibility to one another to work together to ensure that you have every
opportunity to get as much out of this course as possible. For example,
students with special needs, including documented learning disabilities,
should be sure to speak with the instructor at the beginning of the term so
that arrangements can be made to provide you with the additional support
that you deserve.