WGST 303: INTRODUCTION TO WOMEN’S AND GENDER STUDIES
Course Objectives and Description: Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies provides an
interdisciplinary and multicultural introduction to a variety of perspectives on, and approaches to,
the study of women’s experiences. The goals of this course include helping you to:
• Understand the influence of gender on society, culture and behavior.
• Recognize the diverse range of women’s and men’s experiences, including the specific
ways that factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality and class
background intersect with one another to shape these experiences.
• Learn the fundamental concepts, theories and methods of women’s and gender studies
scholarship, including the ways they challenge and/or enrich prevailing disciplinary
approaches.
• Gain critical thinking and information literacy skills to effectively identify, evaluate and
apply data sources and texts related to Women’s and Gender Studies.
• Effectively communicate in written and oral form and construct arguments based on
appropriate claims and evidence; be able to explain Women’s and Gender Studies
concepts and theories to academic and general audiences.
• Recognize and understand the relationship between theory and practice as it relates to
social and personal change.
Text: Women’s Voices, Feminist Visions by Susan Shaw and Janet Lee, 5th ed.
Course Requirements
Course grades will be determined as follows:
Exam One
25%
Exam Two
25%
2 reaction papers
20%
2 reflection papers
20%
Class participation
10%
Expectations and Assessment: Class time will include lecture, discussion, and small group
work. Students are expected to critically read and come to class prepared to discuss the
assignments. The quality of this class depends on your commitment and participation.
Participation: 10% of course grade
Thoughtful discussion that engages with the assigned readings, being respectful to other voices
and perspectives in the class, completion of in-class writing, problem-solving and group work,
and attendance.
Reaction papers: 20% of your course grade
These papers require that you critically engage with one of the assigned readings. You will be
evaluated on your ability to understand the reading and assess its method of argumentation and
persuasion. Further instructions are included at the end of this syllabus.
Guided reflection exercises 20 % of your course grade
For these assignments, you will apply the reading material to contexts in your everyday life.
Specific instructions included at the end of this syllabus.
Exams: 50% of course grade
Each exam will include essay questions in which you will analyze, integrate and synthesize
course readings and discussions, as well as short answer and true/false with justification
questions. A study guide will be distributed for each exam.
Statement on Disabilities: The University will make reasonable accommodations for persons
with documented disabilities. Students need to register with Disability Resource Services (DRS)
every semester they are enrolled for classes. DRS is located in Counseling & Support Services,
2157 UC. To be assured of having services when they are needed, students should register no
later than the end of the add/drop deadline of each term.
UMD Statement of Academic Integrity
The University of Michigan - Dearborn values academic honesty and integrity. Each student has a
responsibility to understand, accept, and comply with the university's standards of academic
conduct as set forth by the Code of Academic Conduct, as well as policies established by the
schools and colleges. Cheating, collusion, misconduct, fabrication, and plagiarism are considered
serious offenses. Violations will not be tolerated and may result in penalties up to and including
expulsion from the University.
Tentative Schedule of Readings and Assignments
1/14 Introduction to the class
Lecture: Why Women’s and Gender Studies? Claiming an Education
1 ADRIENNE RICH | Claiming an Education
in-class writing on “Claiming an Education”
1/21
Women’s and Gender Studies Perspectives and Practices
Shaw and Lee Chapter 1 Introduction
4 JENNIFER BAUMGARDNER AND AMY RICHARDS | A Day Without
Feminism
7 ANNA QUINDLEN | Still Needing the F Word
5 BELL HOOKS | Feminist Politics: Where We Stand
BEVERLY GUY -SHEFTALL AND BONNIE THORNTON DILL | Forty
Years of Women’s Studies: Origins and Intersections
1/28
Privilege and Inequality
Shaw and Lee Ch. 2 Introduction
13 PEGGY MCINTOSH | White Privilege and Male Privilege
10 MARILYN FRYE | Oppression
17 SUSANWENDELL | The Social Construction of Disability
9 PATRICIA HILL COLLINS | Toward a New Vision: Race, Class,
and Gender as Categories of Analysis and Connection
11 AUDRE LORDE | There Is No Hierarchy of Oppression
18 JUNE JORDAN | Report from the Bahamas
2/4
Learning Gender in a Diverse Society
Shaw and Lee, Ch. 3: Introduction
19 ANNE FAUSTO-STERLING | The Five Sexes, Revisited
20 JUDITH LORBER | The Social Construction of Gender
21 CORDELIA FINE | Unraveling Hardwiring
Canvas: “The truth about girls and boys”
22 EVELYN BLACKWOOD | Trans Identities and Contingent Masculinities:
Being Tombois in Everyday Practice
2/11
Sex, Power and Intimacy
Chapter 4 Introduction
27 JESSICA VALENTI | The Cult of Virginity
29 JENNIFER BAUMGARDNER | What Is Bisexuality?
31 LEILA RUPP | A World of Difference
35 KIMBERLY SPRINGER | Queering Black Female Heterosexuality
2/18
Exam 1 6:10 – 7:25
7:30 – 9:00 film screening: Tough Guise
3/4
Your Body is a Battleground
Shaw and Lee Ch. 5 introduction
36 JOAN JACOBS BRUMBERG | Breast Buds and the “Training” Bra 234
37 GLORIA STEINEM | If Men Could Menstruate
42 LISA MIYA-JERVIS | Hold That Nose 263
43 COURTNEY E.MARTIN | Love Your Fat Self 265
45 SIMONEWEIL DAVIS | Designer Vaginas 270
3/11
Health and Reproductive Rights
Ch. 6 in Shaw and Lee, Intro and essays 46, 47, 48
46 MARGARET SANGER | My Fight for Birth Control
47 ELEANOR COONEY | The Way It Was
51 JAEL SILLIMAN, MARLENE GERBER FRIED, LORETTA ROSS, AND
ELENA R. GUTIÉRREZ |Women of Color and Their Struggle for Reproductive
Justice
49 NANCY FUGATEWOODS | A Global Health Imperative
Losing the Global Fight for Women’s Health:
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/27/losing-the-global-fight-forwomenshealth/?src=rechp&_r=0
3/16
Second reaction paper due on any essay in chapters 4, 5 or 6 in Canvas drop box.
3/18
Women and Work
Ch. 8 Introduction
60 PAT MAINARDI | The Politics of Housework
61 SHARLENE HESSE-BIBER AND GREGG LEE CARTER | A Brief History
of Working Women
62 BARBARA EHRENREICH | Maid to Order: The Politics of Other Women’s
Work
65 CARRIE N. BAKER | The Women’s Movement Against Sexual Harassment
3/25
Film screening and discussion: MissRepresentation
4/1
Women, Men and Culture
Ch. 9 Introduction
67 VIRGINIAWOOLF | Thinking About Shakespeare’s Sister
70 AUDRE LORDE | Poetry Is Not a Luxury
71 SUSAN DOUGLAS | Enlightened Sexism
73 CARLEN LAVIGNE | Death Wore Black Chiffon:
Sex and Gender in CSI
74 JOAN ACOCELLA AND JOHANNAH COUSINS | Singing and Dancing
with Gender:Two Essays on Reality TV
76 ALISON PIEPMEIER | Bad Girl, Good Girl: Zines Doing Feminism
4/8
Resisting Violence Against Women
Ch. 10 Introduction
77ANDREA SMITH | Beyond the Politics of Inclusion: Violence Against
Women of Color and Human Rights 525
79 MIMI SWARTZ | The Lost Girls 528
80 DEBRA ANNE DAVIS | Betrayed by the Angel: What Happens
When Violence Knocks and Politeness Answers?
Film screening: The Invisible War
4/15
Activism and Change
Shaw and Lee Ch. 13 Introduction
101 LISA MARIE HOGELAND | Fear of Feminism:Why Young Women Get
the Willies
103 MICHAEL KIMMEL | Real Men Join the Movement
106 KATHA POLLITT | Amber Waves of Blame
107 MOYA BAILEY AND ALEXIS PAULINE GUMBS | We Are the Ones
We’ve Been Waiting For
4/22
Second exam
Reaction paper assignments: 20 percent of your course grade:
For these assignments, you will apply a critical thinking approach to the one of the assigned
readings (for the first, in ch. 1-2; for the second, ch 4,5, 6). As readers, you make a choice of
how to react to what you read. While one alternative is to accept passively whatever is written, in
the reaction paper assignment, you to take a more active approach by asking a series of
critical questions about the article as you read it. The hope is that in completing these assignments
you will be developing critical thinking skills that you apply to every argument that you
encounter.
Note that this exercise in critical thinking is not aimed at getting you to dismiss arguments that
you feel are not the “right answer,” because in the human and social sciences there are not many
issues about which you will be able to say, “this is clearly the only correct position on the matter.”
If there were only one right answer, then reasonable people would not be debating these issues,
and there would be no controversies!
For each assignment, choose one article that you find most persuasive in each of the selected
blocks of articles. Read the article closely. Underline key phrases, make notes on aspects of the
article that strike you as particularly persuasive. Then, using quotes and references where
appropriate, answer the following questions in an essay format:
What are the main issue and conclusion of the article?
What are the reasons given for the conclusion? Why did you find these persuasive?
What are the value(s) of the author? How do these correspond with your own values regarding
this issue?
Is there evidence used? If so, is it statistical “facts,” personal experience, references to authorities,
etc? How did this evidence help to persuade you?
What methodological approach was taken in the reading? Did it reflect disciplinary conventions
of fields such as history, sociology, psychology or other fields?
What was the style of the piece (autobiographical, theoretical, journalistic etc.) and how did this
affect you when you read it?
Assignment length: 3 – 4 pages.
Reaction 1 due: 2/2
Reaction 2 due: 3/16
Guided reflection exercises 20 % of your course grade. For these assignments, you will apply
the reading material to contexts in your everyday life. Each of these papers should be
approximately 3 pages, typed (double space,12 pt standard font). Turn into the assignments
folder in Canvas. No late papers will be accepted, no emailed papers will be accepted.
Assignment #1: Gender and Toys
Think of yourself as a social scientist doing research. Go to a toy store and make some
observations which you will write up into an analysis of how toys are gendered, and how this in
turn might impact gender socialization. The readings in Ch. 3, in particular Lorber’s “Doing
Gender” and the reading on Canvas on “The Truth about Boys and Girls” should be completed
prior to undertaking this assignment. You would be wise to include a quote or a reference to these
readings in your report.
At the toy store, note evidence addressing the following:
Observe any human-like figures sold as toys. These usually labeled dolls and/or action figures.
Do you note any general patterns in these toys? Are there any gender differences in who these
human-like figures appear to be marketed to? Are there any differences within categories, such as
racial or age differences?
Now, look around at some of the other toys. Are there some toys that seem to be marketed
specifically to boys? To girls? What evidence leads you to this conclusion? What roles are these
toys representing for boys? Girls? What personality characteristics are promoted by the various
categories toys that appear to be marketed to boys and girls?
Assignment # 2 Choose one of the following:
A. Gender and your career
As chapter 8 outlines, there are still significant gender differences in career trajectories, reflecting
assumptions about masculine and feminine jobs and skill levels, differential opportunities, and
other factors. For this assignment you will write an approximately 3-page essay about gender in
an academic major or in a job or career you have chosen. You will research the changing gender
composition of your field over the past 30 years or so, drawing on statistical references such as
that compiled by the bureau of labor statistics (http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.pdf) and pulling
in at least one academic source as well as non-academic mass media/news articles about the field.
In your paper, you will draw upon class material to discuss the gender assumptions about the
work in the field as they might intersect with race and other identities (as well as changing
assumptions), gender, race and other hierarchies in the field (if any), paying particular attention to
horizontal and vertical segregation by gender.
B. Gender and Media Images in Television. As Chapter 9 outlines, media images often contain a
lot of gender assumptions and stereotypes. In this exercise, you should think of yourself as a
media analyst looking for these assumptions. You should read the assigned articles in Ch. 9
before you begin this assignment. Including a quote or reference to this chapter in your reflection
piece is always a good idea. Pick ONE of the following genres to analyze: Watch at least a couple
of hours- worth of morning cartoons or children's programs including commercials. While you
are watching, take notes on the messages given to the children about their expected interests and
behavior based on gender (Hint: some of the messages might be quite obvious, others more subtle.
Use your investigative skills to reveal as many of the subtle ones as you can identify). Briefly
reflect on what you learned/observed about the socialization process for boys and girls found in
mediated messages. Did you notice any differences in the messages given by toys/commercials
aimed at boys and girls? If so, what were they? Does this seem to support or refute idea presented
in the readings? Why or why not? Gender and Media Images in Magazines– Look through
women’s fashion or “health” magazines and choose one for analysis. Identify the target audience
for the magazine you have selected. Analyze the content and the advertisements contained within
the magazine. What are the products being advertised? Who are the 'models being used in the
ads? What are their racial, age, sex, size, or gender characteristics? What obvious assumptions
about gender norms are being conveyed here in the ads as well as the content? Can you identify
other, more subtle social messages being conveyed by these magazines about gender norms,
sexual assumptions, and the like?
WGST/ANTH/SOC/PSYCH/HUM 303
Sample examination questions
1. A number of authors in your textbook stress the fact that each of us lives within an
intersecting system of power at the intersection of race, class, gender, sexuality,
nationality and ability. What social realities does this theory illuminate, that are otherwise
missed by those who engage in a more simplistic ranking system (e.g. all men more
privileged than all women, all whites more privileged than all blacks.) Offer examples
from the readings in constructing your answer.
2. Many of the authors in Ch. 3 argue that gender is socially constructed. Integrating
readings and ideas across disciplines, such as “The Social Construction of Gender”
(sociology) and “The Truth about Boys and Girls” (psychology) and other readings,
support the argument that differences between women and men are not merely biological,
but a product of socialization.
3. What is wrong with reducing sexuality to only two homes, gay and straight, according
to Baumgartner’s essay “What is bisexuality”?
4. What is the “Tough Guise” of modern masculinity, according to the film we watched
with that same title? What kind of damage has this version of masculinity caused women
and men, particularly men or color, according to the movie? What has been the role of the
mass media in reproducing and/or challenging this version of masculinity?
5. What are horizontal and vertical segregation, and how do they contribute to the gender
wage gap in the United States? What might be some effective interventions or policies
that address some of the barriers to equality that women face in the labor force?
6. The AAUW has recently applauded that the military’s internal efforts to address
sexual assaults of women in service as an example of effective policy in action. What
elements make this an effective strategy for preventing sexual assault? What additional
strategies might you add to the military’s efforts to strengthen their policies even further?
Sample writing assignment