SC 024-Gender and Society
Spring 2012
Instructor: Emily Barko
Email: barkoe@bc.edu
Office: McGuinn 410A
Office Hours: M,W 3-4p.m. and by appointment
Cell Phone: 508.736.9468
Classroom and Time: Cushing Hall 335, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 2:00-2:50 p.m.
"One is not born a wo[/]man, one becomes one." –Simone de Beauvoir
Course Concentration
The vital focus of this course centers on an introduction to sociological perspectives on gender
and gender inequality in society. The two themes that are emphasized throughout the course include: 1)
the social construction of gender at the level of individuals, interactions and institutions; and 2) the
importance of understanding gender in the contexts of its intersections with race, class, sexuality and
nation.1
I. Perennial Questions:
While alternative disciplinary approaches to gender will considered, (such as biological and
psychological), this course will primarily examine gender as a social and structural construct. The course
will begin with central debates in gender studies and sociology, (e.g., the merits of biological explanations
of gender), and how various feminisms, (first, second and third waves), have re/shaped theoretical and
empirical studies of gender. We will then move into specific topics, such as popular culture and health.
This course will center on the following guiding questions: Is gender shaped by nature, nurture, or both?
How have feminists (and feminisms) influenced the study of gender? Is gender inequality inevitable?
What do race, class, and sexuality tell us about gender? How is gender done at individual, interactional
and institutional levels? How/can gender be “undone?”
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These themes echo the orienting theoretical focus of Emily Kane’s perennially lauded “Gender and Society” courses, taught at Bates College,
Lewiston, ME.
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A Critical Race Feminist Lens:
To help interrogate these topics and questions, this course will be guided by four central themes
from critical race feminism (CRF), which asserts the following:
1) Social Identities are historically and culturally specific and change over time.
2) Race, class, gender and sexuality are not separate identities that are easily distinguishable from one
another. These social identities intersect and reinforce each other. For example, once cannot talk about
race without examining its implications for gender and vice versa.
3) CRF acknowledges the importance of laws, policies and institutions in the perpetuation of inequality.
4) Finally, CRF is skeptical of concepts such as objectivity, neutrality and meritocracy. Therefore, ideas
of equality must be critically examined.
II. Historical Perspective:
In the first assigned reading, sociologist C. Wright Mills outlines the “sociological imagination,”
which highlights the connections between history, social structure and personal biography. This course
nurtures the sociological imagination through its socio-historical foundation, its emphasis on multiple
perspectives, and an examination on how history and social structures converge to impinge of the life
chances of different types of people.
Further, given the broad topical scope of “Gender and Society,” we will always situate gender in
historical context. Likewise, this course underscores how gender, as a social identity, is political,
situational, socio-cultural and temporal—thus always inseparable (in construction and connotation) from
other social identity categories, (e.g. race, class, gender, sexuality, nationality, age, and so forth).
Notably, we will grapple with the extent to which biological and socio-cultural re/definitions of gender
de/stabilize taken-for-granted assumptions, (e.g. gender perceived as an innate and fixed category),
particularly as bolstered and re/inscribed by biological and social “facts.”
III. Methodology:
Methodologies are the theories that are used to guide research. The course materials are
purposely eclectic and draw from a wide range of sources and methods. We will utilize the work of both
“positivist” scholars who often obtain quantitative data from social surveys and controlled experiments as
well as more “interpretive” researchers who frequently derive qualitative data from fieldwork and
interviewing. Moreover, we will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of particular methodologies,
alongside the gender politics at work that influence how we determine such demarcations (between
“strong” and “weak” scientific and social scientific methodologies), and why. Subsequently, alongside
our more mainstream academic sources, as often prescriptive and more privileged within the academy, we
will simultaneously consider less-traditional social science informed research and related topics of
inquiry, as based in creative arts and literature and popular cultural venues, and in often lending to more
subversive and expansive styles and compositions of both authorship and audience.
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IV. Cultural Diversity:
Attention to cultural diversity will be a salient feature of this course. We will discuss a range of
racial and ethnic groups and their relationships to gender and power, with heightened attention to how
categories both stabilize and destabilize other categories. For instance, we will consider how historically
race was used to determine whether a female was deemed a “sub-human” (black) slave verses a (white)
“True Woman,” alongside the ensuing effects that continue to fuel racism (and raced and classed
experiences of gender inequality) today. Thus, we will constantly be mindful of how all females have not
and do not experience gender in/equality in the same ways, neither historically nor contemporarily.
Likewise, not all males experience gender privilege and in/equality evenly. Consequently, we will not
only be looking at distinctions between groups, but also within groups.
Please note: this course does not satisfy the official university cultural diversity requirement.
V. Writing Component:
There is a strong writing requirement in this course. Throughout the semester you will be
compelled to use your “sociological imagination” in essays for three exams, in-class writing reflections
and assignments, and through the completion of a semester-long “Connections Portfolio,” in which a
major course component will be to include weekly critical and analytical, sociologically strong and
“imaginative” written responses to the readings of the week. (The components of the “Connections
Portfolio” will be further detailed in an addendum I will distribute to the class).
VI. Creating a Personal Philosophy:
This course will challenge you to critically examine yourself within social order, as well as the
following: how you benefit from and/or are oppressed by your social location; your ideas of gender,
freedom and social justice; your vision for yourself and society in the future; and the best ways to realize
that vision considering the very real social constraints that bind us all, (albeit unevenly). Hopefully this
will encourage working for the betterment of humankind in both theory and practice, and within and
across academic and activist arenas. Subsequently, from a more culturally competent standpoint,
informed by gender and as nuanced by race class, sexuality and so forth, many of us might discover we
have been forced (or further forced) out of a social somnambulism of sorts, as we better awaken to the
reverberations of gender and inequality in micro, meso and macro arenas in our everyday lives—with
fastidious focus on myths of meritocracy and corollary perpetuations of inequality as dependent upon
hegemonic scripts of “‘The’ American Dream.”
VII. Course Expectations and Evaluation:
1) Class participation comprises 15% of your overall grade.
This is a reading and participation intensive course. If you miss a class, you are responsible for
getting notes from a classmate. Readings are due on the date they are listed. Come to class ready to
discuss them. A strong participation grade includes: regular and engaged class participation in lectures,
“current events,” small group discussions and in-class writing assignments and reflections.
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Please be aware that within class discussions there can be a tendency to over-generalize one’s
own personal experiences to the overall population. This tendency is especially striking in courses that
address gender, race, and social dynamics. These topics seem to elicit statements such as: “Well, where
I’m from it’s not like that” or “That’s not my experience, so that’s not true.” However, once more, this
course is positioned firmly in C. Wright Mills’ “sociological imagination,” which highlights the
connections between history, social structure, and personal biography—and relationships between
(personal) ‘troubles’ and (public) ‘issues.’ Class participation should do so as well.
2) The “Connections Portfolio” comprises 30% of your total grade.
A “Connections Portfolio,” as another venue to show that you are actively engaged with the
course readings and classes, will be an ongoing assignment that you work on, as you incorporate critical
analyses of and reflections on the readings, both separately and taken together. Moreover, alongside more
traditional writing responses, (e.g. essay format, article response)—less traditional forms (that highlight
personal creativity and application), used to illuminate your engagement with the course, is also greatly
encouraged. (E.g. you might incorporate connections to current events, popular culture, everyday
activities and/or events at Boston College, art, advertisements, music lyrics, newspaper clippings,
Facebook exchanges and so forth.) A strong Connections Portfolio will include a moderate balance
between more and less traditional response formats.
3) Three writing intensive, essay-based exams will comprise 55% of your grade.
Exam One is worth 15% of your grade. Exam Two, (or your Midterm Exam), is worth 20% of
your grade. Exam Three, or your Final Exam, is worth 20% of your grade.
Grading Overview and Due Dates:
15%- Class Participation
30%- Connections Portfolio: (Due: May 2)
15%- Exam One: (Due: February 17th)
20%- Exam Two/Midterm Exam: (Due: March 30th)
20%- Exam Three/Final Exam: (Due: May 8-15th, TBA)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------100% - Total Score
IIX. Academic Integrity:
Academic integrity is a standard of utmost importance in this course. Guidelines for academic
integrity in written work are posted on the Boston College website at:
http://www.bc.edu/schools/cas/polisci/integrity.html
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If you have any questions pertaining to the academic integrity guidelines, please come and talk
with me for clarification. If you are caught violating Boston College’s policies on academic integrity, you
will receive a failing grade for the assignment and the appropriate Dean will be notified in accordance to
the rules set forth by Boston College.
IX. Disability Statement
Boston College is committed to providing reasonable accommodations and integrated access for
students with disabilities to all available academic, social, and recreational programs and activities.
Appropriate support and referral services are provided by the Disability Services Office, which serves
students with hearing, visual, mobility, medical, and psychiatric disabilities. If you have a disability,
please let me know at the beginning of the semester so I can work with the Disability Services Office to
determine the appropriate accommodations that we can make for you. Further information about the
Disability Services Office can be obtained from the Boston College website at:
http://www.bc.edu/offices/odsd/disabilityservices.html
X. Required Readings:
*Leavy, Patricia. 2011. Low Fat Love. Sense Publishers.
*Wharton, Amy. 2012. The Sociology of Gender: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Malden,
MA: Wiley-Blackwell.
*Wolf, Naomi. (2002). The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used Against Women. New York:
Random House.
*Readings denoted with an asterisk are from the required reading list.
The remaining readings can be obtained from Ereserve Reading or through general Online Access as
specified below:
Ereserve Readings: To access e-reserve readings: 1) go to the libraries home page, 2) click on “more
catalog search options,” 3) click on “Course/On-line Reserves,” and 3) Search by my last name, Barko.
Online Access: There are also several sources that you are asked to obtain from the worldwide web; for
these articles the syllabus will note you should access online.)
*Note: The instructor reserves the right to incorporate and/or modify reading assignments throughout
the course.
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XI. Reading Schedule:
Week 1: Introduction to the Course; The Sociological Imagination and Gender
Jan. 16: MLK Day (No Classes)
Jan. 18: First Day of Class—No Readings
Jan. 20: Mills, C. Wright. 1959. Ch. 1. “The Promise,” pp.3-24, in The Sociological Imagination. Oxford.
Oxford University Press.
AND
Steinem, Gloria. 2004. “If Men Could Menstruate” Steinem, Gloria. "If Men Could Menstruate."
Women’s voices, Feminist Visions, 2nd ed., 33, p. 218-219.
Week 2: Social Constructions of Gender and Competing Conceptual Approaches
Jan. 23: Martin, Emily. 1991. “The Egg and the Sperm: How Science has Constructed a Romance Based
on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles,” Signs 16(3).
Access Online: www.visibleworld.net/cupajane/articles_people/martin.pdf
AND
Pham, Minh-Ha. 2012. “If the Clothes Fit: A Feminist Takes on Fashion: Ms. Magazine Blog.”
Access Online: http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2012/01/17/if-the-clothes-fit-a-feminist-takes-onfashion/
Jan. 25: “Introduction to the Sociology of Gender,” (Ch. 1), pp. 1-21, in Wharton.*
AND
West and Zimmerman, 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender and Society 1(2): 125-151.
Jan. 27: “The Gendered Person,” Ch. 2, pp. 22-58 in Wharton.*
AND
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“Gender in Interaction and Institutions,” (Ch. 3), pp. 59-94 in Wharton.*
Week 3: Theories of Gender Inequality; Intersectionality
Jan. 30: West and Fenstermaker. 1995. “Doing Difference, Gender and Society 9(1): 8-37.
AND
Peggy McIntosh, 1990. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.”
Access Online: http://www.amptoons.com/blog/files/mcintosh.html
Feb. 1: Collins, Patricia Hill. 1989. “The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought.” Signs 14 (4):
745-773.
AND
Cooper, Brittany. 2012. “Disrespectability Politics: On Jay-Z’s Bitch, Beyonce’s ‘Fly’ Ass, and Black
Girl Blue.” The Crunk Feminist Collective.
Access Online: http://crunkfeministcollective.wordpress.com/author/brittneycooper/
Feb. 3: Connell, R.W. and Messerschmidt. 2005. “Hegemonic Masculinity: Rethinking the Concept.”
Gender and Society 19: 829-859.”
Week 4: Expanding on Social Construction and Intersectionality
Feb. 6: Pyke, Karen D. 1996. “Class-Based Masculinities: The Interdependence of Gender, Class, and
Interpersonal Power.” Gender & Society 10(5): 527-549.
Feb. 8: Yen Le Espiritu. 2001. “ ‘We Don’t Sleep Around Like White Girls Do’: Family, Culture, and
Gender in Filipina American Lives,” Signs v.26(2), pp. 415-440.
Feb. 10: Amy C. Wilkins. 2004. “Puerto Rican Wannabees: Sexual Spectacle and the Marking of Race,
Class, and Gender Boundaries,” Gender & Society v.18(1), pp. 103-121.
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Week 5: Gender, Family and Education
Feb. 13: “Work and Family as Gendered Institutions,” (Ch. 4), pp. 97-133 in Wharton.*
AND
“Gender, Childhood, and Family Life,” (Ch. 5), pp. 135-188 in Wharton.*
AND
Rivas, Jorge. 2012. “Massachusetts Gov. Patrick Signs Transgender Equality Bill Into Law.”
COLORLINES.
Access Online:
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/01/massachusetts_gov_patrick_signs_transgender_equality_bill_into_
law.html
Feb. 15:
Kane, Emily K. 2006. “ ‘No Way My Boys Are Going to be Like That!’: Parents’ Responses to
Children’s Gender Nonconformity.” Gender & Society 20(2): 149-176.
AND
Walters, Lauren. 2011. “Not So Pretty In Pink: J.Crew And The Gender Identity Controversy.” Asterisky.
Access Online: http://asterisky.com/2011/04/15/not-so-pretty-in-pink-j-crew-and-the-genderidentity-controversy/
Feb. 17: Exam I*
Week 6: Gender and Education (cont.); Work
Feb. 20: “Gendered Jobs and Gendered Workers,” (Ch. 6), pp. 189-222 in Wharton.*
AND
Rivas, Jorge. 2012. “The Association of Black Women Historians Says ‘The Help’ is Distorted.”
COLORLINES.
Access Online:
http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/01/association_of_black_women_historians_wants_you_to_know_th
e_help_is_distorted.html
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Feb. 22: Wolf, Naomi. 2002. “Work” pp. 30-57 in The Beauty Myth. Random House, New York.*
Feb. 24: Tanenbaum, Leora. 1999. Slut!: Growing Up Female With a Bad Reputation,” Introduction
and Ch.1 “Insult of Insults," pp. 1-43. Seven Stories Press.
AND
“Anti-Purity Ball: Jessica Valenti on Fighting Sexualization.” 2012. Anderson Cooper.
Access Online: http://www.andersoncooper.com/2012/01/19/anti-purity-ball-jessica-valenti-onfighting-sexualization/#.Tx4xd0ePMgI.email
Week 7: Gender, Sex and Sex Work
Feb. 27: Wolf, Naomi. 2002. “Culture” pp. 58-86, in The Beauty Myth.*
AND
“Sex” pp. 131-178, in The Beauty Myth.*
Feb. 29: Eck, Beth A. 2003. “Men are Much Harder: Gendered Viewing of Nude Images.” Gender &
Society 17(5): 691-710.
AND
Schmich, Mary. 2011. “At the center of NU's sex storm: The wonky, bespectacled professor at the center
of the furor says, 'I'm feeling the nail through the skin right now.'” Chicago Tribune.
Access Online: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-03/news/chi-0304-schmich-columnstory_1_research-lab-professor-j-michael-bailey-poor-judgment
Mar. 2: Overall, Christine. 1992. “What’s Wrong with Prostitution? Evaluating Sex Work.” Signs 17(4):
705-724.
March 5-7th: Enjoy Spring Break!
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Week 8: Gender, Patriarchy, Capitalism, Disordered Eating and Identity Re/constructions
Mar.12: Hesse-Biber, 2007. “How Young Women Experience Being a Body in their Families, Peer
Groups, and School Environments.” (Ch. 7), pp. 152-187, In The Cult of Thinness. New York: Oxford.
AND
Wolf, Naomi. 2002. “Preface” and “The Beauty Myth,” pp. 1-9 in The Beauty Myth.*
AND
Tartakovsky, Margarita. 2012. “Wanting To Be Thin Doesn’t Cause Anorexia But It’s Still Damaging.”
PsychCentral
Access Online: Wanting To Be Thin Doesn’t Cause Anorexia But It’s Still Damaging; or:
http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/2011/12/wanting-to-be-thin-doesnt-cause-anorexia-but-its-stilldamaging/
Mar. 14: Wolf, Naomi. 2002. “Hunger” pp. 179-218 in The Beauty Myth.*
AND
Hesse-Biber. 2007. “New Recruits for the Cult of Thinness: Preteen Girls, Adolescents, Straight Men,
Gays, Lesbians and Ethnic Women,” pp. 188-226, in The Cult of Thinness.
Mar. 16: Wolf, Naomi, “Beyond the Beauty Myth,” pp. 270-292, in The Beauty Myth.*
AND
Leavy, Patricia. (2011). Low-Fat Love, FIRST HALF of the book.*
(Note: We will have class with guest author, Dr. Patricia Leavy, on Monday.)
Week 9: Popular Culture; Gender and Violence
Mar. 19: Leavy, Patricia. (2011). Low-Fat Love; Have the book COMPETED for today for Q&A with
guest author Patricia Leavy! Come to class with questions for Dr. Leavy.
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Mar. 21: Kilbourne, Jean. 1991.“Advertising and Violence: ‘Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt.’” pp.
270-291 in Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel. New York:
Simon and Schuster.
AND
Maxwell, Zerlina. 2012. “Stop telling women how to not get raped.” Ebony.
Access Online: http://www.ebony.com/news-views/stop-telling-women-how-to-not-get-raped
Mar. 23 Wolf, Naomi. 2002. “Violence,” pp. 218-269, in The Beauty Myth.*
Week 10: Gender and Violence (cont.); Reproduction as Crime
Mar. 26- Roberts, Dorothy. 1998. “Making Reproduction a Crime,” Chapter 4 in Killing the Black Body:
Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty, pp.150-200.
Mar. 28- Springer, Kristen. 2010. “The Race and Class Privilege of Motherhood: The New York Times
Presentations of Pregnant Drug-Using Women.” Sociological Forum 25(3): 476-499.
Mar. 30—Exam Two**
Week 11: Gender and Violence (cont.)
April 2: White, Aaronette M. 1999. “Talking Feminist, Talking Black: Micromobilization Processes in a
Collective Protest against Rape.” Gender & Society 13(1): 77-100.
AND
Brasor, Philip. 2011. “Wresting with the Serious Issue of Rape.” The Japan Times.
Access Online: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-03-03/news/chi-0304-schmich-columnstory_1_research-lab-professor-j-michael-bailey-poor-judgment
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April 4: Arata, Catalina M. 1999. “Coping with Rape: The Roles of Prior Sexual Abuse and Attributions
of Blame.” Journal of Interpersonal Violence 14(1): 62-78.
April 6: No Class—Easter Break
Week 12: Gender And Health
April 9: No Class—Easter Break
April 11: Lorber, Judith, 1997. “Women Get Sicker but Men Die Quicker: Gender and Health.” in Phil
Brown ed. Perspectives in Medical Sociology, Third Edition, pp. 40-70.
AND
View and take notes: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (CDC), “Inclusion of Women and
Racial and Ethnic Minorities in Research.”
Access Online: http://www.cdc.gov/od/foia/policies/inclusio.htm
April 13: Courtenay, Will H. 2000. “Constructions of Masculinity and their Influence on Men's WellBeing: a Theory of Gender and Health.” Social Science & Medicine. Volume 50, Issue 10, (16 May
2000): 1385-1401.
AND
View and take notes: “Gender Disparities in Health and Mortality—Population Reference Bureau.”
Access Online: http://www.prb.org/Articles/2007/genderdisparities.aspx
AND
View and take notes: World Health Organization (WHO), “Gender Disparities and Mental Health: The
Facts.” Access Online: http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/genderwomen/en/
Week 13: Gender Rebellion/Subversion
April 16: No Class—Patriots Day/Boston Marathon
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April 18: “Kilbourne, Jean. 1999. “Relax and Enjoy the Revolution: Redefining Rebellion,” (Ch. 13), pp.
292-314 in Can’t Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way we Think and Feel. New York: Simon
& Schuster.
April 20: Butler, Judith. 1991. “Conclusion, from Parody to Politics,” pp. 194-204, in Gender Trouble:
Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York, Routledge.
Week 14: Deconstructing Difference/Undoing Gender
April 23: Deutsch, Francine. 2007. Undoing Gender.” Gender & Society 21(1): 106-127.
April 25: “Deconstructing Gender Differences and Inequalities.” (Ch. 7), pp.225-243 in Wharton.*
April 27: “Women’s Rights are Human Rights”; “Gay Rights are Human Rights”
Watch and take notes: Hillary Clinton in Beijing, China - September 5, 1995
Access Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk3nzRt7p94 (20 minute speech)
AND
Watch and take notes: Secretary Clinton's Historic Speech on LGBT Human Rights, December 6, 2011
Access Online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MudnsExyV78 (30 minute speech)
Week 15: Class Wrap-up, Concluding Thoughts and Review
April 30: Class Conclusions and Review
May 2: Class Conclusions and Review Continued; Note: Portfolios are Due.
May 4-May 7: Boston College Study Days, No Classes.
May 8-15th: Final Exam*** will be held this week, specific date/time TBA