GWS 301 FEMINIST THEORIES
Gender & Women's Studies
CSUN
Fall 2012
Time: TuTh 2-3:15pm
Location: Sierra Hall 321
Prof. Breny Mendoza
Office: Jerome Richfield 340-L
Office phone: (818) 677-5641
E-mail: breny.mendoza@csun.edu
Office hours: Tu 10-12:00pm & Th 11-12pm
Course Description
Theory lies at the heart of politics, knowledge production, and everyday life. Without deep thinking, interrogation, and an explanation of our social existence, social change, personal transformation, and knowledge of the world would be impossible. Feminist theories arise in the realm of feminist activism, academic practices, and the lived experience of women around the globe. Unfortunately, most books about feminist theories concentrate on works written by Western feminists or Third World feminists writing in English. In spite of the explicit goal of “diversifying”, “transnationalizing” or
“internationalizating” the discipline of Gender & Women’s Studies, the translation of feminist texts written in other languages remains scarce. Western feminist scholarship is

still mired in what decolonial theorists call the coloniality of knowledge or a Eurocentric view of knowledge production which refuses to recognize non-Europeans as knowledge producers.
Thus this course will begin with a critical examination of the discipline of Gender &
Women’s Studies before we delve into an exploration of feminist theories. Our next step, will be to do a critical reading of Susan Archer Mann’s book Doing Feminist Theory, a book that divides feminist theory between a before and after the postmodern turn of feminism. Toward the end of the semester we will read decolonial feminist writings that introduce us to new topics and new concepts such as the coloniality of gender. The coloniality of gender is a concept that promises to make a new paradigm shift in feminist thought by interrogating the foundations of postmodernism, intersectionality and poscoloniality.
Required Reading
The following books are required reading and have been ordered through the campus bookstore. Other readings will be posted online on our course homepage in Moodle.
1.
Susan Archer Mann, Doing Feminist Theory, New York, Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2012
2.
Catherine M. Orr, Ann Braithwaite, Diane Lichtenstein (eds.), Rethinking
Women’s and Gender Studies, New York: Routledge, 2012
Recommended Reading
1.
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, New York: Vintage Books, 2011
2.
Jane H. Bayes, (ed.) Gender and Politics: The State of the Discipline, Opladen,
Berlin, Toronto: Barbara Budrich Publishers, 2012
Course Requirements
1.
Attendance and Courtesy (10pts.): Regular attendance is required. Late arrivals and early departures are disruptive for everyone. Once class has begun, please don’t leave the room and then come back unless it is an emergency. If you must be late or depart early on a particular day, I would appreciate knowing about it beforehand. Please note that, if you miss four or more classes, you cannot earn a
passing grade in this class.
2.
Weekly Assignment (20pts.): Every week you will upload on Moodle a 1-2 page commentary on the readings assigned for that week. This assignment should prepare you for class discussion. Specify and comment what you found most important and interesting in the readings. Formulate two key questions about the readings that you have thought about and that you would like to discuss in class. Your comments and questions should reflect careful reading. Try to pose questions about concepts and issues you found confusing or unclear and/or would like to critically assess in the class. Your commentary and questions should be posted no later than 8am on the day it is due. You will be graded down if you

do not bring a copy to class. I will collect the copies in class, but you are responsible to save them on your computer and upload a copy on the appropriate link on Moodle.
The following questions offered by Gwyn Kirk and Margo Okazawa-Rey in their book Women’s Lives: Multicultural Perspectives can serve as guide to your commentary:
 What does the theory aim to explain?
 How does it do this?
 What are the basic arguments and assumptions?
 What does the theory focus on? What does it ignore?

What is the cultural and historical context giving rise to the theory?

Do you find this perspective useful? If so, why?

Are you convinced by the arguments? Why or why not?

What kinds of research questions does this perspective generate?

What kinds of actions and projects follow from this perspective?
Other useful questions could be:

Is the theory Eurocentric?

Does the theory promote social justice at the global level?

Does the theory promote transnational solidarity, cosmopolitan democracy?
 Is the theory anti-colonial, anti-imperialist?
3.
Midterm Exam (25pts.) The midterm will be based on readings and course content leading up to the exam. It will be in essay format and posted on Moodle.
4.
Two short literature reviews (30pts): You will write two short literature reviews of 5 pages each. The purpose of this assignment is to learn how to apply a theory to a particular research question. You can choose your own topics. Each literature review should deal with a different research question. If possible, choose a different theoretical approach for each research question.
The first step is to identify the literature relevant to the research question.
Second, draft a literature review that provides some of the most important critiques made to this literature, and analyze the theoretical frameworks that might be brought to bear on the research question. By criticizing the omissions, distortions, and lapses of existing work choose the best theoretical approach for your research question.
“A good literature review does not summarize everything that other authors say about a topic. Rather, it crafts an argument by building on selective explication and analysis of other authors’ views of the issue, developing a comparative assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of varying accounts by interrogating their assumptions, examining their methodologies, and evaluating

the comparative merits of alternate approaches. The central objective of the literature review is to structure a coherent research question by engaging with the current state of the field.” (Mary Hakewsworth-Syllabus on Feminist
Knowledge Production Spring 2012)
The Short Literature Reviews are due on October 9th and November 8th.
5.
Oral Presentation(15pts): Choose one of your short literature reviews, the one that you are more satisfied with and present it to the class orally at the end of the semester. You can use PowerPoint for your presentation.
Graffiti art by Bolivian feminist organization Mujeres Creando - "if Evo had a uterus abortion would be legalized and nationalized" demonstrating their political interests.

Week 2
Tuesday
9/4
Thursday
9/6
Week 3
Tuesday
9/11
Thursday
9/13
Course Schedule
DATE
Week 1
Tuesday
8/28
Thursday
8/30
Week 4
Tuesday
9/18
Thursday
9/20
Week 5
Tuesday
TOPIC
General
Introduction
Memorializing:
Simone de
Beauvoir
On Gender &
Women’s Studies and the Coloniality of Knowledge
Activism and
Institutionalization
On Secularity
Modern Feminist
Thought
ASSIGNMENTS
Watch: Simone de Beauvoir
Read: Simone de Beauvoir “Introduction” of the
The Second Sex
Read: Layli Maparyan, “Feminism” in Rethinking
Women’s and Gender Studies
Read: Breny Mendoza, “The Geopolitics of Political
Science and Gender Studies in Latin America”
(Posted on Moodle)
Read: Catherine M. Orr, “Activism” in Rethinking
Women’s and Gender Studies and Aimee Carillo
Rowe, “Institutionalization” in Rethinking
Women’s and Gender Studies
Read: Karlyn Crowley, “Secularity” in Rethinking
Women’s and Gender Studies
Guest Speaker: Aimee Carrillo Rowe
Read: Breny Mendoza, “Juxtaposing Lives: Mary
Wollstonecraft and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz” in
Women’s Studies Quarterly, Vol. 35, Nrs. 3 & 4,
Fall/Winter 2007 (Posted on Moodle)
Watch: I, the Worst of All
Read: Ch. 2 Liberal Feminism in Doing Feminist
Theory

9/25
Thursday
9/27
Week 6
Tuesday
10/2
Thursday
10/ 4
Week 7
Tuesday
10/9
Thursday
10/11
Week 8
Tuesday
10/16
Thursday
10/18
Week 9
Tuesday
10/23
Thursday
10/25
Week 10
Tuesday
10/30
Thursday
11/1
Week 11
Tuesday
11/6
Liberal Feminism Watch: Gloria Steinem: The Accidental Activist
(Films on Demand)
Radical Feminism
Marxist, Socialist, and Anarchist
Feminisms
Read: “Radical Feminism” in Doing Feminist Theory
Watch: Bill Maher on Feminism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIm0uiBJHD8& feature=related
Read: “Marxist, Socialist, and Anarchist
Feminisms” in Doing Feminist Theory
Video: The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo
First Short Literature Review Due
Intersectionality Read: “Intersectionality” Theories in Doing
Feminist Theory
Read: Vivian M. May, “Intersectionality” in
Rethinking Women’s and Gender Studies
Midterm Exam
The Postmodern
Turn
Read: “Postmodernism, Poststructuralism, Queer, and Transgender Theories” in Doing Feminist
Theory
Read: Jennifer Purvis, “Queer” in Rethinking
Women’s and Gender Studies
Third Wave
Feminism
Feminism and
Imperialism
Read: “Third Wave Feminisms” in Doing Feminist
Theory
Read: Rebecca Clark-Mane, “Transmuting
Grammars of Whiteness in Third-Wave
Feminism: Postmodern Abstraction, Post-race
Histories and the Proliferation of Difference in
Third Wave Texts” (Posted on Moodle)
Read: “Feminism and Imperialism in Early
Modernity” in Doing Feminist Theory

Thursday
11/8
Week 12
Tuesday
11/13
Thursday
11/15
Week 13
Tuesday
11/20
Thursday
11/22
Week 14
Tuesday
11/27
Thursday
11/29
Week 15
Tuesday
12/4
Thursday
12/6
Final Exam
Week
Thursday
12/13
(3-5pm)
Decolonial
Feminism
Second Short Literature Review Due
Readings TBA
Read: “Feminism and Imperialism in Late
Modernity” in Doing Feminist Theory
Read: Rita Segato, “Territory, Sovereigny, and
Crimes of the Second State: The Writing on the
Body of Murdered Women” in Rosa-Linda Fregoso and Cynthia Bejarano, Terrorizing Women in the
Americas (Posted on Moodle) and
“An Interview with Silvia Rivera Cusicanqui” http://www.defenestrator.org/node/1950
Read: Feminism and Imperialism in Postmodernity
THANKSGIVING BREAK
Read: Maria Lugones “Heterosexualism and the
Colonial/Modern Gender System” ( Posted in
Moodle)
Read: “Toward Decolonial Feminism”
Oral Presentations
Oral Presentations
Oral Presentations

ACADEMIC RESPONSIBILITIES OF STUDENTS
Class Preparation
You should come to class prepared to discuss assigned reading in class.
Deadlines
It is your responsibility to hand in assignments at the designated time and place.
Typing and Spelling
Editing of written work is your responsibility. Any written material prepared outside of class should be submitted with no spelling or typographical errors. A significant number of these sorts of errors will result in a grade penalty.
Plagiarism
Academic honesty is assumed!! If you do not know what plagiarism is be sure you understand it immediately. Please, refer to Student Conduct Code in the Fall 2012
Schedule of Classes. If you plagiarize, you will fail this class and the case will be handled according to the guidelines of the Student Conduct Code.
Cell Phones, Laptops, Ipads
All cell phones and pagers must be turned off during class sessions. You may use laptops, or ipads during class only to take notes. Do not use the class to facebook, or to do homework for other classes. Respect this class, please.