Gender Politics
GFAP355 Fall 2000
Further information available on the Web at http://faculty.virginia.edu/lsanders/gender/fall2000syll.htm.
Instructor
Lynn M. Sanders
Cabell 252
924-3613
Office hours Tuesday 3-5
lsanders@virginia.edu
http://faculty.virginia.edu/lsanders
Teaching Assistant
Lori A. Fritz
Cabell 144
245-5944
Office hours Wednesday 2-3:30
laf2q@virginia.edu
Course description: This course investigates the problem of gender equality in the context of a liberal
democratic polity, through an examination of the political enfranchisement of women in the United
States. We will ask a series of questions concerning the representation of gender difference, and power
and its exercise, including: How well do different egalitarian paradigms work when applied to women?
Are differences between women and men fundamental, systematic, and politically relevant? Can
attributions of gender difference be isolated from broader concerns about justice and the distribution of
power? How is gender difference manifest in American politics? Do women and men bring different
interests to American politics? How do women and men claim and exercise power? How are different
feminisms reflected in American politics and its study by political scientists?
Course goals: Through our examination of the problem of gender equality, students should acquire the
tools to criticize egalitarian appeals and attributions of sameness and difference as they occur elsewhere,
for instance in social movements outside of feminism (e.g. the men's movement and other forms of
identity politics). Our focus on gender will also provide students with a new critical perspective on
American politics and its study, and an enlarged ability to criticize phenomena such as the "culture wars".
By the end of the course, students will also have expanded their basic knowledge concerning feminism,
anti-feminism, and political activity by women in the United States.
Course requirements: Reading all of the assigned materials, attendance at lectures and full and active
participation in discussion sections are required. Final grades will be determined according to the
following distribution: Section participation, 15%; In-class midterm (Oct. 19), 20%; In-class final (Thurs.,
Dec. 14, 9:00-12:00), 35%; Two topical essays, 30% (due at the beginning of class Oct. 5 and Nov. 21).
The exams will be based on assigned readings and topics covered in class; they will be part “objective”
and part essay questions. Essay questions for both exams will be distributed in advance of the test.
Course texts: The following texts have been ordered and are available for purchase at the University
bookstore:
Phillips, Anne, ed. 1998. Feminism and Politics (Oxford).
Reingold, Beth. 2000. Representing Women (North Carolina).
Thomas, Sue and Clyde Wilcox, eds. 1998. Women and Elective Office (Oxford).
Wolbrecht, Christina. 2000. The Politics of Women’s Rights (Princeton).
With some exceptions noted on the syllabus, all other materials are available via the course toolkit:
http://toolkit.virginia.edu/2000_Fall_GFAP355-1/materials. More materials are available via the date and
topical links at the course website: http://faculty.virginia.edu/lsanders/gender/fall2000syll.htm.
Schedule of Readings and Assignments
REQUIRED READING
* = available through toolkit materials
RECOMMENDED
8/31 Introduction
I.
The Representation of Difference
9/5 Reading a political text: Hillary The Feminist
9/7 Academic and popular feminisms
* The American Enterprise, July 2000 v11 i5 p32, “Hillary Rodham Clinton as Feminist
Heroine.” (Panel Discussion)
* Dworkin, Andrea. “Dear Bill and Hillary.” First published in The Guardian, London,
January 29, 1998; accessed 8-22-00 at
http://www.nostatusquo.com/ACLU/Porn/Clinton2.html.
* Jong, Erica. “Hillary’s Husband Re-elected!” The Nation, Nov. 25, 1996; accessed
8-22-00 at http://www.thenation.com/issue/961125/1125jong.htm
* Zahra, Tara. "The Feminism Gap," The American Prospect no. 42, January-February
1999; accessed 8-22-00 at http://www.prospect.org/archives/42/42zahra.html.
* Bronstein, Zelda. “Feminist Pundits and Hillary Clinton.” Dissent, volume 44,
number 3, summer 1997; accessed 8-22-00 at
http://www.igc.org/dissent/archive/summer97/bronstei.html.
* Oakley, Ann. 1997. “A brief history of gender.” In Who’s Afraid of Feminism, ed.
Ann Oakley and Juliet Mitchell. New York: The Open Press.
* Wittig, Monique. 1981. “One is not born a woman.” In The Straight Mind. New
York: Beacon Press.
9/12 Parité
9/14 The politics of the family
* Kramer, Jane. “Letter from Europe: Liberty, Equality, Sorority.” The New Yorker,
May 29, 2000, p 112.
* Haase-Dubosc, Danielle. 1999. “Sexual Difference and Politics in France Today.”
Feminist Studies, v25 i1 p183(2)
* Stacey, Judith. 1996. “The family values fable.” National Forum, Summer 1995 v75
n3 p20(4)
* Zakin, Emily. “Bridging the Social and the Symbolic: Toward a Feminist Politics of
Sexual Difference.” Hypatia.
* Coltrane, Scott. “Families and gender equity.” National Forum, Spring 1997 v77 n2
p31(4)
9/19 Equality and Difference
9/21 Is liberalism the problem?
* Scott, Joan W. 1988. “Deconstructing Equality versus Difference: or, The Uses of
Post-Structuralist Theory for Feminism.” Orig. published in Feminist Studies
14, pp. 33-50.
* Epstein, Richard. 1999. “Liberty and Feminism.”
Brennan, Teresa and Carole Pateman. 1979. “'Mere Auxiliaries to the
Commonwealth': Women and the Origins of Liberalism”. In Anne Phillips,
ed. Feminism and Politics (Oxford, 1998), pp. 93-115.
* Rudy, Kathy. 1999. “Liberal Theory and Feminist Politics.” Women and Politics 20:2,
33-57.
Wilson, James Q. 1995. On Gender. The Public Interest n 121.
http://www.thepublicinterest.com/notable/article11.html
* Haslanger, Sally. 2000. “Gender and Race: (What) are they? (What) do we want
them to be? Noûs v 34 n 1 p 31-55. (Recommended.)
* Hawkesworth, Mary. 1997. “Confounding Gender.” Signs v 22 n 3, p 649.
(Optional; skim.)
9/26 Difference and Discrimination
9/28 Women’s Interests
MacKinnon, Catharine. 1987. “Difference and Dominance: On Sex Discrimination.”
In Phillips, ed. Pp. 295-313.
Crenshaw, Kimberle. 1989. “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A
Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory, and
Antiracist Politics.” In Phillips, ed., pp. 314-343.
Rhode, Deborah. 1992. “The Politics of Paradigms: Gender Difference and Gender
Disadvantage. In Phillips, ed., pp. 344-360.
Sapiro, Virginia. 1981. “When are Interests Interesting? The problem of the Political
Representation of Women.” In Phillips, ed., pp. 161-192.
Phillips, Anne. 1994. “Democracy and Representation: Or, Why Should it Matter Who
our Representatives Are?” In Phillips, ed., pp. 224-240.
10/3 Women’s interests: the parties
10/5 Women’s interests: the issues
Wolbrecht, Christina. 2000. The Politics of Women’s Rights chs. 1-3 (pp. 3 –107).
Wolbrecht, ch. 5 (pp. 134-180), part of ch. 6 (pp 214-225), ch.7 (pp. 226-238).
PAPER DUE
10/10 Gender gap: the mythology
10/12 Gender gap: the reality
* Mansbridge, Jane J. 1985. “Myth and reality: the ERA and the gender gap in the
1980 election.” Public Opinion Quarterly, v49 p164.
* Ladd, Everett Carll. 1996. “Media Framing of The Gender Gap.” In Pippa Norris,
ed., Women, Media and Politics (Oxford).
* Frankovic, Kathleen A. 1999. “Why the gender gap became news in 1996. PS:
Political Science & Politics, 32:1, p20.
* Norrander, Barbara. 1999. The Evolution of the Gender Gap. Public Opinion
Quarterly, v63 i4 p566.
* Petrocik, John and Karen M. Kaufman. 1999. “The Changing Politics of American
Men: Understanding the Sources of the Gender Gap.” American Journal of
Political Science v43 i3 p864.
* Lake, Celinda. 1995. “The Democratic Puzzle.” Campaigns & Elections, v16 n10
p23.
10/17 Pre-midterm summary: how gender difference is discussed in American
10/19 MIDTERM in-class
Hartsock, Nancy and Irene Diamond. 1981. “Beyond Interests in Politics” (comment
on Sapiro). In Phillips, ed., pp. 193-202.
politics
II. The Acquisition and Exercise of Power
10/24 READING HOLIDAY
10/26 Women Candidates
Duerst-Lahti, Georgia. 1998. “Women Becoming Candidates,” ch. 1 in Thomas and
Wilcox, eds., Women and Elective Office (Oxford).
Williams, Leonard. “Gender, Political Advertising, ahd the ‘Air Wars,’” ch. 3 in
Thomas and Wilcox.
Cook, Elizabeth Adell. “Voter Reaction to Women Candidates,” ch. 4 in Thomas and
Wilcox.
10/31 Representation
11/2 Exercising Legislative Power
Reingold, Beth. 2000. Representing Women (North Carolina), chs. 3, 4.
* Kenworthy, Lane and Melissa Malami. 1999. Gender Inequality in Political
Representation: A Worldwide Comparative Analysis. Social Forces v 78 n 1
p 235.
Reingold, Representing Women, ch. 7.
Rosenthal, Cindy Simon. 1998. “Getting Things Done: Women Committee
Chairperson in States Legislatures,” ch. 12 in Thomas and Wilcox.
Kathlene, Lyn. “In a Different Voice: Women and the Policy Process,” ch. 13 in
Thomas and Wilcox.
11/7 (Election Day) Violence
11/9 Revenge
* Murphy, Patricia. 1997. “Domestic violence legislation and the police: the role of
socio-economic indicators, political factors and women's political activism on
state policy adoption.” Women & Politics v18 n2 p27.
* Reinelt, Claire. 1995. “Moving onto the terrain of the state.” Reinelt, Claire.
"Moving onto the terrain of the state." In Feminist organizations : harvest of
the new women's movement, edited Myra Marx Ferree and Patricia Yancey
Martin.
* “Murder in the Making,” Washington Post August 26, 2000.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A29630-2000Aug26.html)
* Angel, Marina. 1996. “Criminal law and women: giving the abused woman who kills
a jury of her peers who appreciate trifles.” American Criminal Law Review,
v33 n2 p229-348.
Susan Glaspell, “Trifles” or “A Jury of Her Peers.”
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/modeng/modengG.browse.html
11/14 Sexuality
11/16 Sexual harassment
* MacKinnon, Catherine. 1989. “Sexuality.” Chapter 7 in Toward a Feminist Theory
of the State, pp. 128-154.
* Helliwell, Christine. 2000. “’It's Only a Penis’: Rape, Feminism, and Difference.”
Signs, v25 i3 p789.
* Toobin, Jeffrey. 1998. “The Trouble with Sex.” The New Yorker. (Feb. 9)
11/21 PAPER DUE Privacy
11/23 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
Marleen Goriss, A Question of Silence (film screening)
Okin, Susan Moller. 1991. “Gender, the Public, and the Private.” In Phillips, ed., pp.
116-141.
* Alcoff, Linda and Laura Gray. 1993. “Survivor discourse: trangression or
recuperation?” Signs v18 n2 p260(31) .
11/28 The President’s Privates
11/30 Porn: A Class Act
* Glass, Loren. 1999. “Publicizing the president’s privates.” Postmodern Culture.
Volume 9, Number 3: http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/pmc/v009/9.3glass.html
* Rosen, Jeffrey. 1998. “The End of Privacy.” The New Republic (Feb. 16)
* Kipness, Laura. 1992. “Reading Hustler.” In Grossberg, ed. Cultural Studies.
12/5 Citizenship
12/7 Summary: Psychology and politics revisited
* Berlant, Lauren. 1998. “Live Sex Acts.” In Joan Landes, ed., Feminism, the Public
and the Private. (Oxford)
Dietz, Mary. 1987. “Context is All: Feminism and Theories of Citizenship.” in
Phillips, ed, pp. 378-400.
* Dietz, Mary and James Farr. 1998. “Politics would Unwoman Her”, in Gender and
American social science : the formative years, edited by Helene Silverberg.
12/14 9:00-12:00 Final Exam