Social Issues in Gender and Sexuality
SWMS 210 Room TTH 202
Professor Halberstam
MW 10-11:20
Office hrs: M 11:30-1:00 pm
Description:
This course is designed to introduce some of the major debates about gender and
sexuality within the field of critical gender studies. We will be considering the relations
between the history of sexuality and the politics of gender. We will read some primary
texts in gender theory, and in the study of sexuality, desire, and embodiment. This course
also provides an introduction to the interdisciplinary examination of human sexual and
erotic desires, orientations, and identities. We will study how desires are constructed,
how they vary and remain the same in different places and times, and how they interact
with other social and cultural phenomena such as government, family, popular culture,
scientific inquiry, and, especially, race and class.
Books:
Hanne Blank, Straight: The Surprisingly Short History of Heterosexuality. (Boston, MA:
Beacon Press, 2012
Sigmund Freud, Three Essays. NY: Basic Books, 2000.
RW Connell, Masculinities. Los Angeles, CA: UC Press, 2005.
2009.
Linda Nicholson, ed. The Second Wave Reader: A Reader in Feminist Theory,
NY: Routledge, 1997.
Peggy Orenstein, Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Front Lines of
Girlie-Girl Cultures. NY: Harper, 2012.
Patricia Williams. Alchemy of Race and Rights: Diary of a Law Professor. Cambridge,
MA: Harvard UP, 1992.
Films:
Born in Flames (1983) dir. Lizzie Borden
Pumping Iron 1 (1977) directed by George Butler
He’s Just Not That Into You (2009) Ken Kwapis
Real Women Have Curves (2002) directed by Patricia Cardosa
The Accused (1988) dir. Jonathan Kaplan
Superstar? http://ia700504.us.archive.org/16/items/ill-art/haynes_superstar.MP4
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Essays (on Blackboard):
1. Valerie Solanas, from SCUM Manifesto (London and New York: Verso, 2004): pp
2. Emily Martin, “The Egg and Sperm” Signs, Vol. 16, No. 3. (Spring, 1991), pp. 485501.
3. Thomas Laqueur, "Of Language and the Flesh" in Making Sex: Body and Gender
from the Greeks to Freud (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1990), 3-24.
4. Sandra Harding, “Can Men be the Subjects of Feminist Thought?” from Men Doing
Feminism ed. Tom Digby (New York: Routledge, 1998): 171-196.
5. Gayle Rubin, “Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality”
in Pleasure and Danger: Exploring Female Sexuality, ed. Carol Vance (Boston:
Routledge, 1984), 267- 319.
6. Gail Bederman, “Remaking Manhood Through Race and Civilization,” in Manliness
and Civilization (Chicago: Chicago UP, 1995): 1-44.
7. Mark Anthony Neal, “There’s A New Black Man in American Today” from New
Black Man (NY: Routledge, 2006): 1-31.
8. C.J. Pascoe, “Dude: You’re A Fag: Adolescent Male Homophobia” from Dude,
You’re A Fag: Masculinity and Sexuality in High School (Los Angeles, CA: UC
Press, 2007): 52-83.
9. Susan Bordo, “Discourses and Conceptions of the Body” from Unbearable Weight:
Feminism and Western Culture (Los Angeles, CA: UC Press, 2004): 45-138.
10. Meredith Jones, Skintight: An Anatomy of Cosmetic Surgery (Oxford and New York:
Berg Publishing): 1-58.
11. Kathy Davis, Introduction and Chapter One, “The Surgical Fix” in Reshaping the
Female Body: The Dilemma of Cosmetic Surgery (New York: Routledge, 1995),
12. Naomi Wolf, “The Beauty Myth” in The Beauty Myth (New York: William and
Morrow, 1991), 9-19.
13. Mary Romero, “Gender and Class in Domestic Work” in Maid in the USA (New
York: Routledge, 1992), 47-69.
14. Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, “Maid in LA” in Doméstica: Immigrant Workers
Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows of Affluence (Berkeley and Los Angeles:
UC Press, 2007), 29-62.
15. Laura Kipnis, “Love’s Labors” from Against Love: A Polemic (NY: Vintage, 2004):
5-51.
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Course Requirements and Expectations:
The class is designed to encourage critical thinking skills through writing, reading, and
classroom interaction. You will maximize your chances of doing well if you commit to
active participation in the classroom and in discussion sections.
Many of the ideas presented in lectures may challenge you to think in different ways
about bodies, identities, desires, and their relationship to politics and social relations. If
you feel that you may have a problem with explicit discussions of gender and sexuality,
heterosexuality and homosexuality, feminism and other radical politics, this may not be
the class for you. Learning, of course, is about being open to new ideas and being willing
to think deeply about the contradictions of everyday life.
Participation/Attendance (10%):
You should do all the reading before coming to class or discussion section. Perhaps take
some notes as you read to help you focus on relevant themes, questions, and ideas.
Attendance is mandatory in this class for both lecture and discussion.
3 X 2-Page Essays (30%):
Over the course of the semester, you will hand in THREE 2-page essays in response to
assignments. The first assignment will be due in class during WEEK 4 (Jan. 30). Two
other short assignments will follow in WEEK 7 (Feb 27) and 12 (March 31).
Midterm Exam (20%):
There will be an in-class midterm exam in WEEK 8 on March 5. This exam will combine
identifications, short-answer questions, and short-essay questions.
3-Page Essay (20%):
You will be given an essay question that requires more thought and possibly some
research. The essay question will be handed out before Spring Break and you will turn it
in during WEEK 14 .
Final Exam (20%):
The final exam will be held on May 12 from 8 to 10 AM. It will not be cumulative. It will
focus on material covered in class since the midterm. Like the midterm, it will consist of
short essays, short-answer questions, and identifications from the readings.
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SCHEDULE
Week One:
MANIFESTOS
Jan. 9-11
Reading:
Mary Wollstonecraft, Introduction, A Vindication
of the Rights of Woman (1792); Sojourner Truth, "Ain't I a
Woman" (1851); Simone de Beauvoir, Introduction to The
Second Sex (1949) (The Second Wave); (1966,1972) Black
Panther Platform and Update; Valerie Solanas, from Scum
Manifesto (1967) (BB).
Themes:
Foundations, manifestos, politics and theory.
Week Two:
TALKIN’ ABOUT A REVOLUTION
Jan. 16-18
NO CLASS MONDAY – MLK Day
Readings:
The Combahee Rover Collective, “A Black Feminist
Statement” (Second Wave)
Film:
Born in Flames In class on Thursday
Week Three:
STRUGGLE, LIBERATION,
TRANSFORMATION
Jan. 23-25
Readings:
The Second Wave, Part 2, “With and Against Marx,”
essays by Hartman, Barrett, Nicholson.
Week Four:
MODERN SEXUALITY
Jan. 30-Feb. 1
**FIRST PAPER DUE IN CLASS 2/1**
Readings:
Sigmund Freud, Three Essays.; Gayle Rubin “The Traffic
in Women” (Second Wave).
Week Five:
IS ANATOMY DESTINY?
February 6-8
Readings:
Simone de Beauvoir, “Introduction” to The Second Sex
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(The Second Wave SW); Shulamith Firestone, “The
Dialectic of Sex” (SW). Emily Martin, “The Egg and
Sperm” (BB); Thomas Laqueur, "Of Language and the
Flesh" (BB).
Film Clips in Class:
Woody Allen, Everything You Wanted to Know about
Sex….
Week Five:
STRAIGHT
Feb 13-15
Reading:
Hannah Blank, Straight; Gayle Rubin, “Thinking Sex”
(BB).
Viewing:
In class: clips from TV Shows
Week Six:
MASCULINITIES 1: BUILDING BODIES
Feb. 20-22
Reading:
R. Connell, Masculinities, Part One; Gail
Bederman, from Manliness and Civilization (BB); Sandra
Harding, “Can Men be the Subjects of Feminist Thought?”
Viewing:
Pumping Iron (1977)
Week Seven:
MASCULINITIES 2: GUYLAND
**Second Paper Due in Class 3/21**
Feb. 27-29
Reading:
RW Connell, Masculinities, Part 2; Nancy Chodorow, “The
Psychodynamics of the Family” (SW); Michael Kimmel
from Guyland (BB).
Viewing:
Superbad – clips in class.
Themes:
Adolescent masculinities; masculinity and power.
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Week Eight:
MASCULINITIES 3: ALTERNATIVES
March 5-7
MIDTERM EXAM IN CLASS MARCH 5!!!
Readings:
Connell, Masculinities, Part 3; Mark Anthony Neal, from
New Black Man (BB); C.J. Pascoe, “Dude: You’re A Fag:
Adolescent Male Homophobia” (BB).
Alternative forms of manhood and masculinity; masculinity
and homophobia.
Themes:
Week Ten:
SPRING BREAK
March 12-14
NO CLASSES
Week Eleven:
FEMININITIES 1: UNBUILDING BODIES
March 19-21
Reading:
Susan Bordo, Unbearable Weight Part 1 (BB);
Film:
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1988)
Themes:
Eating disorders; femininity; damage.
Week Twelve:
FEMININITIES 2: EXTREME MAKEOVER
March 26-28
Reading:
Meredith Jones, Skintight, Chapters 1 and 2 (BB); Kathy
Davis, Introduction and Chapter One, “The Surgical Fix”
(BB); Naomi Wolf, “The Beauty Myth” (BB).
Themes:
Beauty; plastic surgery; selfhood.
Week Thirteen:
A QUESTION OF VIOLENCE
April 2-4
**3rd PAPER DUE IN CLASS ON April 2**
Readings:
Sarah Projansky from Watching Rape (BB); Patricia
Williams, The Alchemy of Race and Rights
Films:
The Accused (1998); The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
(2011)
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Week Fourteen:
CLASS/LABOR/RACE
April 9-11
Reading:
Mary Romero, “Gender and Class in Domestic
Work” (BB); Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, “Maid in LA”
(BB); Emily Nussbaum, “A Stranger’s Touch” (BB).
Film:
Real Women Have Curves (2002) – Screening in Class
April 16
Themes:
Domestic labor; invisible labor; unions; class struggle
Week Fifteen:
INTERGENERATIONS
April 16-18
Reading:
Peggy Orenstein, Cinderella Ate My Daughter
.
Week Sixteen:
TRUE LOVE: LESSONS IN ROMANCE
April 23-25
Reading:
from Laura Kipnis, Against Love (BB); Peggy Orenstein,
Cinderella.
Film:
He’s Not That Into You…or any romantic comedy from the
last 5 years.
Themes:
Love, romance, disappointment?
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