Gender Issues Within the European Context:
Interdisciplinary Perspectives
4 credits
Tereza Kynčlová and Iva Baslarová
Thursdays 4:40 pm to 8 pm
Vratislavova street, room 312
Contacts:
Tereza Kynčlová
email: terezka@gebbeth.cz, kynclova@mup.cz
cell: 603 86 66 89
Thursdays, 8:45 – 9:45 am, Department of Gender Studies, Husníkova 2075,
Praha 13, metro Hůrka
or ANY other time by appointment, based on prior agreement (email,
phonecall)
Iva Baslarová
email: iva.baslarova@seznam.cz
cell: 777 60 51 38
Skype: iva.baslar
via Skype or email
face to face by appointment, based on prior agreement
Course objectives:
This course will familiarize students with basic, yet fundamental, concepts and
theories related to gender as a social construct, to (biological) sex and to
relations among/between men and women in the society and culture as seen
from interdisciplinary perspectives. Course session will deal with various genderrelated issues and will be placed within the European context and compared with
cultural specificities of American society. Further, issues of multiculturalism, socalled Third World feminism and/or spirituality and religion will be discussed in
the global context, rather than particularly European and/or American one, as
these issues pertain to gender regardless of geographical location. Discrepancies
in power relations both between men and women as well as between the socalled First World and the Third world will be discussed in a greater detail.
Feminist literary criticism will focus on the genealogy of women’s writing,
constitution of the cannon and feminist and gender analysis of selected literary
works. We will discuss the Czech gender scene on the example of women’s
political under-representation in decision-making process and positions. This
session will entail a visit to an NGO Fórum 50% and a guest lecture on methods
of promoting gender equality in the Czech Republic and the European Union.
Another guest lecture will be delivered by Blanka Knotková Čapková, a professor
of gender studies and Indian literature and culture, on gender aspects in world
religions. Media will serve as an example for us to see in what ways gender
stereotypes are reproduced, innovated and, scarcely, dismantled and/or
subverted. Social construction of gender will manifest itself in an analysis of TV
genres. Feminist film theories will introduce students to androcentrism in filmmaking as well as with its limits and ways of transgression. We will focus on socalled subversive reading, which is instrumental in decoding TV and film
production for the benefit of „minority“ audience (glbtia – queer reading). A visit
of the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival „One World“ will be
an integral part of the course. We will attend the screening of „A Ticket to
Paradise“, a documentary about marriages of Western men to Eastern women.
The session on fat studies will discuss power and discriminatory practices within
the Western society against disadvantaged social groups; in our case the
example will be „fat“ people.
Course Sessions:
1. Fe/Male(s)? (taught by Tereza Kynčlová)
mandatory readings:
Letherby, Gayle (2003). Feminist Research in Theory and Practice.
Buckingham, Philadelphia: Open University Press. Chapter 1.
Renzetti, Claire, Daniel Curran (1999). Women, Men, and Society. Allyn &
Bacon. Chapters 1, 2.
Eugenides, Jeffrey. (2002). Middlesex. London: Bloomsbury. Excerpt.
recommended reading:
Abbot, Pamela, Claire Wallace (1997). An Introduction to Sociology:
Feminist Perspectives. London, New York: Routledge. Chapter 1.
2. Gender Socialization and GLBTIA (taught by Iva Baslarová)
mandatory readings:
West, Candace / Zimmerman Don H., Doing gender, in: Lorber, Judith/
Farrell, Susan A. (eds.), The social construction of gender, Newbury Park,
London, New Delhi 1991, pp. 125-147.
Rich, Adrienne (1983). Compulsory Heterosexuality nad Lesbian Existence.
In: Powers of Desire. The Politics of Sexuality. Snitow, Ann, Stansell,
Christine, Thompson, Sharon (eds.). New York: Monthly Review Press. pp.
177-206.
recommended reading:
Thorne, Barrie (1993). Gender Play: Boys and Girls in School. New
Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.
3. Class, Race, Gender and Migration (TK)
movie screening: Sweet Little Things.
mandatory readings:
Hill Collins, Patricia. (1990). Defining Black Feminist Thought. In: Collins,
Patricia Hill, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the
Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge. 19-40.
Hooks, bell. (2000). Where We Stand: Class Matters. New York, London:
Routledge. Chapters, 1, 2, 9.
4. ONE WORLD International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival –
A Case Study: „A Ticket to Paradise“ (IB)
A Visit of ONE WORLD International Human Rights Documentary Film
Festival – movie screening + a discussion with a director of the ONE
WORLD Hana Kulhánková
www.oneworld.cz
5. So-Called „Third World“ Feminism, Multiculturalism and Postcolonial
Studies (TK)
movie screening: Crossing Over
mandatory readings:
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade (1991). Under Western Eyes: Feminist
Sholarship and Colonial Discourses. In: Mohanty, Chandra Talpade, Ann,
Russo, Lourdes Torres (Eds.): Third World Women and the Politics of
Feminism. Bloomington, Indianapolis: Bloomington University Press. 5180.
Okin, Susan Moller. (1998). Feminism and Multiculturalism: Some
Tensions. Ethics, Vol. 108. 661-684.
Phillips, Anne. (2001). Multuculturalism, Universalism and Claims of
Democracy. United Nations: Programme Paper Number 7.
recommended reading:
Okin, Susan Moller. (1994). Gender Inequality and Cultural Differences. Political
Theory, Vol. 22, No. 1. 5-24.
6. Gender and Sprirituality and Religion (TK)
guest lecture: Blanka Knotková Čapková, Images of Femininity in World
Religions
mandatory readings:
Renzetti, Claire, Daniel Curran (1999). Women, Men, and Society. Allyn &
Bacon. Chapter 10.
7. Gender and Media (IB)
mandatory readings:
Geraghty, Christine (1996). Feminism and Media Consumption. Curran,
Morley, Walkerdine (eds.): Cultural Studies and Communications. London:
Arnold. pp. 307-322.
van Zoonen, Liesbet (1994). Feminist Media Studies. London: Sage.
Chapters 4 and 7.
recommended readings:
Morley, David (1989). Changing Paradigms in Audience Studies. In: Seiter
et al. (eds.): Remote Control. London: Routledge. pp. 16-40.
Featherstone, Mike, Burrows, Roger (1996). Cultures of Technological
Embodiment: An Introduction. In: Featherstone, Burrows (eds.):
Cyberspace / Cyberbodies / Cyberpunk: Cultures of Technological
Embodiment. London: Sage.
8. Gendered Genres in/on TV, Teen Television (IB)
mandatory readings:
Brunsdon, C. (1984). Writing about Soap Opera. In: Masterman, L (ed.):
Television Mythologies. London: Comedia. pp. 82-87.
Ang, I. (1997). Melodramatic Identifications: Television Fiction and
Women´s Fantasy. Oxford University Press. pp. 155-167.
recommended readings:
Allen, Robert C. (1985).The Meaning(s) of Soap Opera. In: Allen, Robert C.
(ed.): Speaking of Soap Operas. The University of North Carolina Press.
pp. 8-30.
Fuqua, Joy V. (1995). "There's a Queer in My Soap!" The Homophobia /
AIDS Story-line of One Life to Live. In: Allen, Robert C. (ed.): To Be
Continued: Soap Operas Around the World. London: Routledge. pp. 199211.
+ screening of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (one episode)
mandatory reading:
Levine, Elana (2007). Buffy and the "New Girl Order": Defining Feminism
and Femininity. In: Levine, Elana, Parks, Lisa (eds.): Undead TV. Essays on
Buffy the Vampier Slayer. London: Duke University Press. pp. 168-191.
9. Promoting Gender Equality (TK)
guest lecture: NGO, Fórum 50%, Promoting Gender Equality in the Czech
Republic and Under-Representation of Women in Czech Politics
mandatory readings:
Pavlík, Petr (Ed.) (2008). Shadow Report on Equal Treatment and Equal
Opportunities for Men and Women.
Renzetti, Claire, Daniel Curran (1999). Women, Men, and Society. Allyn &
Bacon. Chapter 9.
10. Feminist Literary Criticism (TK)
mandatory readings:
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper.
Debi, Mahasveta. The Breast Giver.
Robinson, Lillian (1985). Treason Our Text: Feminist Challenges to the
Literaty Canon. In: Showalter, Elaine (Ed.): The New Feminist Criticism:
Essays on Women, Literature and Theory. New York: Pantheon Books.
105-121.
Kolodny, Annette (1985). Dancing Through the Minefield: Some
Observations on the Theory, Practice, and Politics of a Feminist Literary
Criticism. In: Showalter, Elaine (Ed.): The New Feminist Criticism: Essays
on Women, Literature and Theory. New York: Pantheon Books. 144-167.
recommended reading:
Gilbert, Sandra, Susan Gubar (2000). The Madwoman in the Attic: The
Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. New
Haven: Yale University Press. Excerpts.
Treichler, Paula. (1984). Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse
in „The Yellow Wallpaper“. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, Vol. 3, No.
1/2. 61-77.
11. Feminist Film Theories (IB)
movie screening: Marnie (1964, Alfred Hitchcock)
mandatory readings:
Mulvey, Laura (1973). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, Vol.
16, No. 3 (1975), pp. 6-18.
Knapp, Lucretia (1995). The Queer Voice in Marnie. In: Creekmur, Corey
K., Doty, Alexander (Eds.): Out in Culture. Gay, Lesbian, and Queer Essays
on Popular Culture. London: Duke University Press. pp. 262-285.
recommended reading:
de Lauretis, Teresa. Aesthetic and Feminist Theory: Rethinking Women's
Cinema. New German Critique, No. 34 (Wint 1985): 154-175.
Holmlund, Chris (1993). Masculinity as Multiple Masquerade. In: Cohan,
Steven, Hark, Ina Rae (eds.): Screening the Male. Exloring Masculinities in
Hollywood Cinema. London: Routledge. 213-230.
12. Fat Studies (IB)
mandatory readings:
Bordo, Susan (1993). The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity.
Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. Los
Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 165-185.
Millman, Marcia (1980). Personal or Political: Explaining the Problems of
Fat People. Such a Pretty Face: Being Fat in America. New York: W. W.
Norton & Company. pp. 86-97.
recommended reading:
Wann, M. (1998). Fat! So?: Because you don't have to apologize for your
size! Berkeley: Ten Speed Press.
Kulick, D. & A. Meneley, eds. (2005). Fat: The anthropology of an
obsession. NY: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.
Course requirements:
Dear students, please note that course attendance is mandatory, and so is
consistent class preparation and active participation in class discussions. Please
bear in mind that active class participation makes 25% of your grade, therefore
more than one absence may adversely affect your grade. If you cannot come to
class, please make sure you let the teacher teaching on the day of your absence
know in advance. Thank you. There will be a make up work for your absence(s).
You will be given an extra written assignment and will have to apply 2
concepts/theories
from
the
missed
reading
on
examples
from
media/cultural/film/literature and/or general social context and compose a critical
analysis of your chosen topic. All written essays, reflections and make up
assignments will need to be submitted via email.
Course evaluation:
active class participation – 25%
written reflections – 25%
midterm test – 25%
final essay – 25%
Grade: 100% - 95% - A
94% - 85% - B
84% - 71% - C
70% and lower – FAIL