Anthropology 2600 B
Anthropology of Gender
Fall Semester 2001
Instructor: Hülya Demirdirek
Class Times: Tu Th 12:15 -1:30
Office: TH 216
Room: AH 116
Phone: 329 - 25 99
Mailing list: anth2600b@uleth.ca
E-mail: hulya.demirdirek@uleth.ca
Office hours: Tu Th 3:30 – 4:45 or by appointment
Course description: Defining gender in broader terms as culturally informed ideas and
patterns of behaviour associated with maleness and femaleness, the aim of this course is to
explore how and why an analysis of gender is needed to comprehend social, economic, political
and cultural processes as a whole. We will start the course by exploring different ways in which
gender inequalities are explained by various anthropologists. The arenas and the ways in which
gender constructions are produced and reproduced in social life will be the main focus of the
course. We will look at different parts of the world in order to understand the cultural context of
gender constructions as well as the wider processes which shape them. Ideologies of masculinity
and femininity which are important components of social movements, state formations, class
struggles, ethnic and national border markings, consumption patterns etc. will be examined by
focusing on social life as a gendered space. Homes, schools, street, state organizations will all
need attention in order to explore the different ways in which gender is constructed.
The course is a combination of lectures, films, group presentations, in-class tests and written
assignments.
Learning objectives: In this course you are expected to develop critical thinking as well as
discussion and writing skills with a focus on gender. With the experience you gained from this
course you should be able to take more advanced courses on other topics, compile bibliographical
research as well as develop understanding and awareness of current debates and concerns in that
area.
Required text: A Custom Course Package can be purchased at the bookstore.
Course requirements and expectations: It is your responsibility to attend the classes. If
you read the assigned articles before coming to class you will be able to follow the course more
actively. It is important to participate in the discussions so that you get to see yourself in action in
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the class. This means that you can enjoy stretching yourself and applying your knowledge during
the semester without letting exam pressures take away the pleasure of learning. You are also
encouraged to participate in the discussions in the course mailing list (this is a closed list accessible
only to students who are enrolled in this course). I will start a discussion and expect you to continue
with it and generate new ones. I will also send sample questions to help you to practice before the
exams.
Evaluation will be based on two written in-class tests and two essays. In-class tests 1 and 2 will
cover the material from the lectures, films and your readings. They will be a combination of short
answers and short essay questions. The first essay is due November 6. This essay will be on a
sub-topic relating to gender and the body which has been approved by the instructor. There is no
article directly focusing on the issue of the body in your reading list. Yet, you are required to use
your readings and our discussions in class as a starting-point for finding further relevant work in the
literature. Additional details of essay 1 will be provided after classes start. Essay 2 will be on a topic
of your choice within the framework of the course: You will choose one of the articles in the course
package, select three further articles from its reference list, read them and write a review essay on
the way these texts deal with the issue in question.
Extensions for late submissions can only be given under extraordinary circumstances. Please
either contact the instructor in advance or provide documentation (medical or other). Essays which
are turned in late without prior approval will have five points deducted per day (here, a day means
24 hours, if the submission deadline is November 6, 12.15, an essay which is submitted after 12:25
on November 6 but before 12: 15 November 7 will have five points deducted). Essays which are
submitted late to be handed to the anthropology department secretary (TH 210).
Please see page 69 in the U of L calendar 2001-2002 for the rules about missed exams.
Test 1:
20 % - October 9 Tu
– Room AH 116
Essay 1: 30 % - November 6 Tu (Submission at the beginning of the class)
Essay 2 30 % - November 29 Th (Submission at the beginning of the class)
Test 2:
20 % - December 6 Th – Room AH 116
Grading:
A+ = 100 - 95 %
A = 94 - 86 %
A- = 85 - 80 %
B+ = 79 - 77 %
B = 76 - 73 %
B- = 72 - 70 %
C+ = 69 - 67 %
C = 66 - 63 %
C- = 62 - 60 %
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D+ = 59 - 57 %
D = 56 - 53 %
D- = 52 - 50 %
F: Below 50
*Tentative Schedule of Lectures, Films and Readings
(* Depending on the progress we make during the classes, we may spend more time on certain
topics than on others. This may alter the course schedule to some extent.)
Week 1: September 6
Introduction: Overview of the course.
Week 2: September 11
Overview of women and gender studies
Reading: Pine (#1)
September 13
Early perspectives on gender in anthropology
Reading: Rosaldo (# 2) and Sacks (# 4)
Week 3: September 18
Nature-culture debate
Reading: Ortner (# 3) and Ortner (# 23)
September 20
Nature-culture debate
Week 4: September 25
Women as a muted group
Reading: Ardener (# 5) and Ardener (# 6)
September 27
Gender and space
Reading: Lamphere (# 12) and Sciama (# 7)
Week 5: October 2
Discussion and presentation week
Film: TBA
October 4
Review
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Week 6: October 9
First in-class test
October 11
Sexual meanings
Reading: Ortner & Whitehead (# 8)
Week 7: October 16
Constructing masculinities
Reading: Brandes (# 10), Harris (# 24) and Gilmore (#13)
October 18
Constructing masculinities cont.
Reading: Thaiss (# 31) and Cornwall & Lindisfarne (# 19)
Week 8: October 23
Constructing femininities
Reading: Strathern (# 20), Gullestad (# 21)
October 25
Constructing femininities cont.
Reading: Abu-Lughod (# 17) and Meigs (# 16)
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Week 9: October 30
The third sex?
Reading: Whitehead (# 9), Nanda (# 14) and Wikan (# 29)
November 1
The sexed and gendered body
Week 10: November 6 (submission of review essay)
The body
November 8
The body
Week 11: November 13
Gender and Western constructions
Reading: MacCormack (# 11) and Delaney (# 30)
November 15
Gender, colonialism and beyond
Reading: Mohanty (# 18) and Van Allen (# 15)
Week 12: November 20
Gender as an organizing principle: power and state
Reading: Scott (# 28) and Connel (# 32)
November 22
Gender, race and difference
Reading: Yuval Davis & Anthias (# 26)
Week 13:November 27
Gender and national ideologies
Reading: Yuval Davis & Anthias (# 24), de Lepervanche (# 25)
November 29 (submission of review essay)
Anthropology, gender and multiple ideologies
Reading: Scott (# 27), Moore (# 33)
Week 14:December 4
Review
Reading: Moore (# 34)
December 6
In-class test

Have a good holiday!
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