Third Wave Feminisms:
WMST 300-001
Fall 2004 Syllabus
Subject to change
THURS. 4:30-7:10 – ROBINSON A101
Instructor: Rebecca Walter
rwalter@gmu.edu, 993-2896
Co-Instructor: Jen Barnard
jbarnard@gmu.edu, 993-1220
Office Hours: by appointment
Women’s Studies Research and Resource Center, JC #240K
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will address the major themes and issues of third wave feminisms: sex workers rights,
activism, transgender issues, racism, music, and globalization (to name a few). This course assumes
the position that issues of race, class, gender and sexuality are not separate add-ons to our
discussions, but rather is at the center of third wave issues. Because this class is feminist, it also
assumes that women are at the center of our discussions.
We will address such questions as:
 Are there really waves of feminism?
 How is the Third Wave similar and/or different from previous waves of feminism?
 What are some of Third Waves strengths and weaknesses?
COURSE GOALS
The goals of this course are to:
 Define, examine, and explore “Third Wave” Feminisms
 Examine the literature, culture and issues pertinent to “Third Wave” Feminisms
INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS
This is a discussion-based course that will include lectures, class discussions, small group
discussions, creation of a ‘zine, experiential work and reflective paper, in-class and at-home writing,
oral presentations, and a research paper.
COURSE TEXTS
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Kaufman, Cynthia. Ideas for Action: Relevant Theory for Radical Change. Cambridge: South
End Press, 2003.
Labaton, Vivian and Dawn Lundy Martin. The Fire This Time: Young Activists and the New
Feminism. New York: Anchor Books, 2004.
Tea, Michelle. Without a Net: The Female Experience of Growing Up Working Class.
Emeryville, Seal Press, 2003.
Various articles available on cd (purchase for $5 in class).
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ASSIGNMENTS: See attached Addendum for remainder of assignments and
in-class activities
Research Papers
Your research papers will be no less than 8 and no more than 10 pages double-spaced. It will
include a works cited page and parenthetical citations in MLA style. You should cite a minimum of
8 sources, five or more of which must be scholarly. The research paper is an opportunity to explore
a topic that interests you, as well as to improve your research and writing skills. You will be
expected to have a preliminary research topic by week 4 of class. The final draft will be due the last
day of class, when you will orally present your findings to the class.
Preliminary Research Question
Due week 4. What topic or pertinent third wave issue will you address in your research paper? What
kinds of sources might you use? Where can you find those sources? Although a draft is not
required, we strongly encourage you to meet with us to discuss your paper.
Make sure to cite all ideas and information that are not your own - not just direct quotations- in
MLA style. Be sure to include a works cited page at the end of your paper that includes every source
you cite in the paper and consult for information. Proofread!!!! Grammar, spelling and organization
count toward your grade and affect your ability to communicate your ideas effectively.
Oral Presentation
You will be presenting your research findings to the class on the last day of class in a short oral
presentation. Presentations should be 5-8 minutes long.
COURSE EVALUATION
Class Participation: attendance and discussion
Your day to lead discussion/facilitate exercise
Response Papers (8 @ 25 points each)
Community/Volunteer Work
Research Paper
Activism Sharing
Creation of student ‘zine
TOTAL
100 points
100 points
200 points
200 points
200 points
50 points
150 points (100 zine/50 group paper)
1000 points
COURSE POLICIES
Late Papers/Exams Policy
Unless a student takes responsibility for working out details with instructors, failure to complete
assignments or turn in papers on the due date will result in a grade of 0 for that paper. In class
writing and activities cannot be made up.
Workload
This is a 300-level class, and there is a lot of reading. Please be realistic about the demands on your time.
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Class Participation
Class Participation refers not merely to the amount that you talk, but to the quality of your
contributions during discussions. Seminaring will be an important component of this class as we
examine various texts. In evaluating your participation in seminar discussions, we will look at your
effectiveness in posing insightful questions, relating readings to your thinking, your feelings, and
experiences. You will be expected to be able to answer information questions about the materials
assigned, to pose analytical questions about those materials or related issues, and to examine with
classmates all aspects of the “meaning” of what we read, see, and do.*
We don’t assess participation every day, (though we will usually take attendance) but we will assign a
total at the end of the semester. This is necessarily a subjective evaluation. Highest points go to
people who attend regularly, contribute consistently, and make useful contributions. About equal
points go to those who come regularly and say little (in content, not quantity) and those who don’t
attend regularly but who do contribute significantly when present. Obviously, if you miss a lot you
can’t contribute much and you’ll earn few participation points.*
Attendance is especially important in a class that meets only once a week. Being on time and staying
until the end of the class count toward you attendance grade. Being more than 30 minutes tardy or
leaving more than 30 minutes early is equivalent to an absence. Students who have a borderline
grade will receive the lower grade if they have excessive absences. Excessive absence means missing
more than 2 classes.
*Thanks to Professor Anita Taylor for these guidelines.
Class Participation Principles
It is important that you read the syllabus carefully and understand what is expected of you before
beginning this course. Throughout the semester, we will discuss both abstract, theoretical ideas and
concrete, practical information about a variety of issues pertaining to the experiences of women. We
hope that these materials will challenge you intellectually and personally. However, when discussing
certain topics about gender, race, sexual orientation, sex work, etc. we may at times touch on some
issues that are socially and/or personally sensitive. Because of this, any one of us may feel
uncomfortable. To help the diversity of our voices lead to opportunities to learn in such situations
we propose the following ground rules together with the Guidelines for Class Participation.
1. Acknowledge that we are all co-educators with something to learn as well as something to teach.
2. Acknowledge that all of us have learned misinformation about some groups in society, whether
we belong to an advantaged or disadvantaged group.
3. Agree not to blame ourselves or others for the misinformation we have learned in the past.
4. Accept responsibility for not repeating misinformation after we have learned otherwise.
5. Assume that people--both those we study and those in this class--make and have made choices
that seemed appropriate to them at the time.
6. Acknowledge that prejudice and discrimination based on gender, race, ethnic and national
background, social class, sexual preference, religion, physical appearance, and abilities exist.
7. Never demean, devalue, or in any way "put down" people for their experiences, backgrounds, or
statements. This does not mean that you can't disagree, only that you must do so respectfully.
*Thanks to Professor Lynn Weber for these principles.
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Honor Code
GMU's Honor Code is available at http://www.gmu.edu/catalog/acadpol.html#Honor. The honor
code prohibits cheating, attempted cheating, plagiarism, lying and stealing.
Plagiarism
According to the GMU handbook, Plagiarism is "presenting as one's own the words, the work, or
the opinions of someone else without proper acknowledgment" OR, "Borrowing the sequence of
ideas, the arrangement of material, or the pattern of thought of someone else without proper
acknowledgment."
In this class, you will be using MLA style to cite others' work. You must provide a citation if you
use the exact words, ideas, facts or opinions of others in your writing. Plagiarism is the academic
equivalent of theft and is a very serious matter. If you have any questions about what plagiarism is
or when to use citations, please see us.
Disability Support Services
Any student with documented learning disabilities or other conditions that may affect their
performance in the class should make sure that documentation is on file with the Office of
Disability Support Services (993-2474) and talk with us to discuss reasonable accommodations.
WRITING RESOURCES
The New Century College Online Writing Guide for Integrative Studies Students, located at
http://classweb.gmu.edu/nccwg/, offers resources that may be helpful to you. The website offers
tips on taking exams, writing papers etc. The Writing Center also offers assistance to students who
want to improve their writing skills. The Writing Center Website is http://writingcenter.gmu.edu.
CLASS SCHEDULE
INTRODUCTION
Week 1
9/2/04
 Icebreaker activity – Exercise #1
 Syllabus/Announcements
 For next week: Decide which week you will facilitate/lead class discussion
 Film during class: People Like Us
FROM THIRD WORLD TO THIRD WAVE – HISTORIES: Whose liberation is this?
Week 2
9/9/04
Suggested reading order
 Cynthia Kaufman Ch. 1 & Ch. 6 of Ideas for Action: Relevant Theory for Radical Change
 Manifesta, timeline (pp. 323-337)
 Leslie Heywood Introduction to Third Wave Agenda (pages 1-15)
 Audrey Lorde. The Master’s Tools Will Not Dismantle the Master’s House in This Bridge Called
My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color.
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Audrey Lorde. An Open Letter to Mary Daly in This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by
Radical Women of Color.
Barbara/Beverly Smith. Third World Women: Tokenism or Leadership. This Bridge…
Cherrie Moraga. La Guera. This Bridge…
Jo Carillo. And When You Leave, Take Your Pictures With You. This Bridge…
Pat Parker. Revolution: It’s Not Quick or Pretty. This Bridge…
Alix Kates Shulman. Emma Goldman: A Feminist Reappraisal in Red Emma Speaks
Tara Hardy. Dirty Girl in Without a Net
Labaton & Martin. Introduction in The Fire This Time
Naomi Klein. Preface in Fences and Windows
“BUT SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE ____________” OR ALTERNATIVELY,
“BUT I DON’T SEE COLOR” OR CLASS, GENDER, RACE
Week 3
9/16/04
Suggested reading order
 Kaufman, Ch. 5
 Riki Wilchins Why Identity Politics Really, Really Sucks in Read My Lips
 Taigi Smith, What Happens When Your Hood is the Last Stop on the White Flight Express? in
Colonize This!
 bell hooks, Race & Gender (ch. 10) in Feminism is for Everybody
 Susan Muaddi Darraj, It’s Not an Oxymoron: The Search for an Arab Feminism in Colonize This!
 Helen Zia. For Richer, For Poorer in Asian American Dreams
 Maria Rivera. Waiting in Without a Net
 Joy Castro. Farm Use in Without a Net
 Siobhan Brooks. The Prison We Called Home in Without a Net
 Wendy Thompson. The Lower-Work-Class Narrative of a Black Chinese American Girl in Without
a Net
THE BEST MAN FOR THE JOB: SPOTLIGHT ON MICHELLE TEA
Week 4
9/23/04
Suggested reading order
 Kaufman Chs. 2 & 3
 Michelle Tea. Introduction in Without a Net
 bell hooks. Feminist Class Struggle (Ch. 7) & Women & Work (Ch. 7) in Feminism is for
Everybody
 Daisy Hernandez. My Father’s Hands in Without a Net
 Meliza Banales. The Poet and the Pauper in Without a Net
 Tatiana de la Tierra. Wings in Without a Net
 Shell Feijo. There are Holes in my Mandarin Dog Biscuit in Without a Net
 Cassie Peterson. Blueprints & Hardwires in Without a Net
 Eileen Myles. The Sound of Poverty in Without a Net
 Frances Varian. Getting Out in Without a Net
 Sister Space in DC: a local case study
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AUTHOR & ACTIVIST: MICHAEL MESSNER– JC CINEMA, 4:00 p.m.
Week 5
9/30/04
Suggested reading order
 Kaufman, Chapter 8
 Michael Messner. Maculinities and Globalization in Men’s Lives
 Michael Messner. Becoming 100% Straight? in Men’s Lives
 Ricky Lee. For Those Who Like to Dig in Without a Net
REGULATION REGULAR: Nations, Bodies, Prisons, Education, Sex Work
Week 6
10/07/04
Suggested reading order
 Kaufman, Ch. 9
 Riki Wilchins. Imaginary Bodies, Imaginary Minds in Read My Lips.
 National Sexualities, Craig Willise
 Terry Everton. “Christian Angst” in Anarchy: A Desire Armed, Spring 2004.
 Emma Goldman. The Child and Its Enemies.
 Emma Goldman. The Social Importance of the Modern School.
 Emma Goldman. Prisons: A Social Crime and Failure.
 Nomy Lamm, It’s a Big Fat Revolution in Listen Up
 Max Airborne, The Fat Truth in A Girl’s Guide to Taking Over the World
 Sirena Riley, The Black Beauty Myth in Colonize This!
 Leslie Heywood, The Importance of Being Lester in Jane Sexes It Up
 Laura Antoniou, Anti-Venom for the Soul in Pomosexuals
 Eva Pendleton, Love For Sale: Queering Heterosexuality in Whores And Other Feminists
 Priscilla Alexander, Feminism, Sex Workers & Human Rights in Whores and Other Feminists
 Trojan Whores: Regulation and Self-Organization in the AIDS Epidemic in Whores…
 Nikki Levine. My Mother Was a Whore in Without a Net
FIGHTING OVER CRUMBS: Still Fighting the Gender Binary, the Realness of Our Reps.
Week 7
10/14/04
Suggested reading order
 Wilchins, Riki, The Menace in Michigan in Read My Lips.
 Wilchins, Riki, Sex is a Verb in Read My Lips.
 Lani Montreal. Who’s Been Killing the Kings and Queens
 Judith Halberstam, Transgender Butch in Feminine Masculinity
 Pat Califia, Trashing the Clinic and Burning Down the Beauty Parlor: Activism Transmutes Pitiable
Patients into Feisty Gender Radicals from Sex Changes: The Politics of Transgenderism
 Lisa Miya-Jervis, “A Fest in Distress” from Bitch: The Pink Issue (No. 17)
 Ally in Kate Bornstein’s My Gender Workbook
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THE NO SPIN ZONE: Weapons of Mass Distraction
Week 8
10/21/04
Suggested reading order
 Kaufman, Ch. 10
 Joshua Breitbart and Ana Noguerira. An Independent Media Center of One’s Own: A Feminist
Alternative to Corporate Media in The Fire This Time
 Elisha Maria Miranda. A Baptism By Fire: Vieques, Puerto Rico in The Fire This Time
 Meet muckraker, Greg Palast
 George Gerbner and Cultivation Analysis discussion
 Corporate Media discussion
PERFORMING OPPRESSION: JOBISM, RANKISM, STATISISM, ELITISM AND
PERFORMING TRANSGRESSION: RIOT GRRRL, MUSIC, POETRY, & ‘ZINES
Week 9
10/28/04
 Guest speakers: Erica Atienza & Eryca Kasse
 Film during class: Don’t Need You
Suggested reading order
 Judith Halberstam, Drag Kings in Feminine Masculinity
 Emily White, Revolution Girl Style Now from Rock She Wrote
 Katia Dunn, “Rap Sheet” in Bitch: The Pink Issue (No. 17)
 Lori Twersky, Why Bitch? in Rock She Wrote
 Ayana Byrd, Claiming Jezebel: Black Female Subjectivity and Sexual Expression in Hip Hop in The
Fire This Time
 Jennifer Bleyer, Cut-and-Paste Revolution: Notes from the Girl Zine Explosion in The Fire This Time
 Shireen Lee, The New Girls Network: Women, Technology and Feminism in The Fire This Time
 Colleen McKee. My Season of Paper Dresses in Without a Net
 Sailor Holladay. Filling in Without a Net
 Liliana Hernandez. Dinner Talk in Without a Net
 Tina Fakrid-Deen. Ghetto Fabulous in Without a Net
 Polyestra. The Just-Add-Water Kennedys and Barbecue Bread Violence in Without a Net
 Bee Lavendar. Fighting in Without a Net
 Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. Scholarship Baby in Without a Net
 Shawna Kennedy. Something From Nothing in Without a Net
OURS FOR THE TAKING
Week 10
11/4/02
 Film during class: The Seattle Syndrome
Suggested Reading Order
 Kaufman, Ch. 7
 Temple, Kathryn, Exporting Violence: The School of the Americas, U.S. Intervention in Latin
America, and Resistance in The Fire This Time
 Naomi Klein. Democratizing the Movement in Fences and Windows
 Naomi Klein. The NAFTA Track Record in Fences and Windows
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Ai-Jen Poo and Eric Tang. Domestic Workers Organize in the Global City in The Fire This Time
Duane Elgin. From Voluntary Simplicity
OURS FOR THE TAKING PART II
Week 11
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11/11/04
Film during class: No Logo
Guest Speaker: Adrienne Shaw
Suggested reading order
 Kaufman, Ch. 4
 Syd Lindsley. Bearing the Blame: Gender, Immigration, Reproduction, and the Environment in The Fire
This Time
 bell hooks. Global Feminism (ch. 8) in Feminism is for Everybody,
 Miriam Ching Yoon Louie. Listen to the Women: The Real Experts in Sweatshop Warriors
 Miriam Ching Yoon Louie. Holding Up Half the Sky: Chinese Immigrant Women Workers in
Sweatshop Warriors
ACTIVISM & REVOLUTION: Enough about you, let’s talk about me and what I’ve done
for you…
Week 12
11/18/04
Suggested reading order
 Kaufman, Ch. 11
 Miriam Ching Yoon Louie. Just-in-Time: Immigrant Workers’ Centers in Sweatshop Warriors
 Labaton & Martin. (Afterword) Looking Ahead: Building a Feminist Future in The Fire This Time
 Naomi Klein. The Limits of Political Parties in Fences and Windows
 Emma Goldman. What We Did About the Slaughter at Homestead.
Week 13
11/25/04
 NO CLASS: Native American History Day
ACTIVISM CASE STUDIES
Week 14
12/2/04
 Anna Kirkland. When Transgendered People Sue and Win: Feminist Reflections on Strategy, Activism, and
the Legal Process in The Fire This Time
 Robin Templeton. She Who Believes in Freedom: Young Women Defy the Prison Industrial Complex in
The Fire This Time
 Pamela Grossman. “Mr. Lady Records” in Ms. Magazine, October/November 2001
 “Mayor with a Mission” in New York Times Magazine, March 28, 2004
 Kristina Cheryl Wong A Big Bad Prank: Broadening the Definition of Asian American Feminist
Activism in Yell-Oh Girls
 Mattie Weiss Wellstone’s Secret Weapons in How to Get Stupid White Men Out of Office
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Week 15
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12/9/04
Present Activism Work
Hand in ‘zines and share with the class
Class Par-TAY
Exam Date: 12/16/04
 Final Research Papers Due
 Student Presentation of Research Papers
 Hand out bibliography/For Future Reading List
This syllabus created by Rebecca Walter and Tara Ellison, summer 2002.
Updated and modified by Rebecca Walter and Jen Barnard, summer 2004.
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