Sociology of Sex and Gender SOCY 7006 University of Colorado Spring 2012 Tuesdays 3:00‐5:50, Ketchum 33 Professor Amy Wilkins Amy.wilkins@colorado.edu Ketchum 205A 2‐7681 Office hours: Thursday 10:30‐12:00 and by appt. Although the sociological examination of gender is only four decades old, gender is now among the largest specialty areas in sociology. This course is intended to provide a broad foundation in the sociology of gender that can be used to contextualize other research interests. As such, we will examine key areas of empirical research on sex and gender, including work, families, bodies, culture, and policy, focusing both on core issues in the gender “canon” and on burgeoning conceptual frameworks used by gender scholars. The course will focus on feminist sociological developments that conceptualize gender not as a biological pr psychological property of individuals, but as a social construct produced through both macro and micro processes, and inherent in institutions as well as people. This course will be guided by several overarching questions: What is gender inequality and how has it changed over time? How do institutions contribute to the persistence and transformation of gender inequality? How is gender produced and reproduced in everyday life? How does the intersection of gender with race/ethnicity, class, and sexuality shape gender inequality? How do people contend with the gendered dilemmas they face? How can an understanding of gender transform our own research? Course Materials There are nine required books for this course, all available at the CU bookstore: 1. Blair‐Loy, Mary. 2005. Competing Devotions: Career and Family among Women Executives. Harvard. 2. Craig, Maxine Leeds. 2002. Ain’t I a Beauty Queen? Black Women, Beauty, and the Politics of Race. Oxford. 3. Hochschild, Arlie. The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home. Any edition. 4. Kang, Millian. 2010. The Managed Hand: Race, Gender and the Body in Beauty Service Work. California. 5. Ridgeway, Cecilia. 2011. Framed by Gender: How Gender Inequality Persists in the Modern World. Oxford. 6. Roberts, Dorothy. 1998. Killing the Black Body: Race, Reproduction, and the Meaning of Liberty. Vintage. 7. Salzinger, Leslie. 2003. Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico’s Global Factories. California. 8. Schilt, Kristen. 2010. Just One of the Guys? Transgender Men and the Persistence of Gender Inequality. Chicago. 9. Wilkins, Amy. 2008. Wannabes, Goths, and Christians: The Boundaries of Sex, Style, and Status. Chicago. Course Policies 1. I expect students to attend every class this semester and to make it a priority. You are expected to come on time and to stay until the end of the allotted period unless you have excused yourself ahead of time. 2. Come to class having read the material and prepared to regularly and thoughtfully contribute to class discussions each week. I expect all class members to participate in class discussion. Please do not either dominate class discussion or assume that others will carry the burden of talking. 3. You are responsible for announcements and syllabus changes made in class whether you are there or not. Announcements are often made right at the beginning of class. In addition, you are responsible for getting lecture material, class assignment sheets and handouts you missed from your classmates and not from the professor. 4. I strongly discourage laptop use during discussions, as it detracts from class interaction. You may use laptops to take notes during lecture. Please refrain from using your phones to text or going online. 5. Please make every effort to meet with me during my office hours unless you have a recurring conflict. In general, I schedule student meetings on Tuesdays and Thursdays. 6. You are responsible for completing your work on time. I will not accept late reading memos. You are allowed to skip two weeks without penalty, and should use these skips if you have not completed the assignment on time. All other assignments will be accepted one day late with a 20% grading penalty. I will not accept them after that. 7. Collate copies of all of your course work in a portfolio that you will turn in at the end of the semester. University Policies 1. If you qualify for accommodations because of a disability, please submit to me a letter from Disability Services in a timely manner so that your needs can be addressed. Disability Services determines accommodations based on documented disabilities. Contact: 303‐492‐8671, Center for Community N200, and http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices. If you have a temporary medical condition or injury, see guidelines at http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices/go.cgi?select=temporary.html. Disability Services' letters for students with disabilities indicate legally mandated reasonable accommodations. The syllabus statements and answers to Frequently Asked Questions can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices. 2. Campus policy regarding religious observances requires that faculty make every effort to deal reasonably and fairly with all students who, because of religious obligations, have conflicts with scheduled exams, assignments or required attendance. Please notify me one week in advance of any religious conflicts to ensure accommodation. 3. Students and faculty each have responsibility for maintaining an appropriate learning environment. Those who fail to adhere to such behavioral standards may be subject to discipline. Professional courtesy and sensitivity are especially important with respect to individuals and topics dealing with differences of race, color, culture, religion, creed, politics, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and gender expression, age, disability, and nationalities. Class rosters are provided to the instructor with the student's legal name. I will gladly honor your request to address you by an alternate name or gender pronoun. Please advise me of this preference early in the semester so that I may make appropriate changes to my records. See policies at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/classbehavior.html and at http://www.colorado.edu/studentaffairs/judicialaffairs/code.html#student_code. 4. The University of Colorado at Boulder Discrimination and Harassment Policy and Procedures, the University of Colorado Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures, and the University of Colorado Conflict of Interest in Cases of Amorous Relationships policy apply to all students, staff, and faculty. Any student, staff, or faculty member who believes s/he has been the subject of sexual harassment or discrimination or harassment based upon race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, creed, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status should contact the Office of Discrimination and Harassment (ODH) at 303‐492‐2127 or the Office of Student Conduct (OSC) at 303‐492‐
5550. Information about the ODH, the above referenced policies, and the campus resources available to assist individuals regarding discrimination or harassment can be obtained at http://www.colorado.edu/odh. 5. All students of the University of Colorado at Boulder are responsible for knowing and adhering to the academic integrity policy of this institution. Violations of this policy may include: cheating, plagiarism, aid of academic dishonesty, fabrication, lying, bribery, and threatening behavior. All incidents of academic misconduct shall be reported to the Honor Code Council (honor@colorado.edu; 303‐735‐2273). Students who are found to be in violation of the academic integrity policy will be subject to both academic sanctions from the faculty member and non‐academic sanctions (including but not limited to university probation, suspension, or expulsion). Other information on the Honor Code can be found at http://www.colorado.edu/policies/honor.html and at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/. Grading Rubric: This course will use the grading rubric developed by the graduate committee for substantive courses. A: Consistently performs well above expectations. A‐: Performs above expectations. B+: Meets expectations. B: Occasionally performs below expectations. B‐: Consistently performs below expectations. C: Unsatisfactory work. Serious concerns regarding student progression toward degree. Course Expectations Attendance, participation, preparation, and discussion leading = 20% Reviews of others’ research and presentation of research = 20% Research paper and submitted drafts = 60% This course is reading intensive and will primarily be focused on books rather than articles. You will be asked to read approximately a book a week, and to come to class prepared to discuss the work. To prepare for class discussion in week 2‐7, you will write a 1‐2 page reading memo. You will not need to write a memo in weeks 8‐15 because I would like you to concentrate on the other course requirements. However, I still expect you to come to class prepared to discuss the readings and will likely start the class by asking you to free write about that week’s reading material in preparation for discussion. Memos should briefly summarize the central argument of the reading, and should assess the reading’s contribution to sociological knowledge about gender. How does the reading extend, challenge, or contradict other material we have read (or that you have read)? How does it contribute to our cumulative knowledge about gender and gender inequality? I would like you to think especially about links between social domains: how can you transport the concepts, ideas, or information from this reading to your own work? I would like you to treat these memos as opportunities to “spew” or brainstorm rather than as formal writing assignments. That is, you should “write to think” rather than worrying about honing your writing. I am looking for evidence of thoughtful reading and creative thinking. Reading memos should be uploaded to a dropbox on D2L 24 hours before class. The major course requirement is a 15‐20 page research paper. This paper can be on a topic of your choosing related to the broad field of gender, and can be empirical or non‐
empirical. You are responsible for following the protocols and procedures established by CU’s human subjects requirements. Be aware that if you hope to publish empirical research, you will need advance human subjects approval. You will turn in a one‐paragraph paper proposal to me at the third class meeting, so start thinking right away about topics that interest you. Sometime between weeks 5 and 11, you will lead a 30‐minute discussion of your research paper’s topic. The schedule will be set after I get your project proposals and can arrange them by topic. During class, you will talk informally (i.e., technology‐free) about what you propose to study, your critical assessment of the strengths and weaknesses in the literature you are reading for the paper, and areas related to your topic that need further research. This experience will be good practice for your oral specialty comprehensive exam or your dissertation proposal defense. You will lead a class discussion of your topic. I do not expect you to become an expert on your topic, but rather to have intellectual curiosity and lead the class in exploring ideas related to it: why are you interested in this topic? How does it relate to your broader research interests? What do you hope to learn? What gaps in knowledge do you see? During the last two weeks of class, all students will summarize their completed projects in a 10‐minute presentation. It should be in the style of a conference presentation, focusing primarily on arguments, findings, and implications. You will also be responsible for providing informal written feedback on 2 other student presentations from outside your working group. The whole class will spend 5 minutes giving feedback for each presentation, and you will have time to incorporate comments into your final paper before turning it in. Between weeks 8 and 13, you will participate in a working group to develop your research project. I will assign you to a group after I get your paper proposal. Each week, you will meet to discuss one or two working papers, and will provide written and verbal feedback to the author (you may either write comments on the text or in a separate email; you should share your feedback with me). Email your writing assignment to me and to your group members by noon on Sunday, two days before class. Tentative Schedule All articles can be found on D2L (learn.colorado.edu). Week 1, January 17 Introduction Week 2, January 24 Foundations and Developments West, Candace and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. “Doing Gender.” Gender & Society 1(2): 125‐ 151. Meadow, Tey. 2010. “A Rose is Rose: On Producing Legal Gender Classifications.” Gender & Society Lorber, Judith. 1993. “Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology.” Gender & Society Schrock, Doug and Michael Schwalbe, “Men, Masculinity, and Manhood Acts.” Annual Review of Sociology Shields, “Gender: An Intersectionality Perspective.” Sex Roles Gerson, Judith and Kathy Peiss. “Boundaries, Consciousness, and Negotiation” Week 3, January 31 Theorizing Gender Inequality Ridgeway, Framed by Gender Week 4, February 7 Hochschild, The Second Shift Week 5, February 14 Blair‐Loy, Competing Devotions Week 6, February 21 Salzinger, Genders in Production Week 7, February 28 Kang, The Managed Hand Week 8, March 6 Roberts, Killing the Black Body Week 9, March 13 Masculinities Pascoe, C.J. “Dude, You’re a Fag: Adolescent Male Homophobia” in Dude, You’re a Fag Pyke, Karen. 1996. “Class‐Based Masculinities: The Interdependence of Gender, Class, and Interpersonal Power.” Gender & Society 10.5 (Oct.): 527‐49. McGuffey, C. Shawn. 2005. “Engendering Trauma: Race, Class, and Gender Reaffirmation after Child Sexual Abuse. Gender & Society 19(5): 621‐643. Hennen, Peter. 2004. “Fae Spirits and Gender Trouble: Resistance and Compliance Among the Radical Faeries” Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 33.5 (October): 499‐533. Wilkins, Amy. 2012. “Stigma and Status: Interracial Intimacy and Intersectional Identities among Black College Men.” Gender & Society Week 10, March 20 Schilt, Just One of the Guys? Week 11 SPRING BREAK Week 12, April 3 Craig, Ain’t I a Beauty Queen? Week 13, April 10 Wilkins, Wannabes, Goths, and Christians Week 14, April 17 Week 15, April 24 Week 16, May 1