Course: GNDR 150: Introduction to Gender & Women’s Studies
Spring 2009, Roanoke College
Tuesday/Thursday 1:10-2:40
Room 311
Prof. Monica Vilhauer
Email: Vilhauer@roanoke.edu
Office: West 317
Office Hours: Monday/Wednesday 1-2:30p.m. or by appointment
Syllabus:
Course Description:
What is gender? Is gender inborn or a product of society? Are women and men
essentially different? Are there more than two genders? What counts as gender
inequality? How might we achieve “gender justice”? Is it possible to separate a study of
gender from a study of race, ethnicity, class, and sexuality? These are all central
questions at the heart of Gender &Women’s studies. This course aims to tackle these
questions by tracing the historical development of gender theory and activism in the west
from its roots in (so-called) first wave feminism (centered on women’s suffrage), through
the second wave (of the 1960s and 1970s), and up to contemporary debates of today.
Along the way we will see how studies from a variety of different disciplines (including
anthropology, sociology, psychology, literature, history, religion, philosophy, etc.) have
come together to offer important contributions to our developing understanding of
gender. Our guest faculty speakers working on Gender & Women’s studies from across
the curriculum will aid us in seeing the interdisciplinary nature of the field. In this course
students will have the unique opportunity to develop the conceptual and historical
orientation needed to ground their concentration in Gender & Women’s studies, while
also gaining exposure to the range of professors at the college with whom they can study
in this field.
Required Texts:
(Available at the College Book Store)
1. The Feminist Papers, edited by Alice Rossi, Bantam Books
2. The Second Wave, edited by Linda Nicholson, Routledge
3. Feminist Thought, Second Edition by Rosemarie Putnam Tong, Westview
Other required readings will be posted on blackboard.
Course Requirements:
Participation in Class Discussion (and pop-quizes)
Five Textual Analysis papers (2 pages each, 6% each)
Miderm Exam
Final Exam
20%
30%
25%
25%
Participation: This is a discussion-based course. Because of this, regular participation is
required, and counts as 20% of the final grade. Your ability to participate is a reflection
of your preparation for the class. If you do not participate voluntarily, you can expect to
be called upon to do so.
Preparation: Readings and Homework Questions
For each meeting there will be an assigned selection of text to read and a handful of
homework/discussion questions (posted on blackboard) that students are expected to
come ready to talk about.
Being prepared for this class means:
1) You have read the assigned material before class.
2) You have written down answers to our discussion questions in your
notebook, so that you are ready to respond when they are asked in class.
3) You have marked for yourself the passages in the text that are relevant to
our discussion questions.
4) You have your own questions ready to ask in class, or a passage to point out
that you find particularly interesting.
On days that we have guest speakers there may not be homework questions given out
ahead of time, but students are still expected to prepare the reading material assigned for
that day and engage with the guest speaker.
Textual Analysis Papers: Each student will write a total of five 2-page textual analysis
papers over the course of the semester. Each textual analysis paper will consist of an
exploration of one of the assigned homework/discussion questions for the session in
which the paper is due.
During the first class, students will sign up for their five due dates by choosing which
group (A or B) they would like to be in (due dates for groups A and B are on the
syllabus). Late textual analysis papers will not be accepted. If you are absent on the
day yours is due, email it to me that day.
Textual Analysis papers are meant to help students engage more deeply with the text,
articulate their thoughts clearly in writing, contribute to group discussion, and prepare for
exams.
Textual Analysis papers should include:
 A clear statement of the question you are investigating.
 An explanation of how the author tries to answer the question, using textual
evidence. (This is the bulk of your paper.)
 A critical point of your own – whether it be a description of a tension you see in
the text, or an explanation of a problem you see with the author’s answers to the
question you are investigating. State the problem and explain why it is a problem
giving reasons/your argument. (This is the last paragraph of your paper.)
Textual Analysis papers should be
 typed
 edited
 and written with care:
It is your responsibility to make sure that all written assignments are in proper,
grammatically correct English. (A textual analysis paper is a mini-paper, not a
stream-of-consciousness journal entry, nor an email to your friend: Your written
assignments are your best, polished, professional work.)


If your paper has 3 or more grammatical/spelling/sentence structure
mistakes, the highest grade you can get is a B.
If your paper has 3 or more unclear sentences whose meaning cannot be
deciphered, the highest grade you can get is a C.
** Special Opportunity to revise your papers: You will have the opportunity to revise
your papers based on what you learn in class. Revisions must be turned in the following
class period. If you did not turn in your original paper on the day it was due, you lose
this opportunity, and receive a zero on the assignment.
The Writing Center is your Friend!: The Writing Center @ Roanoke College, located in
the Goode-Pasfield Center for Learning and Teaching in Fintel Library, is a place where
writers working in any academic discipline, at any level of competence, and at any stage
of the writing process meet with trained peer writing tutors in informal, one-on-one
sessions focused on writing. The Writing Center is open Sunday through Thursday from
4 to 9 pm starting Sunday, January 18th. You may simply stop in, or schedule an
appointment ahead of time by going to MyRC: Academics and looking for the Writing
Center Schedule link. If you have questions, email the Writing Center at
writingcenter@roanoke.edu or call the CLT at 375-2247. The Writing Center also
sponsors writing workshops, grammar crammers, and creative writing playshops on
writing related issues. The Spring 2009 schedule will be posted on our website at
www.roanoke.edu/writingcenter .
Exams: There will be midterm and final exams involving short and long essay
components. Only in the event of a real emergency can a student take the exam at a
different time than is allotted for the class. The student should talk to me or email me
immediately if this is their situation.
Course Policies:
Attendance:
One of the reasons you and I have come to Roanoke College is that we believe that
genuine education is an interactive, dialogical, participatory endeavor. If you are not in
class, you are not actively engaging in your education.
For a class that meets two times a week, I will allow a student 4 absences (regardless of
reason) before dropping him/her from the course. This means you should THINK
AHEAD!: Everyone will likely have something happen during the semester which will
cause them to miss class (flu, funeral, etc.). You should save your absences for such
emergencies!
If you must miss a class due to some emergency or other pressing reason, please talk to
me about it or email me (preferably ahead of time). If you are absent, you are responsible
for asking a classmate about the contents of our class discussion.
Lateness: If you are more than 5 minutes late to class, it is a problem. Three times late
equals one absence.
Academic Integrity: This course will uphold all academic integrity policies as laid out in
the pamphlet “Academic Integrity at Roanoke College.” Students are responsible for
knowing these rules, and professors are obliged to report any violation of these rules
when they find evidence for it.
Plagiarism:
College is about learning to think, reason, articulate and understand for oneself.
Nothing is learned by copying someone else’s work.
Borrowing another’s ideas or words without giving the author their due credit,
and presenting them as one’s own, is a deception and contrary to academic and
social/moral values.
Plagiarism is met with serious consequences at Roanoke College (the usual
minimum penalty being an F in the course, and the maximum penalty being
expulsion). It is the student’s responsibility to familiarize himself/herself with the
school’s policy as laid out in “Academic Integrity at Roanoke College” (esp. p.
16-19).
To avoid inadvertent plagiarism, remember the following:

All direct quotes should be placed in quotation marks, followed by the author’s
name and page number.

All ideas, interpretations, or arguments learned from another source should be
credited with an introduction such as “Taylor argues that . . . .” or “Sallis believes
that . . . .”.

Your summary of another’s ideas should be put in your own words, and organized
in your own way – that is, in such a way that it supports your point or argument –
as well as accompanied by a citation.
Electronic Devices: All cell phones, pagers, and anything that rings should be silenced
before entering the classroom. Laptops may be used for note-taking only (not email or
web-surfing).
“Breaks”: Please do not leave the classroom during our session unless you are having an
“emergency.” Such “breaks” should occur only very rarely for any given student.
Schedule:
(Because there are so many guest speakers whose schedules might inevitably conflict
with ours, we may need to be flexible in making changes as they come up.)
Week 1:
Introduction
Tues. Jan 13: Introduction
What is Sexism/Oppression?
Thurs. Jan. 15:
 “Sexism” by Ann E. Cudd and Leslie E. Jones (on blackboard 73-83)
 “On Psychological Oppression” by Sandra Bartky (on blackboard 105-113)
Week 2:
First Wave of Feminism: On The Way to the Vote
Beginnings: Early Thinkers
Tues. Jan. 20:
 A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Mary Wollstonecraft (Selections in The
Feminist Papers (FP p.40-85)
 Supplemental reading: “Liberal Feminism” chapter (in Feminist Thought (FT
p. 10-15))
(Group A)
Thurs. Jan 22:
 The Subjection of Women, John Stuart Mill (Selections in FP p. 196-238)
 Supplemental reading: “Liberal Feminism” chapter (in Feminist Thought (FT
p. 15-20))
(Group B)
Week 3:
Early American Movement: Historical Account
Tues. Jan 27: Guest Speaker: Mary Henold (Meet during lunch block? 12-1)
 “Declaration of Sentiments” Elizabeth Cady Stanton (FP p. 415-421)
 “Speech after Arrest for Illegal Voting” Susan B. Anthony (on blackboard p.
91-94)
 Supplemental reading: “Liberal Feminism” chapter (in Feminist Thought (FT
p. 20-22))
Early American Movement: Biblical Interpretation
Thurs. Jan. 29: Guest Speaker: Jennifer Berenson
 Reading Selected by Jennifer Berenson from The Woman’s Bible by Elizabeth
Cady Stanton
Week 4:
Early American Movement: Gender and Race
Tues. Feb. 3
 “Ain’t I a Woman” Sojourner Truth (FP p. 426-429)
 “Keep the Thing Going While Things Are Stirring” Sojourner Truth (on
blackboard p. 79-80)
 “Why I became a Women’s Rights Man” Frederick Douglass (on blackboard
p. 98-99)
(Group A)

(Since this is a short reading day, I recommend reading also the supplemental
Marx reading for next time)
Gender and Class
Thurs. Feb. 5
 “The Origin of the Family” Friedrich Engels (FP p. 480-495)
 “Woman and Socialism” August Bebel (FP p. 496-505)
 Supplemental: “Marxist and Socialist Feminism” chapter (FT p. 94-105)
(Group B)
Week 5:
Transition to the Second Wave: After the Vote
Gender in Literature
Tues. Feb. 10: Guest Speaker: Katherine Hoffman
 Reading selected by Katherine Hoffman (Charlotte Perkins Gilman and
Virginia Woolf?)
Gender in Anthropology
Thurs. Feb. 12: Guest Speaker: Whitney Leeson
 “Sex and Temperament” Margaret Mead (FP p. 653-671)
Week 6:
Gender and Existentialism:
Tues. Feb. 17
 Intro and Conclusion of The Second Sex by Simone de Beauvoir
(Introduction in The Second Wave, and Conclusion in The Feminist Papers)
 Supplemental: “Existentialist Feminism” chapter in FT
Thurs. Feb. 19: Midterm Exam
Week 7:
The Second Wave
Second Wave Liberal Feminism:
Tues. Feb. 24: Guest Speaker: Mary Henold (Meet during lunch block? 12-1)
 “The Problem That Has No Name” by Betty Friedan (on blackboard 198-203)
 “Statement of Purpose” NOW (on blackboard 211-213)
 Supplemental: Finish “Liberal Feminism” chapter (FT p. 22-44)
Second Wave Radical-Libertarian Feminism
Thurs. Feb. 26:
 “The BITCH Manifesto” Joreen Jo Freeman (on blackboard 213-218)
 “Theory of Sexual Politics” Kate Millett (on blackboard 218-220)
 “Redstockings Manifesto” (on blackboard 220-221)
 “The Dialectic of Sex” Shulamith Firestone (in The Second Wave SW p.19-26)
 Supplemental: Begin “Radical Feminism” chapter (FT p. 45-54)
(Group A)
Week 8:
Tues. Mar. 3: SPRING BREAK
Thurs. Mar. 5: SPRING BREAK
Week 9:
Tues. Mar. 10:
 “The Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’ of Sex” Gayle
Rubin (SW 27-59)
(Group B)
Second Wave Radical-Cultural Feminism
Thurs. Mar. 12:
 Selection from Beyond Power by Marilyn French (on blackboard p. 442-448,
473-488)
 Selection from Gyn/Ecology by Mary Daly (on blackboard p. 328-332)
 Supplemental: Continue “Radical Feminism” chapter in FT
(Group A)
Week 10:
Gender in Psychology
Tues. Mar. 17:
 “Femininity” by Sigmund Freud (on blackboard 91-98)
 “Family Structure and Feminine Personality” Nancy Chodorow (first half -on blackboard 309-315)
 Supplemental: “Psychoanalytic and Gender Feminism” chapter in FT
(Group B)
Thurs. Mar. 19:
 “Family Structure and Feminine Personality” Nancy Chodorow (second half
--on blackboard 316-322)
 “Woman’s Place in Man’s Life Cycle” Carol Gilligan (SW, 198-211)
(Group A)
Week 11:
Gender and Race Revisited
Tues. Mar. 24:
 “A Black Feminist Statement” Combahee River Collective (SW p. 63-70)
 “Defining Black Feminist Thought” Patricia Hill Collins (SW p. 241-259)
(Group B)
Gender and Race Revisited: Literary Perspective
Thurs. Mar. 26: Guest Speaker: Lisa Brevard (Pending)
 “Looking for Zora” from In Search of our Mothers’ Gardens by Alice Walker
 “Phenomenal Woman,” “Still I rise” by Maya Angelou
Current Directions in the Study of Gender
Week 12:
Gender from a Global Perspective
Tues. Mar. 31: Guest Speaker: Ivonne Wallace Fuentes
 Reading selected by Ivonne Wallace Fuentes
Thurs. Apr. 2: Guest Speaker: Meeta Mehrotra
 Reading selected by Meeta Mehrotra
Week 13:
Masculinity Theory
Tues. Apr. 7: Guest Speaker: Laura O’Toole (Meet during lunch block? 12-1)
 Reading selected by Laura O’Toole
Gender and Sexuality
Thurs. Apr. 9
 “Sexuality” Catharine MacKinnon (SW p. 158-172)
 “One is not Born a Woman” Monique Wittig (SW 265-271)
Week 14:
Gender and Economics
Tues. Apr. 14: Guest Speaker: Edward Nik-Kah
 Reading selected by Edward Nik-Kah
Postmodern Feminists
Thurs. Apr. 16: Guest Speaker: Wendy Larson-Harris
 “This Sex Which is Not One” Luce Irigaray (SW, 323-329)
 “Sorties” Helene Cixous (selection on blackboard 37-45)
 Supplementary: “Postmodern Feminism” in FT
Week 15:
Fri. Apr. 24: Final Exam 2-5