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Professor Óscar F. Gil
WMST 60, Winter 2010 Department of Feminist Studies
M/W 3:30-4:45pm
South Hall 4712
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 5-6pm
Email: gil@umail.ucsb.edu
3013 Social Sciences & Media Studies
Teaching Assistants:
Rosie N. Kar, rkar@umail.ucsb.edu
Jessie Turner, jturner@umail.ucsb.edu
WMST 60
Women of Color: Race, Class, and Ethnicity
This course explores the writings of feminists who explore the complex politics of race, class, ethnicity, gender,
sexuality, and other categories of power in the lives of women of color in the U.S. context. Ranging from
theoretical to first-person narrative, the readings in this course will explore issues of identity, representation,
socio-economic policy and political rights as they impact women of color in the U.S. including, African
American, Latina/Chicana, Asian/Pacific Islander, Indigenous/Native American, and Arab-American women. We
will examine women of color feminist critiques of the poverty and capitalism, nationalism, sexualized violence,
stigma and stereotype, reproductive politics, homophobia, racism, and xenophobia.
Students will learn:
 The significance of categories of race, gender, class, ethnicity, sexuality, and culture in the lives of women of
color historically and in contemporary society.
 The intersectional dimensions of these categories, and their impact on defining identity, representation,
policy, and culture in the United States.
 Women of color’s diverse critiques and strategies of resistance to oppressive forces.
 Women of color’s relationship to and impact on feminism.
 Analytical vocabulary and frameworks for understanding and articulating complex social issues.
This course satisfies one requirement for a lower-division course on U.S. feminisms for the Feminist Studies
major. Students interested in pursuing a major in Feminist Studies should contact our undergraduate studies
advisor, Christina Toy at christina@femst.ucsb.edu. This course also satisfies a General Elective Credit in Area
D: Social Sciences, as well as the Writing Requirement. For students that have not had much experience in
writing, it is highly recommended that you read Strunk and White’s “The Elements of Style.” The book is a
pamphlet sized text that addresses many common mistakes in grammar and usage. I recommend you pick up a
used copy or quickly read the text from the library.
Course Requirements:
Attendance and participation:
Your attendance is mandatory in lecture and sections. Attendance will be taken. You will not be penalized for
illness, but must provide your TA with a doctor’s note or written excuse for your absence. Five points will be
taken from your grade for each unexcused absence. After 3 unexcused absences you may be dropped from the
course.
Students are expected to keep up with reading assignments and complete all written assignments on time. No late
papers or exams will be accepted. Sections may hold weekly quizzes to ensure students have completed reading
assignments and are prepared for discussion. You are expected to arrive to lecture and section on time, having
read the materials in advance. You may leave only when the professor or TA ends class. If you have to leave
early, ask for permission to do so before the class begins.
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The professor asks that students do not sleep, chat, text message, or surf online during lectures. Activities other
than listening, participating, and taking notes are not acceptable, and if caught doing them, students may be asked
to leave the classroom.
Academic Integrity:
This class assumes that all participants are doing assignments with integrity. Plagiarism occurs when a
student intentionally or unintentionally copies without proper citation of the ideas or words of another or
hands in work that is not her or his own. Academic dishonesty violates university regulations and is a
reportable offence that may lead to expulsion. If a student plagiarizes in this course he/she may not only
fail the assignment, but also the course.
Assignments:
Take Home Midterm:
A take home exam consisting of one or more essays (4-5 pages) on the first half of class readings will be
distributed Wednesday, January 27 and due Monday, February 1.
Second Term Paper:
A take home exam consisting of one or more essays (4-5 pages) on previous readings will be distributed on
Wednesday, February 24 and due Monday, March 1.
Take Home Final:
A take home final consisting of one or more essays (5-6 pages) on specified class readings will be distributed
Monday, March 8 and due Wednesday, March 18 at noon.
Attendance, Participation, Quizzes:
Take Home Paper I:
Take Home Paper II:
Take Home Final:
20 %
25 %
25 %
30 %
Important Deadlines:
February 1: Midterm due in class.
March 1: Second term paper due in class.
March 18: Final Due at Noon to TA mailbox in Department of Feminist Studies, South Hall.
Readings:
The Course Reader will be available for purchase at Alternative Copy Shop, 6556 Pardall Road, Isla
Vista. 805.968.1055. A Course Reader will also be available on reserve in Davidson Library. Some
readings will be placed on E-Reserve (ERES), including readings from the first week of class, so that
students have time to purchase the reader if necessary. Recommended readings may be placed on ERES
or on the Course Website (information on the course website coming soon).
Readings are assigned based on weekly themes. Students are expected to come to class having read and
taken notes. Lectures may address the readings or broader themes. Students will not understand lectures
unless they keep current with the readings and come to class prepared. Powerpoint presentations may be
made available as study guides but they are no substitute for attending class.
Films we MAY screen in class:
Mississippi Masala, Dir. Mira Nair (1991).
A Question of Color, Dir. Kathe Sandler (1993).
Girlhood, Dir. Liz Garbus (2002).
The Aggressives, Dir. Daniel Peddle (2005).
Senorita Extraviata, Dir. Lourdes Portillio (2001).
I’m the One that I Want, Margaret Cho (2001).
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A Girl Like Me, Dir. Kiri Davis (2006).
Listen Up! New Voices of Reproductive Justice, N’Dieye Gray Danavall (2004).
No! The Rape Documentary Dir. Aishah Shahidah Simmons (2006).
COURSE SCHEDULE
Week 1:
Introduction to Women of Color Feminisms
Monday 1/4: Course Introduction
Wednesday 1/6: Key Concepts: Diversity, Difference, and Intersectionality
Crenshaw, Kimberle. 2002. “Mapping the Margins” in Introduction to Women’s Studies: Gender in a
Transnational World. Inderpal Grewal and Caren Kaplan (eds.), McGraw Hill.
Steven P. Schacht and Doris W. Ewing 2004. Feminism with Men: Bridging the Gender Gap. Chapter 1:
The Stalled Revolution and Chapter 2: Why Men Should Be Feminists: Steve’s Story.
Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack,” excerpted from the working paper
“White Privilege and Male Privilege: A Personal Account of Coming to See Correspondences Through
Work in Women’s Studies,” 1988.
Green, Joyce. “Taking Account of Aboriginal Feminism” in Making Space for Indigenous Feminism,”
Joyce Green (ed.) London: Zed Books, 2007.
Sarah Muaddi Darraj, “It’s Not an Oxymoron: The Search for an Arab Feminism”in Colonize This!
Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism, Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman, Emeryville, Ca:
Seal Press, 2002: 295-311.
Audre Lorde, “Age, Race, Class, Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” ” in Sister Outsider, Freedom, Ca:
Crossing Press, 1984.
Audre Lorde, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” in Sister Outsider,
Freedom, Ca: Crossing Press, 1984
Week 2:
Monday 1/11: Mapping the History of Feminism
Henry, Astrid. 2004. Not my Mother’s Sister: Generational Conflict and Third Wave Feminism. Chapter
1: Daughterhood is Powerful: The Emergence of Feminism’s Third Wave.
Wednesday 1/13:
The Role of Race, Sex/Gender, Class in the Making of the Modern “Woman”
Feldstein, Ruth. 2000. Motherhood in Black and White. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Chapter 1:
“The Women Have a Big Part to Play”: Citizenship, Motherhood, and Race in New Deal Liberalism.
Duggan, Lisa. 2000. Sapphic Slashers: Sex, Violence and American Modernity. Durham: Duke
University Press. Chapter 1: Girl Slays Girl.
Week 3 HOLIDAY
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Monday 1/18: Feminists Reframe Citizenship and the Nation
Narayan, Uma. “Towards a Feminist Vision of Citizenship: Rethinking the Implications of Dignity,
Political Participation and Nationality,” in Narayan, Uma and Shanley, Mary L. (eds.) Reconstructing
Political Theory: Feminist Perspectives, University Park: Penn. (1997).
Wednesday 1/20: Feminists Explore Sexuality and Mixed-Race Identity
Williams-León, Teresa. 2001. The Convergence of Passing Zones: Multiracial Gays, Lesbians, and
Bisexuals of Asian Descent. Teresa Williams-Leon and Cynthia L. Nakashima (eds.) The Sum of our
Parts: Mixed-Heritage Asian Americans.
Weiner-Mahfuz, Lisa. “Organizing 101: A Mixed-Race Feminist in Movements for Social Justice,” in
Daisy Hernández and Bushra Rehman (eds.) Colonize This!: Young Women of Color on Today’s
Feminism, New York, NY: Seal Press, 2002.
Yen Le Espiritu, “’We Don’t Sleep Around Like White Girls Do’: Family, Culture, and Gender in
Filipina American Lives,” Women: Images and Realities, 3rd ed. Amy Kasselman et. al, McGraw Hill,
2003: 153-60.’
Week 4
Monday 1/25
Dana Takagi, “Maiden Voyage,” in Contemporary Asian America: A multidisciplinary reader, New
York: New York University Press, 2000: 547-560.
Audre Lorde, “Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power,” in Sister Outsider, Freedom, Ca: Crossing Press,
1984.
Yolanda Chavez Leyva, “Breaking the Silence: Putting Latina Lesbian History at the Center,” Unequal
Sisters, Ruiz and DuBois eds, 403-408.
Wednesday 1/27
*** Take Home Midterm Distributed to Students on Weeks 1-5***
Women of Color Critiques of Colonialism, Capitalism, and the State
El Comite de Mujeres Puertorriquenas, “In the Belly of the Beast: Puertorriquenas Challenging
Colonialism,” Sing, Whisper, Shout, Pray! Feminist Visions of a Just World, M. Jacqui Alexander et al
eds, Canada, Edgework Books, 2003: 125-136.
Combahee River Collective, A Black Feminist Statement,” in This Bride Called My Back: Writings By
Radical Women of Color, Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, eds., 3rd ed, Berkeley: Third Woman
Press, 2002: 234-244.
Week 5:
Monday 2/1:
***Take Home Midterms Due***
Feminists Examine Immigration Studies
Phizacklea, Annie. “Women Migration and the State,” in Feminism and ‘Race,’ Kum-Kum Bhavnani
(ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
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Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierrette. 2001. Doméstica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and Caring in the Shadows
of Affluence. Berkeley: UC Press. Chapter 1: New World Domestic Order.
Miriam Ching Yoon Louie, “Mexican Immigrant Women Workers,” in Sing, Whisper, Shout, Pray!
Feminist Visions of a Just World, M. Jacqui Alexander et al eds., Canada, Edgework Books, 2003: 438488.
Wednesday 2/3: Poverty, Prison, and Stories of Survival
Linda Burnham, “Racism in U.S. Welfare Policy: A Human Rights Issue,” Sing, Whisper, Shout, Pray!
Feminist Visions of a Just World, M. Jacqui Alexander et al eds, Canada, Edgework Books, 2003: 58-77.
Siobhan Brooks, “Black Feminism in Everyday Life: Race, Mental Illness, Poverty and Motherhood,” in
Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism, Daisy Hernandez and Bushra Rehman,
Emeryville, Ca: Seal Press, 2002: 99-118.
Week 6:
Monday 2/8:
Angela Davis, “Excerpts from Angela Davis: An Autobiography,” The Angela Davis Reader, Joy James,
ed. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 1998: 29-38.
Angela Davis, “Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison Industrial Complex,” Sing, Whisper, Shout,
Pray! Feminist Visions of a Just World, M. Jacqui Alexander et al eds, Canada, Edgework Books, 2003:
52-57.
Mie Lewis, “Who Cares for Incarcerated Girls?” Tompaine.com, March 7, 2007.
Wednesday 2/10:
Reproductive Rights
Jael Silliman, Marlene Gerber Fried, Loretta Ross, and Elena R. Gutierrez, “Chapter 1, Women of Color
and Their Struggle for Reproductive Justice,” Undivided Rights: Women of Color Organize for
Reproductive Justice, Cambridge, Mass.: South End Press, 2004: 1-23.
Shirley Chisolm, “Facing the Abortion Question,” in Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American
Feminist Thought, ed. Berverly Guy-Sheftall, New York: New Press, 1995.
National Latina Health Organization, “Norplant Information Sheet,” Introduction to Women’s Studies:
Gender in a Transnational World, Inderpal Grewal and Caren Kaplan, McGraw Hill, 2002: 149-151.
Week 7:
Monday 2/15: Holiday
Tapia, Ruby C. “IMPREGNATING IMAGES: Visions of race, sex, and citizenship in California’s teen
pregnancy prevention campaigns,” in Feminist Media Studies, Vol. 5, No. 1, 2005.
Judith Scully, “Cracking Open Crack: Unethical Sterilization Movement Gains Momentum” Population
and Development Program, Hampshire College, no. 2, Spring 2000:(1-7).
Patricia Justine Tumang, “Nasaan ka anak ko? A Queer Filipina-American Feminist’s Tale of Abortion
and Self-Recovery,” Colonize This! Young Women of Color on Today’s Feminism, Daisy Hernandez and
Bushra Rehman, Emeryville, Ca: Seal Press, 2002: 370-381.
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Wednesday 2/17
Histories of Sexual Economy and Violence
Hazel Carby, “Slave and Mistress: Ideologies of Womanhood under Slavery,” in Deconstructing
Womanhood, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987: 20-39.
Antonia Castenda, “Sexual Violence in the Politics and Policies of Conquest: Amerindian Women and the
Spanish Conquest of Alta California,” Building With Our Hands: New Directions in Chicana Studies,
Aldea dela Torre and Beatriz Pasquera, eds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993: 15-23.
Deena Gonzalez, “Lupe’s Song: On the Origins of Mexican-Woman-Hating in the United States,” Velvet
Barrios, Gasparde Alba, ed., Palgrave, 2002: 251-264.
Cherrie Moraga, “For the Color of My Mother,” This Bride Called My Back: Writings By Radical Women
of Color, Cherrie Moraga and Gloria Anzaldua, eds., 3rd ed, Berkeley: Third Woman Press, 2002.
Margaret Abraham, “Chapter 5: Sexual Abuse,” Speaking the Unspeakable, New Brunswick: Rutgers
University Press, 2000: 86-105.
Week 8 : Representations in the Media
Monday 2/22
Imani Perry, “Who(se) Am I? The Identity and the Image of Women in Hip Hop,” Gender, Race and Class in the
Media, Gail Dines and Jean Humez, eds. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 2003:136-148.
Frances Negron-Mutaner, “Jennifer’s Butt: Valorizing the Puerto Rican Racialized Female Body,” Boricua Pop:
Puerto Ricans and the Latinization of American Culture, New York: New York University Press, 2004: 228-246.
Lynn Lu, “Critical Visions: the Representation and Resistance of Asian Women,” Dragon Ladies: Asian
American Feminists Breathe Fire, Boston: South End, 1997: 17-27.
Wednesday 2/24:
***Second Term Paper Distributed to Students***
Mehta, Binita. “Emigrants Twice Displaced: Race, Color, and Identity in Mira Nair’s Mississippi
Masala,” in Multiculturalism, Postcolniality, and Transnational Media, Ella Shohat and Robert Stam
(eds.), New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
Week 9: Feminism Goes Global
Monday 3/1:
***Second Take Home Term Papers Due***
Tripp, Aili M. “The Evolution of Transnational Feminisms: Consensus, Conflict, and New
Dynamics,” in Global Feminism: Transnational Women’s Activism, Organizing and Human
Rights, Myra Marx Ferree and Aili Mari Tripp (eds.), New York: NYU Press 2006.
Wednesday 3/3:
Yuval-Davis, Nira, “Human/Women’s Rights and Feminist Transversal Politics,” in Global
Feminism: Transnational Women’s Activism, Organizing and Human Rights, Myra Marx Ferree
and Aili Mari Tripp (eds.), New York: NYU Press 2006.
Week 10
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Monday 3/8: Mapping Feminist Art Globally
Reilly, Maura. “Introduction: Toward Transnational Feminisms,” in Global feminisms: new directions in
contemporary art, Maura Reilly and Linda Nochlin (eds.), New York: Merrell Publishers, 2007.
Wednesday 3/10:
Butler, Cornelia. 2007. “Introduction,” in Wack!: Art and the Feminist Revolution, Cornelia H. Butler
and Lisa Gabrielle Mark (eds.), Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007.
Meskimmon, Marsha. 2007. Chronology Through Cartography: Mapping 1970s Feminist Art Globally,
in Wack!: Art and the Feminist Revolution, Cornelia H. Butler and Lisa Gabrielle Mark (eds.),
Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2007.
Last Day of Class, Evaluations and Finals Distributed in Class
***Final Due Wednesday March 18 at 12pm.