University at Buffalo, the State University of New York
Department of Educational Leadership and Policy
ELP 583
Gender and Education
Spring 2002
Wednesday 7:00–9:40 pm
476 Baldy Hall
Hank Bromley
466 Baldy Hall
645-2471 x1085 (office—often here late)
884-6897 (home—not before 10 am, please)
hbromley@buffalo.edu
office hours: Th 3–5 pm, or by appointment
Course Description
This class provides an overview of gender issues related to education: how do existing
gender relations shape life in schools, and how does schooling, in turn, contribute to either
perpetuating or transforming existing gender relations? We will consider a variety of competing
approaches to these questions, drawing on different theoretical and methodological traditions.
While gender will be the primary emphasis, it will be addressed mindful that it must be
understood in light of differences of culture, race, class, sexual orientation, etc.
Requirements
Students are expected to come to class prepared to discuss the readings thoughtfully.
There will be a 10-page midterm paper, and a final assignment for which you may choose either a
15-page analytical paper or an “educational intervention project” with a short write-up. Those
doing intervention projects may wish to work in groups. Both options for the final will also
involve a brief presentation of your work to the class. Details on the midterm and final will be
distributed during the semester.
The midterm paper is due March 13, and the final paper or project write-up on May 8,
one week after the last class meeting. For both the midterm and final, if you would like the
opportunity to do revisions after receiving my comments, please hand in your initial version by
the date shown on the syllabus.
Semester grades will be based on: midterm, 35%; final paper/project, 45%; seminar
participation, 20%. Anyone who wishes is welcome to take the course on a pass/no credit (S/U)
basis. Simply tell me (in writing or via email, to make sure I don’t forget) any time before I
return the first graded assignment. Personally, I think grades just interfere with the learning
process, so I’m quite willing to dispense with them for students who feel the same.
Readings
Two books will be available for purchase at Talking Leaves Bookstore (3158 Main
Street, a few blocks west of the UB South Campus):
Lauraine Leblanc, Pretty in Punk: Girls’ Gender Resistance in a Boys’ Subculture, Rutgers
University Press, 1999.
It is the policy of the University at Buffalo—as well as a legal requirement—that reasonable accommodations be
provided for any students with disabilities who may need special arrangements in order to benefit equally from
university programs. Please contact myself or the Office of Disability Services (25 Capen Hall, 645-2608) if you
require such arrangements.
ELP 583—page 2
Peggy Orenstein, SchoolGirls: Young Women, Self-Esteem, and the Confidence Gap, Anchor,
1995 (reprint of 1994 edition).
They should be about $20 and $15, respectively.
A third book, now out of print, is being shipped from Australia by the author:
Bronwyn Davies, Frogs and Snails and Feminist Tales: Preschool Children and Gender, Allen
& Unwin, 1989.
I’ll be selling those to you directly, for somewhere between $5 and $10.
The rest of the required readings will be available through the UB Libraries Online
Course Reserve system; you can view and print them for free from any of the campus computer
labs, or from home if you’re suitably equipped. If you’re unfamiliar with the online reserve
system, begin at http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/creserve/. There are links to instruction files
from that page. When you’re done with the instructions and ready to start, click on “Quick Link,”
then “Course Reserve,” then enter elp583 (no space) in the “Course No” box and click on “Start
Search.” That will bring you to the list of available readings. The list may be a little confusing
because the library alphabetizes the readings by title; I’ll provide a separate handout to help you
find what you need.
Some of the “recommended” readings will also be on the system. If you’re interested in
one that isn’t, and are unable to find a copy through the library, I can probably make one for you.
Schedule
I. OVERVIEW
Jan 23
Introduction to course
Jan 30
How is education gendered?
Dale Spender, Invisible Women, Introduction (pp. 1-7)
Adrienne Rich, “Toward a Woman-Centered University,” in Florence Howe, ed,
Women and the Power to Change (only pp. 24-27, 41-44)
Rob Gilbert and Pam Gilbert, Masculinity Goes to School, Chapter 5, “Masculinity
Goes to School” (pp. 111-43)
Bronwyn Davies, “The Discursive Production of the Male/Female Dualism in School
Settings,” Oxford Review of Education 15:3, 1989 (pp. 229-41)
Feb 6
Where we are and where we’ve been
Maxine Seller, “The United States,” in Gail P. Kelly, ed, International Handbook of
Women’s Education (only pp. 515-24)
ELP 583—page 3
Peggy Orenstein, SchoolGirls, Chapters 1 (pp. 3-31) and 6 (pp. 111-32)
Lauraine Leblanc, Pretty in Punk, Prologue, “Not My Alma Mater” (pp. 1-5)
Eric Rofes, “Gay Issues, Schools, and the Right-wing Backlash,” Rethinking Schools
11:3, Spring 1997 (pp. 1, 4-6)
Bronwyn Davies, Frogs and Snails and Feminist Tales, Chapter 3, “The Sense
Children Make of Feminist Stories” (pp. 43-69)
II. BEYOND “SOCIALIZATION” AND “SEX ROLES”: IDENTITY AS ACCOMPLISHMENT
Feb 13
Conceptual issues
Barrie Thorne, Gender Play, Chapter 1, “Children and Gender” (only pp. 1-4)
Rob Gilbert and Pam Gilbert, Masculinity Goes to School, Chapter 2, “Heroes and
Villains” (only pp. 46-52)
Bronwyn Davies, Frogs and Snails and Feminist Tales, Introduction (pp. viii-xi) and
Chapters 1 (pp. 1-20) and 2 (only pp. 25-32)
Riki Anne Wilchins, Read My Lips, “Sex! Is a Verb” (pp. 49-57)
Lauraine Leblanc, Pretty in Punk, Chapter 1, “The Punk Girl Thing” (pp. 6-32)
Feb 20
Responding to the impossible demands of femininity
Peggy Orenstein, SchoolGirls, Chapters 2 (pp. 33-49) and 11 (pp. 225-42)
Lauraine Leblanc, Pretty in Punk, Chapter 3, “I Grew Up and I Was a Punk” (pp. 65102)
Bronwyn Davies, Frogs and Snails and Feminist Tales, Chapter 4, “Female Power”
(pp. 70-87)
recommended:
Bronwyn Davies, Frogs and Snails and Feminist Tales, Chapter 5, “Male Power” (pp.
88-110)
Feb 27
Reproduction or resistance?
OPTIONAL DRAFT OF MIDTERM DUE
Jane Gaskell, Gender Matters from School to Work, Chapter 4, “Reproducing Family
Patterns” (pp. 72-90)
Valerie Walkerdine, Schoolgirl Fictions, Chapter 8, “Someday My Prince Will
Come” (pp. 87-106)
Lauraine Leblanc, Pretty in Punk, Chapter 4, “The Punk Guys Will Really
Overpower…” (pp. 103-33)
recommended:
ELP 583—page 4
Angela McRobbie, “Working Class Girls and the Culture of Femininity,” in Women’s
Study Group, ed, Women Take Issue (pp. 96-108)
Vernon C. Polite, “Reproduction and Resistance: An Analysis of African-American
Males’ Responses to Schooling,” in Mwalimu Shujaa, ed, Too Much
Schooling, Too Little Education (pp. 183-201)
Mar 6
The collaborative construction of identity
Barrie Thorne, Gender Play, Chapter 5, “Creating a Sense of ‘Opposite Sides’” (pp.
63-88)
Máirtín Mac an Ghaill, The Making of Men, Chapter 2, “Local Student Cultures of
Masculinity and Sexuality” (only pp. 51-74)
Lauraine Leblanc, Pretty in Punk, Chapter 5, “I’ll Slap on My Lipstick and Then Kick
Their Ass” (pp. 134-65)
Bronwyn Davies, Frogs and Snails and Feminist Tales, Chapter 6, “Moving Beyond
the Male-Female Dualism” (pp. 88-110)
recommended:
Lois Weis, “White Male Working-Class Youth: An Exploration of Relative Privilege
and Loss,” in Lois Weis and Michelle Fine, eds, Beyond Silenced Voices (pp.
237-58)
III. SEXUALITY
Mar 13 Regulating heterosexual desire
MIDTERM PAPER DUE
Peggy Orenstein, SchoolGirls, Chapter 3, “Fear of Falling: Sluts” (pp. 51-66)
Priscilla Pardini, “Federal Law Mandates ‘Abstinence-Only’ Sex Ed,” Rethinking
Schools 12:4, Summer 1998 (pp. 16-18)
Lois Weis, “Learning to Speak Out in an Abstinence Based Sex Education Group,”
Teachers College Record 102:3, June 2000 (pp. 620-650) [available through
www.tcrecord.org]
AAUW (American Association of University Women), excerpt from Hostile
Hallways: The AAUW Survey on Sexual Harassment in America’s Schools,
(pp. 5-25)
Lauraine Leblanc, Pretty in Punk, Chapter 7, “I Bet a Steel-Capped Boot Could Shut
You Up” (pp. 196-217)
recommended:
Michelle Fine, “Sexuality, Schooling, and Adolescent Females: The Missing Discourse of Desire,” in Lois Weis and Michelle Fine, eds, Beyond Silenced
Voices (pp. 75-99)
ELP 583—page 5
Mar 20 Queer youth and homo/transphobia
Audre Lorde, Zami: A New Spelling of My Name, Chapters 12-14 (pp. 81-103)
Rita Mae Brown, Rubyfruit Jungle, Chapters 5-6 (pp. 43-71)
Nancy Boutilier, “Reading, Writing, and Rita Mae Brown: Lesbian Literature in High
School,” in Linda Garber, ed, Tilting the Tower (pp. 135-41)
Riki Anne Wilchins, Read My Lips, “Video Tape” (pp. 41-48)
Máirtín Mac an Ghaill, The Making of Men, Chapter 5, “Schooling, Sexuality and
Male Power” (pp. 153-69)
Annie Johnston, “Out Front,” Rethinking Schools 13:2, Winter 1998/1999 (pp. 1, 1213)
recommended:
Richard Friend, “Choices, Not Closets: Heterosexism and Homophobia in Schools,”
in Lois Weis and Michelle Fine, eds, Beyond Silenced Voices (pp. 209-35)
[Mar 27—Spring Break, no class]
IV. THE LONG REACH OF GENDER
Apr 3
The role of family
Peggy Orenstein, SchoolGirls, Chapters 4 (pp. 67-87), 8 (pp. 155-74) and 10 (pp. 195224)
bell hooks, Talking Back, Chapter 11 (pp. 73-83)
Rob Gilbert and Pam Gilbert, Masculinity Goes to School, Chapter 4, “Sons and
Lovers” (pp. 82-107)
Apr 10
Teaching as gendered labor
Michael W. Apple, Teachers and Texts, Chapter 2, “Controlling the Work of
Teachers” (pp. 31-53)
Michèle Foster, “Othermothers: Exploring the Educational Philosophy of Black
American Women Teachers,” in Madeleine Arnot and Kathleen Weiler, eds,
Feminism and Social Justice in Education (pp. 101-23)
Kathleen Casey, I Answer With My Life, Chapter 5, “A Signifying Discourse of Black
Women Teachers Working for Social Change” (pp. 107-53)
recommended:
Sue Middleton, “A Post-Modern Pedagogy for the Sociology of Women’s
Education,” in Madeleine Arnot and Kathleen Weiler, eds, Feminism and
Social Justice in Education (pp. 124-45)
ELP 583—page 6
Apr 17
Dropping out (the production of failure); higher ed
AAUW (American Association of University Women) Report, How Schools
Shortchange Girls, Part Two, Chapter 6, “Dropping Out of School” (pp. 4749)
Peggy Orenstein, SchoolGirls, Chapter 9, “I Choose Not to Go Down That Path” (pp.
175-94)
Ruth E. Zambrana, “Toward Understanding the Educational Trajectory and
Socialization of Latina Women,” in Lynda Stone, ed, The Education Feminism
Reader (pp. 135-45)
bell hooks, Talking Back, Chapters 9-10 (pp. 55-72)
doris davenport, “‘Still Here’: Ten Years Later...,” in Linda Garber, ed, Tilting the
Tower (pp. 215-26)
recommended:
Deanne Bogdan, “When Is a Singing School (Not) a Chorus? The Emancipatory
Agenda in Feminist Pedagogy and Literature Education,” in Lynda Stone, ed,
The Education Feminism Reader (pp. 349-58)
Apr 24
Technology and gender
OPTIONAL DRAFT OF FINAL PAPER/PROJECT DUE
Hank Bromley, “The Influence of Context: Gender, Power, and the Use of Computers
in Schools,” in Robert Muffoletto, ed, Education & Technology: Critical and
Reflective Practices (pp. 23-67)
Flis Henwood, Sarah Plumeridge and Linda Stepulevage, “A Tale of Two Cultures?
Gender and Inequality in Computer Education,” in Sally Wyatt, Flis Henwood,
Nod Miller and Peter Senker, eds., Technology and In/equality: Questioning
the Information Society (pp. 111-28)
May 1
Wrap-up
student presentations and summary discussion
May 8
[No class meeting]
FINAL PAPER/PROJECT DUE