WOMEN’S STUDIES 385: Women’s Labor Invisibility and Empowerment
Professor: Shogofa Abassi
Office: Arts and Letters 330
Office Hours: 1400-1500 (2-3pm) T/Th
Email: sabassi@mail.sdsu.edu
Welcome to Women’s Work, a course that explores the processes and ideas that shape women’s
paid and unpaid work in the U.S. and around the world. Too often women’s work is invisible and
undervalued, creating bias in our knowledge of history, geography, economics, politics, and social
change. The information and concepts you learn in this course will help you to have a more
balanced view of women’s work. In addition, the course is designed to help students understand the
impact of gender on work as you build careers, families, and communities.
Learning Objectives for Women’s Work






Explore economic issues and processes from the perspective of women, Understand of the
relationship between work and the social construction of gender and sexuality
Understanding of the ways that the lives of women past and present are shaped by economic
processes
Understand of the intersectionality of different dimensions of social organization, especially
gender and class, as concepts and as lived experience
Understand the links between women’s paid employment and their unpaid caring work in
the home
Analyze the effects of globalization on women workers in the US and around the world
Identify mechanisms of oppression and resistance in the area of work
Communication | The best way to contact me is email (sabassi@mail.sdsu.edu ). Please inform
me by email prior to the class of an anticipated absence. If you have any questions or concerns,
please visit me during office hours. I recommend you swap e-mail with a classmate to keep you up
to date in case you miss a class.
Please DO NOT


email me to find out what you missed
email me assignments
Email communications must contain the following in the subject line to get a timely response:



Your last Name
Your class number and section
A brief description
Ex: Abassi_360_3_question regarding best way to send an email
Disability | Students who need accommodation of disabilities should contact me privately to
discuss specific accommodations for which they have received authorization. If you have a
disability, but have not contacted Student Disability Services at 619-594-6473 (Calpulli Center, Third
Floor, Suite 3101), please do so before making an appointment to see me.
Required Texts
Readings and videos will be available electronically on Blackboard.
Grading and Assignments
Class Participation and Attendance*
Discussion Q & A
Journal Reflections
Midterm
Final Exam
Project
10%
35%
10%
15%
15%
15%
Ongoing
Ongoing
Ongoing
3/09/2015
5/11/15 4-6pm
4/27/2015
Attendance & Participation
10% | Students are expected to attend classes regularly and actively in order to gain command of the
concepts and materials of the course study. Absences without written documentation of illness or
family emergency will adversely affect this portion of your grade. You are responsible for all in-class
work. Students will not be penalized because of observance of religious holidays. However, it is your
responsibility to inform me of any intended absences for religious observances in advance. If you
have to miss class, it is your responsibility to seek out another student for an explanation of what
was covered that day. Unexcused missed in-class assignments cannot be made up.
Discussion Q & A
35% | Purpose:
Each student in the course will be required to lead the class in discussion for one class. The
purpose of this exercise is to give students the opportunity to play a larger role in the learning
that occurs in the seminar and to put greater responsibility on all the students for becoming
familiar with concepts and issues in the readings for class.
Format:
Be prepared to introduce the themes and issues you wish to discuss and develop a strategy for
involving the class in discussion. You are responsible for leading the discussion for about the
first 5 to 10 minutes of the discussion session for producing at least one good discussion question
along with
1. Focus. Do not attempt to "cover" the entire reading. It is not possible. Instead, make
some choices.
2. Constructing questions: You should consider using three types of questions for
leading the discussion:
a.
questions of fact: Questions of fact can be answered by looking up the
answer. They are usually the least interesting questions but they are often
essential in getting a discussion off the ground. In asking these questions
as a discussion leader, it is a good idea to have the answer ready.
b. questions of interpretation: Questions of interpretation ask us to get
beyond the literal facts and ask how facts relate to some other idea or
current event. Ask for thoughtful opinions about the author's meaning.
For example, once we identify what an author said in the text, what did he
or she mean by it? What is the author's intention? What's the context?
c. questions of evaluation: Questions of evaluation ask us whether we agree
or disagree with an idea, and calls on us to give reasons for the evaluation.
3. Start with a brief introduction. Explain to the class, what you see as the main topic
and key concepts that you wish to discuss and why this was chosen. Put the topic of
discussion into context for the class.
4. Hold the rest of the class responsible. Everyone is responsible for participating in
discussion. You can call on people. Ask everyone in the seminar to give their view.
Take a poll. Whatever you wish. Also hold them responsible for being respectful to one
another and for allowing everyone get a chance to participate.
For class discussion leaders:
A class leading discussion is more than just an open-ended discussion. There is some specific
topic, that forms the basis of the discussion, and the intention is to understand the text or grasp
the issues at stake in the topic.
This discussion should have the following parts:
1. An introduction to the topic or reading (Who wrote the piece? Where does he/she
work? Why is the issue relevant?)
2. If there is a single reading, an overview of the argument of the reading, and the author's
main conclusions or positions.
3. If there are multiple assigned readings, then you will need to try to connect them in
addition to giving an overview of the argument and conclusions. If there is art or music
also assigned, that too will need to be incorporated, either with the other readings or into
the overall topic.
4. Some sort of context of the topic or reading will be needed, that is, some way of
making the topic relevant.
5. The point of a leading discussion is not just to describe or summarize the readings or
concepts. You will need to give your view on the reading, argument, concepts, or
positions. This is not just a matter of telling the group "how you feel" about these things,
but rather, what kind of reasonable response you can give.
6. You need to pose questions or examples that will spark discussion in the class
You should have this on the blog by Thursday or Friday at the latest before the discussion
on Monday, to give the others in the class a
Mid-term and Final
15% Each | There will be an in-class midterm on March 9. It will be a series of short essays about
material from lectures and readings. You will receive a long list of questions to study in advance; a
portion of them will be selected for the midterm.
Journal Reflections
10%|Over the course of the semester, students are required to write journal reflections in which you
will thoughtfully engage in the readings, lectures, discussions, films and other activities for this
course. Throughout the semester, I will provide prompts for you to respond to in these journals. I
will post the prompts onto Blackboard and discuss them in class. Students will be required to write
four journal reflections.
The reflections will be submitted online on Blackboard. Students should click on the appropriate
journal reflection link and type their responses. The journal must be written in sentence and
paragraph form. Each reflection must be 300-800 words long.
10%| The Motherhood Penalty Project
Your task is to figure out all of the dimensions of penalty on a woman who is pregnant and then has
a baby. What are all the costs involved? I want you to pretend this was happing to you. You will
each be assigned a specific socioeconomic position, marital status, etc. You need to figure out issues
such as the following:




Medical expenses
Diapers, clothing, etc
Formula (or breastfeeding)
Childcare?
You then do a write up of your finding 4-6 pages in length (double spaced). In your write up you
should include half a page of your personal reactions and reflections and related the findings to
one of the readings.
Community Engagement & Response
Throughout the course of the semester community events will take place that connect to the theme
of women’s sexuality and the body. I will announce these events and I encourage you to announce
events that may be of interest to this class, as they may also qualify as a community engagement
experience. You must attend at least one event this semester and write a summary of the event and a
reflection that addresses the following questions:
1. What is the relevant connection between the event you attended and the theme of women’s
sexuality and the body? Also consider any underlying connections that may be subtle and discrete.
2. Describe your experience in attending the event: was it new to you, did you feel comfortable, did
you feel like an outsider, an insider, something in between? Explore your experience and how you fit
in to it, carefully examine why and how this is.
3. In what ways did the event you attended support or/and contradict the themes, arguments,
references of this class thus far? Be sure to use proper citation where appropriate in considering this
question.
Each reflection must be 2-3 double-spaced pages in length. The papers must include the title and date of the event as
well as the name(s) of the sponsor(s) of the event. If the event is a panel discussion, you must list the names of the all of
the panelists. You should describe what happened at the event and give your impression of what went on. Your
impression of the event should go beyond: “It was great/interesting/eye-opening/a waste of time.” You need to state
why it was great or uninformative.
General Grading Rubric for Portfolio & Journals
Skills
Depth of
reflection
Use of textual
evidence and
historical
context
Language use
5
Demonstrate a
conscious and
thorough
understanding of
the prompt and
the subject
matter. This
reflection can be
used as an
example for other
students.
Use specific and
convincing
examples from the
readings, videos,
class lectures
and/or discussion
studied to support
claims in your own
writing, making
insightful and
applicable
connections
between texts.
Use stylistically
sophisticated
language that is
precise and
engaging, with
notable sense of
voice, awareness
of audience and
purpose, and
varied sentence
structure.
4
Demonstrate a
thoughtful
understanding of
the prompt and
the subject
matter.
3
Demonstrate a
basic
understanding of
the prompt and
the subject
matter.
2
Demonstrate a limited
understanding of the
prompt and subject
matter. This
reflection/answer
needs revision.
1
Demonstrate little
or no
understanding of
the prompt and
subject matter.
This reflection
needs revision.
Use relevant
examples from the
readings, videos,
class lectures
and/or discussion
studied to support
claims in your own
writing, making
applicable
connections
between readings,
videos, lectures
and discussions.
Use language that
is fluent and
original, with
evident a sense of
voice, awareness
of audience and
purpose, and the
ability to vary
sentence
structure.
Use examples
from the readings,
videos, class
lectures and/or
discussion to
support most
claims in your
writing with some
connections made
between texts.
Use incomplete or
vaguely developed
examples to only
partially support claims
with no connections
made between
readings, videos,
lectures and/or
discussions.
No examples from
the readings,
videos, class
lectures or
discussion are
used and claims
made in your own
writing are
unsupported and
irrelevant to the
topic at hand.
Use basic but
appropriate
language, with a
basic sense of
voice, some
awareness of
audience and
purpose and some
attempt to vary
sentence
structure.
Use language that is
vague or imprecise for
the audience or
purpose, with little
sense of voice, and a
limited awareness of
how to vary sentence
structure.
Use language that
is unsuitable for
the audience and
purpose, with little
or no awareness of
sentence
structure.
Thinking about a Major or Minor in Women’s Studies? The program offers exciting courses, is committed
to women’s issues and social justice, and is adaptable to your interests and concerns. Women’s Studies is
not impacted! For more information contact: Dr. Doreen Mattingly, 594-8033,
MATTINGL@mail.sdsu.edu
Class Schedule
(Subject to change)
1
2
1/26 Introduction: Syllabus
Assignment for 2/2
Folbre, Greed, Lust and Gender: The Unproductive Housewife
Please find six topic, questions, or issues from each the reading for class discussion
2/2
Economics and Family Values
Video: “Who’s Counting the Costs?”
Assignment for 2/9
Crittenden: The Motherhood Manifesto: The Truly invisible Hand
Folbre: The Invisible Heart, Milk of Human Kindness
Discussion questions tba
3
2/9
Economics and Family Values continued
Assignments for 2/16
Hayden: Redesigning the American Dream:
Home, Mom, and Apple Pie
Beyond Architecture and Gender
Discussion questions tba
4
2/16 Geography of Home
Assignment for
Coontz, “’Leave it to Beaver’ and ‘Ozzie and Harriet’: American Families in the 1950s”
Nussbaum, “Working Women’s Insurgent Consciousness,”
Discussion questions tba
5
2/23 1950s and 60s
Video:
“Women’s Movement 1950s and 1960s”
“Class dismissed” (American Dream)
Assignments for 3/2
Please watch “The Pill”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOnD2_UR0MI
Discussion questions tba
6
3/2
Revolution
Video: Makers Women Who Make America Part 1
Assignment for 3/9
Study for Midterm
Please watch: Makers: Women Who Make America:
Part II https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAic_v6L7N0
Part III https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkFv1Y_lKa0
Discussion questions tba
7
3/9
MIDTERM
Assignment for 3/16
Wang, “Breadwinner Moms”
Discussion questions tba
8
3/16 Caring work and poverty
Film: Motherhood Manifesto
Assignment for 3/23
Hochschild, The Second Shift: “Marriage in the Stalled Revolution,”
Boris and Klein, “Labor on the Home Front,”
Discussion questions tba
9
3/23 Economics of Care
Assignment for 4/6
Foster, “Wife’s employment and allocation of resources in families with children”
Video: Michael Kimmel, “A Guys Guide to Feminism”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zCNaMU1UUY
Discussion questions tba
10
4/6
Division of Housework
Assignment for 4/13
Rose, “Scapegoating Poor Women”
Gilliam, “The Welfare Queen Experiment”
Discussion questions tba
11
4/13 Women and the Welfare State
Assignment for 4/20
Babcock and Lascher, “Nice Girls Don’t Ask,”
Slaughter , “Why Women Still Can't Have It All”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVU57kWfdqQ (~23 minutes)
Sandberg, “Why we have too few women leaders”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18uDutylDa4 (~16 minutes)
Discussion questions tba
12
4/20 Assertiveness and Success
Assignment for 4/27
Guy and Newman, “Women’s Jobs, Men’s Jobs,”
Seligman, “Patriarchy at the Check-Out Counter”
Discussion questions tba
13
4/27 Pay gap
Assignment for 5/4
Video: Maquilapolis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDIEW09MQNQ
Discussion questions tba
14
5/4 Work and care in a global context
Williams, “ Who Cares: Migrant Workers in Transnational Care Economy”
Assignment for 5/11
Study for Final
15
5/11
Final exam from 2-4Pm