INTRODUCTION
TO GENDER STUDIES
(SOC 225,
Section 01)
(Cross
Listed – Gender Studies)
Spring
Semester 2003
132 Bey
Hall
M/W
11:30-12:45
Instructor: Dr. Nancy Mezey
Office Telephone: 732-263-5631
Email Address: nmezey@monmouth.edu
Office:
Rm. 234 Bey Hall
Office Hours: Tuesday 10:00-12:30, Wednesday 1:00-2:15, and by appointment
Course
Description
This course examines gender inequalities
and the pervasiveness of gender as a way of structuring social life. It emphasizes how the social constructs of
race, class, gender, and sexuality intersect to legitimize power and privilege
for women and men in the United States.
In this course, we will critique conventional models of sociology and
cover a broad spectrum of topics using critical sociological and feminist
perspectives. Topics include the debate
between nature versus nurture, intersections of race, class, gender, and
sexuality, and social institutions such as family, education, work, and sport. We will pay particular attention to the connection
between social structure and human agency - how people's lived experiences are
both shaped by social forces and reshaped through human action.
Required
Readings
Baca Zinn, Maxine, Pierrette
Hondagneu-Sotelo, and Michael A. Messner (eds.). 2000. Gender Through the Prism of Difference, second edition.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Kimmel, Michael S. and Michael A. Messner
(eds.). 2001. Men’s Lives, fifth
edition. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Several handouts
to be distributed in class
COURSE
REQUIREMENTS
Attendance = 25 points
Discussion Facilitator = 15 points
Discussion Panelist = 20 points
Class Participation = 10 points
Preliminary Paper = 40 points
Final Project = 45 points
Total number of possible points = 155 points
Final
grades will be determined using the following scale:
|
A = 143-155 |
A- = 136-142 |
B+ = 132-135 |
B = 126-131 |
|
B- = 121-125 |
C+ = 118-120 |
C = 115-119 |
C- = 110-114 |
|
D+ = 107-109 |
D = 104-106 |
D- = 100-103 |
F = 99 and
below |
Attendance:
Students are required to attend class so that they can learn from
lectures and participate in class discussions/activities. If you cannot attend a class, you should
email or call the instructor. However,
emailing or calling does not ensure an excused absence. You are allowed to miss two classes without any penalty. After that, one point will be deducted for each class you
miss. Barring ABSOLUTE EMERGENCIES
(which do not include minor illnesses, vacations, cars breaking down, or other
ordinary excuses), no excuses will be accepted, so plan your absences
carefully. Missing half a class counts
the same as missing a whole class. (25 points)
Discussion Facilitator:
Each student will lead a class discussion on one selected assigned
reading. You should come to class
prepared with a brief summary (1-2 paragraphs) of the article and five to
six questions. Questions should be
designed to generate interesting discussions and critical thinking about the
reading. Students will turn in their typed
discussion questions and summary at the end of the class for which they were
discussion facilitator. (15 points)
Discussion Panelist:
Each student will sign up to be a panelist for TWO different
class periods. As panelists, students
will come to class prepared to answer the questions asked by the discussion
facilitators. Students in the class who
are not panelists will also come prepared to answer questions about each
reading assigned for that class period (i.e., you all must do the readings for
the assigned class period). Panelists
will be graded on their ability to answer the questions asked. (20 points)
Class Participation:
Students are expected to be active participants in class
discussions. When not a discussion
leader or panelist, students will still answer discussion questions and
generate new questions pertaining to the discussion and the readings. (10 points)
Midterm Paper:
In preparation for your final project, you will hand in an initial three
to five page paper. The paper will
consist of a discussion of multiracial feminism and a specific topic you choose
for your final project. It will also
include two of the five articles you will be using for your final project. If you are not satisfied with your grade on
this paper, you will be allowed to re-rewrite and re-submit the paper with your
final project. (35 points)
Final Project:
For the final project, you will use a multiracial feminist perspective
to analyze and critique five (5) magazine or newspaper articles,
advertisements, and/or Web sites concerning a particular aspect of gender
in contemporary society. (40 points)
For this assignment, you will:
1)
include
your revised midterm paper with the assignment IF you want to re-submit it for
a new grade. If not, you do not have to
include this with your final project.
2)
collect
five media items (newspaper or magazine articles, Web sites, advertisements)
from popular media all pertaining to one theme area concerning
gender. Each article must come from a
different source and no more than two sources can come from the Web. Academic
journals and Web sites from academic organizations do not count as
popular media.
3)
for each
article, write a summary of the article/advertisement, highlighting main points
that pertain to your discussion. You
will then include a one to two page analysis/critique of the article from a
multiracial feminist perspective (that you already explained in your initial
paper). You should include a discussion
of what the article includes and omits.
You should also discuss the author's perspective and how that
perspective agrees or disagrees with a multiracial feminist perspective.
4)
include a
1-2 page conclusion that sums up what you have learned and what you want your
reader to have taken from your multiracial feminist analysis of the
articles/advertisements.
5)
attach a
separate reference page, with a full citation of each article, advertisement,
and/or Web page you have critiqued.
COURSE
POLICIES
All written assignments must be typed. The grade for written assignments will
depend on your knowledge and incorporation of the course materials and
on your ability to write a coherent, well organized, and grammatically sound
product. For the midterm paper and the
final project, you are expected to provide citations for all the sources you
use. A grammar and citation guides will
be provided during class.
Policy about Make-Ups for Assignments - Make-ups will only be granted in
extremely extenuating circumstances.
The granting of any make-ups is at the instructor's discretion.
Special Learning Needs
Monmouth has a policy of non-discrimination. Students with disabilities who need special
accommodations for this class should meet with the instructor or the
appropriate disability service provider on campus as soon as possible. In order to receive accommodations, students
must register with the appropriate disability service provider on campus set
forth in the student handbook. They
must also follow the University procedure for self-disclosure as stated in the
University Guide to Services and Accommodations for Studies with Disabilities. Students will not be afforded any special
accommodations for academic work completed prior to disclosure of the
disability or prior to the completion of the documentation process with the
appropriate disability service officer.
All work in this course must be the sole
work of the student whose name appears on that work. Students must clearly identify any group work with the names of
all participants. Students must observe
the University standards of academic honesty and comply with any additional
regulations announced by the instructor.
The last day to
withdraw with a “W” grade is Monday, March 31, 2003.
TOPICS
AND CLASS ASSIGNMENTS
(NOTE:
You should complete the assigned readings prior to the day they will be
discussed in class).
Week
1
Wednesday,
January 22 – Nuts and Bolts of the Course
PART
I – INTRODUCTION TO GENDER STUDIES
Monday,
January 27 – Introduction to Gender Studies and Sociology
Baca Zinn et al.:
Introduction: Sex and Gender Through the
Prism of Difference (pgs. 1-8)
Kimmel and Messner:
Introduction (pgs. ix-xvii)
Wednesday,
January 29 – Nature vs. Nurture
Baca
Zinn, et al.:
Article 1 – Judith Lorber, “Believing is
Seeing: Biology as Ideology” (pgs.
13-22)
Kimmel
& Messner:
Article 4 – Yen Le Espiritu,
“All Men are Not Created Equal: Asian Men in U.S. History (pgs. 33-41)
Monday,
February 3 – Culture and the Formation of Gender Identities
Baca
Zinn, et al.:
Article
45 – Melissa Klein, “Duality and Redefinition: Young Feminism and the
Alternative Music Community” (pgs. 452-460)
Kimmel and Messner:
Article
5: Philippe Bourgois, “In Search of Masculinity: Violence, Respect, and
Sexuality among Puerto Rican Crack Dealers in East Harlem” (pgs. 42-55)
PART II –
FEMINIST THEORIES
Wednesday, February 5 - Early Feminist
Perspectives
No readings, but come prepared to
participate in a class activity.
Monday, February 10 – Video:
“Boys and Girls Are Different”
Baca Zinn, et al.:
Article
2 – Maxine Baca Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill, “Theorizing Difference from
Multiracial Feminism” (pgs. 23-29)
Monday, February 17 – discussion of
midterm paper and final project
Wednesday,
February 19 – Gender and Class
Baca Zinn et al.:
Article 35 – M. Patricia
Fernandez-Kelly, “Delicate Transitions:
Gender, Home, and Employment among Hispanic Women” (pgs. 313-322)
Kimmel and Messner:
Article 23 – Lois Weis, Amira
Proweller, and Craig Centrie, “Re-examining ‘A Moment in History’: Loss of
Privilege Inside White Working-Class Masculinity in the 1990s” (pgs. 268-282)
Week 6
Monday,
February 24 – Gender and Race
Baca Zinn et al.:
Article 27 - Peggy McIntosh,
“White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” (pgs. 247-250)
Kimmel
& Messner:
Article 12 – Martin Espada,
“The Puerto Rican Dummy and the Merciful Son” (pgs. 134-140)
Wednesday,
February 26 - Gender and Sexuality
Baca
Zinn et al.:
Article
16 – Deborah L. Tolman, “Doing Desire: Adolescent Girls’ Struggles for/with
Sexuality
Article
19 – Cynthia Enloe, “It Takes More Than Two:
The Prostitute, the Soldier, the State, and the Entrepreneur”
(p.188-199)
Kimmel
& Messner:
Article 38 – M. Rochlin,
“The Heterosexual Questionnaire” (pg. 407)
Week 7
Monday, March 3 – Video: “The Times of
Harvey Milk”
Wednesday, March 5 – discussion of video
and MID-TERM PAPER DUE
MARCH
10-16 – SPRING BREAK
PART
III – GENDER AND SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Monday,
March 17 - Social Institutions
Baca
Zinn et al.:
Article 40 - Karen J. Hossfeld, “‘Their
Logic Against Them’: Contradictions in
Sex, Race and Class in Silicon Valley”
(pgs. 388-400)
Kimmel and Messner
Article 49 – Lance Strate, “Beer
Commercials” (pgs. 505-514)
Wednesday, March 19 - Gender, Work, and the Global
Economy
Baca Zinn et al.:
Article
41 – Teresa Amott, “Short-Changed: Restructuring Women’s Work (pgs. 401-407)
Kimmel and Messner:
Article 6 – R.W. Connell, “Masculinities
and Globalization” (pgs. 56-70)
Monday,
March 24 – Slide Presentation
Wednesday,
March 26 – Gender and Work in the United States
Baca Zinn et al.:
Article
39 – Patti A. Giuffre and Christine L. Williams, “Boundary Lines: Labeling
Sexual Harassment in Restaurants” (pgs. 372-387)
Kimmel
and Messner:
Article 20 – Jennifer Pierce, “Rambo
Litigators: Emotional Labor in a Male-Dominated Occupation” (pgs. 225-241)
Monday,
March 31 – Families and Work
Baca
Zinn et al.:
Article 37 – Elizabeth Higginbotham and
Lynn Weber, “Moving Up with Kin and Community: Upward Social Mobility for Black
and White Women” (pgs. 346-354)
Kimmel and Messner:
Article 43 – Arlie Hochschild, “The
Second Shift: Employed Women Are Putting in Another Day of Work at Home” (pgs.
439-441)
Wednesday,
April 2 – Families and Parenthood
Baca Zinn et al.:
Article 30 – Patricia Hill Collins, “The
Meaning of Motherhood in Black Culture and Black Mother-Daughter Relationships”
(pgs. 268-278)
Kimmel and
Messner:
Article 46 – Michael C. Hanchard, “On ‘Good’ Black
Fathers” (pgs. 467-473)
Week
11
Monday, April 7– Class Activity
Wednesday,
April 9 – Gender and Health
Baca Zinn et al.:
Article 8 – Jane Spraque Zones, “Beauty Myths and Realities
and Their Impact on Women’s Health” (pgs. 87-103)
Kimmel and Messner:
Article 27 – Gloria Steinam, “If Men Could Menstruate”
(pgs. 311-312)
Monday, April 14 – Gender and Religion
Baca
Zinn, et al.:
Article
25 – Michael Kimmel, “Judaism, Masculinity, and Feminism” (pgs. 239-241)
Article 51 – Walter L. Williams,
“Benefits for Nonhomophobic Societies:
An Anthropological Perspective” (pgs. 509-517)
Wednesday,
April 16 – Gender and Violence
Baca Zinn et al.:
Article 12 – Jack C. Straton, “The Myth of the ‘Battered
Husband Syndrome’” (pgs. 126-128)
Kimmel and Messner:
Article 1 – Michael Kaufman, “The
Construction of Masculinity and the Triad of Men’s Violence” (4-16)
Monday, April 21 – Gender and
Education
Kimmel and Messner:
Article 10 –
Ellen Jordan and Angela Cowan, “Warrior Narratives in the Kindergarten
Classroom: Renegotiating the Social Contract?” (pgs. 104-116)
Article 15 – A.
Ayres Boswell and Joan Z. Spade, “Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture: Why
Are some Fraternities More Dangerous Places for Women?” (pgs. 167-177)
Wednesday, April 23 – Gender and Sport
Baca
Zinn et al.:
Article 15 – Michael Messner, “When
Bodies are Weapons” (pgs. 148-152)
Kimmel and Messner:
Article 8 – Michael Messner, “Boyhood, Organized Sports,
and the Construction of Masculinities” (pgs. 88-99)
Monday, April 28 - Resistance and Change
Baca
Zinn et al.:
Article
46 – Mary Pardo, “Mexican American Women and Grassroots Community
Activists: Mothers of East Los Angeles”
(pgs. 461-466)
Kimmel
and Messner:
Article
52 – Robert L. Allen, “Racism, Sexism, and a Million Men” (pgs. 536-538)
Wednesday,
April 30 – class activity
Week 15
Monday, May 5 -
Class Wrap-up, Evaluations, and FINAL
PROJECTS DUE
Note: Even though you do not have a final exam in
this class, students are required to come to class during the scheduled final
exam period.