FEMINIST THEORIES

WGST 350-01

Tuesday/Friday 11:00-12:20

Instructor: Ann Marie Nicolosi

Office Hours: Tues. 3:30-4:30, Weds. 3:45-4:45, Fri. 9:45-10:45

Telephone: x2276

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

The diversity of thinking among feminists is often obscured by the flat media image of feminism that is presented to the public eye. In this course we will explore the diverse ways in which feminist theorists conceptualize women’s status in society, systems of inequality and the category of “woman” itself. Students will gain an understanding of evolving ideas and debates in feminist theory, relate those to feminist practices, and develop their own theoretical abilities. The course will address the social construction of gender, the relation between feminist theory and activism, and how feminists have responded to issues of race, class, gender, and sexuality in current feminist thinking, as well as the classic feminist texts. Add the end of this course, successful students will be able to identify major feminist theories and their work, as well as understand the significance and application of that work. Upon completion of this course, you will:

Have a knowledge of the classic feminist texts
Understand the different debates and strains of feminist theories
Understand the connections between theories, academics, and political activism
Master the vocabularies of feminist theories
Be able to identify major theorists and their work
Further your understanding of gender as a central category of analysis that compels constant inquiry into the production and particularly the legitimation of knowledge

COURSE TEXTS:

The following texts are required and are available at the book store. In addition there are required readings posted on SOCS (indicated by an *):

Kemp, Sandra and Judith Squires, eds. Feminisms (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997)

Carole R. McMann and Seung-Kyung Kim, eds. Feminist Theory Reader: Local and Global Perspectives (New York, Routledge, 2003) (HEREAFTER KNOWN AS “FTR”)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

This is a workshop/seminar course in which students are expected to be present and FULLY PARTICIPATE in the work of the class. Students are expected to enter into the discussion with informed comments and questions pertinent to the assigned readings.

Response Statements/Questions; Verbal Bios and Class Participation 15%

For each reading that we do you are required to come prepared to make a statement or ask a question about that reading In addition, you will each be responsible for one biography (verbal) of assigned theorists. Your bio is due the day of that theorist’s assigned reading.

Midterm Exam 15%

Theory paper 25%

Choose any aspect of feminist theory (materialist, poststructuralist, psychoanalytical, etc.) and write a 7-10 page paper in which you compare and contrast the major theorists and their arguments.

Theorist paper 25%

Choose any of the theorists we will study this semester and choose a full-length monograph by that theorist. Write a 7-10m page paper in which you critique the theorists theories and arguments, and discuss the significance of their work.

Final Exam 20%

GRADING POLICY:

ANY PAPER HANDED IN LATE WILL LOSE A GRADE PER DAY.

COURSE READINGS:

August 26	Intro to the course
September 2	LANGUAGE OF THE DEBATES *Lexicon of the Debates Intro in Feminisms General Intro and Definitions and Movements Intro in FTR
September 5	Academies Intro in Feminisms Christian, Barbara. “The Race for Theory” in Feminisms Evans, Mary “In Praise of Theory” in Feminisms
September 9	THE CLASSIC BEGINNINGS Wollstonecraft, Mary. “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” Engels, Frederick. “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State” Cooper, Anna Julia. “A Voice of the South: By a Black Woman of the South” Goldman, Emma. “The Traffic in Women” *Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. “Women and Economics”
September 12	* “One is Not Born a Woman: Simone de Beauvoir” Wolf, Virginia. “A Room of One’s Own” Beard, Mary Ritter. “Woman as a Force in History”
September 16	EPISTEMOLOGIES Gilligan, Carol. “In a Different Voice.” In Feminisms Hartsock, Nancy. “Developing the Ground for a Specifically Historical Materialism” In Feminisms
September 19	Flax, Jane. “Postmodernism and Gender Relations in Feminist Theory” in Feminisms Joan W. Scott, “Deconstructing Equality-Versus-Difference: Or, the uses of Poststructuralist Theory for Feminism” in FTR
September 23	Chodorow, Nancy. “Feminism and Psychoanalytic Theory” in Feminisms Jagger, Alison. “Love and Knowledge: Emotion in Feminist Epistemology” in Feminisms
September 26	Collins, Patricia Hill. “The Politics of Black Feminist Thought” in FTR Benhabib, Seyla. “The Generalized and Concrete Other” in Feminisms Uma Narayan, “The Project of Feminist Epistemology: Perspectives from a Nonwestern Feminist” in FTR
September 30	SUBJECTIVITIES Subjectivities Introduction * “A Lesbian is Not a Woman/Monique Wittig”
October 3	* “Maternity, Feminism and Language/Julia Kristeva”
October 7	* “There are Two Sexes, Not One/Luce Irigary”
October 10	MIDTERM
October 14	* “Feminine Writing and Women’s Difference/ Hélène Cixous”
October 18	Hooks, Bell “Black Women and Feminism” in Feminisms Spelman, Elizabeth. “Woman: The One and the Many” in Feminisms Riley, Denise. “Am I That Name: Feminism and the Category or “Women” in History” in Feminisms
October 21	MID-SEMESTER BREAK NO CLASS
October 24	Work On Your Theorist Papers—No Class
October 28	Butler, Judith. “Subjects of Sex/Gender/Desire” in Feminisms
October 31	THEORIST PAPERS DUE SEXUALITIES Sexualities Introduction in Feminisms Rich, Adrienne. “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” in Feminisms Vance, Carol. “Pleasure and Danger: Towards a Politics of Sexuality” in Feminisms
November 4	Dworkin, Andrea. “Pornography” in Feminisms MacKinnonCatherine. “Toward a Feminist Theory of the State” in Feminisms
November 7	Sedgwick, Eve Kosofsky. “Sexual Politics and Sexual Meaning” in Feminisms Smyth, Cherry. “Queer Notions” in Feminisms Audre Lord, “I am Your Sister: Black Women organizing Across Sexualities” in FTR
November 11	VISUALITIES Visualities Introduction in Feminisms De Lauretis, Teresa. “Aesthetic and Feminist Theory: Rethinking Women’s Cinema (in the “Academies” section) in Feminisms Bordo, Susan. “Normalism and Resistance in the Era of the Image” in Feminisms
November 14	THEORY PAPER DUE Rose, Jacqueline. “Sexuality in the Field of Vision” in Feminisms Kuhn, Annette. “The Body and Cinema: Some Problems for Feminism” in Feminisms Kaplan, Ann E. “Whose Imaginary: The Televisions Apparatus, the Female Body and Textual Strategies in Select Rock Videos on MTV” in Feminisms
November 18	RACE, RACISM AND WOMEN’S VOICES The Combahee River Collective “ Black Feminist Statement” in FTR Mitsuye Yamada, “Invisibility Is an Unnatural Disaster: Reflections of an Asian American Woman” in FTR Gwendolyn Mikell, “African Feminism: Toward a New Politics of Representation” IN FTR
November 21	Linda Y.C. Lim, “Capitalism, Imperialism, and Patriarchy: The Dilemma of Third-World Women Workers in Multinational Factories” in FTR Karin Aguilar-San Juan, “Going Home: Enacting Justice in Querr Asian America” in FTR Marie-Aimée Hélie-Lucas, The Preferential Symbol for Islamic Identity: Women in Muslim Persaonl Laws” in FTR
November 25	BODY POLITICS Weitz, Rose. “A History Of Women’s Bodies” Riley, Denise. “Bodies, Identities, Feminisms”
November 28	THANKSGIVING BREAK—NO CLASS
December 2	Bordo, Susan. “Feminism, Foucault and the Politics of the Body” Butler, Judith. “Bodies That Matter”
December 5	Wrap-up and Review