Spring 2002: Section 002

Syllabus

Instructor: Betsy Erbaugh                                     Office Hrs: M & W 2:15-3pm & by appt.
Classroom: EDUC 105                                                            Office: Social Sciences 1065
Class Times: Mon. & Wed. 1-2:15pm                                      Office Phone: 277-8990
Website: www.unm.edu/~erbaugh                                         Email: erbaugh@unm.edu

Course Objectives:
How are gender identities socially constructed?  How does gender intersect with race, class, disability, sexuality, age and other dimensions of identity?  How is gender shaped by family, education, the media, politics, economics, religion and medical practice?  This course addresses these questions from a sociological perspective.  We will examine how and why contemporary U.S. society creates gender categories, how definitions of femininity and masculinity affect our daily lives, and how such definitions change.  Students will gain tools for investigating the values and social processes behind their own experiences of gender socialization.

As an instructor, I aim to create a learning atmosphere that fosters critical and sociological thinking, writing, and discussion.  I want you as students to go beyond merely digesting other people’s ideas to actively engage with the material and to critique both commonly held assumptions and sociological theories about gender.  We live in a society where gender is created, defined, redefined, and responded to all around us on a daily basis.  I want this course to be a catalyst for moving beyond our roles as participants and passive observers toward active sociological analysis of gender processes.

I will do everything I reasonably can to help you meet your goals in this course and to maintain a respectful classroom atmosphere.  I expect you to do the same.  Please see me or contact me by email to talk about any questions or problems you are having with the material, my presentation of it, or classroom dynamics.

Accessibility Accommodations: Any student who, because of disability, may require accommodations in order to meet course requirements should contact me as soon as possible to make necessary arrangements.  It is the responsibility of the student to request accommodations for individual learning needs.  UNM and I will make every attempt to accommodate all students with disabilities.  For further information, contact Student Support Services at (505) 277-3506.

Policy on Academic Dishonesty: Each student is expected to maintain the highest standards of honesty and integrity in academic and professional matters. The University reserves the right to take disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal, against any student who is found guilty of academic dishonesty or who otherwise fails to meet the expected standards. Any student judged to have engaged in academic dishonesty in course work may receive a reduced or failing grade for the work in question and/or for the course. Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, dishonesty in quizzes, tests or assignments; claiming credit for work not done or done by others; hindering the academic work of other students; misrepresenting academic or professional qualifications within or without the University; nondisclosure or misrepresentation in filling out applications or other University records. (The Pathfinder, 2000- 2001)

Required Texts:
1. Renzetti, Claire M. and Daniel J. Curran.  1999.  Women, Men, and Society. 4th Edition.  Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
2.  Disch, Estelle.  2000.  Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology. 2nd edition. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co.
3. Course reader available at ECS (at Central and Harvard).

Website and email: You are required to use the web and email for this class!  There is a website for the class which you should check regularly (see address above).  The syllabus and most assignments will be on the website.  I will email you with important announcements, changes to readings, additional assignments, etc.  Questions about the course?  Please check the website first, then email me.

Exams: There will be three exams during the semester which will draw from the readings, lectures, films, activities, etc.  (Anything covered in readings, assignments, or class is fair game.)  Study guides will be provided.
Click HERE for Exam 1 study guide
Click HERE for Exam 2 study guide

Makeup exams: WARNING!  Whereas makeup exams are the bane of my existence, they will be given only if all of the following criteria are met: 1. It is absolutely impossible for you to be present for the exam.  2. If you know ahead of time you will not be in class the day of the exam due to an athletic event, religious observance or other obligation, you must notify me as soon as you become aware of it.  In case of illness or emergency, you must notify me (preferably by email) by 11am on the day of the exam.  3.  You must bring me original written proof of your incapacity to take the exam (from a doctor or the dean).  4. Makeup exams must be completed by the Friday following the exam.
Requests for makeups that fall outside these parameters will not be favorably looked upon.

Papers: Three response papers will be due on the dates specified in the syllabus.  Bring two copies of each to class on the dates specified, one copy for me and one to exchange with a classmate for in-class comments.

Click HERE for details of paper assignment #1.
Click HERE for details of paper assignment #2.
Click HERE for details of paper assignment #3.

Attendance and Participation: Given that the class will revolve around discussion of the readings, small group work, lecture, guest speaker presentations, films, in-class assignments and other activities, your attendance, preparedness, and participation are essential.  Please note that you are responsible for any and all material missed because of any absences.  Get the emails and phone numbers of a few other students in the class and if you miss a class, ask them to review what was covered and/or lend you their notes.  (Do not ask me what was covered, or if we did anything important.)

Grading:         Exams (3 @ 15% each):                    45%
                        Papers (3 @ 10% each):                   30%
                        Participation and other assignments:   25%

Panels, Discussion Groups and Extra Credit: You will have multiple opportunities to earn extra credit by participating in panel presentations, discussion groups outside of class, and/or rewriting your papers.  Panel presentations by students are an integral part of the course -- I expect you to listen attentively, ask questions and be respectful to your colleagues.  Student panels will be covered in the exams.  Click below for more information on:
Panels
Discussion Groups

Course Schedule: Given that dynamics and issues raised in class will likely affect the pace of the course, the following is a tentative outline of the material we will cover.  You should complete the readings indicated by class time on the dates specified.  Chapters are from the Renzetti & Curran text ("R&C"); articles and excerpts are in the Disch text and the Reader from ECS.

I.  INTRODUCTION
M 1/14  What is the Sociology of Gender?
Review syllabus, discuss course objectives and expectations

W 1/16  Experiences of Gender

Renzetti and Curran (R&C) 1-13
Disch Preface (xi-xv) and pp. 1-15, 21-23
Lai, "Asian American Women: Not for Sale" (Disch 34-41)
Espada, "The Puerto Rican Dummy and the Merciful Son" (Disch 41-51)
Gunn Allen, "Angry Women are Building: Issues and Struggles Facing American Indian Women Today" (Disch 52-55)

W 1/23  Intersex & Gender in Medical Practice - Guest Lecturer Laura Fugikawa, Women Studies

R&C Chapter 2
Fausto-Sterling, "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female are Not Enough" (Reader)
Coventry, "The Tyranny of the Esthetic: Surgery's Most Intimate Violation" (Disch 183-190)

R.W. Connell, "Making Gendered People" (Reader)
Stoltenberg, "How Men Have (a) Sex" (Disch 230-239)

R&C Chapter 3
Disch 69-72
Lorber, "The Social Construction of Gender" (Disch 73-79)
Messner, "Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities" (Disch 98-114)
Rodríguez, "Always Running" (Disch 126-132)
Avicolli, "He Defies You Still: The Memoirs of a Sissy" (Disch 121-126)

R&C Chapter 4
Disch 322-326
Sadler & Sadler, "The Miseducation of Boys: Changing the Script" (Disch 328-333)
Sidel, "Conflict Within the Ivory Tower" (Disch 334-343)
hooks, "Black and Female: Reflections on Graduate School" (Disch 344-350)

Disch 140-144
Thompson, "'A Way Outa No Way:' Eating Problems among African-American, Latina, and White Women" (Disch 157-168)
Staples, "Just Walk on By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space" (Disch 172-175)
Kriegel, "Taking It" (Disch 175-177)
MacDonald, "Do You Remember Me?"  (Disch 177-181)
Haubegger, "I'm Not Fat, I'm Latina" (Disch 181-182)

        R&C Chapter 5
        Disch 192-194
        Fong-Torres, "Why Are There No Male Asian Anchormen on TV?" (Disch 383-388)
        Fung, "Looking for My Penis: The Eroticized Asian in Gay Video Porn" (Reader)

W 2/13    Exam Review

M 2/18: EXAM 1 - Click HERE for study guide
 

SYLLABUS PART 2

Click HERE to see Part 2 only

V: FAMILY & SEXUALITY
W 2/20    Family & Intimate Relationships
                R & C Chapter 6

M 2/25    Parenting & Housework - Panel
                Disch 272-275: "Families"
                Rubin, "The Transformation of Family Life" (Disch 276-285)
                Gerson, "Dilemmas of Involved Fatherhood" (Disch 285-294)
                Lorde, "Man Child: A Black Lesbian Feminist's Response" (Disch 295-300)

W 2/27    Feminine & Masculine Sexualities - Guest Speaker Nick Jehlen
                Kimmel, "Masculinity as Homophobia" (Disch 132-138)
                Disch 225-228: "Sexuality"
                Sabo, "The Myth of the Sexual Athlete" (Disch 240-243)
                Finger, "Forbidden Fruit" (Disch 244-247)
                Collins, "The Sexual Politics of Black Womanhood" (Disch 255-269)

M 3/4      Gender in the Context of Globalization - Guest Speaker Helena Hofbauer, Fundar Centro de
                Análisis e Investigación, México
                Enloe, "The Globetrotting Sneaker" (Disch 414-421)
                Petchesky, "Phantom Towers" (Reader)
                Steinem, "If Women Had a Foreign Policy" (Reader)
                hooks, "Global Feminism" (Reader)
                Connell, "Masculinities and Globalization" (Reader)

W 3/6      Straightness, Queerness & Homophobia - In-class exercise
                Rust, "The Impact of Multiple Marginalization" (Disch 248-254)
                Powers, "Queer in the Streets, Straight in the Sheets" (Reader)
                Allison, "Conceptual Lesbianism" (Reader)
                Som, "The Queer Kitchen" (Reader)
 

SPRING BREAK       March 10-17
 

VI: EMPLOYMENT & ECONOMY
M 3/18    Gendered workplaces, wage & promotion gaps
                R & C Chapter 7

W 3/20    Economy & Jobs - Panel
                Disch 359-361: "Paid Work and Unemployment"
                Albelda & Tilly, "It's a Family Affair" (Disch 363-368)
                Praeger, "A World Worth Living In" (Disch 548-555)
                Gray, "Sharing the Shop Floor" (Disch 388-401)
                Reskin, "The Effects of Affirmative Action..." (Disch 402-410)

VII: CRIME & VIOLENCE
M 3/25    The Gender of Criminal Justice
                R & C Chapter 8
                PAPER #2 DUE, 2 COPIES - Click HERE for assignment

M 3/27    Cultural & Structural Violence
                Disch 477-480: "Violence"
                Kaye/Kantrowitz, "Women, Violence, and Resistance" (Disch 490-510)
                Jensen, "Using Pornography" (Disch 518-535)
                Zia, "Where Race and Gender Meet" (Disch 541-544)
                Marable, "Toward Black American Empowerment" (Disch 24-33)
                Review: Sidel, "Conflict within the Ivory Tower" (Disch 334-343)

VIII. POLITICS, GOVERNMENT & THE MILITARY
M 4/1      Gender, Government & Militarism
                R & C Chapter 9
                Enloe, "Sneak Attack" (handout)
                Gibson, "Warrior Dreams" (Disch 481-489)

W 4/3      EXAM 2- Click HERE for Study Guide
 

IX. SPIRITUALITY
M 4/8      Gender & Chicana Artists - Guest Speaker Adriana Nieto, Women Studies
                Cisneros, "Guadalupe the Sex Goddess" (Reader)
                Lopez website: http://www.almalopez.net/
                Gutierrez, "Honor and Virtue" (Reader)

W 4/10    Religion and Spirituality as Social Forces - Panel
                R & C Chapter 10
                Butler, "Between Two Worlds" (Reader)
                Review: Avicolli, "He Defies You Still" (Disch 121-126)

X. HEALTH
M 4/15    Gender, Health & the Medical Establishment
                R & C Chapter 11
                Scholinski, "The Last Time I Wore a Dress" (Reader)

W 4/17    Gendered Complexities of Health - Guest Speaker Rae Lewis, UNM Dept. of Psychiatry
                Disch 422-425: "Health and Illness"
                Sabo, "Masculinities and Men's Health" (Disch 426-440)
                Barbee & Little, "Health, Social Class & African American Women" (Disch 444-457)
                Chan, "Reproductive Issues are Essential..." (Disch 460-462)
                Arditti & Schreiber, "Breast Cancer: The Environmental Connection" (463-472)
                Deitcher, "Law and Desire" (474-476)

XI. MOVEMENTS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
M 4/22    Multiple Feminisms
                R & C Chapter 1, pp. 13-30
                Seneca Falls Convention, "Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions" (Reader)
                Truth, "Ain't I a Woman?" (Reader)
                Zinn & Dill, "Theorizing Difference from Multiracial Feminism" (Disch 59-66)
                Jaimes & Halsey, "American Indian Women..." (Disch 217-223)
                Avery, "Breathing Life into Ourselves" (Disch 586-591)

W 4/24    Exploding Gender Categories - Guest Speaker Clark Vivio
                Pratt, "Gender Quiz," "Frostbite," "Blade," "Palace" (Reader)

M 4/29    Challenges for Feminism
                Disch 545-547: "A World That is Truly Human"
                Hershey, "Choosing Disability" (Disch 556-563)
                Moraga, "La Güera" (Disch 564-570)
                Atkin & Rich, "J.A.P.-Slapping" (Disch 56-59)
                Allison, "A Question of Class" (Reader)
              PAPER #3 DUE, 2 COPIES - Click HERE for assignment

W 5/1      Men's Movements; Conclusions
                Allen, "Stopping Sexual Harassment" (Disch 571-579)
                NOMAS, "Statement of Principles" (Disch 580)
                Brod, "Scholarly Studies of Men" (Disch 355-358)
                Alexie, "White Men Can't Drum" (Reader)
                Allen, "Racism, Sexism and a Million Men" (Reader)
 

EXAM #3: Wednesday, May 8, 12:30-2:30pm