Professor Estelle Freedman Autumn 1999 5-6 units M-W 1:15-3:05, rm 200-02	Office: History room 7, Mondays 11-12, 3-4951 Feminist Studies, Thurs. by appt., 3-2412
www.stanford.edu/class/fs101	T.A.s:  Alicia Chavez, Jeannie Fraise, Daniel Rivers, Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, Kim Warren

INTRODUCTION TO FEMINIST STUDIES
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the interdisciplinary field of feminist scholarship, which seeks to understand the creation and perpetuation of gender inequalities. After tracing the historical emergence of feminist critiques, the course surveys contemporary feminist issues, particularly work and family, health and sexuality, creativity and politics. Each section draws on historical analysis and pays close attention to the variety of women's experiences. Along with the focus on the United States, the course attempts to incorporate international perspectives on women and feminism.

No prior course work is required to take FS101, but a sincere commitment to understanding feminism and a willingness to undertake a demanding course are essential. Beyond the presumption that gender inequality is unjust, the course takes no single political perspective. A major goal is to train students in analytical skills that will help them think critically about gender in the past, the present, and the future.  This course fulfills the writing requirement for the history major and the Gender Studies GER.  It is NOT available pass/no credit. Additional units for public service internships are available through the Program in Feminist Studies and the Haas Center, either Autumn or Winter quarter.
 

REQUIRED BOOKS available at the Stanford Bookstore and Meyer Reserve:
l. Laurel Richardson, Verta Taylor, & Nancy Whittier, eds., FEMINIST FRONTIERS IV
2. Buchi Emecheta, THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD
3. Virginia Woolf, THREE GUINEAS
4. Amrita Basu, ed., THE CHALLENGE OF LOCAL FEMINISMS:  WOMEN'S MOVEMENTS IN GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE
5. Marge Piercy, WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME
6. FS101 COURSE READER (from PULSE copy, Tresidder Union and available at first class)

COURSE REQUIREMENTS (See end of syllabus for due dates and small groups)
1. Attend ALL lectures; complete all reading; participate in all meetings of your discussion section (section participation influences your final grade)
2. View each required film at Meyer A-V and submit a brief journal commentary to your TA in class on the day the film is assigned (guidelines will be posted on the course web page)
3. Submit two mid-term papers (c. 5-6 pp. each) integrating readings, films, and discussions (choice of questions given out a week in advance)
4. Submit one take-home final, answering from a choice of questions, c. 10-12 pages
5. Participate in all 8 small group meetings and submit one 4-5 page paper (ungraded but required) reporting on small group learning, based in part on journal entries (journal keeping for the course is recommended but not required; it will, however, help you enormously in completing this assignment).

The course Web Page includes a list of lecture topics with required and recommended Web links. You may suggest other Web links to be added during the quarter. All written work must be printed, double spaced, 12 point font, with one inch margins; all written work must be submitted on the date due, by the time deadline.

Late papers will be downgraded a full grade per day and will not be accepted after one day.  Extensions and incompletes will not be granted except in the case of medical or family emergencies (in these cases, please contact T.A. or instructor as soon as possible).

CLASS NUMBER, DATE, TOPIC, AND READING
All assignments are required unless marked REC (recommended)

1. 9/22: Introduction: WHAT IS FEMINIST STUDIES?
Muriel Rukeyser, "Myth," COURSE READER (hereafter RDR)
Audre Lorde, "The Masters Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House," FEMINIST FRONTIERS IV (hereafter FFIV), p. 26
Adrienne Rich, "Notes Towards a Politics of Location," RDR
 

I. Before Feminism: Origins of Inequality

2. 9/27: THEORIES OF NATURE AND CULTURE
Ruth Hubbard, "The Political Nature of 'Human Nature'," RDR
Judith Lorber, "'Night To His Day': The Social Construction of Gender," FFIV, p. 33
Nancy Chodorow, "Family Structure and Feminine Personality" FFIV, p. 145
Barrie Thorne, "Girls and Boys Together . . . " FFIV, p. 176
Neera Kuckreja Sohoni, "Girls in Development," RDR
REC: Elizabeth V. Spelman, "Gender in the Context of Race and
Class: Notes on Chodorow's 'Reproduction of Mothering'" FFIV, p. 158
WEB: Girls' Socialization

Section lists will circulate in class; any changes must be made by 9/29.

3. 9/29: TRADITION AND COLONIALISM
Emecheta, THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD (complete for section)
REQUIRED FILM: "Small Happiness"
REC: Basu, THE CHALLENGE OF LOCAL FEMINISMS (hereafter CHALLENGE) ch. 7 (Kenya)

First sections meet on September 30 or October 1; bring 2 page reading responses.

Small group lists will circulate in class today and groups will meet briefly at the end of class to set their first meeting times. Initial small group meetings should be held by October 3 and weekly thereafter. For the first meeting, please read the hand out on small groups and the following short essays:

    Pam Allen, "Free Space," RDR
    Irene Restikis, "Resistance to CR" RDR
    Lynet Uttal, "Nods That Silence," RDR
 

II. The Emergence of Feminist Theory and Practice

4. 10/4: THE RIGHTS OF WOMAN AND THE LIBERATION OF WOMEN:  LIBERAL, RADICAL, AND SOCIALIST FEMINISMS
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, "If You Are Not Pleased...," RDR
Mary Wollstonecraft, "A Vindication of the Rights of Woman," RDR
"Declaration of Sentiments, Seneca Falls," RDR
Huda Sh'arawi, "Egyptian Women's Movement," RDR
Barbara Ehrenreich, "What is Socialist Feminism," RDR
Woolf, THREE GUINEAS, esp. pp. 3-84, 99-117, 143-44 [for section]
WWW Recommended:  Wollstonecraft, "Vindication"
WWW Recommended: National Organization for Woman
WWW Recommended:  Socialist Feminism

5. 10/6: GENDER AND RACE IN "FIRST AND SECOND WAVE" U.S. FEMINISMS
Sojourner Truth, "Ain't I A Woman," FFIV, p. 20
Estelle Freedman, "Separatism as Strategy," RDR
Combahee River Collective Statement, RDR
Esther Ngan-Ling Chow, "The Development of Feminist
Consciousness Among Asian American Women," RDR
Basu, CHALLENGE, chs. 16 (Europe), 17 (multicultural U.S.)
WEB PAGE: Chicana Feminism
REC: Patricia Hill Collins, "The Social Construction of Black Feminist Thought," FFIV, p. 101
REC films: "Some American Feminists;" "One Fine Day"
WWW Recommended:Sojourner Truth

6. 10/11: GLOBAL FEMINISMS
Rich, "Notes Toward a Politics of Location," RDR (reread)
Domitila Barrios de la Chungara, from "Women and Organization" RDR
Basu, CHALLENGE, Introduction and chs. 1 (China), 8 (Nigeria), 13 (Mexico)
Chandra Mohanty, "Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses," RDR
WEB PAGE: Beijing 1995 and browse in Global Feminism I, Global Feminism II, Global Fund for Women
REQUIRED FILM: "Beyond Beijing;" REC film: "A Veiled Revolution"

Topics for the first paper distributed in class today; papers due before class on 10/18.

7. 10/13: RESISTANCE, ALLIANCES, AND COALITIONS
Bernice Johnson Reagon, "Coalition Politics" RDR
Gloria Anzaldúa, "En rapport, In Opposition: Cobrando cuentas a las nuestras," FFIV, p. 139
Cherríe Moraga, "From a Long Line of Vendidas: Chicanas and Feminism," RDR
R. W. Connell, "Hegemonic Masculinity and Emphasized Femininity," FFIV p. 22
Michael S. Kimmell, "Judaism, Masculinity, and Feminism," FFIV, p. 530
Tali Edut, "HUES Magazine: The Making of a Movement," RDR
REC: Gloria Yamato, "Something about the Subject Makes it Hard to Name," FFIV, 28 and Paula Gunn Allen, "Where I Come From is Like This," FFIV, p. 18
WEB PAGES: Feminist Men, Third Wave
 

III. Contemporary Feminist Issues I: Work and Family

8. 10/18: THE FAMILY ECONOMY AND TRADITIONAL WOMEN'S WORK
Om Naeema, "Fisherwoman," RDR
Pat Mainardi, "The Politics of Housework," RDR
Bonnie Thornton Dill, "'The Means to Put My Children Through'" FFIV, p. 161
Arlie Hochschild, "The Second Shift" FFIV, p. 263
REC: Evelyn Nakano Glenn, "From Servitude to Service Work . . ." FFIV, p. 64
REQUIRED FILM: "Sin City" (response due in section)
WEB: Valuing Women's Work
 WWW Recommended:  Homemakers Bill of Rights

9. 10/20: INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE TRANSITION TO WAGE LABOR
Alice Kessler-Harris, "The Wage Conceived," FFIV, p. 201
Barbara F. Reskin, "Bringing the Men Back In," FFIV, p. 215
Denise A. Segura, "Working at Motherhood: Chicana and Mexican Immigrant Mothers and Employment," FFIV, p. 268
Sonia, "I Never Have Time to Sit Down" RDR
WEB PAGE: Women and Work Data, Wage Gap, Median Annual Earnings
REQUIRED FILM: "The Global Assembly Line"
WWW Recommended:  Equal Pay

Please conduct small group and section mid-term assessments this week.

10. 10/25: THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
Amber Ault and Eve Sandberg, "Our Policies, Their Consequences:
Zambian Women's Lives Under 'Structural Adjustment'," FFIV, 493
Miriam Ching Louie, "Immigrant Asian Women," RDR
Cynthia Enloe, "It Takes More Than Two," RDR
WEB PAGE: Fair Wear
 WWW Recommended:  Global Exchange

11. 10/27: SOCIAL WELFARE POLICIES
Myra Marx Ferree, "Patriarchies and Feminisms: The Two Women's
Movements of Post-Unification Germany," FFIV, p. 526
Wahneema Lubiano, "Black Ladies, Welfare Queens, and State
Minstrels: Ideological War by Narrative Means," RDR
Kathryn Edin, "Surviving the Welfare System: How AFDC Recipients Make Ends Meet in Chicago," FFIV, p. 447
WEB PAGE: Prison Data
 

IV. Contemporary Issues II: Sexuality and Health

12. 11/1: WHOSE BODY? HEALTH, FOOD, AND BEAUTY
Nellie Wong, "When I Was Growing Up," RDR
Nancy Mairs, "Body in Trouble" RDR
Roberta Galler, "The Myth of the Perfect Body," FFIV, p. 342
Carol Munter, "Fat and the Fantasy of Perfection" RDR
Becky Wangsgaard Thompson, "'A Way Outa No Way': Eating Problems Among African-American, Latina, and White Women," FFIV, p. 366
Adi Gevins, "Tackling Tradition," RDR
AAWORD, "A Statement on Genital Mutilation" RDR
WEB PAGE: Politics of Women's Health, Fat?So!, Women with Disabilities
REC: Ann Fausto-Sterling, "Hormonal Hurricanes: Menstruation, Menopause, and Female Behavior," FFIV, p. 343 and Gloria Steinem, "If Men Could Menstruate," FFIV, p. 358; Susan M. Love, MD with Karen Lindsey, "The Politics of Breast Cancer," FFIV, p. 384

13. 11/3: REPRODUCTION
Angela Davis, "Outcast Mothers and Surrogates: Racism and
Reproductive Politics in the Nineties," FFIV, p. 375
Eleanor Miller, "When the Political Becomes the Personal" FFIV, p. 378
Karen Schneiderman, "Disabled Women Need Choice, Too,"RDR
Basu, CHALLENGE, pp. 395-401 (Poland)
REC: Ricki Solinger, "Race and 'Value': Black and White Illegitimate Babies, 1945-1965, FFIV, p. 282
WEB PAGE: Sterilization Abuse
WWW Recommended: FAQs

14. 11/8: SEXUALITIES
Deborah L. Tolman, "Doing Desire: Adolescent Girls' Struggles for/with Sexuality," FFIV,p.337
Adrienne Rich, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence," FFIV, p. 81
Catharine MacKinnon, "Francis Biddle's Sister: Pornography, Civil Rights, and Speech," RDR
FACT, "Against the Ordinance," RDR
REQUIRED FILM: "Camp Lavender Hill;" REC film: "Choosing Children"
REC: Judith Shapiro, "Transsexualism: Reflections on the Persistence of Gender and the Mutability of Sex," FFIV, p.48; Ellen Lewin, "Negotiating Lesbian Motherhood: The Dialectics of Resistance and Accommodation," FFIV, p. 295
WEB PAGE: "Myth of the Vaginal Orgasm", "Woman-Identified Woman"

15. 11/10: ENVISIONING THE BODY
"Mirror Mirror," and "Still Killing Us Softly," films, discussion in class (responses in section)
WEB PAGE: About-Face

16. 11/15: SEX AND VIOLENCE I: RAPE AND HARASSMENT
Mary Ann Tetreault, "Accountability or Justice? Rape as a War Crime," FFIV, p. 427
Cheryl Benard and Edit Schlaffer, "The Man in the Street: Why He Harasses," FFIV, p. 395
Patricia Yancey Martin and Robert A. Hummer, "Fraternities and Rape on Campus," FFIV, p. 398
Robert L. Allen and Paul Kivel, "Men Changing Men," FFIV, p. 400
Pauline Bart and Patricia H. O'Brien, "Stopping Rape: Effective Avoidance Strategies," FFIV, p. 410
WEB PAGE: Sexual Assault Links
WWW Recommended: La Casa de Las Madres

Topics for the second paper will be distributed in class; due before class on 11/22

17. 11/17: SEX AND VIOLENCE II: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND CHILD ABUSE
Basu, CHALLENGE, ch. 2 (India)
Caputi and Russell, "Femicide: Speaking the Unspeakable," FFIV, 421
bell hooks, "Violence in Intimate Relationships: A Feminist Perspective" RDR
Joy Harjo, "I Give You Back," RDR
WEB PAGE: Domestic Violence Facts
REQUIRED FILM: "Silent No More"

If you would like to present any of your own creative work (fiction, poetry, drama, prose, music, art) that relates to the themes of this course at the 11/24 class, please sign up by 11/17.
 

V. Feminist Strategies and Utopian Visions

18. 11/22: LANGUAGE AND CREATIVITY I: Speech, Sound, and Imagination
Laurel Richardson, "Gender Stereotyping in the English Language" FFIV, p. 115
Gloria Anzaldua, "How to Tame a Wild Tongue," RDR
Ursula LeGuin, "On the Mothertongue," RDR
Alice Walker, "In Search of Our Mothers Gardens," RDR
Michele Wallace, "Women Rap Back," FFIV, p. 130
Catalina Rios, "Three Tongues," RDR
Joy Harjo, "For Alva Benson, and for Those Who Have Learned to Speak," RDR
REC: Cynthia M. Lont, "Women's Music: No Longer a Small Private Party," FFIV, p. 126
WWW Recommended:Ladyslipper Music

19. 11/24: LANGUAGE AND CREATIVITY II, III: Utopian and Dystopian Visions; Student Creativity
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, "Sultana's Dream," RDR
Li Ju-Chen, Flowers in the Mirror, ch. 13, RDR
Piercy, WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME
WEB PAGE: Art Data, Bookstores, Guerrilla Girls

This class session combines a lecture, discussion of readings, and student presentations. Try not to leave for T-break until after class! Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, there are no sections this week, but be sure to complete Piercy, WOMAN ON THE EDGE OF TIME, for discussion in section next week (we will also discuss it in class today).

20. 11/29: MOVEMENTS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE: WAR, PEACE, SPIRITUALITY
Carol J. Adams, "Ecofeminism" FFIV, p. 512
Helen Caldicott, "Eradicate Nuclear Weapons from the Face of the Earth," RDR
Aviva Cantor, "Jewish Women's Haggadah," RDR
Audre Lorde, "An Open Letter to Mary Daly" RDR
WEB PAGE: Mary Daly, Lilith
REC: Basu, CHALLENGE, ch. 9 (Occupied Territories)
REC Film: "My Heart Is My Witness"

21. 12/1: POLITICS AND EDUCATION
Verta Taylor and Nancy Whittier, "The New Feminist Movement," FFIV, p. 544
Basu, CHALLENGE, chs. 4 (Philippines), 5 (South Africa), 11 (Chile)
Adrienne Rich, "Towards a Woman-Centered University" RDR
bell hooks, "Black Students Who Reject Feminism," FFIV, p. 546
WEB PAGE:  South Asian Women's Organizations, Beyond Beijing
REC: Abigail Halcli and Jo Reger, "Strangers in a Strange Land: The Gendered Experiences of Women Politicians in Britain and the United States," FFIV, p. 457; Gloria Steinem, "Helping Ourselves to Revolution," FFIV, p. 554
WWW Recommended:  Stanford Women's Center, Program in Feminist Studies
 

Small group learning papers due before class today; last sections meet this week.

Take home final exam questions distributed in class today; due in History Department Office by 3 p.m. on Thursday, December 9.

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SUMMARY OF WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS

I. Graded Writing Assignments

10/11     Topics distributed for Paper #1 (5-6 pp)
10/18     Paper #1 due BEFORE CLASS BEGINS
11/15     Topics distributed for Paper #2 (5-6 pp)
11/22     Paper #2 due BEFORE CLASS BEGINS
12/1       Final paper topics distributed (10-12 pages)
12/9       Final papers due in History Dept. office by 3 p.m.

II. Ungraded writing assignments (must be handed in on time for credit)

A.  2 page weekly responses to required reading due to section leader before section, starting week of 9/27
B.  1-2 page responses to required films due to section leader by day film is assigned on syllabus, except where otherwise noted. See film response guidelines on WEB PAGE.

View by: Required Films [length], (recommended films in parentheses)

 9/29     "Small Happiness" [58 min.]
10/6      ("Some American Feminists,""One Fine Day")
10/11     "Beyond Beijing" [60 min.] (with "A Veiled Revolution" 27 min.)
10/18     "Sin City" [29 min.], response in section; screened with following film
10/20     "Global Assembly Line" [58 min.]
11/08     "Camp Lavender Hill" [30 min.] (with "Choosing Children, 45 min.)
11/10     "Still Killing Us Softly" and "Mirror, Mirror" [films shown IN CLASS, responses due in section]
11/17     "Silent No More"[56 min.]
11/29     ("My Heart Is My Witness" 55min.)
 

C.  4-5 page small group summary/evaluation paper, due BEFORE LAST LECTURE (12/3), based on ongoing journal and short thought pieces for small groups
 

Some tips for graded papers:
We are interested in how well you comprehend the issues raised in readings, lectures, and films and in your abilities to express your views clearly and persuasively. Papers will be evaluated on clarity of argument, use of evidence, and stylistic presentation. At the beginning of a paper, state your thesis or argument in response to the question or topic; then structure the paper clearly to establish your points; use topic sentences to show where the paper is going; avoid overgeneralization (re: historical periods, cultures, classes, races, etc.; look for patterns but be aware of distinctions). Some common pitfalls: women are victims; nothing changes; my experience (personal, family, group) is the most relevant; my experience (personal, family, group) is not relevant (i.e., "I can't speak because I'm not the most oppressed").
 

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SMALL GROUPS: Initial Instructions

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Small groups are intended to encourage peer discussion of the issues raised by the class. They are based on the belief that exploring both common and differing personal responses to the ideas raised in class can broaden our base of knowledge and break down resistance to learning new ideas. Students will receive a handout on how to run small groups (also available on the course WEB page).  Groups of no more than five students each (randomly assigned) will meet weekly at least eight times during the quarter. Each session should last approximately one and a half hours (minimum one hour, maximum two hours). Since we do not have lectures on Tuesdays at 1:15, this is one suggested time for meeting; in the past some groups have met after class, or in the evenings or on weekends.

Group lists will circulate at the third class meeting (9/29) and members will meet briefly to identify themselves and set up an initial meeting time and place. Please coordinate schedules and find a permanent, regular meeting time when ALL members can attend. From past experience, it is important not to shift meeting times. The most successful groups included members who were committed to the time and to being ON TIME for each meeting. It is extremely disrespectful to other students to come late to a small group meeting. You can meet in a dorm room or reserved lounge area, an unused classroom, or off campus. Past experience suggests that it is not a good idea to meet in a public place like the Coffee House or a restaurant, or a well-travelled lounge.

If there are initial scheduling problems in a group, changes can be made ONLY BEFORE OCTOBER 3. Please notify the instructors about problems; we will try to accommodate any shifts before the next class.  Please do not ask to change groups in order to be in a group with a friend or house mate. Student feedback has suggested that it is better not to know other group members well already.

The first meeting should take place by October 3 and the last scheduled meeting by December 5.  To receive credit for this course you must participate in at least eight small group meetings. In case of medical or family emergency, please contact a group member and report your absence to your T.A. Please inform the teaching staff if any group is having a problem about attendance or scheduling.