Introducing Women’s Studies

1. WS 222 Lecture 1 Introducing Women’s Studies

2. Plan for Today • Introduce Instructor • Primer on Women’s Studies • Are you a FEMINIST? • Primer on Feminism • Methodology in Women’s Studies • Who are You? Why are you here? • Syllabus • Assign Books • Assign sides for Taking Sides Issue 4 • Writing Assignment

3. Women’s Studies as a Field of Study • WS as an academic discipline began in the late 1960s after the reemergence of the women’s movement. • WS is the study of what male scholarship has ignored: the “meanings that events, ideas, and social institutions have for women as well as for men” (Sapiro 8). It is how gender shapes experience and history.

4. One important aspect of WS scholars is their skepticism about “facts,” “scholarship,” and “evidence.” • Feminism has helped shape WS • WS is interdisciplinary • WS links scholarship to current events, social phenomena

5. On Slips of Paper • Are you a FEMINIST? Yes or No • Write 3-5 words that you associate with FEMINISM

6. Feminist Theory • Who believes that men and women should have equal rights? • People often seem reluctant to call self a feminist • Study by Liss, O’Connor, Morowsky, & Crawford (2001) • Positive descriptors • Negative descriptors

7. Feminism • I myself have never been able to find out precisely what feminism is. I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat (Rebecca West, 1913). • To me, feminism is foremost a "feeling" -- of which I am not ashamed. It is the state when women no longer suppress their feelings of anger and love, or rage and ecstasy, of revenge and beauty. It is when women feel free to use their immense emotional energy to explore and redefine their position in the world. It is when they use their intellect and wit, education and skills, and their rich heritage of knowledge and wisdom to redesign their role in the past, present and future of humanity. Feminism is the fire that melts, but does not destroy.

8. "I define a feminist as a self-empowering woman who wishes the same for her sisters. I do not think the term implies a certain sexual orientation, a certain style of dress, or membership in a certain political party. A feminist is merely a woman who refuses to accept the notion that women's power must come through men." -- Erica Jong, Fear of Fifty, p.286 • "I define feminist consciousness as the awareness of women that they belong to a subordinate group; that they have suffered wrongs as a group; that their condition of subordination is not natural, but is societally determined; they must join with other women to remedy these wrongs; and finally, that they must and can provide an alternate vision of societal organization in which women as well as men will enjoy autonomy and self-determination." -- Gerda Lerner, The Creation of Feminist Consciousness, p. 14.

9. Different types of feminism: Common Themes: See women as people of value and worth Believe that social change is necessary for women to lead satisfying lives • Liberal • Socialist • Cultural • Radical • Womanist

10. Liberal Feminism • Roots in 18th and 19th century • Emphasizes equality • Work within system for reform • Example: National Organization of Women

11. Socialist Feminism • 19th century, influenced by writers on utopian societies • Equality and egalitarianism—all tasks ought to be collective • Marriage as “legalized prostitution”

12. Cultural Feminism • Roots in 19th century • Emphasizes innate differences, equal value • Women’s “moral superiority” • Seek to infuse society with “female values”

13. Radical Feminism • Roots in 60s and 70s • Emphasizes male control and domination throughout history • Calls for radical change • “Feminism is the theory, lesbianism is the practice”

14. Womanist Feminism • Roots in racism of early feminism • Early white feminists used the slave experience to enhance their own cause • Focus on strengths and values of minority communities

15. What do you think? • Can you see yourself in any of these “types” of feminism? • Liberal • Socialist • Cultural • Radical • Womanist

16. Gender Roles For every woman who is tired of acting weak when she knows she is strong, There is a man who is tired of appearing strong when he feels vulnerable. For every woman who is tired of acting dumb, There is a man who is burdened with the constant expectations of “knowing everything.” For every woman who is tired of being called an “emotional female,” There is a man who is denied the right to weep and be gentle. . . For every woman who feels “tied down” by her children, There is a man who is denied the full pleasures of shared parenthood. For every woman who takes a step toward her own liberation, There is a man who finds the way to freedom has been made a little easier. -------------- Nancy R. Smith

17. A Day Without Feminism

18. What do you think?

19. Social Science Methods of Studying Women and Gender • Social sciences are multiple and differing in their methodologies, however all use empirical research, systematic observation to draw conclusions. • In this research, testing rather than proving hypotheses is central.

20. Methodologies • Ethnography: studying some “portion or human life in context” (Sapiro, 15). Visit natural setting, watch and learn, ask people how they understand their own lives. • Experiments: Select a phenomenon and try to isolate it from other factors in order to explain it. • Survey Research: Create instrument, collect data, generalize.

21. Depth Interviewing: Comparable to Oral Histories. • Institutional or Event Studies: Kanter (IBM) or Hochschild (Delta) • Archival Research: What have people written about X? • Content Analysis: Our look at media ads does this. • Meta-analysis: Review of literature on a topic

22. Many inequalities in social traditions work the same way. For example, some people argue that it is not sexist for women to be renamed after their husbands when they marry. Bu the fact that very few men would accept the same arrangement suggests that changing one’s name is not value-neutral.

23. Representing Women: The consequence of defining “human” as “male.” • Androcentrism– male experience is traditionally considered generic. • Example: mental health characteristics of healthy man, healthy woman, healthy adult. • Researchers defined healthy adult and healthy man the same way: rational, independent, ambitious, active, etc. Healthy woman was defined as emotional, dependent, submissive • Current studies indicate that mental health professionals still find they tend to regard women as less competent than men, especially if the women are older.

24. A Question of Logic • Logically the equation male = generic doesn’t work because it can’t be reversed (no one would accept female = generic). . .think of church hymns. • http://www.dialoguejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/sbi/articles/Dialogue_V28N03_79.pdf

25. "Called To Serve," 1985, 249, was the last hymn added to the 1985 hymnbook. For twenty-four years the 1951 Primary songbook, The Children Sing, had asked Primary boys and Primary girls to sing, "Called to know the richness of his blessing—/ Sons of God, and children of a King." By 1985 nearly 20 percent of missionaries were female. Therefore, to make the language more inclusive, before it was added to the hymnbook, the verse was changed22 to "Called to know the richness of his blessing—/ Sons and daughters, children of a King."

26. Why Are You Here? • Name, year, major, biographical data. • Why are you taking this class? • What are you hoping to get out of this class? • What specific areas of Women’s Studies are you interested in?

27. Establishing Class Norms • Mutual respect for the person • Listen • Make sure you understand before you argue • Speak-up!

28. Syllabus • blackboard.byu.edu

29. Warning: There may be PART of any of these books that may be offensive to you. Please use your discretion and keep in contact with me about your comfort level. Books for Book Report & Presentation

30. This is the little book that started a revolution. First published almost twenty years ago, it made women's voices heard, in their own right and with their own integrity, for virtually the first time in social scientific theorizing about women. Its impact was immediate and continues to this day, in the academic world and beyond. Translated into sixteen languages, with more than three-quarters of a million copies sold around the world. In a Different Voice has inspired new research, new educational initiatives, and political debate-and helped many women and men to see themselves and each other in a different light. Carol Gilligan believes that psychology has persistently and systematically misunderstood women--their motives, their moral commitments, the course of their psychological growth, and their special view of what is important in life. Here she sets out to correct psychology's misperceptions and refocus its view of female personality. The result is truly a tour de force, which may well reshape much of what psychology now has to say about female experience.

31. At adolescence, says Mary Pipher, "girls become 'female impersonators' who fit their whole selves into small, crowded spaces." Many lose spark, interest, and even IQ points as a "girl-poisoning" society forces a choice between being shunned for staying true to oneself and struggling to stay within a narrow definition of female. Pipher's alarming tales of a generation swamped by pain may be partly informed by her role as a therapist who sees troubled children and teens, but her sketch of a tougher, more menacing world for girls often hits the mark. She offers some prescriptions for changing society and helping girls resist.

32. Fifteen years after its first publication, The Second Shift remains just as important and relevant today as it did then. As the majority of women entered the workforce, sociologist and Berkeley professor Arlie Hochschild was one of the first to talk about what really happens in dual-career households. Many people were amazed to find that women still did the majority of childcare and housework even though they also worked outside the home. Now, in this updated edition with a new introduction from the author, we discover how much things have, or have not, changed for women today.

33. Warren, a law professor at Harvard (The Fragile Middle Class) and her daughter Tyagi, a former McKinsey consultant, have joined forces here to argue here that the two-parent middle-class working family is on the brink of financial disaster. The number of families declaring bankruptcy or receiving a foreclosure against their house has shot up dramatically. Presenting carefully researched economic data to support their arguments, the authors contend that, contrary to popular myth, families aren't in trouble because they're squandering their second income on luxuries. On the contrary, both incomes are almost entirely committed to necessities, such as home and car payments, health insurance and children's education costs. When an unforeseen event such as serious illness, job loss or divorce occurs, families have no discretionary income to fall back on.

34. Essayist and cultural critic Barbara Ehrenreich has always specialized in turning received wisdom on its head with intelligence, clarity, and verve. With some 12 million women being pushed into the labor market by welfare reform, she decided to do some good old-fashioned journalism and find out just how they were going to survive on the wages of the unskilled--at $6 to $7 an hour, only half of what is considered a living wage. So she did what millions of Americans do, she looked for a job and a place to live, worked that job, and tried to make ends meet.

35. Here's a radical concept: motherhood, as it is currently envisioned and practiced in American culture, is bad for the family. This theory is the heart of Joan K. Peters's controversial When Mothers Work, a book guaranteed to make readers question everything they thought they believed about parenting. In Peters's view, the myth of the perfect mother, who is not only willing but glad to make huge sacrifices for her children, is really a trap that creates unhappy, unfulfilled parents and miserable children. Why, Peters asks, do we assume that the transformation into primary caregiver and ultimate authority on all things having to do with home and child is welcomed by women? Why is it that the birth of a baby radically changes most mothers' lives while fathers often go essentially untouched? Peters is not afraid to question the sanctity--or the satisfaction--of motherhood; she points out that parenting, as it is organized today, requires women to make most of the sacrifices and take on most of the stress while depriving men of both the responsibilities and the rewards of being a parent.

36. Journalist Katherine Ellison draws on cutting-edge neuroscience research to demonstrate that, contrary to long-established wisdom that having children dumbs you down, raising children may make moms smarter. From enhanced senses in pregnancy and early motherhood to the alertness and memory skills necessary to manage like a pro, to a greater aptitude for risk-taking and a talent for empathy and negotiation, these advantages not only help mothers in raising their children, but in their work and social lives as well.

37. [The Feminine Mystique] now feels both revolutionary and utterly contemporary. . . . Four decades later, millions of individual transformations later, there is still so much to learn from this book. . . . Those who think of it as solely a feminist manifesto ought to revisit its pages to get a sense of the magnitude of the research and reporting Friedan undertook. (Anna Quindlen )

38. In this episode, Natasha Helfer Parker interviews Dr. Jennifer Finlayson- Fife, a psychotherapist on issues surrounding female sexuality and feminism within the LDS framework. Dr. Fife holds a Ph.D in Counseling Psychology from Boston College where she wrote her dissertation on LDS women and sexuality. She has taught college level classes on human sexuality and currently has a private therapypractice in Chicago. She is an active member of the LDS church. You can find more information regarding her practice, internet courses and therapy approach at finlayson-fife.com and drjenniferfife.blogspot.com

39. The original edition of 1970's now-classic Our Bodies, Ourselves has sold more than three million copies, and the revised and expanded edition will likely prove equally popular among women of all ages. According to the authors, some of them among the original contributors, knowledge is power, but women will make little change in the medical and health-care industries unless they join forces with other women at home and around the world. Like its predecessor, this volume is wide in scope (but lacking in depth), and has a profoundly feminist perspective as it emphasizes sexual health, reproductive rights, community-based organization and the political, economic and social conditions that limit women's access to quality health care. Much of the new information details recent health research on women's needs and inequities in medical care for men and women, and reflects the experiences of different ethnicities, sexual preferences and economic backgrounds. Women are the primary consumers of health care in the U.S., but, the authors say, they are grossly underserved. In addition, the medical community has viewed many life-stage conditions—pregnancy, premenstrual syndrome, menopause—as illnesses rather than natural processes that require teams of supportive practitioners. The book's rousing political orientation may motivate readers to access the numerous resources listed or the companion OBOS Web site. More than a book, OBOS is a health movement and deserves a place on every woman's bookshelf. (May)

40. Adolescent girls today face the issues girls have always faced: "Who am I?" and "Who do I want to be?" Unfortunately their answers, now more than ever before, revolve around the body rather than the mind, heart, or soul. "The body is at the heart of the crisis that [Carol] Gilligan, [Mary] Pipher, and others describe.... The fact that American girls now make the body their central project is not an accident or a curiosity," writes Brumberg, "it is a symptom of historical changes that are only now beginning to be understood." The historical photos, thorough research, and political even-handedness make this a book of worth and sincerity. The Body Project is also comforting for women, adolescents, parents, lesbians, and male lovers of women--helping us sort out the roots of female insecurities, obsessions, and angst. --

41. The red tent is the place where women gathered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insider's look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers and wives and their one and only daughter, Dinah. Told in the voice of Jacob's daughter Dinah (who only received a glimpse of recognition in the Book of Genesis), we are privy to the fascinating feminine characters who bled within the red tent. In a confiding and poetic voice, Dinah whispers stories of her four mothers, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah--all wives to Jacob, and each one embodying unique feminine traits. As she reveals these sensual and emotionally charged stories we learn of birthing miracles, slaves, artisans, household gods, and sisterhood secrets. Eventually Dinah delves into her own saga of betrayals, grief, and a call to midwifery.

42. After three decades of studying, teaching and writing about our compulsions with food, bestselling author Geneen Roth adds a powerful new dimension to her work in Women Food and God. She begins with her most basic concept: The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. Your relationship with food is an exact mirror of your feelings about love, fear, anger, meaning, transformation and, yes, even God.

43. By weaving practical insights and exercises through a rich tapestry of multicultural myths, ancient legends, and folktales, Anita Johnston helps the millions of women preoccupied with their weight discover and address the issues behind their negative attitudes toward food.

44. Applying the unique holistic approach that made Women’s Bodies, Women’s Wisdom and The Wisdom of Menopause such transforming forces in the lives of millions of readers, Dr. Northrup has created an uplifting, enlightening, entirely new map of female development. Mother-Daughter Wisdom blends soulful truths with groundbreaking clinical discoveries to help women of all ages thoroughly rebuild their health. Whether coming to terms with a painful memory, letting go of harmful beliefs about themselves, or celebrating the love that is passed down from mother to daughter, generation after generation, readers of this book will come to see this intimate bond in a completely new light. Dr. Northrup has provided Amazon.com customers with exclusive discussion topics and questions, intended to enrich your reading of this important and inspiring book.

45. In Good Girls and Wicked Witches, Amy M. Davis re-examines the notion that Disney heroines are rewarded for passivity. Davis proceeds from the assumption that, in their representations of femininity, Disney films both reflected and helped shape the attitudes of the wider society, both at the time of their first release and subsequently. Analyzing the construction of (mainly human) female characters in the animated films of the Walt Disney Studio between 1937 and 2001, she attempts to establish the extent to which these characterizations were shaped by wider popular stereotypes. Davis argues that it is within the most constructed of all moving images of the female form -- the heroine of the animated film -- that the most telling aspects of Woman as the subject of Hollywood iconography and cultural ideas of American womanhood are to be found.

46. Ever been baffled by his behavior, perplexed by his posturing, unnerved by his missed understanding? You're not alone. As a sociolinguist, Deborah Tannen's focus is not just on language, but on how communication styles either facilitate or hinder personal interactions. According to Deborah, men and women are essentially products of different cultures, possessing different-but equally valid-communication styles. While women generally seek to "connect" with other people in intimate, parallel relationships, men approach conversation as a "one-up or one-down situation." As a result, women often feel silenced by men, although that is not necessarily men's intention. Presented as a tool for understanding and change, this book offers clear analyses of example conversational exchanges between the sexes; excerpts from the works of linguists, sociologists and others; and samples from various media, including TV and novels. By illustrating the cause and effects of these different conversational styles, Deborah takes the blame-self-recrimination-out of communication snafus so that we may begin to build bridges in understanding. --

47. Strikingly, scant attention has focused on the victimization of women who want to leave their hostile partners. Dangerous Exits, a groundbreaking work challenges the perception that rural communities are safe havens from the brutality of urban living. Identifying hidden crimes of economic blackmail and psychological mistreatment, and the complex relationship between patriarchy and abuse, Walter S. DeKeseredy and Martin D. Schwartz propose concrete and effective solutions, giving voice to women who have often suffered in silence.

48. Critics, universally inspired by Half the Sky, used their reviews as an opportunity to take up its message. They praised not only Kristof and WuDunn's clear moral stance and explanation of the issues but also the way they combined individual women's stories and practical advice to give the book an optimistic tone. Reviewers pointed out some flaws, particularly the authors' focus on individual action (such as providing a list of hospitals and schools to direct charity to) while neglecting to criticize the policies of Western governments. As more than one reviewer pointed out, Saudi Arabia, a country with one of the worst records of oppressing women, is a U.S. ally. Nevertheless, critics encouraged readers to pick up Half the Sky, which, according to the Seattle Times, "will ignite a grass-roots revolution like the one that eliminated slavery." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

49. Taking Sides Issue 4 • Everyone will read the introduction. • Half the class will read and prepare to argue YES • Half the class will read and prepare to argue NO • Participation, preparation, and quality of arguments will be graded.

50. Class Writing Assignment • Reflect upon: • Your ideas about what a feminist is? • Are you a feminist? • Find an interesting study about women’s studies using one of the methodologies we discussed (also in chapter 1 of your text) and summarize and critique it. • Why are you interested in Women’s Studies? • What do you think about the import of Gender Neutral Language?