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Sociology of Gender Sociology 219 Gender & Womens Studies 216

That is what learning is. You suddenly understand something you've understood all your life, but in a new way. Doris Lessing Professor Wendy Christensen Office: 402 Adams Hall Contact: wchriste@bowdoin.edu or 725-3268 Office hours: Tuesdays 11-12pm, Thursdays 2-4pm, and by appointment Our ideas about gender about women, men, masculinity, femininity organize our social life in important ways that we often do not even notice. This course critically examines the ways gender informs the social world in which we live and how beliefs about gender create and enforce a system of gender difference and inequality. We will examine how gender is involved in and related to differences and inequalities in social roles, gender identity, sexual orientation, and social constructions of knowledge. Particular attention will be paid to exposing the gendered workings of institutions such as the family and the workplace, the link between gender and sexuality, and how race and class inform our ideas about gender. Our goals for this course are to: Reveal the common-sense world of gender around us; Consider how we learn to do gender as girls and boys (and women and men); Provide information about the current situation of gender relations in the US; Expose the workings of the institutions that shape our gendered lives; and Challenge common assumptions about women, men and gender relations. READINGS The following books are available for purchase at the Bowdoin Textbook Center: Edin, K., & Kefalas, M. (2005). Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage. Berkeley: University of California Press. Hesse-Biber, S. N. (2006). The Cult of Thinness (p. 288). Oxford University Press, USA. Hochschild, A. R., & Machung, A. (2003). The Second Shift. New York: Penguin Books. Kimmel, M. S. (2008). Guyland: The Perilous World Where Boys Become Men. New York: Harper Collins. Salzinger, L. (2003). Genders in Production: Making Workers in Mexico's Global Factories. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Additional required readings are available on the library reserves website. Readings must be completed before class on the day that they are due. If a reading is listed under Monday, October 17 then it must be completed before class on October 17. You will need to complete the readings the day before class in order to prepare discussion questions (see the Assignments section for more information). Page 1 of 8

I reserve the right to add (and to omit) readings during the course of the semester. I will always let you know the week before if I am making any changes to the readings. How to get in touch with me: Email is a great way to reach me with any questions. I promise to respond to your email within 24 hours. You are strongly encouraged to stop by office hours at least once during the semester, or make an appointment to see me at another time. If my office door is open at any other time, youre welcome to stop by. POLICIES Assignments: (1) Weekly Discussion Participation: Beginning on Week 2 of the semester, each student is expected to participate in the discussion on CourseKit (www.coursekit.com) at least once before Wednesdays class meeting. a. What counts as a post? i. A question, informed by the class material (readings, lectures), that you would like to pose to the class. ii. An answer, informed by the class material, to the professors question, or to another students question. iii. A link to a news article, blog post, image, video etc. that is related to that weeks material, and a brief description of why it is related. b. What does not count as a post? i. Anything that is too brief (I agree or good question etc.), or anything that is not explicitly tied to course material. (2) Five Scrapbook Analysis Papers: (4 pages each) These analytic papers on different topics are designed to give you an opportunity to apply what you have learned in the course readings and in class to observations you make outside of class. See the Scrapbook Assignment for details and due dates. (3) Group Wikipedia project assignment: This semester you, and a group of your peers, will update a portion of the Wikipedia page Sociology of Gender and will present your results the last week of class. See the Wikipedia Assignment for more information. (4) Final Exam: There will be an in-class final exam on December 17th at 2pm. The exam will consist of short and long essay questions. More details to follow. Grading Criteria: A B C D F Final Grades: 20% 20% 30% 10% Online Discussion Participation Attendance and Participation (including examples brought to class) Five Scrapbook Analysis Papers Wikipedia Group Project Page 2 of 8 Shows mastery of the course material and demonstrates exceptional critical skills and originality. Demonstrates a thorough and above average understanding of the material. Demonstrates a thorough and satisfactory understanding of the material. Demonstrates a marginally satisfactory understanding of the basic material. Does not demonstrate a satisfactory understanding of the basic material.

20% Written work:

Final Exam

All assignments must be double-spaced, with 1 inch margins, and 12 point font. Acceptable fonts are Times, Times New Roman, Arial, Georgia, or Helvetica. Pages must be numbered. On the first page include your full name, date, and the name of the assignment. It is always a good idea to put your name on each subsequent page someplace in case a page is separated from the others. Double-sided printing is welcomed. Dont bother with a title page as they waste paper.

Late and missed assignments: Work must be handed in, in class, on the day it is due. If you cannot make class that day, you must email me the assignment before the class begins. Late assignments will only be accepted with prior consent (given rarely on a case-by-case basis), and will lose a letter grade for each day they are late. Attendance: Attendance is required. You may miss two classes without penalty, assuming that you turn in the days assignment prior to class. Each absence beyond the second will result in your grade being lowered. If you must miss a class, it is your responsibility to get the notes and assignments from another student. If You Need Help: Do not hesitate to contact me if you need assistance. The key to success is to head off problems before they turn into emergencies. The sooner you get in touch with me about an issue, the sooner we can work to solve it together. Special accommodations: If you require special accommodations to participate in, or to complete the work in this course, please let me know within the first two weeks of class so that we can make the necessary arrangements. Academic honesty: I fully expect you to follow the Bowdoin College Academic Honor Code. Anytime you are required to turn in individual work I expect that what you turn in will be written solely by you and will be unique from that of your classmates. Students who attempt to pass off the work of others as their own or assist others in doing so will receive zero points for the work and will be subjected to disciplinary action as determined by the college. Please ask if you have any questions about what is and is not acceptable. CBB has put together a guide about avoiding academic misconduct at http://abacus.bates.edu/cbb/. Additionally, the Bowdoin Library has an online guide for citing sources properly at http://library.bowdoin.edu/1st/sources.shtml. SCHEDULE WEEK 1: Monday 9/5 Welcome and Course Introductions Wednesday 9/7 Read: Gould, L. (1972). X: A fabulous childs story. In K. Ackley (Ed.), Perspective on contemporary issues, 3rd Ed. (pp. 391-399). United States of America: Heinle.

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Parents Keep Childs Gender a Secret Poisson, Jayme. The Toronto Star, May 21, 2011 http://www.parentcentral.ca/parent/babiespregnancy/babies/article/995112-parents-keep-child-s-gender-a-secret

Assignment: Sign onto CourseKit.com and set up your profile. WEEK 2: The System of Gender Monday 9/12 Read: Fausto-Sterling, A. (2000). Dueling Dualisms in Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. New York, NY: Basic Books. pp 1-29. Steinem, G. (2004) If Men Could Menstruate in Kimmel, M. S., & Messner, M. A. (Eds). Men's Lives (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. pp 347-349. Lorber, J. (1994). Night to his Day: The Social Construction of Gender in Paradoxes of Gender. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp 13-36.

Wednesday 9/14 Read: West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing Gender. Gender and Society, 1(2). Connell, R. W. (2009) Gender Relations in The Matrix Reader by Ferber, Jimenez, Herrera, and Samuals (Eds.) Chapter 2 (pages 21-35) McGraw-Hill Higher Education

Assignment: Required Scrapbook Entry Doing Gender Due WEEK 3: Enacting Gender Identity: Masculinity Monday 9/19 Read: Kimmel, M. S. (2003) Masculinity as homophobia: Fear, Shame and Silence in the Construction of Gender Identity Kimmel, M. S., & Ferber, A. L. (Eds). Privilege: A reader. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. pp. 107-132. Chapters 1-5 of Kimmels Guyland

FILM 7pm in VAC Beam Room: Tough Guise (1999) Wednesday 9/21 Read: Chapters 9-12 of Kimmels Guyland Assignment: Scrapbook Entry Masculinity Due WEEK 4: Gender in U.S. Media Monday 9/26 Read:

Strate, L. (2004) Beer Commercials: A manual for masculinity in Kimmel, M. S., & Messner (Eds.), M. A. Men's Lives (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. pp. 533543.

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Bordo, S. (1999). Never Just Pictures in Twilight Zones: The Hidden Life of Cultural Images from Plato to O.J. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Wednesday 9/28 Read: Katz, J. (2002) 8 Reasons Why Eminems Popularity is a Disaster for Women Weitzer, R., & Kubrin, C. E. (2009). Misogyny in Rap Music: A Content Analysis of Prevalence and Meanings. Men and Masculinities, 12(1), 3-29.

Assignment: Scrapbook Entry Depicting Gender Due WEEK 5: Gender and Embodiment Monday 10/3 Read: Fausto-Sterling, A. (2004). How to Build a Man in Kimmel, M. S., & Messner, M. A. (Eds.) Men's Lives (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon. pp. 342-346. Introduction and Chapters 1-5 in Hesse-Bibers The Cult of Thinness

Assignment: Bring gendered advertisement to class FILM, 7pm, Adams 208: Killing Us Softly Wednesday 10/5 Read: Buysse, J. A. M., & Embser-Herbert, M. S. (2004). Constructions of Gender in Sport: An Analysis of Intercollegiate Media Guide Cover Photographs. Gender & Society, 18(1), 66-81. doi: 10.1177/0891243203257914. In class film: http://www.mediaed.org/cgibin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=208 Chapters 6-9 in Hesse-Bibers The Cult of Thinness

Assignment: Scrapbook Entry Embodiment Due WEEK 6: Learning Gender Wednesday 10/12 Read:

Thorne, B. (1999). Boys and Girls Together But Mostly Apart and Crossing the Gender Divide Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School (6th ed.). New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press. Martin, K. A. (2005). William Wants A Doll. Can He Have One? Feminists, Child Care Advisors, and Gender-Neutral Child Rearing. Gender & Society, 19(4), 456479.

WEEK 7: Intersectionality: Race & Class Monday 10/17 Read:

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West, C., & Fenstermaker, S. (1995). Doing Difference. Gender & Society, 9(1) Promises I Can Keep: Introduction and Chapters 1-3

Wednesday 10/19 Read: Promises I Can Keep: Chapters 4-6 and Conclusion (Appendices are optional) Assignment: Scrapbook Entry Inequality Due WEEK 8: Gender & Sexuality Monday 10/24 Read: Rochlin, M. (2003). The Heterosexual Questionnaire in Kimmel, M. S., & Ferber, A. L. (Eds.) Privilege: A reader. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. pp. 73-74. Rich, A. (1980). Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence. Signs, 5(4), 631-660. Martin, K. A., & Kazyak, E. (2009). Hetero-Romantic Love and Heterosexiness in Childrens G-Rated Films. Gender & Society, 23(3), 315-336. doi: 10.1177/0891243209335635.

Wednesday 10/26 Read: Taylor, V. and Rupp, L. (2008) Learning from Drag Queens In J. Goodwin & J. M. Jasper (Eds.), The Contexts Reader (2008) New York: W.W. Norton. pp. 247-253. Heath, M. (2008). State of our Unions: Marriage Promotion and the Contested Power of Heterosexuality. Gender & Society, 23(1), 27-48.

Assignment: Scrapbook Entry Sexuality Due WEEK 9: Families and Household Labor Monday 10/31 Read: Coontz, S. (1995). The American family and the nostalgia trap. Phi Delta Kappan, 76(7). The Second Shift: Introduction and Chapters 1-5

Assignment: Bring an image of a family to class. FILM, 7pm, VAC Beam Room: The Double Burden: Three Generations of Working Mothers Wednesday 11/2 Read: The Second Shift: Chapters 6-17 Assignment: Scrapbook Entry Family Due WEEK 10: Gender and Work Page 6 of 8

Monday 11/7 Read: Williams, C. L. (1992). The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advantages for Men in the "Female" Professions. Social Problems, 39(3), 253-267. Erickson, K., & Pierce, J. L. (2005). Farewell to the Organization Man: The feminization of loyalty in high-end and low-end service jobs. Ethnography, 6(3), 283-313.

Wednesday 11/9 Read: Connell, C. (2010). Doing, Undoing, or Redoing Gender?: Learning from the Workplace Experiences of Transpeople. Gender & Society, 24(1), 31-55. Jacobs, J. (2008). Detours on the Road to Equality: Women, Work, and Higher Education. In J. Goodwin & J. M. Jasper (Eds.), The Contexts Reader. New York: W.W. Norton. pp. 239-246

Assignment: Scrapbook Entry Work Due WEEK 11: International Perspectives Monday 11/14 Read: Mendez, Jennifer Bickman. (2002). ''Creating Alternatives from a Gender Perspective: Transnational Organizing for Maquila Workers' Rights in Central America.'' Pp. 121-41 in Women's Activism and Globalization: Linking Local Struggles with Transnational Politics, edited by Nancy A. Naples and Manisha Desai. New York: Routledge. Genders in Production: Chapters 1-3 FILM, 7pm, VAC Beam Room: Maquilapolis: City of Factories

Wednesday 11/16 Read: Genders in Production: Chapters 4-8 Kristof, N. D., & Wudunn, S. (2009). The Womens Crusade. New York Times Magazine, August 17. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/magazine/23Woment.html?_r=2

Assignment: Scrapbook Entry Global Gender Due WEEK 12: Gendered Violence Monday 11/21 Read: Cohn, C. (1993). Wars, Wimps, and Women: Talking Gender and Thinking War. In M. Cooke & A. Woollacott (Eds.), Gendering War Talk. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. pp. 227-246. Kimmel, M.S. (2002) Gender, Class and Terrorism, Chronicle of Higher Page 7 of 8

Education: The Chronicle Review, February 9. http://chronicle.com/article/GenderClassTerrorism/6096 Nagel, J. (1998). Masculinity and nationalism: gender and sexuality in the making of nations. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 21(2).

WEEK 13: Transforming Gender? Monday 11/28 Read: Lorber, J. (2004). A World Without Gender and Epilogue. in Breaking the Bowls: Degendering and feminist change. New York: W.W. Norton. pp. 151-176 Lucal, B. (1999). What it Means to Be Gendered Me: Life on the Boundaries of a Dichotomous Gender System. Gender & Society, 13(6), 781-797. Ferree, Myra Marx. (2006). Globalization and Feminism: Opportunities and Obstacles for Activism in the Global Arena. in Ferree, M. M., & Tripp, A. M. (Eds.). Global Feminism: Transnational womens activism, organizing, and human rights. New York: New York University Press.

Wednesday 11/30 Read:

Collins, P. H. (2003). Toward a New Vision: Race, Class, and Gender as Categories of Analysis and Connection. In Kimmel, M. S., & Ferber, A. L. (Eds.). Privilege: A reader. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. pp. 233-250 Ferber, A. (2003). Dismantling Privilege and Becoming an Activist In Kimmel, M. S., & Ferber, A. L. (Eds.). Privilege: A reader. Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press. pp. 251-256.

Assignment: Required Scrapbook Entry Undoing Gender Due WEEK 14: Monday 12/5 Wikipedia Presentations Wednesday 12/7 Wikipedia Presentations December 17 at 2pm: Final Exam

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