COURSE SYLLABUS/ 107-242A INTRODUCTION TO FEMINIST THEORY

Fall term 2004: MW 9:30 10:30 plus conference

Professor M. Deslauriers
September

1 Introduction
6 LABOUR DAY HOLIDAY
8 Bartky, Toward a Phenomenology of Feminist Consciousness
LIBERAL FEMINISM
13 Ronald Dworkin, Liberalism
15 Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman
20 Truth, Aint I A Woman?
CRITICISMS OF LIBERAL FEMINISM
22 Combahee River Collective, A Black Feminist Statement; hooks,
Black Women: Shaping Feminist Theory
MARXIST AND SOCIALIST FEMINISM
27 Marx, The German Ideology & The Premises of the Materialist
Method;
Avineri, The Social and Political Thought of Karl Marx.
29 Jaggar, Chapter 10

October

November

December

CRITICISMS OF MARXIST/SOCIALIST FEMINISM

4 Bartky, Feeding Egos and Tending Wounds: Deference and
Disaffection in Womens Emotional Labor
6 MacKinnon, The Problem of Marxism and Feminism
11 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
13 Rich, Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence
RADICAL FEMINISM
18 Firestone, The Dialectic of Sex
20 Andrea Dworkin, Intercourse
25 MacKinnon, Difference and Dominance
CRITICISMS OF RADICAL FEMINISM
27 Harris, Race and Essentialism in Feminist Legal Theory
ISSUE: WHAT IS A WOMAN? SEX AND GENDER
1 Rubin, The Traffic in Women
3 Haslanger, Ontology and Social Construction
8 Butler, Gender Trouble
ISSUE: WHO IS A WOMAN? FEMINISM, NATIONALITY AND CULTURE
10 Okin, Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?; Honig, My Culture Made Me Do
It; Post, Between Norms and Choices.
15 Talpade Mohanty, Feminism Without Borders, Chapter 1, Under Western
Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses
17 Nussbaum, Women and Human Development: the Capabilities Approach, In
Defense of Universal Values.
ISSUE: PORNOGRAPHY
22Dworkin, Do We Have a Right to Pornography?
24 Langton, Whose Right? Ronald Dworkin, Women, and Pornographers
29 MacKinnon, Only Words
1 Rich, Taking Women Students Seriously
3 wrap-up
ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE DUE: September 29, November 1.

COURSE OUTLINE/ 107-242A INTRODUCTION TO FEMINIST THEORY

Fall term 2004: MW 9:30 10:30 plus conference
PROFESSOR M. DESLAURIERS
Office: Leacock 943
Phone: 398-1098
e-mail: marguerite.deslauriers@mcgill.ca
Office Hours: W 10:30 12:30
This course is an introduction to feminist political theory. The aims of the course are
to acquaint students with the diversity of feminist theories, and to introduce some of
the issues on which feminists differ. The first part of the course will consider liberal
feminism, Marxist and socialist feminism, and radical feminism. These theories all
provide some account of the practices that maintain the inequality between men and
women. The various feminist theories differ, however, both in their analyses of these
practices, and in their recommendations for political change. Some of the questions
we will address are: If we could ensure that women had opportunities equal to those
of men, would we thereby ensure the equality of women with men? Can the unequal
status of women be analyzed as an instance of, or a function of, some other political
or economic inequality? How are we to understand equality? Does radical feminism
offer a viable political strategy?
In the first part of the course we will also consider feminist theory that is critical of
the main schools of feminist thought, with two aims in view. One is to see how such
criticisms have provoked a recognition of differences within feminism. For example,
the criticisms of liberal feminism articulated by women of colour make clear that
liberal feminism, at least in some forms, fails to address the inequality experienced
by many women. The second aim is to raise the question of the differences among
women and whether, in light of those differences, it is possible to come up with a
feminist theory adequate to the concerns of all women.
In the second part of the course we will consider three issues of concern to feminists:
(1) whether there is an important distinction between sex as a natural category and
gender, or whether most, if not all, of what we attribute to sex is in fact gender; (2)
whether there is a tension between feminism and multiculturalism, and whether the
traditions of feminism in North America and western Europe have anything to offer
women in developing countries; (3) whether feminist should support restrictions on
pornography.
Students should note that while they will not be expected to have any prior
knowledge of feminist theory or political theory, they should be prepared to read a
substantial amount, and to learn how to read, write and discuss philosophy. Note
also that this course is an introduction to feminist theory and not an introduction to
the circumstances that have given rise to feminist theory. We will begin with two
assumptions: that women do not now enjoy equality with men, and that this is
neither a natural nor a necessary state of affairs.
TEXT: A required reading package will be available at the Word Bookstore, 469
Milton Street. COURSE REQUIREMENTS: One exercise in defining terms (30%), one
exercise in analysis (30%), one take-home exam (40%).

POLICY ON EXTENSIONS: No extensions will be granted without an appropriate

medical note. Late work will be penalized at the rate of a third of a grade per
calendar day past the due date. For example, a paper that is evaluated as a B, if one
day late, will be assigned a grade of B-; the same paper, if two days late, would
receive a C+.
McGill University values academic integrity. All students must understand the
meaning and consequences of cheating, plagiarism and other academic offences
under the code of student conduct and disciplinary procedures (see
www.mcgill.ca/integrity for more information).