Intro to Gender Studies

Susan Gallagher

Political Science Department

American Pride, Allison Merriweather

This course provides a general introduction to the wide array of historical, social, economic, and philosophical topics usually included within the boundaries of gender studies.  We will explore the role of gender in the making of political knowledge, the struggle for women's suffrage, the rise and decline of the women's liberation movement, post-feminist views of social relations, various approaches to sexual identity, the political economy of sexual inequality, and the tension between public and private in present-day American politics and society.   

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   Click here for Exam Questions        Click here for Thesis Statements

Gendered Perspectives: 

An Overview of Major Themes in Western Political Thought

Edward Hopper, Girlie Show

Required Readings:

1. Simone de Beauvoir, excerpt from The Second Sex  (click on 'Other Thinkers,' then scroll through theorists until you come to Simone de Beauvoir)

2. Background on Simone de Beauvoir

3. Timeline of the Struggle for Women's Rights in the U.S.

4. A Brief History of the Women's Rights Movement 

5. A Summary of the Women's Suffrage Movement

6. Bradwell v. Illinois  (Scroll down to entry)

Gender & Privacy in the Tell-All Age

Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren, "The Right to Privacy," Harvard Law Review, Volume IV, No. 5, December 1890.

Historical Background for "The Right to Privacy"

Roe v. Wade (1973)

Historical Background on Roe v. Wade

Bowers v. Hardwick (1986)

Don't Ask; Don't Tell

Background on Don't Ask; Don't Tell

Meritor Savings Bank v. Vinson (1986)

"The most mysterious aspect of human life..." Bill Clinton, Testimony Before the Starr Grand Jury 

"This is Private!" Bill Clinton's Address to the Nation (August 17, 1998)

The Political Economy of Gender Inequality in 21st Century American Society

Gender Inequality in the Global Economy

Women Watch

The Gender Revolution

Human Eggs for Sale

The $50,000-Dollar Egg (1999) 

The Moral Status of Embryos, Right-to-Lifers & Third-World Women

Feminism and Class in the 21st Century

Inequality in America: "How the Pie is Sliced"

Wendy Kaminar, "Will Class Trump Gender?: The New Assault on Feminism

Barbara Ehrenreich, excerpt from Nickle & Dimed

Assignment :  

Bring in engagement/marriage announcement pages from The Sunday New York Times and The Lowell Sun (or any other relatively small city newspaper)

Resources

• National Women's History Project  A web site for the 150th Anniversary of the original women's rights movement. 

• The History of Women's Suffrage in America  A time line complied by Lest We Forget.

• Documents from the Women's Liberation Movement  An On-line Archival Collection from the Special Collections Library, Duke University. 

• Women in Politics A guide to finding out current and historical information about women involved in every aspect of politics in the United States. 

• Susan B. Anthony University Center  A site devoted to contributions of Susan B. Anthony. 

• Worcester Women's History Project  A site designed to commemorate the first national women's rights convention and to contribute to the ongoing national discussion of women's rights. 

• Upstate New York & the Women's Rights Movements Text and selected images from a 1995 exhibition in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Rochester Library, in commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the passage of the nineteenth amendment. 

• National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action League  Provides fact sheet on Roe v. Wade and related issues.

• The Women's Bureau  Provides information and statistics on the economic status of women in the United States.

• Women's Issues: History of Women and Work in the United States  Links to historical and current information on issues involving women & work.

• The Feminist Theory Home Page  Provides links to research materials and other information on feminist philosophy.

• Family Issues: Same Sex Marriage  Links and information compiled by The National Organization for Women.

• Crossroads  A gender studies resource guide compiled by the American Studies Dept. at the University of Virginia

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