Seminar in Feminist Theory

Jeffery P. Dennis

 

 

Introduction
This course will examine the intersection of two distinct and sometimes oppositional fields of intellectual thought, feminist theory and sociology. Born in European existentialism and nurtured in psychoanalytic literary criticism, feminist theory is often criticized for its obscurity and ivory-tower extravagance, worlds away from the real-life problems of violence and oppression that sociologists tend to work with. We will address several distinct questions: 1) how does feminist theory intersect with other work on forms of oppression (critical race theory and queer theory, for instance)?; 2) can feminist theory make a contribution to sociology beyond of the "Sociology of Gender" classroom?"; 3) can the praxis of sociology illuminate the history and structure of feminist theory?

Although this is an upper-division sociology course, students from other disciplines are welcome. No prior background in the social sciences is assumed. There are no requirements or expectations concerning gender: men, women, and transgendered persons are all welcome, and can all be expected to make strong contributions to the class.

 

Prerequisites
An introductory course in sociology is expected.

 

Textbooks
  • Gloria Anzaldúa, Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. (Spinsters/Aunt Lute, 1987)
  • Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment (Routledge, 2000)
  • Michel Foucault, Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977 (Pantheon, 1980)
  • bell hooks, Feminism is for Everybody: Passionate Politics. (South End Press, 2000).
  • Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own (Harcourt, 1989)

Course Requirements
Link to Class Rules

 

Research Paper

Research paper applying feminist theory to any sociological problem, or providing a sociological analysis of any theme in feminist theory. Approximately 20 pages. 300 points, 40% of final grade. Link to Writing Guide

 
Response Essays
10 brief essays responding to the class readings.  Graded pass/fail. 40% of final grade.  

 

Participation

20% of final grade.

Course Outline

Week 1: Introduction to Sociology
Sociology among the social sciences. Introduction to the sociological imagination. What sociologists can and cannot do. Classical and postmodern sociology. Introduction to the four main theories of society: structural-functionalism, symbolic interaction, conflict, feminist/queer theory.

Read: Foucault, Power/Knowledge, pp. 37-145; Mills, "The Sociological Imagination"*

Week 2: Premodern Feminist Thought
Premodern Feminisms. Feminism and English Romanticism. The Enlightenment. The creation of gendered and sexualized binarisms based on the Cartesian mind/body duality.

Read: M. Butler, "Early Liberal Roots of Feminism: John Locke and the Attack on Patriarchy."*; M. Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women.*; Selection from J. Katz, The Invention of Heterosexuality.*

 

Week 3: Women's Movements
The First and Second Women's Movement in the U.S. The
discovery of oppression. Women sociologists: Addams, Martineau, Fuller.

Read: Collins, Black Feminist Thought, pp. 45-68; Selection from B. Friedan, The Feminine Mystique*.

 

Week 4: European Feminism
European Intellectuals: De Beauvoir, Collette, Woolf. Sexual liberation, racism, and ennui.

Read: Selection from de Beauvoir, The Second Sex*; Woolf, A Room of One's Own.

 

Week 5: Backlash and Fragmentation
Feminism enters and exits the public sphere. Questions over rape and pornography. Anti-feminism: Mythopoetic Men's Movement, Mars/Venus, and Dr. Laura.

Read: Selection from R. Bly, Iron John*; J. Elshtain, "Feminism, Family, and Community"*; J. Flammang, "Feminist Theory: The Question of Power."*

 

Week 6: The Boundaries of Gender
Gender beyond physiology. Third and fourth genders. Performativity. Judith Butler.

Read: Selection from J. Butler, Bodies That Matter*; S. Bem, "Probing the Promise of Androgyny"*; Selection from C. Stack, All Our Kin.

 

Week 7: Compulsory Heterosexuality
Gender and sexuality. Gay, straight, bisexual, transgendered, queer. Identity politics and social construction.

Read: Selection from K. Weston, Long Slow Burn: Sexuality and Social Science*; Adrienne Rich, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence"*; M. Wittig, The Straight Mind.*

 

Week 8: Queer Theory
The construction of sexuality. Queer theory and feminism.

Read: Jagose, Introduction to Queer Theory; Selection from D. Fuss, Inside/Outside.

 

Week 9: Hegemonic Masculinity
The demographics of oppression in men's and women's lives. Hegemonic masculinity, compulsory femininity, and wage/earning gaps.

Read: Collins, Black Feminist Thought, pp. 149-20.1

 

Week 10: Beyond the Sociology of Gender
Feminist theory meets political, economic, and urban sociology.

Read: Read: b. hooks, Feminism is For Everybody (all); selection from A. Walker, Possessing the Secret of Joy.*

 

Week 11: Hybridity and Desire
The intersection of race, class, gender, and sexuality. Global feminisms and diaspora identities.

Read: Anzaldúa, Borderlands/ La Frontera, 1-14, 77-102;
C. Cohen, "Punks, Bulldaggers, and Welfare Queens: The Radical Potential of Queer Politics"*; S. Hall, "Cultural Identity and Diaspora."*

 

Week 12: Feminism in the Academy
Hegemony and the rise of academic feminist theory.

Read: Collins, Black Feminist Thought, pp. 251-291.

 

Week 13:  Review/Conclusion
Read: Anzaldúa, Borderlands/ La Frontera, pp. 25-65; M. Kimmel, "Sexual Balkanization: Gender and Sexuality as New Ethnicities."*