This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Readings

[FF]= Buy at Amazon Taylor, Verta, Nancy Whittier, and Leila Rupp (eds.). Feminist Frontiers. 8th ed. McGraw-Hill, 2008. ISBN: 9780073404301.

[FIOT]= Buy at Amazon Schneir, Miriam (ed.). Feminism in Our Time: The Essential Writings, World War II to the Present. Vintage/Random House, 1994. ISBN: 9780679745082.

SES # TOPICS READINGS
1 Introduction to course and field of Women's and Gender Studies No readings
2 The roots of contemporary gender debates: The 19th century American women's rights movement

Boydston, Jeanne. "The Cult of True Womanhood."

Grimke, Angelina. "Human Rights Not Founded on Sex." In Letters to Catherine Beecher. Isaac Knapp, 1838.

Buy at Amazon Davis, Angela. "The Anti-Slavery Movement and the Birth of Women's Rights." In Women, Race and Class. New York, NY: Vintage Books, 1983, pp. 30-45. ISBN: 9780394713519.
3-4 Interpreting classic American women's rights documents: Seneca Falls Convention and "The Declaration of Sentiments" (1849)

Declaration of Independence. July 4, 1776.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. "Declaration of Sentiments." Women's Rights Convention, Seneca Falls, New York, 1848.

Stone, Lucy, and Henry Blackwell. "Marriage Agreement." 1855.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady. "Our Costume." The Lily 4 (April 1851): 31.

Buy at Amazon Douglass, Frederick. "Why I Became a Women's Rights Man." In Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Written by Himself. Edited by Rayford W. Logan. New York, NY: Macmillan, 1962 (reprinted from the revised edition of 1892), pp. 469, 472-74. ISBN: 9780020023500. (The e-text of the Life and Times of Frederick Douglass is also available from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.)
5 Strategies for gender change: "Direct action voting"/civil disobedience; gender, race and suffrage

Anthony, Susan B. "Constitutional Argument: Speech After Being Convicted for Voting in the 1872 Presidential Election." 1872.

Douglass, Frederick. "Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage." January 1867.

Truth, Sojourner. "Ain't I a Woman?" In [FF] pp. 33.
6 Gender, race, and suffrage, continued Screening: Greaves, Will. Ida B. Wells: Passion for Justice. 1989.
7-8 Resistance or illness?: Discourse of women, medicine, and madness in 19th century America and beyond

Screening of the film: Clive, John. The Yellow Wallpaper. 1989.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper. 1892.

The following four readings are from the text:

Buy at Amazon Erskine, Thomas L., and Connie L. Richards. The "Yellow Wallpaper": Women Writers: Text and Context. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1993. ISBN: 9780813519944.

Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The 'Nervous Breakdown' of Women." Pp. 67-76.

Smith-Rosenberg, Carroll. "The Hysterical Woman: Sex Roles and Role Conflict in Nineteenth-Century America." Pp. 77-104.

Mitchell, S. Weir. "Selections from Fat and Blood, Wear and Tear and Doctor and Patient." Pp. 105-111.

Gilbert, Sandra, and Gubar, Susan. Excerpt from The Madwoman in the Attic. Pp. 115-123.

Buy at Amazon Hedges, Elaine R. "'Out at Last'? 'The Yellow Wallpaper' after Two Decades of Feminist Criticism." Critical Essays on Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Edited by Joanne Karpinski. New York, NY: Hall & Co., 1992, pp. 222-233. ISBN: 9780816173150.
9 Beyond suffrage: The roots of the Second Wave of the American women's rights movement: World War II and postwar era

Screening: Field, Connie. The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter. 1981.

Buy at Amazon Friedan, Betty. "The Problem That Has No Name." Chapter 1 in The Feminine Mystique. New York, NY: W.W. Norton, 2001. ISBN: 9780393322576.
10-11 The Second Wave of women's rights activism (1963-present)

"The Report of the President's Commission on the Status of Women. [FIOT] pp. 38-47.

"The Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII." [FIOT] pp. 71-75.

Murray, Pauli, and Mary O. Eastwood. "Jane Crow and the Law: Sex Discrimination and Title VII." [FIOT] pp. 76-88.

The National Organization for Women "Statement of Purpose." [FIOT] pp. 95-102.

Hayden, Casey, and Mary King. "A Kind of Memo…to a Number of Other Women in the Peace and Freedom Movements." [FIOT] pp. 89-94.

"Redstockings Manifesto." [FIOT] pp. 125-129.

"National Black Feminist Organization Statement of Purpose." [FIOT] pp. 171-174.

"The Combahee River Collective Statement." [FIOT] pp. 175.

McIntosh, Peggy. "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." [FF] pp. 12-18.

Lorde, Audre. "The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House." [FF] pp. 38.
12 Socialization and gender roles: Social constructionism vs. biological essentialism

Lorber, Judith. "'Night to His Day': The Social Construction of Gender." In [FF] pp. 41-56.

Weinstein, Naomi. "Kinder, Kuche, Kirche: Psychology Constructs the Female." [FIOT] pp. 213-228.

Gilligan, Carol. "In a Different Voice." [FIOT] pp. 428.

Richardson, Laurel. "Gender Stereotyping in the English Language." [FF] pp. 120-124.

Kimmel, Michael. "What Are Little Boys Made Of? [FF] pp. 187-189.
13-14 Representation of women in advertising and popular visual media

Gimlin, Debra. "Cosmetic Surgery: Paying for Your Beauty." [FF] pp. 140-152.

Taylor, Judy. "Feminist Consumerism and Fat Activists: Grassroots Activism and the Dove 'Real Beauty' Campaign. [FF] pp. 127-139.

Banks, Ingrid. "Hair Still Matters. [FF] pp. 153-161.

"Gender and Television." Museum of Broadcast Communication.

Onishi, Norimitsu. "Globalization of Beauty Makes Slimness Trendy." [FF] pp. 494-495.
15 Socialization: race ethnicity, nationality and gender roles; gender and education

Lopez, Laura, and Frances Hasso. "Frontlines and Borders: Identity Thresholds for Latinas and Arab American Women." [FF] pp. 20-33.

Gunn Allen, Paula. "Where I Come From Is Like This." [FF] pp. 34-37.

Baca Zinn, Maxine, and Bonnie Thornton Dill. "Theorizing Differences from Multiracial Feminism." [FF] pp. 89-84.

Walker, Alice. "Womanist." [FF] pp. 114.

Thorne, Barrie. "Girls and Boys Together…But Mostly Apart: Gender Arrangements in Elementary Schools." [FF] pp. 176-186.

Weil, Elizabeth. "Teaching Boys and Girls Separately." New York Times. March 2, 2008.
16 Sexualities and gender; the right to marriage

Rich, Adrienne. "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence." [FIOT] pp. 310-326.

Messner, Michael A. "Becoming 100% Straight." [FF] pp. 401-404.

Naples, Nancy. "Queer Parenting in the New Millenium." [FF] pp. 342-345.

"Heterosexual Privilege (article and questionnaire)." Peer Educator Training document: Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity.

Goodridge vs. Dept. of Public Health, Massachusetts 2003.

Film: Anderson, Jane. "1961." In If These Walls Could Talk II. 2000.
17 Crossing gender boundaries

Screening: Berliner, Alain. Ma Vie En Rose. 1997.

Kessler, Suzanne. "The Medical Constructions of Gender." [FF]. 69-82.

Fausto-Sterling, Anne. "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough." The Sciences (March/April 1993): 20-25.

———. "The Five Sexes Revisited." The Sciences (July/August 2000).
18 Perspective on transgender

Stryker, Susan. "Transgender Feminism: Queering the Woman Question." [FF] pp. 83-88.

Buy at Amazon Wilchins, Riki Anne. "17 Things You Don't Say to a Transsexual," and "What Does It Cost to Tell the Truth?" In Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender. Firebrand Books, 1997, pp. 27-40. ISBN: 9781563410901.

Buy at Amazon Feinberg, Leslie. "Allow Me To Introduce Myself." In Transliberation: Beyond Pink or Blue. Beacon Press, 1998, pp. 15-35. ISBN: 9780807079515.

Francke, Katherine. "Legal Aspects of Sex Reassignment Surgery."
19 Sexuality, contraception and reproductive choice

Tolman, Deborah. "Doing Desire: Adolescent Girls' Struggles for/with Sexuality." [FF] pp. 348-358.

Smith, Andrea. "'Beyond Pro-Choice versus Pro-Life': Women of Color and Reproductive Justice." In [FF] pp. 446-457.

"People and Events: Katherine Dexter McCormick."

"Roots of the Pill: First Wave Feminism."

Film: Clips of Gazit, Chana. The Pill. 2003.
20-22 Gender and work

Bose, Christine, and Rachel Bridges Whaley. "Sex Segregation in the U.S. Work Force." [FF] pp. 233-242.

Reskin, Barbara. "The Realities of Affirmative Action in Employment."[FF] pp. 266-268.

Gerson, Kathleen. "Moral Dilemmas, Moral Strategies, and the Transformation of Gender: Lessons from Two Generations of Work and Family Change." [FF] pp. 322-330.

"The Gender Wage Gap: 2008." Institute for Women's Policy Research.

Buy at Amazon Kessler, Harris. Alice. "The Wage Conceived: Value and Need as Measures of a Woman's Worth." Feminist Frontiers. 6th ed. Edited by Laurel Richardson, Verta Taylor, and Nancy Whittier. McGraw-Hill, 2003, pp. 185-199. ISBN: 9780072824230.

Buy at Amazon Padavic, Irene, and Barbara Reskin. "Moving Up and Taking Charge." Feminist Frontiers. 6th ed. Edited by Laurel Richardson, Verta Taylor, and Nancy Whittier. McGraw-Hill, 2003. ISBN: 9780072824230.
23 Gender and work-national and global dimensions

Enloe, Cynthia. "The Globetrotting Sneaker." [FF] pp. 512-516.

Pinsky, Robert. "The Shirt."

Kang, Miliann. "The Managed Hand: The Commercialization of Bodies and Emotions in Korean Immigrant-Owned Nail Salons. [FF] pp. 253-265.

Buy at Amazon Hochschild, Arlie Russell. "Love and Gold." In Global Women: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy. Edited by Barbara Ehrenreich, and Arlie Russell Hochschild. New York, NY: Metropolitan Books, 2003. ISBN: 9780805069952.
24 Violence against women: National and global dimensions

Brownmiller, Susan. "Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape." [FIOT] pp. 272-282.

Martin, Patricia Yancey and Robert Hummer. "Fraternities and Rape on Campus." [FF] pp. 471-479.

Steinem, Gloria. "Supremacy Crimes." [FF] pp. 480-482.

Nagel, Joane. "Sex and War: Fighting Men, Comfort Women, and the Military-Sexual Complex." [FF] pp. 494-506.

Crenshaw, Kimberlé. "Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color." [FF] pp. 484-493.
25-26 Towards a globe politics of gender; Contemporary women's movements

Okin, Susan Moller. "Is Multiculturalism Bad for Women?" Boston Review (1999).

Abu-Lughod, Lila. "Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving? Anthropological Reflections on Cultural Relativism and Its Others." [FF] pp. 527-535.

Chang, Grace. "From the Third World to the 'Third World Within': Asian Women Workers Fighting Globalization." [FF] pp. 585-594.

Sen, Amartya. "More than 100 Million Women Are Missing." The New York Review of Books 27, no. 20 (December 20, 1990).

Aronson, Pamela. "Feminists or 'Postfeminists'? Young Women's Attitudes toward Feminism and Gender Relations." [FF] pp. 572-582.