UNIVERSITY AT ALBANY STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK Women's Studies Department INTRODUCTION TO FEMINISMS WSS 210P/K I. COURSE DESCRIPTION Why Intro to Feminisms? Introduction to Feminisms provides all students (of any discipline) with a serious and scholarly way to become familiar with a vast body of knowledge that has historically been neglected: the conditions and circumstances affecting the lives of women. Our study will use a feminist analysis to shed light on the past and envision the future. All Women's Studies courses at the University at Albany have as their basis: -the examination of sex-based inequities as they affect women of all classes, races, sexual, and ethnic identifications; -the creation of strategies for critiquing and changing the existing status of women; -the encouragement for students to integrate these strategies into their lives. This is a basic survey course and is intended as an introduction, as its name implies. We will cover a wide range of issues, many of them controversial. Students who are interested in furthering their study from this perspective can find other Women's Studies courses at this university and can pursue a major in this field. We will be giving you information later in the course about how you can do this and if you are interested, how you can become a member of the teaching collective. How is this course different? Intro to Feminisms is different from the usual university course in several significant ways. First of all it is taught not by a single faculty member but by collective members. Our collective consists of student facilitators and faculty advisers. Student facilitators have completed Intro themselves as well as other Women's Studies courses designed to prepare them to offer presentations and facilitate discussions in this course. Another way in which Intro differs from the usual course is in the amount of class participation expected of you. Group discussion is at the heart of this class. Student facilitators will present material and then facilitate discussion, moving it in an organized and thoughtful way. Discussion guidelines are designed to promote an atmosphere of respect and support for all class members. One of the most important aspects of these guidelines is the concept of rotating chair. This is a process unique to Women's Studies. It will be demonstrated as well as described in detail. This process is intended to move discussion from the facilitators to the individual class members, who choose the next speaker, and so on. Besides full-class discussion, we will also use small group activities for in-depth exploration of topics and encourage carrying feminist analysis into projects outside the classroom. II. REQUIRED READINGS All of the required readings for the class are available on reserve in the library. (The reserve room is located in the basement of the library). In addition, you may purchase all of the articles at Shipmate's in Stuyvesant Plaza. Your facilitators will explain the required readings and the course packets in detail in class. III. REQUIRED TEXTS Anzaldua, Gloria (ed.). Making Face, Making Soul (Haciendo Caras): Creative and Critical Perspectives bY Women of Color. San Francisco: an aunt lute foundation book, 1990. Ehrenreich, Barbara and Deirdra English. Witches, Midwives, and Nurses: A History of Women Healers. Old Westbury, N.Y.: Feminist Press, 1973. Ehrenreich, Barbara and Deirdra English. Complaints and Disorders: The Sexual Politics of Sickness. New York: The Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1973. Fuentes, Annette and Barbara Ehrenreich. Women in the Global Factory. Boston: South End Press, 1983. Wetzeo, Jodi and Margo Linn, Espen Laub, Monys A. Hagen, Annette Bennington McElhiney, and Carmen Braun Williams. Women's Studies, Thinkinq Women. Denver: Kendall-Hunt Publishing Co. 1993. IV. COURSE REQUIREMENTS A. Two papers ( 6-8 pages each ) 40% B. One long project 15% C. Three Journals ( 10-l5 pages each ) 30% -each journal must have one short project entry (for a total of three short projects) CLASS READINGS FOR INTRODUCTION TO FEMINISMS Thursday, Jan. 20 INTRODUCTION Tuesday, Jan. 25 HISTORY OF FEMINISM Women's Studies, Thinking Women -Introduction, 1-14 by Jodi Wetzel -Assigned Reading, 15-23 -Chapter 7, 283-305 by Monys A. Hagen -Assigned readings, 306-327 Making Face, Making Soul -"Haciendo Caras, Una Etrada" by Gloria Anzaldua -"Nods That Silence" by Lynet Uttal, 317-320 -"Where is the Love?" by June Jordan, 174-178 -"Definition of Womanist" by Alice Walker, 370 Thursday, Jan. 27 GENDER ROLE SOCIALIZATION (EDUCATION AND HOME) Women's Sudies, Thinking Women -"Heartbeat" by Joy Harjo, 47-48 -"Talking Back" by Bell Hooks, 49-52 -"The Bridge Poem" by Donna Kate Rushin, 53 -"Education and Women" by Alette Hill, Annette Bennington McElhiney and Joan van Becelaero, 66-68 -"The Classroom Climate for Women" by Bernice R. Sandler, 96-98 Making Face, Making Soul -"Inclusion Without Influence: The Continuing Tokenism of Women of Color" by Lynet Uttal, 42-45 -"Suicide Note" by Janice Mirikitani, 75-76 -"The Three Tongues" by Catalina Rios, 196 -"The Girl Who Wouldn't Sing" by Rit Yuen Quan, 212-222 -"Grace" by Carmen Morones, 231-244 Assigned Articles -"X" by Lois Gould Tuesday, Feb. 1 GENDER ROLES AND CULTURE (LANGUAGE AND ART) Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"Language and Women's Power" by Alette Hill, Annette Bennington McElhiney and Joan Van Becelaere, 62-65 -Conclusion to Chapter 2, 75 -"Just Two Kinds of People in the World" by Julia Penelope, 88-95 -Chapter 11 by Margo Linn Espenlaub, 455-474 -Assigned Readings, 475-496 Making Face, Making Soul -"Refugee Ship" by Lorna Dee Cervantes, 182 -"The Eskimos" by Barbara Ruth, 191 -"Elena" by Pat Mora, 193 -"Unnatural Speech" by Pat Mora, 194 -"Not Editable" by Chrystos, 224-226 -"Commitment from the Mirror-Writing Box" by Trinh T. Minh-ha, 245-255 -"Judy Baca: Our People are the Internal Exiles" by Diane Neumaier, 256-270 -"Nopalitos: The Making of Fiction" by Helena Maria Viramontes, 291-296 Thursday, Feb. 3 MEDIA Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"The Overvoice: Images of Women in the Media" by Sharon Silvas with Barbara Jenkins and Polly Grant, 77-87 Making Face, Making Soul -"Object into Subject: Some Thoughts on the Work of Black Women Artists" by Michelle Cliff, 271-291 Tuesday, Feb. 8 CLASSISM/CAPITALISM Women's Studies, Thinking Women -Chapter 6 by Monys A. Hagen, 233-252 -"By the Day or Week: Mexicana Domestic Workers in El Paso" by Vicki L. Ruiz, 269-279 -"Pay Equity and Comparable Worth: What's a Dollar to You is Still Only 59 Cents to Me" by Jacqueline St. Joan, 389-391 Making Face, Making Soul -"Generations of Women" by Janice Mirikitan, 14-19 -"The Visit Home" by Rosemary Cho Leyson, 97-101 -"Notes from a Chicana Coed" by Bernice Zamora, 131-132 -"Notes on Oppresion and Violence" by Aleticia Tijerina, 170-173 -"Legal Alien" by Pat Mora, 376 Thursday, Feb. 10 CAPITALISM/IMPERIALISM Making Face, Making Soul -"Punto Final" by Shirley Hill Witt, 6-7 -"We Exist" by Janet Gould, 8-9 -"A Letter to my Daughter" by Siu Wai Anderson, 156-158 -"Journeys of the Mind" by Anne Waters, 159-161 -"Between Ourselves" by Audre Lorde, 139-141 -"En Rapport, In Opposition: Cobrando Cuentas Alas Nuestras" 142 150 Women in the Global Factory by Annette Fuentes and Barbara Ehrenreich Assigned Articles -"Imagine A Country" by Holly Sklar Tuesday, Feb. 15 RACISM Making Face, Making Soul -"Something About the Subject Makes it Hard to Name" by Gloria Yamato, 20-24 -"Racism and Women's Studies" by Barbara Smith, 25-28 -"The Costs of Exclusionary Practices in Women's Studies" by Maxine Baca Zinn, Lynn Weber Cannon, Elizabeth Higginbotham, and Bonnie Thorton Dill, 29-41 -"Notes From a Fragmented Daughter" by Elena Tajima Creef, 82-84 -"Corrosion" by Gisele Fong, 117 -"Prison of Silence" by Janice Mirikitani, 199-202 -"For the White Person Who Wants to Know How to Be My Friend" by Pat Parker, 297 -"Developing Unity Among Women of Color: Crossing the Barriers of Internalized Racism and Cross-Racial Hostility" by Virginia Harris and Trinity A. Ordona, 304-316 Assigned Articles -"White Privilege, Male Privilege" by Peggy McIntosh Thursday, Feb. 17 To Be Announced Tuesday, Feb. 22 RACISM Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"The Welder" by Cherrie Moraga, 280-282 -Conclusion by Tara Tull, 501-509 -Assigned Readings, 510-524 Making Face, Making Soul -"What the Gypsy Said to Her Children" by Judith Ortiz Cofer, 3 -"Poem for the Young White Man Who Asked Me How I, An Intelligent Well-Read Person Could Believe in the War Between the Races" by Lorna Dee Cervantes, 4-5 -"Hablando Cara a Cara/Speaking Face to Face: An Exploration of Ethnocentric Racism" Maria Lugones, 46-54 -"Postscript" by Canela Jaramillo, 77-79 -"Recognising, Accepting and Celebrating Our Differences" by Papupa Molina, 326-331 Assigned Articles -"Beyond Stereotyping" from Ms. by Daniela Gioseffi In Bridge read: -"He Saw" by Chrystos, 18-19 -"Gee, You Don't Seem like an Indian from the Reservation" by Barbara Cameron, 46-52 -"And When You Leave, Take Your Pictures with You" by Jo Carillo, 63-64 -"Beyond the Cliffs of Albiquiu" by Jo Carillo, 65-67 -"I Don't Understand Those Who Have Turned Away from Me" by Chrystos,68-70 -"Give Me Back" by Chrystos, 197 -"No Rock Scorns Me as Whore" by Chrystos, 243-245 Thursday, Feb. 24 ANTI-SEMITISM Assigned Articles -"The New Anti-Semitism" by Craig Horowitz -"Interracial Plus" by Josylon Segal from Nice Jewish Girls -"The Blood Shall Be A Sign" by June Jordan from On Call -"Anti-Semitism in the Women's Movement" by Bonnie Morris from Off Our Backs -"A Restricted Country" by Joan Nestle, 29-36 Tuesday, March 1 ABLEISM/AGEISM Making Face, Making Soul -"You're Short, Besides!" by Sucheing Chan, 162-168 -"Periquita" by Carmen Morone, 179-181 -"Voices: On Becoming Old Women" by Baba Cooper from women Aging -"Beyond Pedestals" Introduction from Women with Disabilities by Adrienne Rich and Michelle Fine Assigned Articles -"Abuse of Women with Disabilities" by Rebecca Grothaus -"Growing To Be An Old Woman" by Shevy Heley -"Finding Ourselves: This Body I Love" by Debra Abbott from The Power of Each Breath Thursday, March 3 BEAUTY, BODY, SELF-IMAGE Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"Prescribed Feminine Physical Images" Annette Bennington McElhiney, 106 -"When I Was Growing Up" by Nellie Wong, 193-194 Making Face, Making Soul -"Light Skinneded Naps" by Cristal Brent Zook, 85-96 -"In Magazines I Found Specimens of the Beautiful" by Ekua Omosupe, 169 Assigned Articles -"A Julia de Burgos" by Julia de Burgos, 227-230 -"Skin Deep" by Wendy Chapkis Tuesday, March 8 ROMANTIC IDEAS OF LOVE/HETEROSEXISM Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"Dependency" by Carmen Braun Williams, 36-38 -Chapter 4 by Margokinn, Espenlaub, and Carmen Braun Williams, 149-166 -"A Passion for Female Friends" by Connie Griffin, 187-192 Making Face, Making Soul -"A Woman Cutting Celery" by Sandra Cisneros, 80-81 -"I Am Your Sister: Black Women Organizing Across Sexualities" by Audre Lorde, 321-325 Assigned Articles -"The Fairy Tales" by Andrea Dworkin Thursday, March 10 LESBIAN EXISTENCE Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"Peril and Promise: Lesbians' Workplace Participation" Beth Schneider, 253-265 -"Minneapolis Domestic Partner Act" 171 Making Face, Making Soul -"I Lost It at the Movies" by Jewelle Gomez, 203-206 -"Some Like Indians Endure" Paula Gunn Allen, 298-301 -"Girlfriends" by Andrea R. Canaan, 302-303 -"The Trouble With Normal is its Always Gets Worse" by Jo Whitehorse Cochran, from Changing Our Power Tuesday, March 15 MARRIAGE/MOTHERHOOD Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"The Meaning of Motherhood in Black Culture and Black Mother/Daughter Relationships" by Patricia Hill Collins, 171- 186 -"The Erasure of Women from United States Legal History" by Jacqueline St.Joan, 385-388 Making Face, Making Soul -"Turtle Gal" by Beth Brant, 103-113 -"On Passing" by Laura Munter-Orabona, 124-130 -"To Omoni, In Korea" by Anne Miok Bruining, 153-155 -"For Alva Benson and for Those Who Have Learned to Speak" by Joy Harjo, 197-198 Assigned Articles -"Out of the Stream" by Shirley Glubka -"Homefires - Making Delinquent Dads Pay" by Jeanne L. Reid Thursday, March 17 REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS Women's Studies, Thinking Women -Chapter 3 by Annette Bennington McElhiney, 106-113 -"Reproductive Rights: A Brief Chronology" by National Organization for Women, 120-127 -"Agua Prieta-1968" by Patricia McVey-Ritsick, 145-147 -"Protective Legislation and False Paternalism; or Why Can't a Woman Be More Like a Man?" by Patricia St.Joan, 391-392 -"Letter From a Welfare Mother" -"Jane Collective" from Ms. by Lindsy VanGelder Tuesday, March 22 COMMERCIAL EXPLOITATION OF WOMEN'S SEXUALITY Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"The Image of the Female" by Margo Linn Aspenlaub, 462-465 Assigned Articles -"She hated the rain" by Sapphire, 56 -"Prostitution" by Rosie Summers, 113-118 -"Making Movies" by Jane Smith, 135-141 -"Prostitution: A Difficult Issue for Feminists" by Pricilla Alexander, 184-212 -"The Social Consequences of Unchastity" by Gail Pheterson, 215- 230 -"Racism in Pornography" by Lesbians of Color from Good Girls. Bad Girls Thursday, March 24 RECLAIMING OUR SEXUALITY Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power" by Audre Lorde, 55-59 -"Celebrating Nelly" by Judith Arcana, 128-134 -"If Men Could Menstruate" by Gloria Steinem, 143-144 Making Face, Making Soul -"Masks of Women" Mitsuye Yamada, 144-116 Assigned Articles -"Radical Heterosexuality" by Naomi Wolf -"The Social Construction of Sexuality" by Ruth Hubbard from The Politics of Women's Biology -"Organs and Orgasms" by Alix Shulman -"Loving Whom We Choose" by Lisa Orlando -"What I Need Is" by Ronda Slater -"Myths/realities of bisexuality" by Sharon Sumpter Tuesday, March 29-31 CLASSES CANCELLED Tuesday, April 5 SEXUAL HARASSMENT Women's Studies, Thinking Women -Chapter 5 by Annette Bennington McElhiney, 195-200 Assigned Articles -"This is America: Sexual Harassment and Discrimination" by Jaqueline St. Joan, 392-394 -"The Little Rapes" by A. Medea and C.Thompson -"Don't Hey Baby Me" by Jacguelyn Grant Thursday, April 7 RAPE Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"Rape" by Annette Bennington McElhiney, 202-205 -"Sex Without Consent: The Hidden Story of Date Rape" by Sandra Herzog, 219-225 -"A Sure Fire Winner Is To Tell Her That You Love Her; Women Fall For It All the Time" by Michelle Collison, 228-230 -"Rape Culture" by Diane Herman from Changing Our Power -"Latent Rapists" by Ntozake Shange from For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf -"Riding the Bull at Gilley's: Convicted Rapists Describe the Reward of Rape" by Diana Scully and Joseph Marolla from Feminist Frontiers III Tuesday, April 12 SEXUAL ABUSE/INCEST Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"Incest" by Annette Bennington Elhiney, 200-202 Making Face, Making Soul -"Sessions" by Nora Cobb, 120-123 -"Her Rites of Passage" by Linda Marin, 183-190 -"I Am Laughing" by Jo Whitehorse Cochran from Changing Our Power Assigned Article -"Sexual Abuse: Smashing the Silence" by Vickie Sears Thursday, April 14 BATTERING OF WOMEN Women's Studies, Thinking Women -"Domestic Violence" by Annette Bennington Elhiney, 205-206 -"Femicide" by Annette Bennington Elhiney, 206-210 -"Released At Last" by Linda Bennington Nolan, 211-213 -"Domestic Violence" by Janet Mickish, 214-218 -"The Drama of Long Distance Runners" Jacqueline St. Joan, 226-227 Making Face, Making Soul -"I Give You Back" by Joy Harjo, 151-152 -"Corazon de Una Anciana" by Edna Escamill, 133-138 Assigned Articles -"A Day in the Life" by Rebecca Walker from Ms. -"Love Don't Always Make it Right" by Evelyn C. White from Black Women's Health Book -"How We Batter Abused Women" by Michael Dowd from New York Forum -"Getting Free: A Handbook for Women in Abusive Relationships" by Ginny Nicarthy, Chapter 1 and Introduction Tuesday, April 19 POLITICS OF THE LAW Women's Studies, Thinking Women -Chapter 8 by Patricia Schroeder, 339-345 -Chapter 9 by Jacqueline St. Joan, 383-398 -Assigned Readings, 399-424 -"Towards a New Strategy for the ERA: Some Lessons from the American Woman Suffrage Movement" Suzanne M. Marilly, 369-381 Thursday, April 21 MEDICAL/MENTAL HEALTH ESTABLISHMENT Women's Studies, Thinking Women -Chapter 1 by Carmen Braun Williams, 27-42 -"Silent Epidemic of Social Diseases Makes STD Experts Raise Their Voices" by Marsha F. Goldstein, 135-137 -"Woman-Hole" by Carmen Tafolla, 138 -"Aids: In Living Color" by Beth Ritchie, 139-142 Making Face, Making Soul -"Madness Disguises Sanity" by Opal Palmer Adisa, 223 Assigned Articles -Conclusion from The Looney Bin Trip by Kate Millet Complaints and Disorders, by B. Ehrenreich and D. English Tuesday, April 26 WOMEN'S HEALTH/WOMEN AS HEALERS Women's Studies, Thinking Women -Chapter 2 by Annette Bennington McElhiney, 103-106, 114-119 -"Witchcraft and Women's Culture" by Starhawk, 441-447 Witches, Midwives and Nurses, by Barbara Ehrenreich and D. English Thursday, April 28 RELIGIOUS INSTITUTIONS Women's Studies. Thinking Women -"Traditional Religion" Alette Hill, Elhiney and Becelaere, 61-75 -"How Cruel is the Story of Eve" by Stevie Smith, 99-100 - Chapter 10 by Alice Reich, 427-440 -"From Pyre to Hearth" by N. Gray and C. Woodward Assigned Articles -"Feminist Witchcraft" Anne Forefreedom from On the Issues -"Black Women in the Church" from But Some Of Us Are Brave Tuesday, May 3 RECLAIMING OUR SPIRITUALITY -Assignments To Be Announced