Men, Women and Social Change
SOCL 7237, Wednesdays 4:30 - 6:30 pmProfessor Debra Kaufman
515 Holmes
d.kaufman@neu.edu
ex. 4270
Office Hours: Tues 6:30 - 7:30 pm, or by appointment
“Gender is fundamental, institutionalized, and enduring: yet because members of social groups must constantly (whether they realize it or not) ‘do’ gender to maintain their proper status, the seeds of change are ever present.”
--Judith Lorber, 1987
Course Description:
This course is intended to be an introduction to the sociology of gender at the graduate level of study. The purpose is to look at the origins of as well as some of the current and future directions of scholarship and research about men and women and social change. In the first third of the course we will explore the interaction between feminism and the sociology of gender looking specifically at the ways in which each has affected the other over the past three decades. To do this we will focus on gender at both the macro level of social structural change and the micro level of subjective understanding. We will explore the following concepts: the biological and sociological roots of gender acquisition, gender maintenance and gender identity. Negotiating gender identities will be of major interest at both the public and private level. In the second third of the course we will examine social change through gender perspectives with an institutional focus on some of the following: family, work, health, urban, immigration and race relations.. These institutional foci have been chosen to correlate with ongoing research and interests among some of our departmental faculty who are either a part of the gender concentration and/or who use gender in their research analyses. Many of our readings in this section of the course will be taken from their work and/or professional papers (some as works in progress). In the last third of the course we will read four books: Domestica (Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo), The Trouble Between Us (Wini Breines), and Women, Body, Desire in Postcolonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality (Jyoti Puri). Members of the gender concentration as well as two of the authors will join us for a discussion of these books as we look at the future of the sociology of gender.
Texts: All are available on Amazon.com
Kimmel, Michael and Amy Aronson. 2004. The Gendered Society Reader (second Edition). New York: Oxford Press.
Paradoxes of Gender (Judith Lorber)
Rachel’s Daughters (Debra Kaufman, copies will be available for each student)
Domestica (Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo
The Trouble Between Us (Breines, Wini )
Joyti Puri. 1999. Women, Body, Desire in Postcolonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality.
All other readings will be attainable electronically (as pdfs or as scanned copies)
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
All of the readings outlined on this syllabus are required of all participants and the class meetings will be structured around a discussion of the assigned readings. Students are required to write a brief reaction paper for each week’s readings. For the reaction papers, I would like you to write 2 paragraphs (unless you feel compelled to write more). Please follow these guidelines: In one paragraph, you should write about what you think are the strongest parts of the arguments (what contribution is being made, what concepts, evidence, and/or theory formulations struck you as most important). In the other paragraph, what questions are raised by the readings, what do you think are the weakest part(s), or what should be strengthened. As we move along in our readings it will also become possible to compare and contrast earlier readings with current ones.
You are also required to take responsibility for leading the class discussion at least once during the semester. The job of the discussion leader is to provide thought-provoking questions. When it is your turn to lead the discussion, you should send discussion questions to the seminar members via email no later than Tuesday at noon and post it on blackboard for all of us to access before Wednesday’s class.
Two integrative papers are required, each will be worth one-third of the final grade. These papers will be longer reflective essays (8-10 pages) on a major idea or theme pertaining to gender and any of the topics you wish to discuss in further detail. Each essay should integrate, synthesize, and critically evaluate “a good chunk” of the material in the class. The first will be due in late October and the second at the end of finals week.
The brief reaction papers, discussion leadership, and in-class contributions to the discussion will constitute a third of the course grade.
Over the course of the semester, we will ask the following questions:
How has the sociology of gender been affected by and how does it affect feminist theory and methodologies?
What does a sociological perspective on gender offer to our overall understanding of gender?
What are the cultural scripts—the media representations, stories, scientific facts—that get circulated about gender?
How do these cultural scripts about gender interact with cultural scripts regarding race, sexuality, class, as well as other ways in which people become and are identified?
What are the consequences of living, affirming, and challenging these cultural scripts with respect to gender?
Week One: The Sociology of Gender and Women’s Studies:
The Shift from Women to Gender
September 10
Readings:
“Women's Studies on the Edge" - a special issue of Differences (vol. 9/fall 1997)
Links:
Auslander, Leora “Do Women’s plus Feminist plus Men’s plus Lesbian and Gay plus Queer Studies = Gender Studies?” Pp.1-29
Yee, Shirley , "The 'Women' in Women's Studies", pp. 46-64
Brown, Wendy, "The Impossibility of Women's Studies" pp.79-101
Martin, Riddy, "Success and Its Failures" pp. 102-131
Recommended Reading:
“Of Gender and Genitals,” Anne Fausto-Sterling
Week 2: Producing Gender
September 17
Readings:
From Lorber (POG):
Part 1
From Kimmel (GSR):
Robert Sapolsky, “Testosterone Rules”
Links available here:
Udry, Richard, “Sociology and Biology: What Biology Do Sociologists Need to Know"
Udry, Richard, “Biological Limits of Gender Construction”
Udry, Richard, “The Nature of Gender"
Kessler, Suzanne, “The Medical Construction of Gender: Case Management of Intersexed Infants”
Miller, Eleanor and Carol Yang Costello, “The Limits of Biological Determinism”
Week 3: Gender in Practice September 24
Readings:
From Lorber (POG)
Part 11
Part 2 Cultural Constructions of Gender
Part 3 The Psychology of Sex Roles
Part 4 The Social Construction of Gender Relations
Link:
Kaufman, Debra, “My Mother’s Daughter, My Daughter’s Mother"
Recommended Reading:
“The Bribe of Frankenstein,” 298-301 Ewen
“Masculinities and Men’s Health,” by Sabo
Week 4: (October 1, No class)
Week 5: (October 8, No Class)
Week 6: Choosing Identities: Protofeminists and the New Right
October 15
READINGS:
Rachel’s Daughters (The entire book)
Links:
Kandiyoti, Deniz
(1999). Islam and Patriarchy: A Comparative Perspective. In Feminist Approaches to Theory and Methodology: An Interdisciplinary Reader. S. Hesse-Biber, C. Gilmartin and R. Lydenberg (eds.), pp. 219-235. New York: Oxford University Press.
Stacey, Judith and Susan Gerard We are not Doormats: The Influence of Feminism on Contemporary Evangelicals in the United States. In Uncertain Terms: Negotiating Gender in American Culture. F. Ginsburg and A. Tsing (eds.), pp. 98-117. Beacon Press. 1994.
Ahmed, Leila (1982). "Western Ethnocentrism and the Perceptions of the Harem" Feminist Studies 8:522-534.
Week 7: Gendered Identities, Gendered Institutions
October 22
Readings:
Debra Friedman and Carol Diem. 2005. “Feminism and the (Pro) Rational Choice Movement” in: A Companion to Feminist GeographyWendy Luttrell "The teachers, they all had their pets": Concepts of gender, knowledge, and power. 1993. Signs. 18 (3) 505-546.
Paula England. 1989. “A feminist critique of rational-choice theories: implications for sociology.” The American Sociologist 20(1):14–28.
Barbara Reskin and Denise D. Bielby. 2005. " A Sociological Perspective on Gender and Career Outcomes. " The Journal of Economic Perspectives 19(1):71
"The Social Psychological Model of Gender," Kay Deaux and Brenda Major(can be found on blackboard under Course Documents)
"Doing Gender", Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman (can be found on blackboard under Course Documents)
"Household Labor and the Routine Production of Gender," Scott Coltrane (can be found on blackboard under Course Documents)
"'What about the Boys?' What the Current Debates Tell Us---and Don't tell Us---About Boys in School," Michael S. Kimmel (can be found on blackboard under Course Documents)
"Hierarachies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations," Joan Acker (can be found on blackboard under Course Documents)
Recommended Reading:
“ Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies
,” Acker
Week 8: Guest Lecturer, Alisa Lincoln
October 29
Readings: (available on blackboard)
"Gender, Race, and the Self in Mental Health and Crime" by Sarah Rosenfield, Julie Phillips and Helene White.
"Gender Matters: an integrated model for understanding men's and women's health" by Chloe Bird and Patricia Rieker
Ch. 5: The Defeat of Masochistic Personality Disorder
Week 9: Guest Lecturer, Professor Michael Handel
November 5
Readings: (Available on Blackboard)
"Post-Holocaust Memory: Some Gendered Reflections" by Debra Kaufman
"Before and After: Gender Transitions, Human Capital, and Workplace Experiences" by Kristen Schilt and Matthew Wiswall
"CEOs CAN RESTORE THEIR GOOD NAMES" By Rosabeth Moss Kanter
"The Sociology of Organizations: Classic and Contemporary, and Critical Readings" Part XI - Organizations and Society: Gender, Race, Class, and Politics by Michael Handel
"After She Sued Merrill, It's Back to the Job" by Jenny Anderson. New York Times 7/22/05
"Book exposes women's nightmare on Wall St Brokers condemned for obscene behaviour and sexual abuse" by Charles Laurence in New York 11/17/02
"The Declining Significance of Gender?" (Optional Reading) by Francine D. Blau, Mary C. Brinton, and David B. Grusky
Week 10: Guest Lecturer, Professor Alan Klein
November 12
Readings: (available on blackboard)
"Tender Machos: Masculine Contrasts in the Mexican Baseball League" Ch. 7 From American Sports: An Anthropological Approach Edited by Alan Klein
"Comic Book Masculinity" Ch. 9 From American Sports: An Anthropological Approach Edited by Alan Klein
"Anti-Semitism and Anti-Somatism: Seeking the Elusive Sporting Jew" Ch. 10 From American Sports: An Anthropological Approach Edited by Alan Klein
Week 11: Book Discussion
November 19
Readings:
Domestica (Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo)
“A Maid By Any Other Name,” Salzinger 449-453
Week 12: Thanksgiving
November 26
Week 13:Book Discussion
December 3
Readings:
The Trouble Between Us (Wini Breines)
Week 14: Book Discussion
December 10
Readings: Women, Body, Desire in Postcolonial India: Narratives of Gender and Sexuality (Jyoti Puri)