Gender Issues Within the European Context from Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Gender Issues Within the European Context:
Interdisciplinary Perspectives
4 credits
Tereza Kynčlová and Iva Baslarová
Thursdays 4:40 pm to 8 pm
Vratislavova street, room 312
Contacts:
Tereza Kynčlová
email: ,
cell: 603 86 66 89
Thursdays, 8:45 – 9:45 am, Department of Gender Studies, Husníkova 2075, Praha 13, metro Hůrka
or ANY other time by appointment, based on prior agreement (email, phonecall)
Iva Baslarová
email:
cell: 777 60 51 38
Skype: iva.baslar
via Skype or email
face to face by appointment, based on prior agreement
Course objectives:
This course will familiarize students with basic, yet fundamental, concepts and theories related to gender as a social construct, to (biological) sex and to relations among/between men and women in the society and culture as seen from interdisciplinary perspectives. Course session will deal with various gender-related issues and will be placed within the European context and compared with cultural specificities of American society. Further, issues of multiculturalism, so-called Third World feminism and/or spirituality and religion will be discussed in the global context, rather than particularly European and/or American one, as these issues pertain to gender regardless of geographical location. Discrepancies in power relations both between men and women as well as between the so-called First World and the Third world will be discussed in a greater detail. Feminist literary criticism will focus on the genealogy of women’s writing, constitution of the cannon and feminist and gender analysis of selected literary works. We will discuss the Czech gender scene on the example of women’s political under-representation in decision-making process and positions. This session will entail a visit to an NGO Fórum 50% and a guest lecture on methods of promoting gender equality in the CzechRepublic and the European Union. Another guest lecture will be delivered by Blanka Knotková Čapková, a professor of gender studies and Indian literature and culture, on gender aspects in world religions. Media will serve as an example for us to see in what ways gender stereotypes are reproduced, innovated and, scarcely, dismantled and/or subverted. Social construction of gender will manifest itself in an analysis of TV genres. Feminist film theories will introduce students to androcentrism in film-making as well as with its limits and ways of transgression. We will focus on so-called subversive reading, which is instrumental in decoding TV and film production for the benefit of „minority“ audience (glbtia – queer reading). A visit of the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival „One World“ will be an integral part of the course. We will attend the screening of „A Ticket to Paradise“, a documentary about marriages of Western men to Eastern women. The session on fat studies will discuss power and discriminatory practices within the Western society against disadvantaged social groups; in our case the example will be „fat“ people.
Course Sessions:
1. Fe/Male(s)?(taught by Tereza Kynčlová)
mandatory readings:
Letherby, Gayle (2003). Feminist Research in Theory and Practice. Buckingham, Philadelphia: Open University Press. Chapter 1.
Renzetti, Claire, Daniel Curran (1999). Women, Men, and Society. Allyn & Bacon. Chapters 1, 2.
Eugenides, Jeffrey. (2002). Middlesex. London: Bloomsbury. Excerpt.
recommended reading:
Abbot, Pamela, Claire Wallace (1997). An Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives. London, New York: Routledge. Chapter 1.
2. Gender Socialization and GLBTIA (taught by Iva Baslarová)
mandatory readings:
West, Candace / Zimmerman Don H., Doing gender, in: Lorber, Judith/ Farrell, Susan A. (eds.), The social construction of gender, Newbury Park, London, New Delhi 1991, pp. 125-147.
Rich, Adrienne (1983). Compulsory Heterosexuality nad Lesbian Existence. In: Powers of Desire. The Politics of Sexuality. Snitow, Ann, Stansell, Christine, Thompson, Sharon (eds.). New York: Monthly Review Press. pp. 177-206.
recommended reading:
Thorne, Barrie (1993). Gender Play: Boys and Girls in School. New Brunswick: RutgersUniversity Press.
3. Class, Race, Gender and Migration(TK)
movie screening: Sweet Little Things.
mandatory readings:
Hill Collins, Patricia. (1990). Defining Black Feminist Thought. In: Collins, Patricia Hill, Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. New York: Routledge. 19-40.
Hooks, bell. (2000). Where We Stand: Class Matters. New York, London: Routledge. Chapters, 1, 2, 9.
4. ONE WORLD International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival – A Case Study: „A Ticket to Paradise“ (IB)
A Visit of ONE WORLD International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival – movie screening + a discussion with a director of the ONE WORLD Hana Kulhánková
5. So-Called „Third World“ Feminism, Multiculturalism and Postcolonial Studies (TK)
movie screening: Crossing Over
mandatory readings:
Mohanty, Chandra Talpade (1991). Under Western Eyes: Feminist Sholarship and Colonial Discourses. In: Mohanty, Chandra Talpade, Ann, Russo, Lourdes Torres (Eds.): Third World Women and the Politics of Feminism.Bloomington, Indianapolis: BloomingtonUniversity Press. 51-80.
Okin, Susan Moller. (1998). Feminism and Multiculturalism: Some Tensions. Ethics, Vol. 108. 661-684.
Phillips, Anne. (2001). Multuculturalism, Universalism and Claims of Democracy. United Nations: Programme Paper Number 7.
recommended reading:
Okin, Susan Moller. (1994). Gender Inequality and Cultural Differences. Political Theory, Vol. 22, No. 1. 5-24.
6. Gender and Sprirituality and Religion (TK)
guest lecture: Blanka Knotková Čapková, Images of Femininity in World Religions
mandatory readings:
Renzetti, Claire, Daniel Curran (1999). Women, Men, and Society. Allyn & Bacon. Chapter 10.
7. Gender and Media (IB)
mandatory readings:
Geraghty, Christine (1996). Feminism and Media Consumption. Curran, Morley, Walkerdine (eds.): Cultural Studies and Communications. London: Arnold. pp. 307-322.
van Zoonen, Liesbet (1994). Feminist Media Studies. London: Sage. Chapters 4 and 7.
recommended readings:
Morley, David (1989). Changing Paradigms in Audience Studies. In: Seiter et al. (eds.): Remote Control. London: Routledge. pp. 16-40.
Featherstone, Mike, Burrows, Roger (1996). Cultures of Technological Embodiment: An Introduction. In: Featherstone, Burrows (eds.): Cyberspace / Cyberbodies / Cyberpunk: Cultures of Technological Embodiment. London: Sage.
8. Gendered Genres in/on TV, Teen Television(IB)
mandatory readings:
Brunsdon, C. (1984). Writing about Soap Opera. In: Masterman, L (ed.): Television Mythologies. London: Comedia. pp. 82-87.
Ang, I. (1997). Melodramatic Identifications: Television Fiction and Women´s Fantasy. OxfordUniversity Press. pp. 155-167.
recommended readings:
Allen, Robert C. (1985).The Meaning(s) of Soap Opera. In: Allen, Robert C. (ed.): Speaking of Soap Operas. The University of North Carolina Press. pp. 8-30.
Fuqua, Joy V. (1995). "There's a Queer in My Soap!" The Homophobia / AIDS Story-line of One Life to Live. In: Allen, Robert C. (ed.): To Be Continued: Soap Operas Around the World. London: Routledge. pp. 199-211.
+ screening of Buffy the Vampire Slayer (one episode)
mandatory reading:
Levine, Elana (2007). Buffy and the "New Girl Order": Defining Feminism and Femininity. In: Levine, Elana, Parks, Lisa (eds.): Undead TV. Essays on Buffy the Vampier Slayer. London: Duke University Press. pp. 168-191.
9. Promoting Gender Equality(TK)
guest lecture: NGO, Fórum 50%,Promoting Gender Equality in the CzechRepublic and Under-Representation of Women in Czech Politics
mandatory readings:
Pavlík, Petr (Ed.) (2008). Shadow Report on Equal Treatment and Equal Opportunities for Men and Women.
Renzetti, Claire, Daniel Curran (1999). Women, Men, and Society. Allyn & Bacon. Chapter 9.
10. Feminist Literary Criticism (TK)
mandatory readings:
Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. The Yellow Wallpaper.
Debi, Mahasveta. The Breast Giver.
Robinson, Lillian (1985). Treason Our Text: Feminist Challenges to the Literaty Canon. In: Showalter, Elaine (Ed.): The New Feminist Criticism: Essays on Women, Literature and Theory.New York: Pantheon Books. 105-121.
Kolodny, Annette (1985). Dancing Through the Minefield: Some Observations on the Theory, Practice, and Politics of a Feminist Literary Criticism. In: Showalter, Elaine (Ed.): The New Feminist Criticism: Essays on Women, Literature and Theory.New York: Pantheon Books. 144-167.
recommended reading:
Gilbert, Sandra, Susan Gubar (2000). The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination.New Haven: YaleUniversity Press. Excerpts.
Treichler, Paula. (1984). Escaping the Sentence: Diagnosis and Discourse in „The Yellow Wallpaper“. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, Vol. 3, No. 1/2. 61-77.
11. Feminist Film Theories(IB)
movie screening: Marnie (1964, Alfred Hitchcock)
mandatory readings:
Mulvey, Laura (1973). Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema. Screen, Vol. 16, No. 3 (1975), pp. 6-18.
Knapp, Lucretia (1995). The Queer Voice in Marnie. In: Creekmur, Corey K., Doty, Alexander (Eds.): Out in Culture. Gay, Lesbian, and Queer Essays on Popular Culture. London: Duke University Press. pp. 262-285.
recommended reading:
de Lauretis, Teresa. Aesthetic and Feminist Theory: Rethinking Women's Cinema. New German Critique, No. 34 (Wint 1985): 154-175.
Holmlund, Chris (1993). Masculinity as Multiple Masquerade. In: Cohan, Steven, Hark, Ina Rae (eds.): Screening the Male. Exloring Masculinities in Hollywood Cinema. London: Routledge. 213-230.
12. Fat Studies(IB)
mandatory readings:
Bordo, Susan (1993). The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity. Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. Los Angeles: University of California Press. pp. 165-185.
Millman, Marcia (1980). Personal or Political: Explaining the Problems of Fat People. Such a Pretty Face: Being Fat in America. New York: W. W. Norton & Company. pp. 86-97.
recommended reading:
Wann, M. (1998). Fat! So?: Because you don't have to apologize for your size!Berkeley: Ten Speed Press.
Kulick, D. & A. Meneley, eds. (2005). Fat: The anthropology of an obsession. NY: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.
Course requirements:
Dear students, please note that course attendance is mandatory, and so is consistent class preparation and active participation in class discussions. Please bear in mind that active class participation makes 25% of your grade, therefore more than one absence may adversely affect your grade. If you cannot come to class, please make sure you let the teacher teaching on the day of your absence know in advance. Thank you. There will be a make up work for your absence(s). You will be given an extra written assignment and will have to apply 2 concepts/theories from the missed reading on examples from media/cultural/film/literature and/or general social context and compose a critical analysis of your chosen topic. All written essays, reflections and make up assignments will need to be submitted via email.
Course evaluation:
active class participation – 25%
written reflections – 25%
midterm test – 25%
final essay – 25%
Grade: 100% - 95% - A
94% - 85% - B
84% - 71% - C
70% and lower – FAIL