SEX, GENDER, AND SOCIETY

SOCY 1016-020

University of Colorado-Boulder

Fall 2006

 

 

Dr. Amy Wilkins

208 Ketchum Hall

Amy.Wilkins@colorado.edu

Office hours: MW 12-1 or by appt

 

T.A.: Liz Morningstar

8 Ketchum Hall

Elizabeth.Morningstar@colorado.edu

Office hours: Tu 9-10, Th 10-11, or by appt

 

 

This course is an introduction to the sociology of gender, one of the fastest growing subfields in the American Sociological Association.  The course examines gender as a major organizing principle of contemporary social life and explores the ways that gender intersects with other important lines of social differentiation, such as race, ethnicity, social class, sexuality, and nationality.  The primary emphasis is on the contemporary U.S., but we will also explore the ways in which contemporary gender relations in the US are similar to, and different from, those in other locales and eras.  Gender is central to all facets of our lives; we will examine gender as it plays out in childhood, through institutions, and on the body.  We will also be attentive to the ways in which culture shapes gender across these arenas.  Women and men, girls and boys, are all gendered.  In this course, we will pay attention to both femininities and masculinities, but we will focus more attention on the lives of girls and women.  One of the ways in which gender inequalities are perpetuated and made to seem normal is by centering the lives of boys and men.  We will reverse that emphasis. 

 

Course Goals

 

  1. To learn the ways in which sociologists think about gender.

 

  1. To identify the consequences of gender inequality.

 

  1. To identify the ways in which gender and gender inequality are maintained.

 

      4.  To identify the ways in which gender matters for boys/men as well as        

           girls/women.

 

  1. To identify the areas in which gender inequality impacts our own lives.

 

  1. To think critically about our own participation in patterns, practices, and institutions that perpetuate gender, race, class, and sexual inequalities.

 

  1. To identify the ways in which gender inequality differently impacts the lives of people whose social locations do not match our own; to identify the ways in which race, class, and sexuality shape gender.

 

  1. To identify ways in which we can make social change.

 

  1. To develop analytical skills.

 

  1. To make connections between social research and everyday lives.

     

 

Course Policies

 

1.      Arriving to class late, sleeping, talking, reading newspapers, doing crossword puzzles, text-messaging or receiving messages on your cell phone (or being otherwise distracted and distracting) are not acceptable classroom activities, and are disrespectful to your instructor and to other students who want to listen and learn. 

2.      Let me know immediately if you have a health problem or a disability that necessitates leaving the classroom during lectures/discussion.

3.       If you are likely to have a regular problem with getting to class on time, let me know ASAP. 

4.      I do not permit lap tops in class.  If you are required to use a lap top because of a disability, please provide documentation. 

5.   You are unlikely to call your doctor by his/her first name unless you have established a personal relationship; please treat me with the same courtesy.

 

6.  You cannot make up in-class work.  If you miss a class, please get notes from a classmate.  Do not ask the TA for notes.  You are responsible for all information communicated in class, whether or not you are in attendance.  Please exchange contact information with several classmates and direct scheduling questions to them.  In addition, information on scheduling changes, homework assignments, and grades will be posted on WebCT.  Please consult WebCT before contacting us with these questions.

 

7.  All assignments must be completed on time and handed in at the beginning of class on the stated due date—I do not accept papers sent via email. Papers must be:

    1.  typed in 11- or 12-point font,
    2.  have 1 inch margins,
    3.  be spellchecked,
    4.  grammar checked and proofread,
    5. have numbered pages and
    6. stapled in the left-hand corner;

 

Papers not following these guidelines will immediately have points taken off (also, do not use binders or folders to turn in your papers)—I deduct 5% from unstapled papers.

 

6.  I will not accept late papers except with advance notice of an unavoidable conflict.  The conflict must be documented.  Please plan your schedules accordingly.  I will not give incompletes except under (amply documented and amply dire) circumstances.

 

7.  You may not turn in work from another class, even if it is your own work,

 

8.  Make-up exams potentially create unfair situations among students.  Therefore, you are only allowed to make-up an exam in the event of an unavoidable, extreme, documented circumstance (such as serious illness or family emergency that can be documented by the proper UNI administrative offices).  If you must miss an exam, please let Dr. Wilkins know in advance as soon as possible.  Any make-up request made after the test has been administered will not be considered, no exceptions!  All make-up exams will be given at a mutually convenient time, no longer than 1 (one) week after the initial exam is given.  Dr. Wilkins, not the TA, makes all decisions about make-up exams and late assignments.

 

9.  If you qualify for accommodations due to disability please let Dr. Wilkins and the TA know during the first two weeks of the semester. It is your responsibility to contact Disability Services and obtain documentation. The Disability Services Office is in Willard 322 and can be contacted at (303) 492-8671 or through http://www.colorado.edu/disabilityservices.

 

10.  We take academic dishonesty very seriously.  Academic dishonesty can result in an F for the course, probation or expulsion, even if the act was not intentionally dishonest.  If you are unclear about the rules regarding plagiarism, paraphrasing, quoting, or collaboration, please consult us. You are also required to adhere to the University Honor Code which you can find at http://www.colorado.edu/academics/honorcode/.

 

Final Comments

 

Everyone wants to do well in this class.  We want you to do well, by working diligently and meeting the course requirements. If you become concerned about your grade, please see one of us immediately.  Do not wait until semester’s end, when we cannot help you.  We will not be able to magically “find” extra points to add to your average, no matter how upset you might be.

 

We spend a great deal of time reading and grading your work and want the assignments to provide you with a learning experience.  Therefore, upon receiving a graded paper or exam back, we require that 24 hours pass before we discuss it.  When you get an exam or a paper back, take some time to read the comments, make an appointment with one of us, and come to the meeting having written down some questions and/or comments—without evidence of your focused thinking about the assignment, we will not entertain random “complaint” sessions regarding the desired grade you did not earn.  We will not discuss graded exams or papers before, during, or after class—we reserve office hours for such types of individual-level discussions.

 

Expectations and Evaluation

 

Participation  (5%)

You are expected to come to class prepared to talk about course readings and issues.  Participation should reflect careful, sociological thinking that moves beyond personal anecdotes.  The material in this course is sensitive, emotionally and politically charged, and frequently challenging to the worldviews of most students.  Participants should be respectful of the instructor, the TA, and other classmates.  You will be evaluated on your ability to learn and apply the sociological concepts in this course.

 

In-Class Work and Homework  (20%)

You will be given frequent in-class and out-of-class assignments (both in lecture and in your recitation) that ask you to engage and apply course concepts.  You may not get much advance notice for these assignments.   

 

Weekly Statements (25%)

You will write a 1-2 page summary and response to the readings each week.  You must respond to all the readings in that space.  At the end of the response, write 2-3 discussion questions.  Weekly papers are due at the beginning of your recitation.  You are allowed to skip 2 papers without penalty.  You will not get extra points for doing all the weekly papers.  Instead, if you complete all the papers, we will drop your two lowest scores.  Be warned that skipping these papers will severely affect your grade. 

 

Exams  (2 X 25% = 50%)

There are two exams for this course, a midterm (October 20) and a final, given during the university’s scheduled final exam time.  Both exams are cumulative and will each be worth 25% of your grade.

 

Attendance Policy:

 

Extensive absences will influence your FINAL grade as follows:

            0-3 absences:             no penalty

4-5 absences:              5% penalty

6-7 absences:              10% penalty

8-9 absences:              15% penalty

10-11 absences:          20% penalty

12 + absences:            25% penalty

 

 

This policy translates in the following way: Mary misses class 7 times.  Her final grade is a 75, but the attendance policy will cause some adjustment to this grade.  Seven absences result in a 10% or 10-point reduction from the final grade.  Therefore, Mary went from a 75 to a 65, simply due to her unexcused absences from class.  If you have ANY questions regarding this policy, please bring such questions to my attention immediately. 

 

In addition, only ONE of the unpenalized absences may be from your recitation. 

Course Materials

 

All books are required and available at the university bookstore.

 

Thorne, Barrie.  1993.  Gender Play: Girls and Boys in School.  New Jersey:  Rutgers

            University Press.

 

Blair-Loy, Mary.  2003.  Competing Devotions: Career and Family among Women

            Executives.  Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

 

Hondagneu-Sotelo, Pierette.  2001.  Domestica: Immigrant Workers Cleaning and

            Caring in the Shadows of Affluence.  Berkeley:  University of California Press.

 

All other readings are available through the university’s electronic reserve system.  You are responsible for all readings.

 

 

Course Schedule

 

Reading for each week is due by your recitation.  Additions and changes to the reading schedule may be made with advance notice of the professor or the TA.

 

Week 1

8/28-9/1

Introduction

 

Week 2

9/4-9/8

No Class on Sept. 4!

Gender Play, chapters 1-5

 

Week 3

9/11-9/15

Gender Play, chapters 4-9

 

Week 4

9/18-9/22

Lorber, Judith.  “Biology as Ideology”

Walzer, Susan.  “Bonding with the Baby: Biology and Social Meanings” in Thinking

            About the Baby

Schrock, Douglas, Lori Reid, and Emily Boyd. “Transexuals’ Embodiment of

            Womanhood: Doing Sex in a Gendered World”  Gender & Society

 

Week 5

9/25-9/29

Williams, “The Glass Escalator: Hidden Advantages for Men in the “Female”

            Professions”

Competing Devotions, pp.1-49

 

Week 6

10/2-10/6

Competing Devotions, pp. 50-115

 

Week 7

10/9-10/13

Competing Devotions, pp. 116-end

 

 

Week 8

10/16-10/20

Midterm October 20

Hays, Sharon.  “Pyramids of Inequality” in Flat Broke with Children

Domestica, Part I

 

Week 9

10/23-10/27

Domestica, Part II

 

Week 10

10/30-11/3

Domestica, Part III

 

Week 11

11/6-11/10

Rich, Adrienne, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence”

D’Emilio, John.  “Capitalism and Gay Identity”

Messner, Michael.  “Becoming 100 Percent Straight”

 

Week 12

11/13-11/17

Tolman, Deborah L.  “Doing Desire: Adolescent Girls’ Struggles with/for Sexuality”

Tannebaum, Lorna.  “Insult of Insults” in SLUT! Growing Up Female with a Bad

            Reputation

Wilkins, Amy C. “So Full of Myself as a Chick: Goth Women, Sexual Independence, and            Gender Egalitarianism”

 

Thanksgiving Break

 

Week 13

11/27-12/1

Martin, Patricia Y and Hummer, Robert A. “Fraternities and Rape on Campus”

Quinn, Beth A, “Sexual Harassment and Masculinity: The Power and Meaning of “Girl

            Watching”

Hollander, Jocelyn.  “Vulnerability and Dangerousness: The Construction of Gender

            through Conversation about Violence”  in Gender & Society

 

Week 14

12/4-12/9

Roberts, Dorothy.  “Making Reproduction a Crime” in Killing the Black Body

Fine, Michelle and Lois Weis, “Cops, Crime, and Violence” in The Unknown City

 

Week 15

12/11-12/15

Pascoe, C.J., Pascoe, C.J.  2003.  “Multiple Masculinities: Teenage Boys talk About

            Jocks and Gender.” American Behavioral Scientist

Weitz, Rose.  “Women and Their Hair: Seeking Power through Resistance and

            Accommodation” 

Ferguson, Susan J.  “Challenging Traditional Marriage: Never Married Chinese

            American and Japanese American Women” Gender & Society