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Welcome to Women's Studies 10. "An interdisciplinary study
of women and issues important to women in American Society, this course
offers an analysis of women in public institutions and private realms and
assumes the discussion of gender in the context of race and
ethnicity. The class incorporates the academic perspectives of
sociology, political science, history, psychology, anthropology, and
[philosophy]." -- Santa Monica College Catalog
Sec. # 4662 (Spr 2003) meets Tuesdays, 6:30 - 9:35 p.m. at the Academy of Entertainment and
Technology, 1660 Stewart Street. The class is team taught and is an
introduction to Women's Studies through film, emphasizing dialogue and
discussion in the philosophy and politics of gender.
“Genders”: A
Course on Norms & Transgressions
·
amber L. katherine
Katherine_amber@smc.edu
/ 434-3539
Tuesdays 5:30 to 6:30pm
(AET 235) & by appointment
·
Dr. R. Tahvildaran-Jesswein Tahvildaran_Richard@smc.edu
/ 434-3541
Tuesdays 5:30– 6:30p.m. (235 AET) & by
appointment
Course Objectives
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To introduce the field of women’s studies through the philosophy
and politics of gender.
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To facilitate dialogue that draws upon our diverse backgrounds and
experiences.
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To promote interdisciplinary theoretical reflection on gender,
film, and politics.
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To challenge ourselves intellectually by working independently
on weekly reading, writing, and critical thinking exercises and by working collectively
on in-class activities and projects.
amber L.
katherine, Professor of Philosophy
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If existentialist philosopher
Simone de Beauvior was right, and one is not born, but rather becomes a woman,
shouldn’t the case be the same for men? But perhaps she was mistaken, perhaps males are born to be
men and females are born to be women. The mainstream assumption in America today
is that gender is a natural unfolding: like an acorn becomes an oak, a female
becomes a Woman. Most would deny that it is ontologically possible to be born a
female and grow up to be a man, or for a male to become a woman.
“It’s not natural,” people often say about gender-bending and
gender-crossing, at the same time as they rush to see it at the movies! Thelma
and Louise and Tank Girl illustrate how far females can bend
masculine (even appropriating the phallus!) without becoming men. Similarly, Crying
Game and Kiss of the Spider Woman illustrate male bending. And Boys
Don’t Cry is a story of what can happen if you try to cross the gender
gap. Recent feminist philosophy and queer theory offer the opportunity to look
below the surface of what is considered “natural” to ask metaphysical,
epistemological and ethical questions about gender:
What makes a man a “man”? How does one become a “woman”? Can you
be both? How about neither? What is the reality of gender? How
does gender bend around racial and ethnic difference? How far can it bend before
it breaks? How much of one’s thinking and perspective is colored by
gender? Do men and women have different ways of knowing? Is being a particular
kind of knower the main stuff of gender? How
far should gender bend before someone calls the gender police?
Is gender pluralism a viable position in postmodern America? |
Dr. Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein, Professor
of Political Science
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As we, middle-North-Americans,
begin to map the political terrain of a new social era (the twenty-first
century), it becomes more and more apparent to me that our sense of ourselves,
and the groups we identify with, often stand in stark contrast to one another. This
heterogeneity within our social and political framework(s) complicates and
challenges a traditional socialization and understanding of what it means to be
_____. With this in mind, it does
not seem farfetched to suggest that present understandings of difference, in
this case gender, may prevent us from arriving at a differently-shared
collective location from which we might do our particular not-yet-named brand of
democratic politics, U.S. democratic politics.
I am not suggesting that an all-encompassing collective location or
universal unifying commonplace currently exists, or is yet imaginable:
It is difficult to imagine such a place within the confines of our
present social and political environment. While
I do not believe that an all-encompassing collective location or universal
unifying commonplace currently exists, or is yet imaginable, I am committed to
an exploration into its possibilities. In
other words, I am intrigued by the thought that one might be able to transcend
difference, while at the same time respecting and honoring it, and uncover some
shared experience(s) that may affect one’s sensibilities. |
On Learning Gender from Film Texts
Richard:
Film as a medium, as
text, will allow us to theorize difficult questions regarding gender and
politics. There are, however, many
points of caution in choosing to use film.
Films often can reinforce and affirm stereotyped and demeaning images of
others; that is, film is as effective a tool for installing as it is for
challenging and overcoming oppression. However
the fictionalized realism of film can allow for a sharing of the different
experiences that individuals live through and can serve as a helpful tool to
uncover the raw materials that make up our various social or political
identities. In other words, and
more specifically, film and film criticism facilitate the search for a location
from which to envision a democratic politics in ways that are respectful of
difference and that quite possibly can contribute to the transformation of
one’s sensibilities by providing an opportunity to theorize and imagine a new
or emerging politics from a position
of eyewitness.
bell hooks:
“Whether we like it or not,
cinema assumes a pedagogical role in the lives of many people. It may not be the
intent of a filmmaker to teach audiences anything, but that does not mean that
lessons are not learned. […]
“Movies not only provide a
narrative for specific discourses of race, sex, and class, they provide a shared
experience, a common starting point from which diverse audiences can dialogue
about these charged issues. […]
“Centrally concerned with the way movies created
popular public discourses of race, sex, and class, I wanted to talk about what
these discourses were saying and to whom. Particularly, I wanted to interrogate
specific films that were marketed and critically acclaimed as progressive texts
of race, sex, and class to see if the messages embedded in these works were
really encouraging and promoting a counterhegemonic narrative challenging the
conventional structures of domination that uphold and maintain white supremacist
capitalist patriarchy.”
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