Images of Women

Writing Project 2:Rhetorical Analysis

2009-03-13T12:27:00.004-05:00

In addition to the topic ideas on the assignment sheet, here's a random assortment (and very partial list) of texts (mostly films) and topics that I've encountered in past classes or in my own work. Feel free to leave comments with questions (like, does anyone know of a text that represents women and xxx?) or with an idea you're working on; I'll be checking in here every now and then to respond to folks who want feedback. Of course, I welcome your responses to one another as well.

This is a very partial list and many of these texts could easily go into other categories, but it's a start if you're having trouble thinking of something. Please add categories and titles in the comments if you think of them!

Women in Sports
Bend It Like Beckham
Million Dollar Baby
Love and Basketball
Match Point
A League of Their Own
The Cutting Edge

Women in Music
Dreamgirls
Walk the Line

Remakes
The Women (1939 and 2006)
Emma (the novel and/or the movie) and Clueless
Shop Around the Corner (1940) and You've Got Mail (1998)
The Stepford Wives (1974 and 2004) -- the differences in ending here are really fascinating

Jane Austen
several film versions of the novels
Becoming Jane
The Jane Austen Book Club

Women in History
The Changeling
Frida
Sylvia
Iron Jawed Angels

Women and Friendship
Waiting to Exhale
The First Wives Club
The Secret Life of Bees
Friends
Girlfriends

Women and Work
North Country
Working Girl
How Stella Got Her Groove Back
Erin Brockovich
Maid in Manhattan
Michael Clayton
Striptease
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
Murphy Brown
30 Rock

Women and Education
Legally Blonde
Akeela and the Bee
Mona Lisa Smile
Freedom Writers
Dangerous Minds

Women and Body Image
Real Women Have Curves
Nip/Tuck

Women and War
G.I. Jane
Courage Under Fire

So-called "Post feminist" texts
Bridget Jones's Diary
Ally McBeal
Sex and the City

Popular Literature
The Pretties, The Uglies, and The Specials
Twilight
Harry Potter

Women and Aging
Something's Gotta Give
Calendar Girls
Golden Girls

If you're looking for issues tackled by television, the 1998 series Felicity handled some pretty heavy stuff (date rape, depression, morning-after pill, etc.), and The Secret Life of the American Teenager is especially after-school-special-esque in the range of issues presented on the show. A couple of films about abortion if that's a place you're interested in going are: Vera Drake, Cider House Rules, and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days; pregnancy, of course, is everywhere in films these days: Juno, Knocked Up, Waitress, Bella, and Baby Mama, just in the last 2 years, and before that: Look Who's Talking, Nine Months, Father of the Bride 2, Saved (teen pregnancy), andFor Keeps; adoption/giving children up also is a popular subject: August Rush, Then She Found Me, and Juno again.

Online Class Discussion: Marking the Body

2009-02-10T11:46:00.002-06:00

Alright, so since we can't all be in the same room together, I'd like for us to try to host a little discussion in the comments section about the texts I asked you to watch and read for today. One of the things that strikes me about the combination of these pieces is the notion of contextuality: Rebecca Traister argues that one of the things Ugly Betty teaches us is that "prettiness" depends a great deal on location, culture, race, and class. Any thoughts on that argument? How do you see that working in the show? Are we supposed to "see" Betty as a challenge to that idea (in other words, are we supposed to find her to be pretty, whatever that means)?

The other idea that interests me from the readings is the idea of performing an identity that you yourself do not experience. For instance, no one would argue that America Ferrera is "ugly," so what does it mean for her to personify ugliness on the show? (And is there even such a thing as "ugliness"?) In the same way, what does it mean for very thin actresses to perform as fat women? And why is that performance so funny (or is it)? It seems that in all of the cultural texts mentioned, the producers of these images are marking particular categories like "ugly" and "fat" in very particular (and troubling) ways -- what are we to make of what these texts have to say about women and their bodies? In short, how do we read a character like Betty (or like Courtney Cox as "Fat Monica," or Gwyneth Paltrow in Shallow Hal)?

Feel free to respond to any of these questions, to raise your own, or to comment on any other aspect of the readings/viewings you find compelling. Before you respond, take a minute to read through the comments by your classmates too, and respond to any of the ideas/questions you find in their ideas. Think of reading through the comments as listening in class -- you don't want to repeat something someone else has already said. Add your comment as part of the discussion. Before you come to class on Tuesday, I'd recommend reading back through these posts; we'll start our discussion with the ideas you cover here. To earn your participation points, you're required to post at least once, but you are also welcome to come back and follow up after you've already posted if you think of something else you'd like to say.

Statement of Respect

2009-02-03T11:33:00.001-06:00

Please read the following statement carefully. Leave a response in the comments, indicating what you think of the statement as drafted (what parts are particularly important? anything we should add or eliminate?), particularly if you have suggestions for changes. If you do not think the statement needs any revisions, please type a statement of your assent: "As a member of English 2593, I agree to abide by these guidelines."

Statement of Classroom Guidelines

Because this class will often be structured around discussion, it is important for us to work towards making our classroom a safe space, one in which everyone feels free to speak openly and honestly without fear of judgment regardless of race, gender, socioeconomic background, religious belief, value systems, age, sexual orientation, or any other factors that shape who we are and what we believe. Such a space, if we abide by these guidelines, can offer more interesting and constructive discussion, more class participation, and more opportunities to learn something new if everyone is made comfortable enough to share his or her perspective. We understand that we cannot fully develop our own ideas about things without carefully listening and understanding the positions of others. In order to create such a space, we agree to:

· Listen: To use our ears and our minds to pay attention to what others are saying, actively listening rather than passively hearing; to listen without interruption (either by cutting the speaker off or by negative body language like eye-rolling, sighing, head-shaking, dirty looks, or laughing) and without judgment.

· Remain open-minded: consider all ideas equally, especially if they differ from our own. State our own beliefs positively without dismissing or judging others who might not believe the same thing and then be willing to hear from those who disagree. Don’t be quick to be offended, take time to analyze what others are really saying.

· Think critically: we don’t just accept things at face value; try to find the deeper meaning by reading carefully, sharing our thoughts with others, and being open to changing our minds. Keep in mind that “right” or “wrong” answers are not the goals of these discussions—each of us is entitled to our own view. As independent thinkers, it is our responsibility to sort through the different opinions and come to our own conclusions about where we stand.

· Question and challenge: pushing ourselves and each other to think more deeply and to see things in a different way.

· Embrace diversity: acknowledge that we all have our differences. Seek to learn from, rather than to dismiss or devalue, experiences and opinions that differ from our own, including the authors and ideas we encounter in our texts. Don’t gang up on anyone who is different from you or who has different opinions than you just because you find yourself in the majority.

· Engage in reasonable disagreement by stating our own opinions without trying to change the way another person thinks. If someone offends us, we can respectfully challenge that person to clarify her or his position (or speak to Prof. West in private.)

· At all times, demonstrate respect for others by using a respectful tone of voice and respectful language, by listening to everyone equally without giving special consideration to those we think have better ideas; by putting away phones and other distractions (which may be distracting to others around is); and by remaining mindful that our opinions may offend others. Additionally, we will act respectfully towards the professor and of the authors we read by refusing to condemn, insult, bash, or talk badly about them.

Books of Interest

2009-02-03T11:00:00.001-06:00

If you don't have a clue what you'd like to research, here's a fairly random (and nowhere near exhaustive) list of books that relate to some of the topics on our list. Perusing the summaries on Amazon always helps me think through what kinds of things I'm interested in. Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments, particularly if you know of books your classmates might find useful.

On Work, Wages, And Particular Professions

Achterberg, Jeanne. Woman as Healer.
Baxandall, Rosalyn. America’s Working Women: A Documentary History, 1600 to the Present.
Black Women and Work Collective. Sister Circle: Black Women and Work.
Boulis, Ann K., and Jerry A. Jacobs. The Changing Face of Medicine: Women Doctors and the Evolution of Health Care in America.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Witches, Midwives and Nurses: A History of Women Healers.
Ehrenreich, Barbara, and Arlie Russell Hochschild, eds. Global Woman: Nannies, Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy
Hall, Linley Erin. Who’s Afraid of Marie Curie?: The Challenges Facing Women in Science and Technology.
Kessler-Harris, Alice. Out to Work: A History of Wage-Earning Women in the United States.
Kunzel, Regina G. Fallen Women, Problem Girls: Unmarried Mothers and the Professionalization of Social Work, 1890-1945.
More, Ellen S., Elizabeth Fee, and Manon Perry. Women Physicians and the Cultures of Medicine.
Monosson, Emily. Motherhood, the Elephant in the Laboratory: Women Scientists Speak Out.
Reverby, Susan M. Ordered to Care: The Dilemma of American Nursing, 185-1945.
Stone, Pamela. Opting Out?: Why Women Really Quit Careers and Head Home.

On Advice Books and Magazines

Ehrenreich, Barbara, and Deirdre English. For Her Own Good: Two Centuries of the Experts Advice to Women.
Peril, Lynn. Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons.
Rooks, Noliwe M. Ladies’ Pages: African American Women’s Magazines and the Culture That Made Them.

On Bodies, Sex, and Reproduction

Baumslag, Naomi, and Dia L Michel. Milk, Money, and Madness: The Culture and Politics of Breastfeeding.
Bogle, Kathleen. Hooking Up: Sex, Dating, and Relationships on Campus.
Brumberg, Joan. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls.
Fessler, Ann. The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade.
Gordon, Linda. The Moral Property of Women: A History of Birth Control Politics in America.
Luker, Kristin. When Sex Goes to School: Warring Views on Sex--and Sex Education--Since the Sixties.
Meyerowitz, Joanne. How Sex Changed: A History of Transsexuality in the United States.
Peril, Lynn. College Girls: Bluestockings, Sex Kittens, and Co-Eds, Then and Now.
Reagan, Leslie J. When Abortion Was a Crime: Women, Medicine, and Law in the United States, 1867-1973.
Regnerus, Mark D. Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers. (this is the book talked about in the New Yorker piece called "Red Sex, Blue Sex" that I mentioned in class).
Solinger, Rickie. Beggars and Choosers: How the Politics of Choice Shapes Adoption, Abortion, and Welfare in the United States.
Solinger, Rickie. Pregnancy and Power: A Short History of Reproductive Politics. (the introduction to this book is in your course packet)
Stryker, Susan. Transgender History.
Tone, Andrea. Devices and Desires: A History of Contraceptives in America.

On Domesticity, Marriage, and Motherhood

Apple, Rima D. Perfect Motherhood: Science and Childrearing in America.
Cott, Nancy F. The Bonds of Womanhood: "Woman's Sphere" in New England, 1780-1835.
Cott, Nancy F. Public Vows: A Short History of Marriage and the Nation.
Yalom, Marilyn. A History of the Wife.

On Education and Activism

Davis, Flora. Moving the Mountain: The Women's Movement in America Since 1960.
Giddings, Paula. Ida: A Sword Among Lions, Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching.
Giddings, Paula. When and Where I Enter:The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America.
Eisenmann, Linda. Higher Education for Women in Postwar America, 1945-1965.
Kerber, Linda K. Women of the Republic: Intellect and Ideology in Revolutionary America.
Louis, Miriam Ching Yoo. Sweatshop Warriors: Immigrant Women Take on the Global Factory.
Lytle, Mark Hamilton. The Gentle Subversive: Rachel Carson, Silent Spring, and the Rise of the Environmental Movement.
Nash, Margaret A. Women's Education in the United States, 1780-1860.
Norton, Mary Beth. Liberty's Daughters: The Revolutionary Experience of American Women, 1750-1800.

Report Topics

2009-02-03T10:49:00.000-06:00

Here are some of the topics that came up in our discussion last week, in addition to others from previous classes. When you've decided on your topic, I'll ask you to leave a comment on this post, telling us what you're planning to research. (To leave a comment, click on the comments link at the bottom of this post, type your response (or paste it) into the box, choose Name/URL and type your first name and last initial into the Name box, complete the Word Verification, and hit "Publish Your Comment.")

Body/Health Issues
How attitudes toward body type and shape have changed according to time period and/or culture
Historical attitudes and practices regarding menstruation, pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, menopause, contraception, abortion
Medical attitudes towards women’s bodies in a particular historical period
Particular “female” diseases, like hysteria (treatment in the late nineteenth century: “Vibration therapy,” which led to the invention of what we now know to be the vibrator)
Psychological treatment of women (Charlotte Perkins Gilman was prescribed a treatment of solitary confinement and no creative activity to cure her “mental instability”)

Work/Home
How did the transition from working in factory jobs to staying at home affect women after World War II?
What legal issues affected the kinds of jobs women could hold in different historical time periods?
Experiences of women in politics (you might look at some of the pioneering women who first ran for or held political office)
The changing role of the first lady (Abigail Adams had some interesting ideas about women’s roles, especially for her time)
Women’s roles in particular fields, especially those traditionally dominated by men
Women’s roles in the mainstream media (how many female producers, directors, executives have there been at any given time period, for instance?)
Family and maternity leave laws
Equal Pay (history in the making: our current President’s first executive order was to sign the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act)
Guides to housewifery, domesticity, Emily Post

Education
What was education for women like in (pick a decade and a geographic location – Louisiana has a really interesting history)
Curriculum: textbooks, representations/accounts of women in history, literature, the arts, sciences at particular points in history
First women to go to college, graduate school, medical school, etc.

Relationships/Marriage/Motherhood
Marriage laws
Polygamy
Attitudes towards divorce
Attitudes towards women and sex
History of the treatment of/imaging of lesbianism
Adoption, domestic or international (Especially controversies surrounding women who are forced or coerced into giving their babies up for adoption)

Sports
Treatment of and attitudes towards female athletes
Women’s participation in particular sports
Title IX

Religion
Attitudes towards women in a particular religion
Women’s roles in different religious traditions

Language
Origins and usages of specific gendered words (bitch, feminazi, etc.)
Evolution of gender bias in language (how did we get from saying he/him all the time to an awareness that more inclusive language was important?)

Activism
History of any part of the feminist movement (Susan Douglas's chapters on the movement might be a good place to start looking for ideas)
The African American Club Women’s Movement in the 19^th century (Ida B. Wells, Mary Church Terrell, Frances Harper)
Women’s participation in the Civil Rights Movement
Environmentalism (Rachel Carson might be an interesting person to research)