MEN AND WOMEN IN AMERICAN SOCIETY (SOCI/WOMS213-010)
Fall 2000
M/W/F 1:25 - 2:15
Dr. Anne Bowler
Office: 310 Smith
Telephone: 831-2583
e-mail: abowler@udel.edu
Office Hours:M/W 2:30 - 4:00,
or by appointment
Teaching Assistant: Dana Hysock
I. COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course is designed to provide students with a sociological framework for analyzing sex and gender relations in contemporary American society. Topics include the social construction of gender, patterns of sex-role socialization, gender stratification in the paid labor force, and gender relations in the family and other social institutions. Class format includes lectures, group discussion, guest speakers, and films.
II. REQUIRED TEXTS
Andersen, Margaret. Thinking About Women: Sociological Perspectives on Sex and Gender. Fifth Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000.
Kimmel, Michael S. and Michael A. Messner, Editors. Men’s Lives. Fifth Edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2001.
III. COURSE REQUIREMENTS
There will be three examinations, each worth approximately one-third of a student’s final grade. Exam format will be a combination of multiple choice and true/false. Dates are listed in the schedule below. Students should be advised that examinations will cover material from assigned readings, lectures, discussions, guest lectures, and films. Regular class attendance is therefore essential. WARNINGS: Repeated, unexcused absences may be the basis for lowering a student’s final grade in the course. Make-up examinations are available only in the event of a documented “excused absence,” as defined by University policy. Consult your undergraduate catalog for further information. In accordance with University policy, any act or attempted act of academic dishonesty will be reported to the Dean of Student’s Office. Any student found guilty of academic dishonesty will automatically fail the course.
IV. COURSE SCHEDULE
| Date | Topic and Assignment |
| August 30 | INTRODUCTION |
|
September 1, 6, 8, 11, 13, 15 |
CONCEPTUALIZING GENDER reading: Andersen, Chapter 1 and 2; Kimmel and Messner, Introduction;* Fausto-Sterling, How to Build a Man;* Sabo, Masculinities and Men's Health* |
|
September 18, 20, 22, 25, 27, 29 |
SOCIALIZATION reading: Andersen, Chapter 3; McGuffey and Rich, Playing in the Gender Transgression Zone;* Messner, Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities;* Strate, Beer Commercials* film: "Killing Us Softly 3" |
|
October 2 |
EXAM ONE |
|
October 4, 6, 9, 11, 13, 16 |
FAMILY reading: Andersen, Chapter 6, pages 153-81 and 186-94;
film: "Chore Wars" |
|
October 18, 20, 23, 25, 27, 30, November 1 |
WORK reading: Andersen, Chapter 5; Williams, The Glass Escalator;* Pierce, Rambo Litigators;* Nonn, Hitting Bottom;* Weis et al., Re-Examining a "Moment in History;"* Marable, The Black Male;* Giuffre and Williams, Boundary Lines* class project: "The Sexual Harassment Quiz" |
|
November 3 |
EXAM TWO |
|
November 6, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20 |
VIOLENCE reading: Andersen, Chapter 6, pages 181-86 and Chapter 9; Kaufman, The Construction of Masculinity and the Triad of Men's Violence;* Boswell and Spade, Fraternities and Collegiate Rape Culture;* Crosset et al., Male Student-Athletes Reported for Sexual Assault;* Stoltenberg, "I am Not a Rapist!"* film: "Tough Guise" |
|
November 22, 27, 29, December 1, 4, 6 |
SEXUALITY AND INTIMATE RELATIONSHIPS reading: Andersen, Chapter 4; Rochlin, The Heterosexual Questionnaire;* Messner, Becoming 100 Percent Straight;* Staples, Stereotypes of Black Male Sexuality;* Rubin, The Approach-Avoidance Dance;* Walker, I'm Not Friends the Way She's Friends* film: "Men and Women Talking Together" |
|
Exam Week |
EXAM THREE |
*in Kimmel and Messner