Spring 1998
The University of Rhode Island

Women's Studies 210
Introduction to Feminist Theory

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Donna M. Hughes
316 Roosevelt Hall
401 874 2757
dhughes@uriacc.uri.edu
http://www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes

Announcements
Calender of Events

Required Books:

  1. Patriarchy and Accumulation on a World Scale, Maria Mies, Zed Books, 1986.
  2. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment. Patricia Hill Collins, Routledge, 1990.
  3. Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law, Catharine MacKinnon, Harvard University Press, 1987.
  4. A Passion for Friends — Toward a Philosophy of Female Affection, Janice Raymond, Beacon Press, 1986.
  5. Asian American Women and Men. Yen Le Espiritu. Sage Press, 1997.

 

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Course Outline, Readings and Internet Links

#1: Jan 13 Why We Need Theory

 

#2: Jan 15 What Is Feminism

 

Chap 1 What is Feminism? Maria Mies, Patriarchy
      Study Questions

 

 

#3: Jan 22 The Politics of Feminism - Black Feminist Thought Chap 1 The Politics of  Black Feminist Thought, Black Feminism Thought, Patricia Hill Collins
     Study Questions
Chap 2 Defining Black Feminist Thought, Black Feminist Thought, Patricia Hill Collins
    

Additional Reading:
African American Women and Feminism

 

#4: Jan 27 The Politics of Feminism - Chicana Feminist Thought Making Face, Making Soul - A Chicana Feminist Homepage
Chicanas Speak Out
Chicana Studies Homepage

 

#5: Jan 29 Analyzing Feminist Perspectives

Due: Analysis

 

Feminism: An Agenda, Andrea Dworkin (handout)
     Study Questions
     Mary Peck's Analysis Paper
The Art of the Impossible, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified

Additional Readings:
Andrea Dworkin Online Library

 

#6: Feb 3 Women Together for Women

 

Introduction, Janice Raymond, A Passion for Friends

Additional Readings:
Michigan Womyn's Music Festival
Ladyslipper Music
Women's Music Homepage

 

#7: Feb 5 Female Friendship

 

 

Chap 1 Origins of Female Friendship: In the Beginning Was Woman, Janice Raymond, A Passion for Friends

Additional Readings:
International Chinese Comrade Organization
International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission

 

#8: Feb 10 Obstacles to Female Friendship Chap 4 Obstacles to Female Friendship, Janice Raymond, A Passion for Friends

 

#9: Feb 12 A Vision of Female Friendship Chap 5 A Vision of Female Friendship: Two Sights-seeing, Janice Raymond, A Passion for Friends

Additional Readings:
Lesbian Feminism, Women's Liberation Archives
Womankind Worldwide
WWWomen WebRing

 

#10: Feb 17 Gendered Division of Labor

 

 

 

Chap 2 Social Origins of the Sexual Division of Labor, Maria Mies, Patriarchy
    Study Questions

Additional Readings:
Is Every Woman One Divorce Away from Financial Disaster?

#11: Feb 19 Colonization Chap 3 Colonization and Housewifization, Maria Mies, Patriarchy
   
Study Questions

 

#12: Feb 24 International Division of Labor Chap 4 Housewifization International: Women and the New International Division of Labor, Maria Mies, Patriarchy
    Study Questions

Additional Readings:
Women Working Worldwide

 

#13: Feb 26 Work and Family for African American Women

 

Chap 3 Work, Family and Black Women's Oppression, Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought
#14: Mar 3 Work and Family for Asian American Women

 

Chap 1 Labor, Laws and Love, Yen Le Espiritu, Asian American Women and Men
Chap 2 Stretching Gender, Family, and Community Boundaries, 1840s-1930s, Yen Le Espiritu, Asian American Women and Men

 

#15: Mar 5 Violence Against Women

 

Chap 5 Violence Against Women and the Ongoing Primitive Accumulation of Capital, Maria Mies, Patriarchy

Additional Readings:
Violence Against Rural Women
Rwanda: Justice Denied
Female Genital Mutilation

 

#16: Mar 17 War and Immigration in the Lives of Asian American Women

 

Chap 3 Changing Lives: World War II and the Postwar Years
Chap 4 Contemporary Asian America: Immigration, Increasing Diversity, and Changing Resources, Yen Le Espiriru, Asian American Women and Men

 

#17: Mar 19 Ideology and Control of Women

 

Chap 4 Mammies, Matriarchs, and Other Controlling Images, Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought
Chap 5 Ideological Racism and Cultural Resistance: Constructing Our Own Images, Yen Le Espiritu, Asian American Women and Men

Additional Readings:
About Face

 

#18: Mar 24 Women and National Liberation Struggles

 

Chap 6 National Liberation and Women’s Liberation, Maria Mies, Patriarchy

Additional Readings:
A Sacrificial Light: Self Emmolation in Tajrish Square, Tehran
National Council of Resistance of Iran

 

#19: Mar 26 Difference and Dominance

 

Chap 1 Not By Law Alone, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified 
Chap 2 Difference and Dominance: On Sex Discrimination, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified

Additional Readings:
Catharine MacKinnon

 

#20: Mar 31 Sexuality: Construction and Colonization

 

Chap 3 Desire and Power, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified
#21: Apr 2 Violence Against Women Chap 6 A Rally Against Rape, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified
Chap 7 Sex and Violence: A Perspective, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified
Chap 9 Sexual Harassment: Its First Decade in Court, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified

Additional Readings:
What is Justice for a Rape Victim?
Gender Harassment on the Internet
Women Halting Online Abuse
When Street Harassment Gets Nasty

 

#22: Apr 7 Sexual Exploitation: Pornography and Prostitution

film: Prostitution: A Matter of Violence Against Women

 

Chap 11 Linda’s Life and Andrea’s Work, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified
Chap 12 More Than Simply a Magazine: Playboy’s Money, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified
#23: Apr 9 African American Women and Sexual Politics Chap 8 The Sexual Politics of Black Womanhood
Chap 9 Sexual Politics and Black Women's Relationships, Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought

 

#26: Apr 21 Motherhood and Reproductive Rights

 

Chap 8 Privacy v. Equality: Beyond Roe v. Wade, Catharine MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified
Chap 6 Black Women and Motherhood, Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought

Additional Reading:
Our Clinics/Ourselves: Defending Providers is Up to Us
Loving Babies, Hating Women
Abortion Rights Activist

 

#24:Apr 14 Women and Self-Definition Chap 5 The Power of Self-Definition, Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought

Additional Readings:
Equality Now

 

#25: Apr 16 Afrocentric Feminist Epistemology Chap 10 Toward an Afrocentric Feminist Epistemology, Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought

 

#27: Apr 23 Women and Imagined Community

 

Chap 6 Beyond Dualisms: Constructing an Imagined Community, Yen Le Espiritu, Asian American Women and Men
#28: Apr 28 Feminist Vision

 

Chap 7 Towards a Feminist Perspective of a New Society, Maria Mies, Patriarchy

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Additional Resources on the Internet:

How the Internet Works

Evaluation of Internet Sources
    Evaluation Criteria

Women's Studies and Feminist Theory
Women's Studies Resources
Gender and Women Links

Feminist Theory Web Site
Women's Human Rights Resources
United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women

Affirmative Action and Diversity Project
Diversity Links for Women and Minorities
African American Women - Online Archive

Women's Liberation Movement Pathfinder
Women Online Worldwide
Women's Net

Center for the American Woman and Politics
HERA Health, Empowerment, Rights and Accountability
Native American Women's Health Education Resource Center

Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse
RAINN  Rape, Abuse, Incest National Network
Guerrilla Girls

Always Causing Legal Unrest
Yin
Women's Internet Council

The Woman Rebel
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Human Rights Campaign

Jewish Women International
Support Services for Women in Rhode Island
Professional Directory and Marketplace of Women in Business


Encylopedia of Women's History
Women's FlyFishing

 

For more links to web sites see the International Women's Issues syllabus.