American Feminist Theory 4219-SB147-OG

This course traces the development of American feminist theory from early abolitionist and proto-feminist voices like the Grimké sisters, through key thinkers of the 19th and early 20th century (Stanton, Fuller, Gilman, Wells, Addams, Goldman) to foundational second-wave feminist thinkers such as Millett, Dworkin and MacKinnon, concluding with contemporary intersectional, queer, and decolonial perspectives. Much attention will be paid to Black feminist thought and the concept of intersectionality. Alongside close readings of canonical feminist texts, the course critically examines how feminism transformed American Studies as a discipline, reshaping cultural and political understandings of gender, race, sexuality, and power.

Type of course

elective courses

Mode

Classroom

Course coordinators

Agnieszka Graff-Osser

Learning outcomes

Upon completing this course a student:
KNOWLEDGE
- has broad knowledge of American feminist theory from eaxly 19th century until today;
- understands the broader philosophical cultural and political context in which feminist thought developed;
- understands US feminism as a rich and internally diverse intellectual tradition;
SKILLS:
- is able to follow complex theoretical arguments with critical understanding;
- is able to speak and write about theoretical controversies in precise and meaningful ways;
- has an advanced ability to gather, compile and present in-depth research on a narrowly defined topic;
COMPETENCES:
- is able to cooperate in a group and present the effects of this effort;
- is open to conflicting readings of specific texts and differing visions of culture and society;
- is able to formulate and defend his/her opinion coherently and with respect for other views.

Assessment criteria

Final grade components:
1. Class participation & contributions to class forum (at least 3 entries) = 20 % of final grade
2. Groupwork: preparing 2 presentations = 20%
3. Final test = 30%
4. Final paper (1500 words minimum) = 30%
GRADING:
5! = 96
5 = 92.5
4+ = 87.5
4 = 80
3+ = 75
3 = 60

Bibliography

“Remember the Ladies” – Abigail Adams vs. John Adams
Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (excerpt)
John Stuart Mill, The Subjection of Women (excerpt)
Margaret Fuller, The Great Lawsuit: Man versus Men, Woman versus Women (excerpt)
Angelina Grimké, Appeal to the Christian Women of the South (1836) (excerpt)
Sarah Grimké, Letters on the Equality of the Sexes and the Condition of Women (1837) (excerpt)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Motherhood and Introduction to The Women’s Bible
Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments (1848)
Sojourner Truth, “Ain’t I a Woman?”
Gilman, Women and Economics (1898), Chapters 1–3
Jane Addams, Utilization of Women in City Government (1907)
Ida B. Wells, Lynch Law in All Its Phases (1893)
Emma Goldman, The Tragedy of Woman’s Emancipation (1906)
Margaret Sanger, Birth Control- A Parent’s Problem or a Woman’s? (1920)
Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (1949), Introduction & “The Woman in Love”
Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (1963) (selected chapters)
Kate Millett, Sexual Politics (1970), Introduction + Chapter 2 (“Theory of Sexual Politics”)
Shulamith Firestone, The Dialectic of Sex (1970), Introduction & Chapter 2
Andrea Dworkin, Pornography: Men Possessing Women (1981), Introduction & Chapter 5 (“Biological Superiority”)
Ellen Willis, Lust Horizons: Is the Women’s Movement Pro-Sex? (1981)
Frances Beal, Double Jeopardy: To Be Black and Female (1970)
Michele Wallace Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman
The Combahee River Collective Statement (1977)
Audre Lorde, The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House (1984)
Annette Kolodny, The Lay of the Land: Metaphor as Experience and History in American Life and Letters (1975)(Introduction and Chapter 1: “Unearthing the Past”
Nina Baym, Melodramas of Beset Manhood: How Theories of American Fiction Exclude Women Authors (1981)
Joan Wallach Scott, Gender: A Useful Category of Historical Analysis (1986)
Nancy Hartsock, The Feminist Standpoint: Developing the Ground for a Specifically Feminist Historical Materialism.(1988)
Donna Haraway, Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective (1988):
Sandra Harding, “Rethinking Standpoint Epistemology: What is “Strong Objectivity” (1992)”
Adrienne Rich, “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence” (1980)
Catharine MacKinnon, “Sexuality” from Toward a Feminist Theory of the State (1989)
Ellen Willis, “Radical Feminism and Feminist Radicalism” (1984)
Kimberlé Crenshaw, Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex (1989)
Hortense Spillers, “Mama’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe: An American Grammar Book” (1987)
Patricia Hill Collins, Black Feminist Thought (1990), Introduction + Chapter 1
bell hooks, Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (1984), Introduction + Chapter 5
Gayle S. Rubin, Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality” (1984)
Judith Butler, Gender Trouble (1990), Preface + Chapter 1
Emily Martin, The Egg and the Sperm: How Science Has Constructed a Romance Based on Stereotypical Male-Female Roles (1991)
Paula Gunn Allen, “Who Is Your Mother? Red Roots of White Feminism” (1986)
María Lugones "The Coloniality of Gender (2008)
Eve Tuck & K. Wayne Yang, “Decolonization is Not a Metaphor” (2012)
Andrea Smith, „Sexual Violence as a Tool of Genocide” (from: Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide) (2015)
Sara Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life (2017), Introduction + “Feminist Snap”

Additional information

Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:

Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system:

Description of 4219-SB147-OG in USOSweb