CCHU9043 Rethinking Women:

The Big Debates

Introduction

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Notice

This PowerPoint has been made available to students taking

CCHU9043 ‘Rethinking Women’ at The University of Hong
Kong. It is intended for educational purposes only and not for
general circulation. Where possible, the copyright of all images
has been acknowledged, unless the images have been made
available through Wikimedia Creative Commons or we have
been unable to identify the copyright holder.

© 2018 Carol Tsang

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01: What is a woman?

02: Thinking about women

03: Rethinking women

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01: What is a woman?

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 On a ‘desirable’ woman, a HK
commentator quoted from Facebook:

‘Every man seeks a woman who gives him 10
times more. You give her a sperm, she gives
you a child. You give her a house, she gives
you a home. You gives her food, she prepares
a meal. You smile to her, she gives you all her
heart.’


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In The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf blames the
mass media for creating unrealistic standards
of physical beauty. ‘The beauty myth’ justifies
competition between women and divides them
from one another. Older women fear young
ones, and young women fear old

Naomi Wolf, The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty are Used
Against Women (New York: Anchor Books, 1992).

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Sex: ‘either of the two main categories (male
and female) into which humans and many other
living things are divided on the basis of their
reproductive functions’ (OED)

Gender: ‘the state of being male or female as

expressed by social or cultural distinctions and
differences, rather than biological ones’ (OED)

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In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir
claims that ‘one is not born, but rather
becomes, a woman.’

Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex (New York: Knopf, 1989, c1952).

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Judith Butler states that gender is neither a
result of sex nor as fixed as sex. Gender is an
act and can be performed

Judith Butler, Feminism and the Subversion of Identity (New York:

Routledge, 1990).

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Gender is how an individual thinks of himself or
herself as male or female

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02: What do we think about women?

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Throughout history, women who failed to
conform to conventional norms of femininity
were being suppressed

Women today are still facing similar

challenges

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Men play a role in the discussion about
women. Sandy To states that Shanghai
professional women have trouble finding
marriage partners not because they are “too
picky”, but because men have rejected them
for being “too successful”

Sandy To, China’s Leftover Women: Late Marriage Among

Professional Women and Its Consequences (London; New York:
Routledge, 2015).

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Is it always women versus men? In 2014,
UN Women (under United Nations)
launched HeForShe, hoping to engage men
and boys to fight inequalities facing women
and girls

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Over the past decades, women have made
great strides in the workplace and educational
attainment

Naomi Wolf has argued that the 1990s should

be seen as ‘the era of the genderquake,’ in
which the meaning of being a woman has
transformed ultimately

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But the social expectations and gender
stereotypes continue to limit women’s abilities
and life choices

This course aims to engage both women and

men to *rethink* and challenge the
assumptions about women’s identities and
experiences

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 The big debates
•  How to be single?
•  Is women’s liberation necessarily ‘sexual
liberation’?
•  Are women better homemakers than men?
•  Is birth control a woman’s responsibility?
•  Should women have access to abortion?

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 The big debates
•  How should women confront violence?
•  What are the opportunities and challenges
facing lesbians and transgender women?
•  How do women fight?
•  And many more!

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 Debate

What do you think is the most important debate

about women today? Why?

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 Outcomes
•  Explore the notion of ‘woman’ and how we
might rethink and challenge the assumptions
about women’s identities and experiences
•  Examine the big debates about women’s
livelihood at different times and in different
global contexts

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 Course assignments
•  Continual Assessment & Task-focused Activities
30%
•  Online Portfolio 20%
•  Course Project 50%

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