Gender and Society

Class Times: Room: CRN: Term:

Instructor: Penny Harvey

Email address:
Office Hours: ____ & By appointment.
If my office hours do not work for you, please set
an appointment with me.
Office Location:

Course Description
In the course we will critically engage in the
study of gender from a Sociological perspective.
We will utilize a combination of academic
readings, online articles and video media to examine the interactions of gender and its
consequences in many aspects of our social world. We will pay particular attention to gender
inequality and its other intersections with disparities such as race and sexuality. As part of this
course, we will not only identify gender-based inequality but we will actively call attention to
solutions to these inequalities both ideologically and practically.

Goals and Objectives of Gender and Society

1. Students will gain an in-depth understanding of gender and the social construction of
gender.
2. Students will look at gender through a Sociological lens.
3. Students will examine the links between gender and Sociological theory.
4. Students will assess the differences and similarities in the analysis of gender from both
micro and macro perspectives using empirical data and Sociological research.
5. Students will look how gender inequality can be addressed, reduced or solved through a
variety of different social policies, activism and social change.

Goals and Objectives of the study of Sociology

1. This class aims to enhance your critical thinking skills.
2. This class aims to promote social and collaborative learning.
3. This class aims to introduce you to Sociological thinking and the application of
sociology in everyday life.
4. This class aims to facilitate your ability to think of innovative ways you can engage in
social activism in your community.
Required Readings:

TEXTBOOK - The Kaleidoscope of Gender - Prisms, Patterns and Possibilities, 4th or 5th
edition, Spade and Valentine

Other weekly readings and media, which can be found on LMS, as laid out in the detailed
schedule
 Assessments

Break Down of Assessment

Participation 10 points

Presentations 10 points

Text Maps 20 points

Gender Inequality Awareness Project 20 points

Media Project 20 points

Final Exam 20 points

100 Total
Grading Scale

100-97 A+ 96-93 A 92-90 A-

89-87 B+ 86-83 B 82-80 B-

79-77 C+ 76-73 C 72-70 C-

69-60 D Below 59 F

Participation
Participation is important, I expect you to be present in class and to participate in class
discussion. Students will be given two free unexcused ‘absences’. Participation will be worth
10% with 1% removed for each class not attended. Once students have lost 5% you will be
required to meet with me in office hours. If a student exceeds 6 unexcused ‘absences’, I will
reserve the right to administratively withdraw them from the class. Excused absences with proper
verification will not be counted for the purpose of calculating participation grades. All
verification documentation for these absences must specify that your absence was for the
SPECIFIC day in question. Documentation to verify an excused absence must be provided
directly to me as soon as you know you will be unable to participate and at the latest when you
return to class after an extenuating circumstance. You may not turn in verification documentation
at the end of the semester. Participation will be graded based on your contribution to discussion
in class and on the class LMS. Discussion board post opportunities will be given weekly
throughout the semester on the LMS. The course is designed so that the more you put into the
class, the more you will get out of it. Your participation grade is designed as an incentive for you
to put your full effort into this course. If you are concerned about your participation grade, please
feel free to contact me to see your progress in the course.
Presentations
Students will prepare a short presentation about an activist - group, project, or charity that relates
to one of the class topics. The presentation should discuss the way in which the activist
organisation engages with the gender inequality. The student should also prepare one discussion
question and lead / moderate a discussion board post about their presentation topic. Students
must also turn in a one-page paper that contains: an explanation of the topic and a brief
explanation the activist group, project and charity. The presentation and paper will be worth
eight and two points respectively.

Text Maps
For every reading, students are expected to develop a text map. Templates can be found in course
resources on the LMS. These maps are useful in helping you digest and present the week’s
readings and visualize the contributions made by the scholars. Each student is expected to
individually prepare a draft text map prior to the beginning of the week. Your text map should
include the author’s research questions, theoretical frameworks used, methodologies, keywords
and main arguments. You will be expected to share information from your text map with the
class by posting them on the LMS. All students should upload their text maps to LMS prior to
the start of the week. Text Maps will be worth twenty percent of your course grade; there will be
twenty-four opportunities throughout the class. Up to four can be missed. There are no make-ups
for Text Maps.

Gender Inequality Awareness Project

This is your opportunity to be creative. Make a short film, write a song or poem, make a ‘zine,
create a photo project, write a newspaper article, radio piece, or poster project (if you think of
other formats please email me to have them approved by the _______) about an element of
gender inequality. We will be going through some examples on the first day of class and these
will be uploaded to LMS as examples. In this assignment, you shall create a project that engages
with an element of gender inequality we study in the course. Alongside the creative piece, you
will produce a three to four-page double-spaced paper that briefly introduces the gender
inequality issue you chose; the effects the issue has on individuals, groups, and society; why you
chose the creative medium you did to engage with this gender inequality; why public awareness
of the issue is important; and the steps that could be taken to reduce or mitigate the effects of the
issue. This will be worth 20% of your course grade. A full rubric for this assignment can be
found at the back of the syllabus. This project is due at the beginning of class on Month / Date.
If you miss the collection period, you will receive a point deduction.

Media Project
For this assignment you will be required to select some form of media and analyse how that form
of media constructs, applies, and/or reinforces gender. Your data source may be a movie, TV
show 3- 5 episodes of a T.V show, collection of news articles, a blog series, a magazine etc. You
must obtain approval of your data source from me prior to submitting your paper. You should
write a 5-8 page research paper that includes; the theory section using readings from class and
outside sources, a summary of findings, analysis of results and situation in wider context. It will
be worth 20% of your total course grade. ​All Data Sources should be approved by me by the
Date of Month. ​A full rubric and directions for this assignment can be found at the back of the
syllabus. This project is due at the beginning of class on Month Date. If you miss the collection
period, you will receive a point deduction.

Final Exam
Your final exam will assess your understanding of the material covered in the readings and
during class and will be in “take-home.” The format for the exam will be a series of short essays
and one longer essay. It will be due by 1pm on date month (uploaded to LMS). It will be worth
20% of your total course grade. No late papers will be accepted.

Note: For the Gender Equality Awareness Project, Media Project and Group Project you must
use one of the Weekly Topics we cover in class. You may NOT use the same Weekly Topic for
each assignment. Each assignment must cover a different Weekly Topic. Doing the same topic
twice will result in a 50% deduction of points earned in the second assignment.
 Class Expectations

Respect
Respect for me and your fellow students is mandatory.
We will talk about difficult social issues in this class and
some topics covered in this course can be considered
sensitive. Although we may be passionate about our
beliefs, please be respectful when you communicate
them. It is important that the classroom environment is
conducive to discussion while remaining respectful of all
students and open to differing opinions. Please feel free
to participate in class discussions but be respectful in
your use of language. Hateful and discriminatory
language directed at an individual or group will NOT be
tolerated. This includes, but is not limited to, racial slurs
or epithets, insensitive comments about a gender or sexual identity, and generalizations or hate
speech directed at religious groups. Repeated use of this language or a personal attack will result
in you being asked to leave the classroom. Please feel free to share your thoughts, but think
before you speak. If you are unsure of why someone found your comment offensive, please
respect that person’s feelings and do not argue with that person; come discuss it with me after
class.

Academic Dishonesty
Violation of the Academic Honesty policy will result in an F in the course and possible
disciplinary action. All violations will be formally reported to the Dean of Arts and Sciences.
For further information, please consult the university's website.

Accommodations
This course will be conducted in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. If you are a student with a disability or other
accommodation need, please inform me at the beginning of the semester or as the issue becomes
pertinent. Where necessary make the appropriate arrangements with the Office of Disability
Services located in Suite 230 of the New Student Center, 404-463-9044. If you have any
concerns about your ability to complete an assignment, please make an appointment to come see
me in office hours. Students who wish to request accommodations for a disability may do so by
registering with the Office of Disability Services. Students may only be accommodated upon
issuance by the Office of Disability Services, of a signed Accommodation Plan and are
responsible for providing a copy of that plan to instructors of all classes in which an
accommodation is sought.
Illness
I understand that illness happens and if illness of any kind is going to affect your attendance past
the two unexcused days, appropriate documentation is required. Letters from medical health
professionals and mental health professionals are accepted, but must be dated. If you are having
issues with mental health and / or dealing with a trauma and feel it is going to affect your
progress in the course, please contact the university’s free counselling service for assistance at
________.

Withdrawals
____, the semester midpoint, is the last day to withdraw from a full semester class and receive a
possible grade of W, except for emergency withdrawal. Students can use _____ to withdraw
before the midpoint. After the midpoint of the term, voluntary withdrawals cannot occur.

Grade Disputes
Any student who wishes to dispute a grade earned on any written assignment may do so by
submitting a written memo detailing specifically why the assignment should receive a different
grade. The memo should explain how the assignment or how the answer as chosen or written
met the requirements/addressed the question (and not based on what could possibly be inferred
from what was written). Any dispute must be submitted to the instructor within 48 hours of
receipt of the graded assignment.

**The course syllabus provides a general plan for the course; deviations may be necessary**
 Schedule of Classes, Readings and Assignments:
Class Number, Date Readings Due and Media Assignments Due
and Topic

Class 1: Introduction N/A

to Gender

Class 2: >Introduction and prisms introduction in text map 1 Due on LMS

Social Construction the textbook
of Gender >West and Zimmerman, “Doing Gender”
(PDF)
>‘”Night to His Day”: The Social
Construction of Gender’ (PDF)

Class 3: >Chapter 1 reading 2 of the textbook text map 2 Due on LMS

Life outside the >The Five Sexes, Revisited -Anne
Gender Binary Fausto-Sterling (PDF)
>Video: ​INTERSEXION

Class 4: >Spade and Valentine, “Introduction” text map 3 Due on LMS

Feminism and (PDF)
History of Gender >Wood, “The Rhetorical Shaping of
inequality Gender: Women’s Movements in
America” (PDF)
> Video: She’s Beautiful when she's
angry

Class 5: > Chapter 2 reading 7 of the textbook text map 4 Due on LMS
Intersectionality >Theorizing Difference from Deadline for alternative
Multicultural Feminism Maxine Baca format for Gender
Zinn and Bonnie Thornton Dill in Book, Inequality Awareness
(PDF) Project
> Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women
redefining difference (PDF)
Class 6: >Chapter 1 reading 6 of the Textbook text map 5 Due on LMS
Gender and Race >“Beyond Pro-Choice Versus Pro-Life:
Women of Color and Reproductive
Justice” (pgs. 372-381 in Feminist
Frontiers) (PDF)
>Woods, “The Black Male Privileges
Checklist” (PDF)

Class 7: >Chapter 3 reading 12 of the textbook text map 6 Due on LMS

Gender Norms: >http://www.autostraddle.com/what-we- Deadline for submittal of
Masculinities and mean-when-we-say-femme-a-roundtable- Media Project Source
341842/
Femininities
> “Pretty Baby”in Feminist Frontiers
(PDF)

Class 8: >Dude, You’re a Fag”: Chapter 1 (PDF) text map 7 Due on LMS
Gender Norms: > Female masculinity chapter 1 (PDF)
Masculinities and > Chapter 3 reading 14 from the textbook
Femininities

Class 9: > Chapter 6 reading 28 of the Textbook text map 8 Due on LMS
The Media >Wood, “Gendered Media: The Group presentations
Influence of Media on Views of Gender groups assigned
(PDF)
>​Video: Misrepresentation

Class 10: >Chapter 5 reading 25 of the Textbook text map 9 Due on LMS
Gender and > Straight girls kissing (PDF)
Sexuality > Becoming 100% straight

Class 11: >Virginity lost first and last chapter text map 10 Due on LMS
Virginity and (PDF)
Navigating Sex Intimacy - Chapter 5 (PDF)

Class 12: > Chapter 6 reading 29 of the textbook text map 11 Due on LMS
Female Sexual > Chapter 5 reading 22 Gender Inequality
Agency >Video: Vagina Monologues – On Awareness Project
reserve in library or find on YouTube handed in in class

Class 13: Gendered > Chapter 9 reading 44 and 45 of the text map 12 Due on LMS
Violence and Sex textbook
>​http://www.upworthy.com/how-7-things
-that-have-nothing-to-do-with-rape-perfe
ctly-illustrate-the-concept-of-consent

Class 14: >“Sex Segregation in the U.S. Labor text map 13 Due on LMS
Gender in the Force” (pgs. 197-204 in Feminist
Workplace Frontiers)
> Radicalising the Glass Elevator - Adia
Harvey Wingfield
> Video: 9 to 5 on reserve in library or on
YouTube

Class 15: > Chapter of the Textbook text map 14 Due on LMS
Education >​http://www.usnews.com/opinion/knowle
dge-bank/2015/04/02/education-gender-g
aps-how-big-are-they-and-can-they-be-fi
xed
> Gender race and identity border work
between classes

Class 16: >Intimacy chapter 3 text maps 15 Due on

Family >How Does the Gender of Parents LMS
Matter?
>​http://www.upworthy.com/everything-y
ouve-always-wanted-to-know-about-sam
e-sex-parents-but-were-afraid-to-ask
or
>​http://www.upworthy.com/some-kids-of
-gay-parents-tell-us-their-secrets-and-the
yre-adorable
> Video: The Fosters season 1 episode 1
Class 17: > ​Pregnant Bodies, Fertile Minds: text map 16 Due on LMS
Family and Teen Gender, Race, and the Schooling of
Pregnancy Pregnant Teens - Chapter 1 (PDF)
> Becoming Teen Fathers
Stories of Teen Pregnancy,
Responsibility, and Masculinity (PDF)
> Video: The pregnancy project

Class 18: > Bully Society Chapter 1 and 9 text map 17 Due on LMS
Masculinity and Gun >http://www.huffingtonpost.com/soraya-
Violence chemaly/mass-killings-in-the-us-w_b_82
34322.html

Class 19: > It’s not an oxymoron, the search for text map 18 Due on LMS
Global Feminism arab-feminism in Colonize this (PDF)
>Theorising difference, multicultural
feminism (PDF)
>Chapter 5 reading 24 of the textbook

Class 20: > The transwomens manifesto (PDF) text map 19 Due on LMS
Trans’ Issues >http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dy
n/content/article/2008/07/27/AR2008072
701583.html
> Video: My transexual summer episode
1- 4 (youtube)

Class 21: >Intersexuality and Alternative Gender text map 20 Due on LMS
Intersex Categories in Non-Western Cultures
(PDF)
>​The Third Sex—Kathoey: Thailand's
Ladyboys (PDF)
>Looking into the eye of the process
Intercultural art activism trans*/lations
and intersex/tions in the Global South
(PDF)
Class 22: > Learning to be a girl, learning to be a text map 21 Due on LMS
Boys and Girls women (PDF)
>​Boys will be boys?​ Chapter 1 and
conclusion (PDF)
>​http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/
growing-up-trans/​ (PDF)

Class 23: >Chapter 5 reading 24 of the Textbook text map 22 Due on LMS
The Body >What Not to Wear; Post-Feminist
Symbolic Violence (PDF)
>https://thesocietypages.org/feminist/201
6/07/12/3128/

Class 24: >Porn wars (PDF) text map 23 Due on LMS

Pornography >Everytime we fuck we win (PDF) Final Media Project Due
>Video: Hot girls wanted (on Netflix) Handed in in class

Class 25: No Reading!

Presentations

Class 26: No Reading!

Presentations

Class 27: No Readings!

Presentations

Class 27 >Chapter of the textbook text map 24 Due on LMS

What next >The Transformation of Silence into
Language and Action PDF
>Chapter 10 reading 48 and 50

No Class: Final Exam Due ​on LMS

by 1:00pm.
 Rubrics and Assignment Prompts
Text maps are a brief summary of at least three of the key points or arguments of the reading
Grading of text maps:
How to score a 1:
Summarise the main points and arguments from the readings effectively

Include relevant media relating to the reading

Outline the theoretical / research contributions

Turn in at one page

Use full sentences

Use formal writing (not text writing!)

How to score a .66:

Include relevant information from readings and/or media

Turn in at least 3 paragraphs

Use full sentences

Use formal writing (not text writing!)

How to score a .33:

Addressing the reading topic in some way

Use full sentences

Use formal writing (not text writing!)

How to score 0
You do not turn in the assignment on time.

You choose one line or point from the text to talk about (usually from the very beginning of the
essay, which indicates that you might not have read the whole assignment.)

You talk about something else entirely (e.g. other things you’ve read, your belief system,
childhood stories).
Text Map Template

Research Questions:
What are the author’s research questions?
These might be explicitly or implicitly presented in the text. Most authors layer multiple sets of
research questions throughout a text, which should be subsumed under a larger query that is
linked to unanswered or new questions within particular sociological/scientific conversations.

Theoretical Frameworks
What are the theoretical frameworks out of which the author's question(s) emerge?

Which bodies of sociological knowledge is the author in dialogue with in their text?

What theoretical frameworks does the author use to interpret their data and evidence?

Data and Evidence

What forms of data and evidence does the author collect and analyze in order to answer their
research questions?

Methodologies
What specific procedures did the author use to collect their data and evidence?
Like their research questions, the methodology might be explicitly or implicitly presented in the
text. You might need to do some investigative work to figure this out.

Main Arguments

Other Links and Resources

Videos, Memes, Songs, News Articles that relate to concepts
Gender Inequality Awareness Project
Creative Piece 2 Points The project creatively engages with the selected gender
- 10 Points inequality issue

2 Points The project content is accurate, interesting and original.

2 Points The project uses an approved gender inequality issue from the
course.

4 Points The project has a clear gender inequality awareness message

and that adequately addresses the gender inequality issue.

Paper 2 Points The paper clearly and accurately describes the gender
- 10 Points inequality issue.

2 Points The paper includes a clear and rational explanation of the

choice of the medium used for creative engagement.

2 Points The paper gives a full and justified explanation of why public
awareness of the gender inequality issue is important and
impactful.

2 Points The paper identifies reasonable, insightful and possible

solutions/strategies to encourage change or mitigate the effect
of the gender inequality issue.

2 Points This papers demonstrates appropriate referencing skill, essay

format and use of academic language and is an appropriate
length.
Media Project
5 Points The paper clearly summarises the data source and how it constructs, applies,
and/or reinforces gender.

3 Points The paper demonstrates knowledge of Gender theory and correctly applies it to
the analysis of the media

3 Points This paper is able to situate the specific gender issues in an intersectional
context

3 Points The paper clearly and accurately describes the primary gender inequality issue
and identifies reasonable, insightful possible solutions/strategies to encourage
change or mitigate the effect of the gender inequality issue.

3 Points The paper clearly explains and justifies the method used to conduct the analysis

3 Points This paper demonstrates appropriate structure, referencing skill, essay format
and use of academic language and is an appropriate length.
A word document should be uploaded to LMS with a brief summary of the media source,
project plan and gender inequality issue you are studying (one -three paragraphs) by the
date of month

Presentation Project
2 Points The presentation is clear and engaging

2 Points The content is accurate

2 Points The content is appropriately related to the gender topic

2 Points The presentation is critical and utilizes information from readings, textmaps and
class content

1 Point The paper succinctly summarises the topic the activist group, project and
charity

1 Point The paper explains the activist group, project and charity