WSH
470: Women and Popular Culture
Fall
2004
TuTh
12:15 a.m.-1:40
p.m.
ECA
219
Dr.
Karen J. Leong
Office:
ECA 206
Phone:
965-6936
email:
karen.leong@asu.edu
Office
hours: Tuesday 2-3; Wednesday 8-9, and by appointment.
Women’s
Studies 470 is a humanities based,
interdisciplinary, upper division course that focuses on the ways in
which
women consume, produce, and critique United States popular culture as
well as
the ways in which women are produced for consumption in United States
popular
culture. This course will seek to further develop your critical
thinking and
analytical skills, spoken and written communication, gender
consciousness,
awareness of feminist scholarship as it relates to cultural production,
and an
understanding of the relationship between women and popular culture in
the United
States.
Please be sure to get to know your classmates; they will be valuable
resources if you ever miss part of a class or want to collaborate.
Finally, please be aware that this course
probably
includes topics that are controversial, and may even be uncomfortable
for
you. If you choose to take this class, you are responsible for
completing
all of the reading and written assignments. Remember that you do not
have to
agree with all of the material presented in this class, but you are
required to
read, listen, think, and write about it. If you are uncomfortable with
certain
topics, please discuss this with me in the first two weeks so we can
determine
how you will complete the assignments.
Timely
communication: The best way
to contact me is by phone or in person during my
office hours or to make an appointment to meet with me. While I
do
respond to email, I do not check my email regularly and there can be
server
glitches.
Readings (the
books
are available at ASU Bookstore, and are on 4 hr reserve at Hayden
Library):
Guerrilla
Girls, Bitches, Bimbos, and Bombshells. The Guerrilla Girls
Illustrated
Guide to Female Stereotypes
Lynn Peril, Pink Think
Articles for the course are
available at: http://www.public.asu.edu/~kleong/staffpage/
Graded Assignments:
30 pts
each Three 1-3 page “case study”
assignments requiring you to bring in an article or example relevant to
the
topics we are discussing. You will turn in a typed, one-two page
explanation of
the article/object and its significance in relation to class concepts.
20
points
In-class
group presentation (20 minutes) focusing on one of the assigned readings
40
points
In-class
midterm (based on readings)
50
points
Individual
research paper (5-8 pages) with annotated bibliography
20
points
Visual display
based on individual research paper
20
points
Annotated
bibliography (in progress) for final research paper
10
points
Final
research topic paragraph
50 points
Attendance and active, productive participation and reading quizzes
as
needed
300 points
total 94-100 %
A
77-79 % C+
90-93
A-
70-76 C
87-89
B+
60-69 D
84-86
B
0-59 E
80-83 B-
Late
Policy: All
assignments are due at the beginning of class. I
will not accept emailed assignments. Assignments will not be
accepted three
days after the due date. Assignments turned in after they are collected
will be
penalized for being late, and will receive a deduction each day
(including
Saturday and Sunday) thereafter.
In
the case of medical, family, or other emergencies it is best for students to contact the
Student
Advocacy Office (965-6547, SSV 263) in the unfortunate event that a
death or
other family/medical emergency interferes with attendance and/or
ability to
complete assignments. The office will ask for documentation, and
will
then notify the student’s professors.
Day
|
Themes
|
Readings
|
|
8/24
|
Overview
of course and themes
|
|
|
8/26
|
Womanhood,
femininity, and popular culture
|
Guerrilla
Girls, 1-35
|
|
8/31
|
Women
and consumer culture
|
Pink
Think Ch 1-2
|
|
9/2
|
Marketing
Womanhood
|
Guerrilla
Girls, 55-72
|
|
9/7
|
Reproducing
gender ideologies
|
Guerrilla
Girls, 84-88
Tara L. Kuther and Erin McDonald,
“Early Adolescents’ Experiences with and Views of, Barbie,” Adolescence,
39 (Spr 2004) 153: 39-51.
|
|
9/9
|
The
impossible divide
|
Pink
Think Chapter 3
Guerrilla
Girls, 39-54
|
|
9/14
|
A
hetero sexuality
|
Pink
Think Chapter 4
|
|
9/16
|
Representing
womanhood and manhood
|
Pink
Think Ch.
6
|
|
9/21
|
Working
womanhood
|
Pink
Think Chapter 7
Guerrilla
Girls, 73-83
|
|
9/23
|
Marketing
womanhood
|
Bonnie J. Dow, “Feminism, Miss America,
and Media Mythology,” Rhetoric &
Public Affairs 6 (2003): 1, 127-160.
|
|
9/28
|
Beyond
human: Motherhood in popular culture
|
Deirdre
D. Johnston and Debra H. Swanson, “Invisible
Mothers: A Content Analysis of Motherhood Ideologies and Myths in
Magazines,” Sex Roles, 49 (July 2003): 1/2,21-33;
|
|
9/30
|
Motherhood
continued
|
Gail Burstein,
MD, “Dr. Mommy Blues,” Annls of
Internal Medicine 140 (2004): 842-843;
Hilary Cunningham, “Prodigal bodies: pop
culture and post-pregnancy,”
Michigan
Quarterly Review 41 (Summer 2002: 3, 428-54
|
|
10/5
|
The
power of race, gender, and popular culture
|
Deborah Gregory and Patricia Jacobs, “The
Ugly Side of the
Modeling Business”;
Angela
Y. Davis, “Afro Images: Politics, Fashion, and Nostalgia,” Critical
Inquiry 21 (Autumn 1994): 34-45.
|
|
10/7
|
Gender
and nationalism
|
Pink
Think Chapter 5;
Ed
Leibowitz, “Macho in Miniature,” Smithsonian, 33 (Aug
2002): 5, 26-28.
Jennifer
Turpin, “Barbie in the War Zone,” Social Alternatives 22
(Spring 2003) 2:5-7.
|
|
10/12
|
Consumerism,
objectification, and sexualization
|
Bruce Blaine and Jennifer McElroy, “Selling
Stereotypes: Weight Loss Infomercials, Sexism, and Weightism,” Sex
Roles, 46 (May 2002): 9/10:351-357;
Deana A. Rohlinger, “Eroticizing Men: Cultural Influences on
Advertising
and Male Objectification,”
Sex Roles, 46 (Feb 2002): 3/4, 61-74.
|
|
10/13
|
Presidential
debate
|
|
|
10/14
|
Research
day
|
|
|
10/19
|
Consuming
images: Women and their bodies
|
Joann Peck and Barbara Loken, “When Will Larger-Sized Female Models
in Advertisements Be Viewed Positively? The Moderating Effects
Instructional Frame, Gender, and Need for Cognition,” Psychology
& Marketing, 21(Jun 2004): 6, 425–442
|
|
10/21
|
In-class
mini-midterm and class discussion
|
In-class
midterm based on readings and lectures up to this point
|
|
10/26
|
The
Gaze: portrayals of gender, femininity, and crime
|
Gray Cavender, Lisa
Bond-Maupin, and Nancy Jurik, “The Construction of Gender in Reality
Crime TV,” Gender and Society 13 (Oct 1999)5: 643-663.
|
|
10/28
|
Art
or exploitation? Feminism and the production of female sexuality
|
L. Ryan Musgrave,
“Liberal Feminism, from Law to Art: The Impact of Feminist
Jurisprudence on Feminist Aesthetics,” Hypatia, 18 (Fall 2003)
4: 214-235.
|
|
11/2
|
Women
and Sports
|
Abigail M. Feder, “‘A Radiant Smile from
the Lovely Lady’: Overdetermined femininity in “Ladies” Figure
Skating,” Drama Review 38 (Spring 1994) 1: 62-78;
Jennifer L. Knight and Traci A. Giuliano,
“Blood Sweat and Jeers, the Impact of the Media’s Heterosexist
Portrayals on Male and Female Athletes,”
Journal of Sports Behavior 26:3,
272-284
|
|
|
Buffy
Studies
|
Sara Buttsworth,“‘Bite Me’: Buffy and the
penetration of the
gendered warrior-hero,” Continuum:
Journal of Media & Cultural Studies, 16 (2002) 2: 185-199;
Cathleen Kaveny, “Buffy,
the Pope and the new Feminists,” Commonweal, 7
Nov 2003, 18-24.
|
|
11/9
|
Comedy
as resistance
|
Jennifer Reed, “Lily Tomlin’s Appearing
Nitely: Performing Difference Before Difference Was Cool,” The
Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 37 (2004) No. 3,
436-449;
DoVeanna S.
Fulton, “Comic Views and Metaphysical Dilemmas:
Shattering Cultural Images through
Self-Definition and Representation by
Black Comediennes,” Journal
of American Folklore 117(2004) 463:81–96 .
|
|
11/11
|
Holiday
|
No
class
|
|
11/16
|
Women,
art, and power
|
Amy Mullin, “Art, Understanding, and
Political Change,” Hypatia 15 (Summer 2000) 3: 113-139;
Amy Mullin,
“Feminist Art and the Political Imagination,” Hypatia 18 (Fall
2003) 4: 189-213.
|
|
11/18
|
Oppositional
perspectives in the production of culture
|
Real
Women Have Curves
|
|
11/23
|
Women,
the blues, and bluegrass
|
Gerri
Hirshey and Anthony Bozza, “Mothers of Invention,” Rolling Stone,
13 Nov 1997,
44-49;
Henrietta
Yerchenk;o, “Trouble in Mines: A History in Song and Story by
Women of Appalachia,” American
Music, 9 (Summer 1991) 2: 209-224.
|
|
11/25Nn
|
|
|
|
11/25
|
No class
|
|
|
11/30
|
Women,
rock, and rap
|
Peter Mercer, “Songs from the Bell
Jar: Autonomy and Resistance in the Music of the Bangles,” Popular
Music 17 (May 1998) 2: 187-204;
Beverly
Skeggs, “Two minute brother: Contestation through gender,`race' and
sexuality.” Innovation: The European Journal of Social Sciences;
6 (1993) 3: 299-323.
|
|
12/2
|
|
Kristen
Schilt, “A Little Too Ironic”:
The Appropriation and Packaging of Riot Grrrl Politics Mainstream
Female Musicians,” Popular
Music and Society, 26
(2003) 1: 5-16;
Robin Robins,
“’Ladies First’: Queen Latifah’s Afrocentric Feminist Video,” African
American Review 28 (summer 1994) 2: 245-257.
|
|
12/7
|
Last
day of class
|
Viewing
materials related to final exam
Class
viewing of visual interpretations
|
|
12/14
|
12:15-2:00 pm ECA219
|
Final
Exam
|
There are 9 Group Presentations: 5 in each
group—5 points of your grade will be based on your contribution to the
project; 5 points on creativity and presentation; 10 points on content
and
clarity (how you demonstrate the points raised by the article and
connect it to
what we have been learning in class).
Note: Any academic dishonesty, such as not
crediting
original sources for phrases, analyses, or concepts--or incorporating
an
author’s words without quotation marks regardless of whether you cite
the
author or not--will result in a zero on the particular assignment.
Egregious
academic dishonesty may result in failing the course and/or being
referred to
the Office of Student Affairs. If you have any questions about
properly
citing or crediting sources, please talk to me.