ECONOMICS 333:
POLITICAL ECONOMY OF WOMEN
Instructor: Dr. Nancy Rose
Winter, 2000
TR 10-11:50
TC-022
Office: 104 Faculty Office Building
Office Hours: TR 9-10 and 4-5, or by appointment
Phone: 537-5516 or 537-5511 (Department Office)
The primary objective of this course is to develop an understanding of women in the economy that takes into account differences in race-ethnicity and class. We will develop a theoretical framework which considers the importance of both wage-labor in the workplace and unpaid labor in the home. Current trends will be explored and policies for remedying the inequities of women's economic status will be analyzed.
Required Books:
Jo Freeman, Women: A Feminist Perspective, Fifth edition (Palo Alto: Mayfield Publishing Co., 1995) - referred to in the syllabus as WFP
Teresa Amott and Julie Matthaei, Race, Gender, and Work: A Multicultural Economic History of Women in the United States, 2nd edition (Boston: South End Press, 1991)
The following is a flexible schedule of the course:
The Theoretical Model
Week #1: Gender Role Socialization and Sex-Typing
Required Readings:
Hilary M. Lips, "Gender-Role Socialization: Lessons in Femininity" (WFP)
Nancy Henley and Jo Freeman, "The Sexual Politics of Interpersonal Behavior" (WFP)
Recommended Readings:
Elaine A. Saltzberg and Joan C. Chrisler, "Beauty is the Beast: Psychological Effects of the Pursuit of the Perfect Female Body" (WFP)
Gloria Steinem, "Sex, Lies, and Advertising" (WFP)
Karen L. Adams and Norma C. Ware, "Sexism and the English Language: The Linguistic Implications of Being a Woman"
(WFP)
Week #2: Two Explanations of the Female/Male Wage Gap: Neo-Classical Economic Theory and the Gender Division of Labor
Racial Discrimination and Racial-Ethnic Hierarchies
Required Readings:
Amott and Matthaei, Ch. 1: "Introduction" and Ch 2: "Race, Class, Gender, and Women's Works: A Conceptual Framework"
Debra Renee Kaufman, "Professional Women:" How Real Are the Recent Gains?" (WFP)
Elizabeth M. Almquist, "The Experiences of Minority Women in the United States: Intersections of Race, Gender, and Class" (WFP)
Recommended Readings:
Nancy M. Thornborrow and Marianne B. Sheldon, "Women in the Labor Force" (WFP)
Mary Frank Fox, "Women and Higher Education: Gender Differences in the Status of Students and Scholars" (WFP)
Brigid O'Farrell, "Women in Blue-Collar Occupations: Traditional and Nontraditional" (WFP)
Evelyn Nakano Glenn and Roslyn Feldberg, "Clerical Work: The Female Occupation"
(WFP)
Week #3: Patriarchy, the Family, and the Gender Division of Labor: Work in the Home
The history of women's work in the U.S.
Required Readings:
Naomi Gerstel and Harriet Engel Gross, "Gender and Families in the United States: The Reality of Economic Dependence" (WFP)
Janice M. Steil, "Supermoms and Second Shifts: Marital Inequality in the 1990s"
(WFP)
Recommended Readings:
Michelle Hoffnung, "Motherhood: Contemporary Conflict for Women" (WFP)
Laurie Russell Hatch, "Gray Clouds and Silver Linings: Women's Resources in Later Life" (WFP)
film
Economic Histories of Women in the United States
Week #4: American Indian Women, Chicana Women, European American Women, and African-American Women
Required Readings:
Amott and Matthaei, Ch. 3: "I Am the Fire of Time: American Indian Women," Ch. 4: "The Soul of Tierra Madre: Chicana Women," Ch. 5: "Whatever Your Fight, Don't Be Ladylike: European American Women," and Ch. 6: "We Specialize in the Wholly Impossible: African American Women,"
Recommended Readings:
Denise A. Segura and Beatriz M. Pesquera, "Chicana Feminists: Their Political Context and Contemporary Expressions" (WFP)
Pauline Terrelonge, "Feminist Consciousness and Black Women" (WFP)
Carol Wayne White, "Toward an Afra-American Feminism" (WFP)
Week #5: Asian American Women and Puerto Rican Women; Trends in Women's Wage Work
Required Readings:
Amott and Matthaei, Ch. 7: "Climbing Gold Mountain: Asian American Women," Ch. 8: "Yo Misma Fui Mi Ruta: Puerto Rican Women," Ch. 9: "The Growth of Wage Work," and Ch. 10: The Transformation of Women's Wage Work"
Women's Economic Status and Public Policy
Week #6: Violence Against Women
Public Policy for Employed Women: Sexual Harassment and Pay Equity
Required Readings:
Carole J. Sheffield, "Sexual Terrorism" (WFP)
Susan Ehrlich Martin, "Sexual Harassment: The Link between Gender Stratification, Sexuality, and Women's Economic Status" (WFP)
Jo Freeman, "The Revolution for Women in Law and Public Policy" (WFP)
"In Pursuit of Pay Equity," Dollars and Sense
Recommended Readings:
Gloria Cowan, "Pornography: Conflict Among Feminists" (WFP)
Week #7: Public Policy for Employed Women and the Debate over Affirmative Action
Public Policy for Women Working in the Home and the Impoverishment of Women
Required Readings:
ACLU Briefing Paper, No. 17: "Affirmative Action"
Welfare Reform/Social Policy Research Committee of the Working Group for a New Agenda for New Times, "The Attack on Affirmative Action"
Dunkel, Tom, "Affirmative Action," Working Woman (Oct. 1995)
Alice Abel Kemp, "Poverty and Welfare for Women" (WFP)
Mimi Abramovitz, "Social Policy and the Female Pauper: The Family Ethic and the U.S. Welfare State," Feminist Visions for Social Work
"Welfare Myths and Facts," Dollars and Sense
Topolnicki, Denise M., "No More Pity for the Poor," Money (May 1995)
Recommended Readings:
Stephanie Golden, "Lady Versus Low Creature: Old Roots of Current Attitudes Toward Homeless Women"
(WFP)
Week #8: The Antifeminist Backlash
Homophobia, Families, Lesbian and Gay Marriage, and Domestic Partner Benefits
Required Readings:
Susan Faludi, "Introduction," and "The Politics of Resentment: The New Right's War on Women," Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women (1991)
Suzanne Pharr, Homophobia: A Weapon of Sexism
Torie Osborn, "Bringing Democracy Home: Expanding the Definition of Family" and "Claiming Our Right to Love: Gay and Lesbian Marriage," Coming Home to America: A Roadmap to Gay & Lesbian Empowerment (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1996)
articles from Business Week, Time, and Newsweek on domestic partner benefits and lesbian and gay families
Recommended Readings:
Susan E. Marshall, "Keep Us on the Pedestal: Women against Feminism in Twentieth-Century America (WFP)
Nancy Felipe Russo and Jody D. Horn, "Unwanted Pregnancy and Its Resolution: Options, Implications" (WFP)
Martha J. Reineke, "Out of Order: A Critical Perspective on Women in Religion" (WFP)
Rose Weitz, "What Price Independence? Social Reactions to Lesbians, Spinsters, Widows, and Nuns" (WFP)
Lisa Ransdell, "Lesbian Feminism and the Feminist Movement" (WFP)
Week #9: Women in Third World Countries
Required Readings:
Annette Fuentes and Barbara Ehrenreich, "Life on the Global Assembly Line: Women and Multinationals," Ms. 1982
Cynthia Enloe, "The Globetrotting Sneaker," Ms. (March/April 1995)
Additional Group Projects: Men's Movement, Family Leave, Health Care, Abortion and Choice
Organizing and Alternative Policies
Week #10: The Range of Organizing
A Feminist Economic Program
Required Readings:
Jo Freeman, "From Suffrage to Women's Liberation: Feminism in Twentieth-Century America" (WFP)
Amott and Matthaei, Ch. 11: "Seeking Beyond History"
Randy Albelda and Chris Tilly, from Glass Ceilings and Bottomless Pits
Recommended Readings:
Michael S. Kimmel, "Misogynists, Masculinist Mentors, and Male Supporters: Men's Responses to Feminism" (WFP)
Marlene LeGates, "Feminists Before Feminism: Origins and Varieties of Women's Protest in Europe and North America Before the Twentieth Century" (WFP)
Ilsa M. Glazer, "A Cloak of Many Colors: Jewish Feminism and Feminist Jews in America" (WFP)
Final Exam meeting time: Thursday, March 23, 10-12
THE CONTRACT SYSTEM
Grades will be determined on a contract system. All of the points will be earned by fulfilling a contract designed by each student and submitted to me by the second week of class. In the contract, describe the work that you intend to complete. Most importantly, write a paragraph length description of each paper that you intend to write, if you choose to do this. If you only have a general idea of a paper topic, describe it as well as possible. This will allow me to make sure that the paper is appropriate for the course, and to suggest relevant materials.
Grades are calculated as follows:
5 points = A
4 points = B
3 points = C
2 points = D
In order to receive an "A" you must do options 1 and 3. You can choose either option 2 or 3, but not both.
Points may be earned in the following manners:
1. Active Class Attendance (1 point)
One of the points could be based on active class attendance. Since the discussions are a critical part of this class, one point could be obtained through attendance during the entire class session and active participation in the discussions. If you choose this option, you could miss only
one class session. Arriving at class more than 5 minutes late will be considered the equivalent of missing 1/2 of a class session.
2. Summary of the Readings (1 point)
One of the points could be based on a summary of each of the assigned readings to be turned in each session or each week. The summaries can either be typed (2-5 pages) or written on 5" by 7" notecards (several each week, at least one card for each reading).
3. Critical Reactions to Readings (2 points)
Two of the points could be based on a summary of and critical reaction to the assigned readings, submitted either each week. These consist of an approximately 3-8 page (depending upon the number and length of the readings)
typed summary and reflections on the assigned readings and at least one of the recommended readings. This works best if you summarize each reading separately; the reflections can be done after each summary or after all of the summaries on the entire set of readings. This allows you to really think through the material before class sessions.
Be sure to leave adequate space in the margins, as well as between readings, so that I can make comments.
4. Group Projects (1 point)
One of the points could be based on a group project that involves either a presentation of one of the economic histories of women in the U.S. (chapters 3 through 8 of Amott and Matthaei, along with supplementary material), an analysis of a policy affecting women, or another related topic. If you choose to do the group project, you would work with one or two other students. Each participant would be required to turn in a one page summary that includes 1) a brief description of her or his portion of the presentation; 2) a bibliography of the sources of information; and 3) a self evaluation.
5. Papers (1 point)
Points may also be earned by doing papers on a topic concerning the political economy of women. Papers may be short -- approximately eight to ten pages in length. All papers need to have an
analysis of the topic, not simply a description, and should utilize the theoretical framework that we develop in class.
Most topics that we discuss in class can be expanded into a paper. Read through the syllabus and look at the books and readings to get ideas about a topic you would like to pursue in a paper. You need at least five sources for the paper in addition to class notes and class readings. All sources must be identified, and writing and referencing style must be consistent throughout the paper. Be sure to include a complete bibliography as well as correct citations within the context of the paper.
Examples of source citations in the text:
Smith (1996, p. 67) suggested that...
One suggestion (Smith, 1996, p. 67)...
Examples of references in the bibliography:
journal article:
Karen Tice and Dwight Billings, "Appalachian Culture and Resistance," Journal of Progressive Human Services 2, no. 2 (1991):1-18.
book:
Guida West and Rhoda Lois Blumberg, eds., Women and Social Protest (New York: Oxford University Press, 1990).
newspaper or magazine article:
Richard L. Vernaci, "Record number of people now getting welfare," San Bernardino Sun (March 6, 1991), p. 1.
One paper may be written co-operatively with one other person. This option is designed to allow you to discuss in depth a topic with another student. If you do this, the paper needs to be fully written by both people. It tends to entail more work than writing a paper by yourself, but you can also learn more.
6. Guided Paper (1 point)
One of the points could be based on a series of three short (3-5 pages each) take-home guided papers. These are designed to help you think through the main issues covered in the course.
Notes on Writing Term Papers and the Guided Paper
Papers will be given "credit" or "no credit." Papers must be turned in early in order to receive full credit--by the eighth week for term papers and by the dates announced in class for the guided papers. If the paper needs substantial revision, you will need to rewrite it entirely. Most of the time, however, you will simply need to respond to questions and comments that I'll write in the margins and/or to questions I'll ask at the end of the paper. Number these questions and comments, and respond on additional pages; turn in both the original paper and the set of responses.
Do not use extensive quotes; instead, write the papers in your own words, as the purpose of the papers is to think through and explain the concepts.
Do not turn in first drafts right off your computer--I expect you submit at least a second draft and to proofread it for errors before you hand it in.
A note on grammar: Do not use gender-specific pronouns. For example, instead of using "he," use "he or she." In almost all cases it is possible to use plurals instead of singular pronouns, i.e. you can use they and plural verbs, and avoid using two singular pronouns. However, if you must use singular pronouns, be sure to use "he or she" instead of "he" and "his or her" instead of "his."
Notes on typing: Paginate your paper. Leave 1 1/2 inch margins for comments on the right-hand side of the paper. Some of these will be corrections, pertaining to facts, analysis, and to grammar, and other comments will be designed to help you think through additional points about an issue.
Objectives of the Contract System
There are several purposes for this contract system: 1) to eliminate grades as much as possible as a factor determining learning; 2) to encourage students to take a more active role in the learning process and to take responsibility for self-directed learning; 3) to alter the traditional power relationships in which teachers have virtually all the power and students have virtually none; and 4) to develop cooperative learning skills.