Course Description
This course investigates women's status in contemporary society, noting how this has changed drastically over time, with significant progress towards gender equality in many societies. While the course focuses primarily on understanding the experience of women in Canada today, it does so with reference to the historical and contemporary diversity in the situation of women both here and elsewhere in the world. The course examines how women's lives in any society are shaped by a variety of socio-cultural institutions such as the family, the educational system, the mass media and the workplace, and assesses the extent to which their socialization experiences continue to differ from those of men. The course explores the various different feminist analyses of women's oppression and their implications, and concludes by assessing how close we have come to completing the so-called 'gender revolution' that was initiated through twentieth century women's activism.
Note: This course can count towards an Associate of Arts specialization in Gender, Sexualities and Women's Studies.
Course Content
- Introduction and overview: why study women?
- Fighting for gender equality: the changing status of women in the Western world.
- Women's status worldwide.
- Theorizing inequality: feminist analyses of women's status in society.
- Biology, society, sex and gender: what makes women's and men's lives different?
- Gender socialization: the role of family, peers and the education system.
- The mass media and the social construction of femininity.
- Linguistic sexism.
- Gender and differences in verbal and non-verbal communication.
- Female sexuality and sexual relationships.
- 'A woman's place'? The role of marriage and family in women's lives.
- Women and paid work.
- Women and equality: a stalled revolution?
Learning Activities
The course will employ a variety of instructional methods, including the following: lectures, class debates, video presentations, guest speakers, discussions and other small group learning activities.
Means of Assessment
Evaluation will be based on course objectives and will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College policy. The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific criteria during the first week of classes.
An example of a possible evaluation scheme would be:
Test #1 15%
Test #2 15%
Final Exam 25%
Reading Journal 20%
Research Assignment 25%
Total 100%
Students may conduct research with human participants as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with college policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans.
Learning Outcomes
At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:
- Identify historical changes in the situation of women, especially within the Canadian context.
- Evaluate the situation of women in Canada within the context of women's status in other parts of the world.
- Compare and assess a range of sociological explanations for women's subordinate status in societies worldwide.
- Explain the history of the twentieth century women's movement and the differences between competing feminist theories of women's inequality.
- Explain the limitations of mainstream feminist theories within the changing Canadian cultural mosaic and discuss the emergence of complementary and alternative approaches.
- Discuss the significance of debates about the origins (biological and/or societal) of gender differences.
- Explain and assess the strengths and weaknesses of different theories of gender socialization.
- Discuss the role of the family, mass media and other socio-cultural institutions in shaping women's lives.
- Explain the evolution of women's work in the home and their progress in paid employment, and discuss the implications of these changes.
- Evaluate the success of the feminist movement(s) with regards to the contemporary status of women in Canada and elsewhere in the world, and consider the directions and potential for feminism in the future.
- Demonstrate competence in utilizing a variety of sources of sociological evidence in order to assess the current status of women in society.
Textbook Materials
Texts and other required readings will be updated periodically. Typical examples are:
- Kimmel, M. and Holler, J. (2011) The Gendered Society. Oxford University Press.