Spring 2020 - GSWS 320 D100

Special Topics in Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies (4)

Feminist Rage and Popular Misogyny

Class Number: 8930

Delivery Method: In Person

Overview

  • Course Times + Location:

    Jan 6 – Apr 9, 2020: Thu, 1:30–5:20 p.m.
    Burnaby

  • Prerequisites:

    15 units.

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

A specific theme within within the field of gender, sexuality, and women's studies, not otherwise covered in depth in regularly scheduled courses, will be dealt with as occasion and demand warrant.

COURSE DETAILS:

#MeToo. Greta Thunberg. Insecure. Christine Blasey Ford. The Handmaids Tale. The list goes on of contemporary media products and news stories that reflects women’s collective rage and despair at the white supremacist, heteronormative, capitalist patriarchy. Yet such examples seem to counter the popular feminism (in the form of white feminism, postfeminism and neoliberal feminism) that currently shapes the cultural landscape; indeed, these moments of anger and frustration seem more like a direct response to the rise of “popular misogyny” as conceptualized by feminist media studies scholar Sarah Banet-Weiser. Therefore, this Special Topics course, is an attempt to parse out these current issues and concerns as they are constructed, reported on, and circulated in popular culture. The course will be organized around the following key ideas/issues: popular feminism and its relationship to popular misogyny, and examining and critiquing relevant dominant media discourses; exploring various media (film, TV, comedy, news) that mediate these feelings of rage and despair; thinking about ways to intervene in, and respond to the media as feminists and consumers. Popular culture has long operated as a balm for women’s rage against the patriarchal machine, so this course will also make important connections to what is happening in the current moment and earlier scholarly debates about feminism’s visibility in the public sphere and popular culture.

Students will:
· Be introduced to feminist debates about popular culture, feminism, and misogyny
· Examine the issues and topics using a variety of literature and media examples
· Develop critical thinking skills necessary to analysing and discussing course topics
· Become critically engaged readers and consumers of popular media

COURSE-LEVEL EDUCATIONAL GOALS:

For more detailed information please see the GSWS website: http://www.sfu.ca/gsws/courses/Educational_Goals.html

Grading

  • Attendance & Participation 20%
  • Midterm Exam 20%
  • Creative Group Presentation (end of term) 20%
  • Final Paper Proposal & Annotated Bibliography 10%
  • Final Paper (10-12 pages) 30%

NOTES:

Due to COVID-19, grading changes are…  
  
The following assignments remain the same:
Attendance/Participation - 20% (same, but with more grade weighted towards online discussion for the last few weeks)
Midterm - 20% 
Proposal - 10%   

As for the remaining coursework, students have two options to finish out the term:
Complete the creative project with some adjustments for online presentation which means they are evaluated the same...
Essay (30%)
Creative Group Project (20%)  
OR
Students can forgo the group project and focus on the essay which will be evaluated at 50% of the final grade. Students who chose this option have been given extra time to finish the paper which is now due end of term.

Materials

REQUIRED READING:

Banet-Weiser, Sarah. Empowered: Popular Feminism and Popular Misogyny. Duke University Press, 2018.

Other assigned readings available on the course Canvas or online. Links provided in the syllabus.

Registrar Notes:

SFU’s Academic Integrity web site http://www.sfu.ca/students/academicintegrity.html is filled with information on what is meant by academic dishonesty, where you can find resources to help with your studies and the consequences of cheating.  Check out the site for more information and videos that help explain the issues in plain English.

Each student is responsible for his or her conduct as it affects the University community.  Academic dishonesty, in whatever form, is ultimately destructive of the values of the University. Furthermore, it is unfair and discouraging to the majority of students who pursue their studies honestly. Scholarly integrity is required of all members of the University. http://www.sfu.ca/policies/gazette/student/s10-01.html

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: YOUR WORK, YOUR SUCCESS