Course Overview

Women and Men in Society is a course that examines gender through a critical lens. I have structured this course from a feminist perspective. A feminist perspective begins with the assumption that women and men are not equal in our society. Additionally, class readings and online interaction will focus on other forms of inequality as well as sexism. We will explore how sexism is structured into our society, and how other systems of oppression, such as racism and classism, complicate our understanding of sexism. Simply being male or female does not make someone oppressive. Rather, we will explore our particular relationship to the social forces and institutions that shape our lives.

I encourage you to use your personal experience to illuminate your understanding of the readings and assignments. Gender studies is an area of academic study that covers a wide range of perspectives and materials. Since this course cannot cover all possible areas of gender studies, my goal is to introduce you to the basics of gender and issues of how gender is produced, sustained, and experienced in several arenas of social life.

The course begins with an introductory lecture that explains gender as a system of inequality, defines the differences between sex and gender, and provides a brief overview of different feminist perspectives on gender inequality and women's subordination.

Because I specialize in popular culture, I have constructed this course to center on an on-going discussion and analysis of issues of oppression that you encounter in your daily life. You will examine texts such advertisements, televisions shows, movies, comics, newspapers, political commentary, websites, and even conversations and personal histories according to the assigned readings. In this way, I hope to encourage you to sharpen your critical eye to the world around you.

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Please email me - Dr. Bernadette Barton - if you have any questions regarding this course.