Anthro 289: Feminist Perspectives in Anthropology

Course Description

This course is the first part of a two-course sequence on gender and sexuality in anthropology. In this first half, we will focus on gender and women in heterosexual social relationships, analyzing central feminist works in anthropology from the 1970s through 1990s. We will look at the status of women cross-culturally, gender as a category of analysis, gender and emotion, technologies of the body, and the new feminist and post-modern ethnography.

Meeting once a week in the evening, we will be reading through eight key feminist ethnographies and as well as excerpts from books on feminist anthropological thought. Students will be required to give numerous presentations and responses through the semester. This course is designed to prepare you for upper-level undergraduate and graduate seminar styles.

Prerequisites and Requirements

Anthro 111: Cultural Anthropology or Anthro 130: Visual Anthropology is a prerequisite. For WGS majors, WGS 125 Introduction to Feminist Theories may be substituted. This course contributes towards majors and minors in the Anthropology Department and Women and Gender Studies Program. This course is targetted towards advanced sophomores, juniors, and seniors in Anthropology and WGS, however anyone who meets the requirements is invited to enroll.

Attendance at the first class is mandatory in order to retain your slot on the course roster.

Textbooks and Course Readings

The required textbooks will be available at the Ruminator Bookstore. Course readings in the forms of articles will be distributed in class and also available through the eReserve system.

Everyone will read through the eight main ethnographies. Check the Course Reserve List (CLICnet).

Main Ethnographies / Books:

• Abu-Lughod, Lila (1986). Veiled sentiments: honor and poetry in a Bedouin society, University of California Press.
• Boddy, Janice (1990). Wombs and Alien Spirits: Women, Men, and the Zar Cult in Northern Sudan. University of Wisconsin Press.
• Hochschild, Arlie Russell (1983). The managed heart: commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley, University of California Press.
• Kondo, Dorinne K. (1990). Crafting selves: power, gender, and discourses of identity in a Japanese workplace. Chicago:University of Chicago Press.
• Rapp, Rayna (2000). Testing Women, Testing the Fetus : The Social Impact of Amniocentesis in America. New York: Routledge.
• Rebhun, Linda-Anne (1999). The heart is unknown country : love in the changing economy of northeast Brazil. Stanford, CA, Stanford University Press. Check amazon.com
• Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt (1993). In the realm of the diamond queen : marginality in an out-of-the-way place. Princeton, Princeton University Press. Check amazon.com
• Wolf, Margery (1992). A thrice told tale: feminism, postmodernism & ethnographic responsibility. Stanford, Stanford University Press.

Excerpts from:

• Lutz, Catherine (1988). Unnatural emotions: everyday sentiments on a Micronesian atoll & their challenge to western theory. Chicago, University of Chicago Press.
• Moore, Henrietta L. (1988). Feminism and anthropology.Cambridge, UK, Polity Press. Check amazon.com
• Ong, Aihwa (1987). Spirits of resistance and capitalist discipline : factory women in Malaysia. Albany, State University of New York Press.
• Radway, Janice A. (1991). Reading the romance : women, patriarchy, and popular literature. Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina Press.
• Scheper-Hughes, Nancy (1992). Death without weeping: the violence of everyday life in Brazil. Berkeley, University of California Press. Check amazon.com

Useful Links

• Anthropology in the News (Texas A&M)
• Feminist Theory Website
• Overview of Feminist Anthropology
• Feminist Anthropology Syllabi
• Feminist Anthropology Hotlist

Library Resources

• Course Reserve List (CLICnet)
• How to cite references:
  • Anthropology Style Guide
  • Citing Electronic Resources