ANNOTATED VERSION OF SYLLABUS FOR WGS 310
T Aug 21
Introduction; Syllabus;
Begin Film: Comic Book Confidential
Assigned Reading: http://dcwomenkickingass.tumblr.com/post/29845423305/wrcip3an
and Syllabus – come Thursday armed with questions
Go over syllabus in class. By going over the
syllabus in class, it gives the students comfort. A syllabus like this one can
be intimidating. By breaking it down and letting students know what to expect,
they are at ease.
Using comic books as texts is using cognitive load
theory. The images along with text on pages allows learners to better
concentrate on learning the content. Utilizing this form makes all of the information
one schema instead of several which allows the brain to process more information
at one time while using less schemas.
R Aug 23
Film: Comic Book
Confidential
Assigned Reading: http://www.powerofcomics.com/graphicnovel.html
and http://www.thecomicbooks.com/old/Platinum.html
Movie shown
T Aug 28
Discussion: Comic Book Confidential
Topic: Brief history of
Comic Books
Assigned Reading: http://www.ted.com/talks/scott_mccloud_on_comics.html
(Not really a reading, but…)
Class discussion following movie completion. Short
lecture on history of comic books.
R Aug 30
Topic: How to read
comics
Activity: Make comic
Powerpoint and activity
The comic book activity allows students to make
meaning out of previous experiences – constructivist learning.
T Sept 4
Topic: Gender Theories
and stuff
Activity: Analyzing a
comic book (in class)
DUE: Comic
GENDER THEORY AND STUFF (example lecture)
Is there equality of men and women? Why do we only
have masculine and feminine? It’s a way for humans to divide and categorize. We
love to put things in little boxes.
1700s Marriage was a husband and wife were one
person. Women incorporated under men.
1866 “citizens” and “voters” defined as male
1923 Equal Rights Amendment introduced
1940s and 50s – women work at home – BUT had been
working outside the home during the war. Men and war = masculine
1963 Equal Pay Act (excluded some professions –
amended in 1970s)
1972 Pass Equal Rights Amendment but not ratified
in states
1982 Equal Rights Act defeated.
Second wave of feminism began in 1960s. The
Feminine Mystique (1963). Gender equalities still existed - still exist now –
in education, crime, labor marker, etc. These women and men worked to explain
and combat gender inequality. Feminism is not just a movement but a theoretical
perspective. Before this, social theorizing was done, but by men. This movement
brought the Women’s movement into academics. This added women into social and
cultural research. They had to have their own theoretical frames.
1968 Stoller – Sex and Gender – first to formulate
differences between sex and gender.
1972 Oakley , Ann. Sex, Gender, and Society.
Introduced this distinction into feminism.
Many different strands within feminism. Radical,
liberal, Marxist, postmodern, etc. ALL differ but ALL agree that gender
inequality and oppression of women are real problem that need to be remedied.
They simply differ in their explanations and solutions.
Gender role theory – boys and girls learn the
“appropriate” behavior and attitudes from culture they grow up with. Social
roles are natural and derived from genetic differences and cannot be changed
(women are nurturing, men aggressive and dominant)
Social Role Theory - Social structure is the
underlying force for gender differences. Division of labor creates gender roles
which lead to gendered social behavior.
Social constructionism – people do not merely
internalize gender roles as they grow up but they respond to changing norms in
society. Children learn to categorize themselves by gender very early on in
life.
Bem Sex Role Inventory (Dr. Sandra Lipsitz Bem,
1971) measures how well you fit into your traditional gender role. Puts in
masculine, feminine, androgynous, or undifferentiated.
Key concepts are patriarchy: rule of the father, a
system of male dominance. Oppresses and exploits women (and men who do not
conform to rules of societal gender). It legitimizes male domination. For
example. Sexual violence – not just a crime but a man asserting his power over
a women. Private patriarchy. Also public patriarchy – dominance being realized
in impersonal ways through certain institutions or structures. The conviction
of rapes is reported at 6% in England. It’s really 58%. So what’s the big deal?
Low conviction rates keep people from coming forward.
Women aren’t prohibited from doing things legally.
They can have the same jobs and such. That’s formal equality. But, there is a
way to control women and men indirectly and collectively. Popular culture,
including comic books, plays a crucial role in contributing to the maintenance
of that patriarchy by perpetuating gender ideologies.
MEANWHILE ON THE
OTHER SIDE
Post feminism says that gender equality has been
achieved (in developed nations). They think feminism is redundant because the
war has been won. Others say feminism is the problem because it holds women
back by framing them as victims of non-existing gender inequalities. They say feminism is what makes women
unhappy, that they think they have to have a career and live a certain way to
“win.”
Conservative media use this though. Stories about
women who really want to stay at home blame feminism for devaluing these roles.
Feminism is being blames for causing a range of social problems.
Early on feminists used the concept of gender to
show that maleness and femaleness are not about physical biology. Sex is
biology. Gender is the socially constructed categories of masculine and
feminine and the socially imposed attributes and behaviors which are assigned
to these categories. These linked attributes are not natural but a matter of
convention. Why are women linked with housework – can men do it? The characteristics
that are seen as typically and appropriately feminine and masculine is a matter
of social construction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDEH4rIScD0 (Fockers – only one gender)
ACTIVITY – Masculine and Feminine attributes –
student will list traits they associate with males and females. We will put
them on the board and compare and contrast. Discuss why we have these stereotypes.
Social construction is the opposite of
essentialist understandings of gender. Essentialism says that men and women are
inherently different beings and belong in different categories. All women and
share a set of essential characteristics (an essence) that defines them and
sets them apart from say, men.
Social constructionism says that phenomena,
objects, events and identities are the product of society rather than nature.
Social interactions and structures shape the world we live in and the meaning
which it has for us. There are differences between masculine and feminine but
they are the outcome of social processes. Look at the changes of meaning in
different culture and different historical periods. If gender was NATURAL then
it would be universal across cultures and across time.
Simone de Beauvoir 1949 wrote we are not born but
become men and women. Goffman in 1959 picked this up and Butler later 1990.
They said gender is a performance, a construct, not fixed. It’s a sequence of
practices and characteristics that have become labeled masculine and feminine.
They are repeated and turn into “gender.”
Goffman, a symbolic interactionist, thinks masc.
and fem. are gender roles than men and women perform. We’re actors. (60s)
Women – skirts, legs crossed, housework, childcare
Men – suits, pants, legs apart, careers outside
the home
Goffman called these performances gender displays.
“Conventionalized portrayals of culture’s idealization of femininity and
masculinity”
Women who break the rules are called tomboys,
butch, lesbians – short hair, no makeup, play football, play videogames. Denied
femininity.
Men same thing…like (class give examples)
Goffman says this is all conscious choice –
optional identities. Many disagree.
Doing gender is an ongoing, routine, everyday
activity deeply embedded in society and sometimes requires no thought. Butler
says that it’s performative constructs. Culture has already determined masc and
fem characteristics. Our actions are habitual, not conscious. Gender appears
natural because it’s repeated. We don’t notice gender because it’s SO routine.
UNTIL an exception. Like Drag. This reveals that gender is a performative
construct . Men can’t do this, but women can.
Are sex and gender related?
Do you have to be a biological female to display
feminine behavior? No.
Men and women’s bodies are more similar than
different. But what is focused on? The differences. Are blue eyed and brown
eyed people different? The body gains meaning from culture. Many women said to
not be because of a lack of feminine markers.
IDEOLOGIES
Sets of ideas or systematic frameworks of social
understanding. Produced by dominant groups in society, work in the interest of
the dominant social group but pretend to be neutral. Power is concentrated in a
few people at to. Impose rules on individuals. Sometimes these can be false and
can deceive the ways things are. The American Dream – poor to rich.
Media owned by dominant social groups. Media
generate meaning and messages and they help consumers to understand the world.
The dominant ideology is disseminated. Many times these misrepresent reality.
Inequalities are hidden. In the media, different ideologies can be supported
(Fox – NY Times)
Hegemony – a form of power which is characterized
by leadership and the manufacturing of consent rather than imposition and
control. Exercised by the ruling classes, must be maintained. Alliances are
formed with other groups. Certain ideologies are widely accepted and work in
the interests of those in power. The ideologies can change and adapt to the
social climate. Dove – campaign for real beauty. Uses NOT the norm for models –
yet still reinforces the notion of physical beauty as central to femininity.
Hegemonic Masculinity and Emphasized Femininity
Gender ideology masc and fem – men are naturally
rational, efficient, and intelligent. Men are associated with strength and
power, active and ambitious, tough and competitive, assertive and aggressive.
Men are natural in public and can make a difference. En go to extremes, work
and play hard. Rational. Strong sex drive. This view is dominant over other
masculinities. And it is culturally idealized. Good and right. Appropriate. Men
who lack this are sometimes called sissy, wuss, etc. Hegemonic masculinity is
the most powerful, culturally endorsed type of masculinity which subordinates
other forms of masculinity as well as women. It’s superior.
Several types of femininity. Traditional kind is
hegemonic as it’s the endorsed one. Women subordinate, accommodate men’s
interests and desires, naturally kind and caring, predisposed to look after men
and children, woman’s natural sphere is her life, fragile and weak, difficult
to assert themselves, peaceful and shy away from confrontations, irrational,
driven by emotions not reason, not cognitive or technically competent.
Associated with moderation, self-denial, sensible gender, sexuality is bound up
with emotions and commitment rather than pleasure, compatible with men by
accepting domination and molding themselves to men.
Constructed characteristics and practices are
natural and typical. Men and Women are seen as polar opposites, what one is the
other cannot be. Characteristics of men are more valued than womens. Not
negative, but valued less.
How can we judge the media, in this case, comics
when there is no true reality. What is true in one culture is not true in
another. Truth is not universal but relative. There are many realities.
Conclusions
Strict rules in our society when it comes to
masculinity and femininity. What gender looks like, what it should be, how you
should act. All derived from our societal cultural and social values.
What happens when you don’t fit into masculine or
feminine? Why is it binary? Are there male and female gender roles? Gender
binary is the classification of sex and gender into two distinct and separate
forms of masculine and feminine. The term describes the system in which a
society divides people into male and female gender roles, gender identities,
and gender attributes.
Discussion questions –
Nature vs. Nuture - Is deviation from our assigned
gender roles okay only if it’s biological?
Is Superman the ideal man?
Is Wonder Woman the ideal woman?
There’s more than one ideal.
R Sept 6
Topic: Who is producing
the comic book culture – 1940s through the 1970s
Assigned reading:
several Mort Weisinger comics
Lecture
T Sept 11
Special Topic: Mort
Weisinger
Topic: Who is producing
the comic book culture – 1980s to present
Assigned readings:
Read: Catwoman #1 OR Red Hood and the Outlaws #1 (provided) and http://www.bendbulletin.com/article/20120724/NEWS0107/207240331/ and
Powerpoint shown on Mort Weisinger
R Sept 13
Topic: Who is producing
the comic book culture – 1980s to present
Assigned reading: Strangers in Paradise, Volume 1
Lecture
All discussion are
based on or ‘anchored’ to a comic book. This makes the discussions not things
to memorize, but developing useful knowledge. It allows students to see how
their ideas about things change. This is anchored learning.
T Sept 18
Discussion: Strangers
in Paradise
Assigned reading: Terry
Moore Interview (pdf provided)
Due: Blog post re: Strangers in Paradise
Online journaling can be used in the classroom to
satisfy all of Kolb’s four processes of learning. The steps of concrete
experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualization, and active
experimentation are all satisfied. Learning, therefore, occurs due to using the
process of journaling.
First,
the concrete experience can be
satisfied using a variety of assignments. The class, as seen outlined
previously, will be assigned several comic books. Comic books are stimulating
reading for students because the verbal and visual text holds the attention of
distracted readers while still engaging those who are not. The characters are
more alive and as the visuals are ever changing, it is highly interactive.
The
second step, reflective observation,
is fulfilled by posting on the online journal, in this case, the tumblr blog.
With comics, decoding the visual data such as facial expression, body postures,
and distance between figures is as central as the words in analyzing the story.
Sometimes the verbal and visual do not agree and readers will analyze and
reflect on this through the lens of gender. Using the blog, students can post
their reflections. Due to the interactive nature of the blog, students can also
work together on their views and reach different ideas due to different
interpretations.
The
next step is abstract conceptualization
where the student draws conclusions. In this class, this can be accomplished in
several ways. One could be simply a lecture that includes giving feedback and
having a discussion about the information posted on the blog. Another way this
can be accomplished is through interviews. Skype interviews have been planned
with several of the writers and artists of the comic books that the students
are reading for class. Questions that the students had posed in the blog posts
can be compiled and those questions can be asked of the guest speaker. Also,
any additional questions can also be asked.
Lastly
is the active experimentation section.
In this final step, a new concrete experience is created from a culmination of
the previous steps. This could be achieved by: students writing a short paper
on the comic book; writing a summary of the interview intermingled with their
thoughts and opinions; creating their very own comic about the experience or a
story that illustrates some of the themes from the experience; a poster that
collects images, quotes, and text blocks that is a reaction to the experience;
a collection of the same items as the poster would have except using a site
such as pinterest; or a class presentation that explains the knowledge that
they gained. These can either be physical presentations or items uploaded to
the blog site.
Class discussion of Strangers in Paradise reading
and the other assigned readings. Discuss questions for the interview the next
class session.
R Sept 20
Interview: Terry Moore
Assigned reading:
Batwoman: Elegy and http://io9.com/5912366/why-i-write-strong-female-characters
Interview
Interview
T Sept 25
Discussion: Batwoman:
Elegy
Assigned reading: Greg
Rucka: On Comics and Novels (pdf provided) and look at http://www.ineffableaether.com/
DUE: Strangers in Paradise assignment
Due: Blog post re: Batwoman: Elegy
Class discussion assigned readings. Discuss
questions for the interview the next class session.
R Sept 27
Interview: Greg Rucka
Assigned reading: Y:
The Last Man, Volume 1 and http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=1488
Interview
Interview
T Oct 2
Discussion: Y: The Last
Man
Assigned reading: http://comicbooks.about.com/od/interviews/a/bkvinterview.htm
and http://www.avclub.com/articles/saga-and-y-the-last-man-writer-brian-k-vaughan-tal,72230/
DUE: Batwoman: Elegy assignment
Due: Blog post re: Y: The Last Man
Class discussion assigned readings. Discuss
questions for the interview the next class session.
R Oct 4
Interview: Brian K.
Vaughan
Assigned reading:
Kingdom Come or Ruse
Example questions:
I understand that
Hero has had some bad boyfriends, but she seems reluctant to be as radical as
the other Amazons. What circumstances led her to join the Amazons?
What was the real cause of the Y-event?
The conversation between Beth and Yorick seems very authentic. How much of this series is autobiographical or quasi autobiographical?
Why is it that the last man on Earth lacks common sense?
What was the real cause of the Y-event?
The conversation between Beth and Yorick seems very authentic. How much of this series is autobiographical or quasi autobiographical?
Why is it that the last man on Earth lacks common sense?
By making there only
be one man left on the earth against all females where u trying to show that as
females become more and more relevant in the public dipping into male sectors
and what not would make men less relevant in return? What inspired you for this
story (to have all the men disappear)?
Why a pet monkey?
What was your
reasoning behind character reactions in the story? For example, the Amazon gang
or the Republican women storming the White House.
The interaction with
the Republican wives – was there a certain political circumstance that led to
that scene?
The ‘jibberish’
language – do you know women who do that or is that a reflection of how you
think women talk when they get together?
Do you think there
are still gender roles assigned in this new world? (like agent 355 taking over
male characteristics?)
How did you come up
with the names?
Out of all the
actions in the story, do you think there are any character’s actions that are
inexcusable?
Do you think
gendercide is the most prevalent event during the series?
How much of the
population turns lesbian or is that no longer a question?
How far in advance
did you plan the storylines?
Did you have an
actual ending in mind?
Since you had a
female artist, do you think it helped to make the character’s more ‘real’?
How did you write
this – full script or outlines?
How much of “Y- The
Last Man” was inspired, if any, by the 1999 film “Last Man on Planet Earth”
which also deals with cloning and bands of women killing the remaining men?
Why did you choose
not to have Yorick just sleep with every woman he came across so he could
attempt to repopulate the earth the old fashioned way?
Was it difficult to
create an entertaining comic book with a storyline that balanced on the edge of
science fiction with a lot of political issues included? Did you intend
for “Y: The Last Man” to be so politically loaded?
What gave you the
idea to include the presidency passing into the hands of a woman who thinks she
isn’t qualified for the job, and how does this reflect how women view men in
this story?
Have you watched the
fan made film? What did you think of it?
Why do the amazons
wear neckties on their clothing when they hate men so much ? Is it a display of
domination?
T Oct 9
Guest speaker: Mark
Waid
Assigned reading: The
Walking Dead, Volume 1
Due: Blog post re: Kingdom Come or Ruse
Interview
Interview
R Oct 11
Film: The Walking Dead
television show, Season 1, Episode 1
DUE: Kingdom Come or Ruse assignment
Show movie
Show movie
T Oct 16
Interview: Scott Gimple
Assigned reading: http://www.motherjones.com/media/2007/07/supergirls-gone-wild-gender-bias-comics-shortchanges-superwomen
and http://www.themarysue.com/newspaper-spider-man-comic-tries-misogynistic-plot-for-the-umpteenth-time/
Due: Blog post re: The Walking Dead
Interview
Interview
R Oct 18
Topic: Representing
Women and Men in Comic Books
Assigned reading: Wonder
Woman: The Circle, Batman (PDF provided) and http://www.unheardtaunts.com/wir/index.html
DUE: The Walking Dead assignment
Class discussion assigned readings. Discuss
questions for the interview the next class session.
T Oct 23
NO CLASS – FALL BREAK
R Oct 25
Will not meet in class
– see assignment
Assignment: Read comic
(your choice but must be approved) in public
Read: Wonder Woman #7 (provided) and http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/2012/03/26/she-has-no-head-is-the-destruction-of-the-amazons-the-destruction-of-feminism-in-dc-comics/
Due: Blog post re: Wonder Woman: The Circle and Batman
The assignment was to read a comic in public and
notes people’s reactions along with their genders.
T Oct 30
Interview: Gail Simone
Interview
Interview
R Nov 1
Interview: Scott Snyder
Assigned readings: The
Comic Book Readers (pdf provided) and http://comicbooks.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=comicbooks&cdn=hobbies&tm=13&f=00&tt=14&bt=0&bts=0&st=10&zu=http%3A//girl-wonder.org/
Interview
Interview
T Nov 6
Topic: Consuming Comics
DUE: Wonder Woman and Batman assignment
Lecture on consuming comics. Discuss reading in
public. Class discussion assigned readings. Discuss questions for the interview
the next class session.
R Nov 8
Guest Speaker: Jason
Pierce
Interview
Interview
T Nov 13
Guest Speakers: Evan
Dossey and Shannon Outlaw
Film: “A Fan’s Hope:
Episode IV”
Interview and movie
R Nov 15
Film: Finish “A Fan’s
Hope: Episode IV”
Movie
T Nov 20
Discussion: “A Fan’s
Hope: Episode IV”
Topic: Presentations
and Final Projects
Discuss movie and any questions regarding the
presentations.
R Nov 22
NO CLASS – HAPPY TURKEY
OR TURKEY SUBSITUTE DAY
T Nov 27
Presentations
R Nov 29
No class – Day for prep
time for final project
T Dec 4
Presentations
R Dec 6
Presentations
T Dec 11
FINAL EXAM 9:45 to
11:45
Any final presentations
will be given at this time.
DUE: Final paper
In discussing the comics, many
approaches were taken and discussed. Semiological analysis, exposes the
underlying structures and hidden meanings that can reveal images of males and
females (Eltermann, 1985). In analyzing comics, signifiers such as words and
images and their relationship provides the codes to interpret that sign. Simonson
(2007) writes about in the 1990’s women superhero bodies became “more
exaggerated and costumes more revealing” (30). Signs like this can be
interpreted in various genres of comics. Stereotypes are prevalent in comics
due to having to communicate a lot of information in a small area. Eisner
claims that there are “commonly accepted physical characteristics” (12) and
these are used as part of the language in comics. Applying semiological
analysis to comics, common stereotypes of women can be analyzed as there is a
recognized and ingrained familiarity that each culture must accept for
stereotypes to work.
Marxist analysis focuses on
specific time periods and how institutions operate and how the dominant
ideology of the time keeps reproducing (Eltermann, 1985). Questions applied to
comics will include: How do the portrayals of women in comics books reflect the
material conditions of the society? As material conditions in the society
change, how have these changes affected the way that comics portray women in
their various roles? Can one read into the comic ways that those with less
power are trying to subvert those with more power? Does this comic reflect the
author’s class? To answer these questions, students will study a history of
women in comics including Supergirls
(Madrid, 2009) and From Girls to Grrlz: A History of Women Comics from Teens to Zines (Robbins, 1999). An example of this type of change is Sue Storm (aka
“The Invisible Woman) of the Fantastic Four. She was always dressed
appropriately for her role as a wife, mother, and a heroine until the 1990’s. At
that point in time Supergirls become “babes” and Madrid describes her new look
to keep up with the times as “Meg Ryan dressed as a stripper” (281). Does this
make her more powerful or does it take power away from her?
Moore’s wonderful series Strangers
in Paradise (2004, 2005, 2007) is another good comic to which Marxist
analysis can be applied. It is about best friends Francine and Katchoo, two young women trying
to find their places in the world. Katchoo, a talented artist, is secretly in
love with Francine, who has a boyfriend that Katchoo cannot stand. It is a
great example of class and subversion of power which exploring the subjects of
lesbianism, gender stereotypes, and domination among others. This book was read
and Moore was interviewed.
Sociological analysis asks question about how institutions shape
people’s behaviors (Eltermann, 1985). We will ask questions such as: Do we find
any pattern in the comics we are studying? Who is doing what to which people
and why? How do the comics teach us to relate to authority figures inside and
outside the family? What do we learn about gender roles from comics (i.e. What
happens to women who assert themselves?)? What do we learn about romantic love and
marriage from comics? We will discuss the content of the comics, discuss who is
reading the comics, and the effects of the comics. One way this can be studied
is for students to read and carry with them a copy of A Bitch is Born (Gregory, 1994), keeping it in public view and recording
how people react to seeing it. We will also read Davis’ book Make
Me a Woman (2010) where she writes of womanhood being about femininity and
addresses the goal of making herself a woman and being seen as a woman. Yet,
it’s also about maturity and marking cultural passages with formal and informal
rituals.
Ranging widely over postmodernism, cultural theory and popular culture,
McRobbie (1994) looks at everyday life as an eclectic and invigorating arena
for the interplay of different cultures and identities. She sees postmodernity as a space for social
change and transformation and believes that cultural shifts in gender are providing new roles
for women. She emphasizes that works of males must be examined for different
ideas of the culture’s masculinity. Upon comparing and contrasting both male
and female writers (i.e. Waid, Simone, Conner, Palmiotti) of the same character
(i.e. Wonder Woman, Power Girl) we will ask questions such as: What kind of
comic characters would feminists want? Do women write the same characters
differently than men? How are women in comic industry reconstructing ways to
represent women’s realities? Using books such as Women in the Comics (Horn, 1977) and articles such as “Images of
Women in the Visual Media” (Klein, 1993) along with comics themselves, we will
attempt to answer these questions.
By using a combination of lectures, activities, interviews,
discussions, and
active learning, students are allowed to express
and take part in the class instead of just coming to class. No single way of
teaching works for every student. By using different theories of learning and
teaching, the students will remain engaged which results in a successful
teaching and learning experience for everyone.
