Syllabus - FEM 1100: Women, Gender, Feminism: An Introduction (original) (raw)

Challenging privilege: Women, knowledge and feminist struggles

The Journal of Human Justice, 1991

The dedication of an issue of the Journal of Human Justice to feminist straggles for justice is timely. Among other things, 1990 marked the twentieth anniversary of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women (RCSW). Appointed in 1967 in response to pressure from women's groups, the establishment of this Commission was regarded as a significant victory for Canadian feminism at the time. Its mandate was to investigate and recommend steps "to ensure for women equal opportunities with men in all aspects of Canadian society" (1970: vii). The report which resulted has been hailed as "a founding document of contemporary Canadian feminism" (Hosek, 1983:281). Among other things, it spawned a wave of feminist scholarship focused on legal and other justice-related issues (see Boyd and Sheehy, 1986). This scholarship was inspired, in part, by the need to both develop critiques of the RCSW and suggest mechanisms for the implementation of its specific recommendations concerning the protection of women's equality by legal institutions (see Hosek, 1983; Boyd and Sheehy, 1986). One such recommendation was that for the creation of a series of agencies dedicated to the enforcement of existing laws protecting the rights of women, in order to "ensure that no discrimination occur[red] in fact or in interpretation of law," and thereby to "create a favourable climate for equality of opportunity for the women of Canada" (1970: 387). On this basis, the Office of Equal Opportunity was established in 1971; a Coordinator of the Status of Women in 1972; and the Canadian Advisory Council on the Status of Women (CACSW) in 1973. During the same period several provincial as well as the federal Human Rights Commission were also mandated. The period immediately following the RCSW was thus characterized by the incorporation of women's concerns into key Canadian institutions. An important arena of feminist activity following the Report of the RCSW was the university. During the expansion of Canadian universities in the late 1960s, the enrollment of female undergraduate students quadrupled, while that of men doubled (RCSW, 1970: 169). With this increase in women's enrollment, women's claims for justice were increasingly voiced on university campuses. Similar to events in other industrialized countries, autonomous women's groups broke away from the 'new left' student movement, accepting its socialist rhetoric but reacting against its sexism. Though the participants in these campus groups were for the most part white privileged women, both students and teachers, a significant emphasis was placed on creating links with the wider community. The commit

Global Currents in Gender and Feminisms: Canadian and International Perspectives

2017

Her research explores sport, recreation and leisure experiences from the intersections of historical and sociological inquiry with a focus on gender and community. Her work has appeared in, among others, Journal of Sport History, Journal of Canadian Studies and International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Carly is the Editor-in-Chief of Sport History Review.

Intro to Gender Studies

INTRODUCTION TO GENDER STUDIES COURSE DESCRIPTION. This course offers an introductory overview of the interdisciplinary field of Gender Studies. The first part of this course introduces a social constructivist approach to the study of race, gender, sexuality, and disability, which foregrounds the historical and cultural contingency of concepts that are often assumed to be innate and grounded in nature. Next, the second part of this course offers a brief intellectual history of intersectionality, a foundational premise of the field, which in short argues the inextricability of various systems of privilege and oppression. These sections lay the conceptual groundwork for the third section of this course. In this section, we consider the intersections of race, class, gender, sexuality, and disability in the United States during the long 20 th century. Finally, the last section examines the transnational circulation of ideas about race, gender, sexuality, and disability, in relation to the movement of people and capital in local and global markets. Overall, this course aims to introduce students to the topics, methods, and questions central to the field.

Rethinking Contemporary Feminist

This timely new series publishes leading monographs and edited collections from scholars working in the disciplinary areas of politics, international relations and public policy with specifi c reference to questions of gender. The series showcases cutting-edge research in Gender and Politics, publishing topical and innovative approaches to gender politics. It will include exciting work from new authors and well-known academics and will also publish high-impact writings by practitioners working in issues relating to gender and politics.