LIT
4535 (sec. 6473)
Women,
Work,
and Popular Culture
"Return From Toil" John Sloan, 1913
Instructor
Dr.
Susan Hegeman
Course
meetings
Wednesdays,
periods 9-11 (4:05-7:05) in Turlington 2305
Course
Description
Arguably one of
the biggest changes affecting American women over
the last century has been their entry in unprecedented numbers into the
public world of wage labor. Yet many women feel that in some crucial
ways their roles as workers haven't changed: women continue to feel a
disproportionate share of domestic labor, including
housekeeping, childcare, and care for the sick and elderly. This
course will examine women’s
labor, both paid and unpaid, throughout the twentieth century, through
the lens of popular culture
including films, popular literature, and fashion. In our
discussions we will consider popular cultural materials not simply as
evidence of dramatic historical changes involving women and work, but
as attempts to make sense of these changes as well.
Required
Texts
The following
books have been ordered for this class at Goering's
Textbook Store (1717 NW 1st
Avenue; Tel.
352-377-3703). If you purchase your books elsewhere, please try
to get the editions ordered for the class.
- Nan Enstad, Ladies of
Labor, Girls of Adventure (Columbia
UP; ISBN 0231111037)
- Willa Cather, My
Antonía (Dover; 0486282406)
- Anita Loos, Gentlemen Prefer
Blondes (Penguin; 0141180692)
- Betty Friedan, The Feminine
Mystique (Norton; 0393322572)
- Grace Chang, Disposable
Domestics (South End Press; 0896086178)
- McLaughlin and Kraus, The
Nanny Diaries (St. Martin’s Griffin;
0312291639)
Required
Films
In addition to
the books listed, you will be required to view a number
of films. Screenings of these films will be held at the times and
places listed below. You are
not required to attend the screenings, but you
are required to view the films (That means you must view them AGAIN if
you have seen them before!). If you cannot attend the screenings,
the films are on 3-day loan in course reserves, Library West. Also, you
may be able to rent some of these titles. Pay attention to the release
DATES of
these films as several have
been remade.
- Traffic in Souls (1913)
d. George Loane Tucker Screening in class
on September 5
- Baby Face
(1933--released version!) d. Alfred E. Green Screening October 8, 4:05
pm in LEI 104
- Imitation of Life (1934)
d. John M. Stahl Screening on October 15, 4:05 pm in LEI 104
- Salt of the Earth (1959) d. Herbert J. Biberman Screening
on October 22, 4:05 pm in LEI 104
- The Stepford Wives (1975) d. Bryan Forbes screening on November
13, 4:05 pm in TUR 2322
Course
Requirements
1. You are required
to attend class and
participate in discussions. You are also required to view the
films and keep up with the readings. The quality of course discussions
depends in a large part on your presence, energy, and
preparedness. I reserve the right to hold unannounced quizzes if
it becomes apparent that the class isn’t keeping up with the reading.
Five or more absences will result in an E grade for the course.
2. You will
write two papers of 7 to 10 pages each on topics generated
from the assigned course materials. An in-class paper workshop
will be held well before the due date to allow an opportunity to refine
paper topics and get feedback on the writing from your professor and
peers.
Course grades
will be determined as follows:
- 1/3 of grade: attendance, participation, any quiz
grades, and participation in paper workshops
- 1/3 of grade: first paper; due
October 24 at the beginning of class
- 1/3 of grade: second paper; Friday,
December 7 at 4 pm
Academic
Honesty Policy
You are required
to review the university’s Honor Code
and
the Academic
Honesty Guidelines. Plagiarism or any other
form
of academic dishonesty will result in an automatic failure of the
assignment
and the filing of a report in your academic file.
Types of
plagiarism include (but are not limited to):
- presenting as your own work papers written in whole or in part
by someone else (for example a paper written by a friend; a purchased
or
retyped paper; or one taken from a file)
- directly quoting, paraphrasing, or summarizing from external
sources without proper citations
Please take a
moment to consider the second category of
plagiarism.
Many students fail to fully understand that even such possibly innocent
mistakes as paraphrasing the work of others or failure to give proper
citation
is a serious form of plagiarism. Because such mistakes can
potentially
get you in a lot of trouble, you should talk to me if you have
any
questions about plagiarism, academic honesty, or proper research and
citation
methods.
Schedule
of Readings, Screenings, and Discussions
Working
Girls
8/29
Course overview and lecture: working girls, girls in danger
Women in
the Workforce: Facts About Working Women
9/5 in-class screening and discussion of
Traffic in Souls
9/12 discuss
Traffic in Souls and
Enstad,
Ladies of Labor, Girls
of Adventure
9/19 discuss Enstad,
Ladies of
Labor, Girls of Adventure and Cather,
My Antonía
9/26 discuss Cather,
My
Antonía
The Willa Cather Archive
Unreal
Labor
10/3
discuss Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
10/8 screening of Baby Face,
4:05
pm in LEI 104
10/10 discuss Baby Face and
paper #1 workshop
10/15 screening of Imitation of Life,
4:05
pm in LEI 104
10/17 discuss Imitation of Life
Women
and the Labor Struggle
10/22
screening of Salt of the Earth,
4:05
pm in LEI 104
10/24 discuss Salt of the Earth;
paper #1 is due
The
Problem that Has no Name
10/31
discuss Friedan, The Feminine
Mystique
11/7 discuss Friedan, The Feminine
Mystique
11/13 sceening of Stepford Wives,
4:05 pm in TUR 2322
11/14 discuss Stepford Wives
11/21 Class canceled
Domestic
(and Imported) Labor
11/28
discuss Disposable Domestics
and paper #2 workshop
12/5 discuss Nanny Diaries
12/7 (Friday) Paper #2 is due
updated 9/12/07