This course will explore the development of U.S. feminist thought from the publication of Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex to the present. We will focus on feminist attempts to reveal, unravel, and remedy the conceptual, psychological, and economic dimensions of the oppression of women. Readings will explore the major feminist positions on the nature and scope of women's oppression, how it gets perpetuated, and possible solutions. We will also cover the relationship of sexism to racism, to heterosexism, to imperialism, and to class societies, and we will look at debates among feminists on pornography and abortion. We will look at the feminist arguments about how femininity, as it is currently practiced and understood, is a psychological form of sexist social conditioning. The focus of the course will be on the variety of possible positions and debates within feminism.

Course Requirements: (1) Attendance and participation in discussion is required. (2) Weekly 1-2 page essay that summarize and assess the major theoretical arguments in the readings. (3) Take home final.  

Books: 1. Marilyn Frye The Politics of Reality; 2. Simone De Beauvoir The Second Sex; and 3. Abortion under attack: Women on the challenges facing choice Edited by Krista Jacob 

There will also be essays in a course pack and on blackboard.