October 10th: Introduction to Gender Studies

Announcements

• OUTSpoken Guest Speaker, Rev. Dr. Yvette Flunder
  Tues., 10/22 from at 7:00 pm
  Cone Center, McKnight Hall

Moodle2 Posts

Because it was Fall Break on Tuesday (10/08), and I gave you the day off, I forgot to put this week's prompt up on Moodle2. I've got it up now, and I'll give you a few extra days (Monday, 10/14 by Noon). Of course, you should get on it sooner rather than later, so you can enjoy your weekend.

Gender Studies and Absolutes

This subject is going to be difficult for many of us. We tend to live in a binary world or worlds: right and wrong, black and white, us and them, male and female...we have little patience to contemplate ambiguity, especially when it's as "fundamental" as gender. The attributes and behaviors of men and women, our gender roles, seem to be essential to what's masculine and feminine. If something violates our assumptions, at best, we think it odd, and, at worst, we hate it. Having absolutes is comfortable to us because we don't like to have our worldviews predicated on shaky assumptions.

Unfortunately, ambiguity, doubt, and relativity are cultural conditions. We might try to ignore that or even avoid those in favor of our concrete perspectives. In a class like this one that covers how culture influences the texts we read (and their creation), no absolute should remain unquestioned.

Gender is such an absolute that many don't want questioned: men are men; women are women...why? Before we get farther into the discussion, let's define some words:

• Feminism: the social and political philosophy advocating the equality of all people regardless of gender.
• Patriarchy: male dominated society; the powerful group in a society elevates male privilege and subordinates women.
• Sexism: attitudes, assumptions, and stereotypes directed at a particular sex/gender; especially when these are related to women.*
• Heteronormativity: the attitude that recognizes heterosexual relationships as the societal norm and ignores other possibilities.
• Heterosexist: the belief that the only valid form of relationship is the heterosexual union between a man and a woman.
• Phallocentrism: power is held and wielded by those in control of the phallus, the site of male power; male superiority based on the legitimate use of the phallus.
• Exogamy: practice of marrying outside one's group (family, culture, "race," species--this is a Sci Fi class).

*There is a theory that only men can be sexist in patriarchal society because sexism is systemic--it's part of the culture, part of the system and pervasive.

As an introduction, let's look at a scene from ABC's Modern Family that can have multiple readings (interpretations). On the surface, it's a funny story and a leading character triumphs. Below the surface, it's a trite display of gender roles and gendered value in patriarchal culture. Check out Gloria meeting Javier's fiancee. If we've got time, let's check out Jay getting Gloria new shoes.

James Tiptree, Jr./Alice B. Sheldon
"And I Awoke and Found Me Here on the Cold Hill's Side" (1972)

Clearly, humans aren't in control. They appear to be obsessed with aliens and alien sexuality or, more accurately, the mystique of alien sexuality. Tiptree plays on the situation of eroticizing the "other." There is a long history of Western culture having a fetish for those from other cultures. The space dock worker waiting for his wife even mentions "the Polynesians" to refer to the way a culture has been exploited and eroticized by a colonial power (pp. 522-523).

Let's take a look at some main passages from the short story:

• p. 519: "I had him figured out now. A xenophobe. Aliens plot to take over Earth." {Is that what the "red-haired man" is? Didn't he seem a bit more xenophile?}
• p. 523: "Man is exogamous--all our history is one long drive to find and impregnate the stranger."
• p. 524: "The station employs only happily wedded couples" most likely because they need the stability of marriage to keep the humans from going bonkers over the aliens. If they stray, they could disrupt the stations business.

Keat's "La Belle Dame sans Merci"

I guess being an English professor means I have to explain the reference to Keats's poem "La Belle Dame sans Merci" ("The Beautiful Lady without Mercy"...google translate claims "without thank you"). Of course, full disclosure, you know I'm not really that kind of English Professor, but I'll wear that hat for a little while and explicate the poem...to a certain extent.

Carol Emshwiller's "Abominable" (1980)

More on phallocentrism: This idea states that males are superior and, therefore, their outlook is the only legitimate one. In the short story, it's the male outlook that constructs what the ideal "Grace" would be, and those ideals are phallocentric because they originate in the male's assumptions of the creature, which is a thinly veiled allusion to women.

Did anyone else think about the "Messin' with Sasquatch" Jack Link's commercials? They should have used beef jerky instead of bananas. Anyway, this is certainly a satire that comments on the phallocentric assumptions men have of women. Although you have to read between the lines, you don't have to read too far between the lines to recognize the pack mentality this gang of men have as they "hunt" for the illusive creature. Many of the stereotypes about men being from mars and women being from Venus--a not-so-clever attempt to rationalize sexism--appear in this story. Let's start with the setup:

• Boys' Night Out on the Prowl: "We are seven manly men in the dress uniform of the Marines, though we are not (except for one) Marines. But this particular uniform has always been though to attract them" (p. 540, emphasis mine).
• Bar hopping: "the Commander says to leave the river and go up into the hills even though they are treacherous with spring thaws and avalanches. The compass points up" (p. 541). Dissecting the above passage: The alpha male of the group, the Commander, says it's time to leave the current place (probably the apartment or typical bar where they drink--river--and build up confidence) and head to where they can find women, girls, chicks, etc. You don't stay at home and have them come to you until you're dating or pseudo-dating {the politest way to say...}. Now it's time to hunt. But be careful, for there are dangers--their friends, your self-confidence, and, of course, other men--that will thwart you. Does "the compass points up" need any explanation?
• Make them laugh: The psychoanalyst claims "there's a kind of nervous giggle, which is essentially sexual in origin and, if it occurs when they see us, is probably a very good sign" (p. 541). Of course, Emshwiller isn't offering a pickup blueprint; instead, she's commenting on the fact that in dating/mating rituals, men often see women as objects to have sex with: All their behavior gives clues to whether or not she'll have sex with the man. This is what the Editors meant when they claimed the narrator's worldview "is childishly pathetic" and "how the struggle to understand [the other gender] may be crippled by cultural assumptions" (p. 540).

Assuming there's time left, talk amongst yourselves for the next few minutes and think about the percentages that came up in the short story. Especially on pages 544-545, the narrator describes how to deal with the emotionally weaker species. What attitudes about women are being carried out here?

Midterm Grades

I've entered Midterm grades, and your Midterm Exam grade should be visible on Moodle2. The Midterm Exam showed slight improvement from the last test. That makes me happy.

Next Week

Don't forget, your prompt on Moodle2 is due by Noon on Monday (10/14), which is also Columbus Day.

Looking ahead to next week, we have our longest reading (387 pages) is coming up in two weeks--Ursula K. LeGuin's The Dispossessed (1974). I hope you already started on it because it is a difficult text. LeGuin's goal appears to be to create a world (or worlds) that allow readers to think critically about gender roles and other assumptions about gender. This is quite a radical text.

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