Course description

This course introduces students to the study of language and gender, an interaction that has received increasing attention from linguists since the 1960s. Although the term “gender” has a technical meaning in linguistics, we will discuss and investigate this term in its more widespread sense and talk about it with regard to the socially constructed roles having to do with sex. The field is vast and the literature extensive; part of the class will be devoted to exploring some of the literature critically. The focus will be on the linguistic side but with broad consideration of social issues associated with the distribution of linguistic forms, for the study of language has indeed expanded and now involves considerable overlap with other traditional fields of study such as Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology, but also newer ones such as Women’s Studies and Queer Studies.

Students are expected to make significant contributions to the class in terms of classroom discussion but also in terms of deciding the nature and direction of the course. Students with little background in linguistics should work with others or with me.

My Goal for this course is not to make you an expert in this vast and ever-changing field, but to introduce you to some of the literature and to give you the tools to examine future literature in a critical way, as well as to look at the interaction between language and gender from a more scientific perspective.

Texts

Required:

Eckert, Penelope and McConnell-Ginet, Sally. 2003. Language and Gender. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Recommended and Other Texts:

Cameron, Deborah. 1985. Feminism and Linguistic Theory. London: Macmillan Press.

Cameron, Deborah and Kulick, Don. 2003. Language and Sexuality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Coates, Jennifer (ed.) 1998. Language and Gender: A Reader. Oxford: Blackwell. [on reserve]

Janet Holmes and Miriam Meyerhoff (eds.). 2003. The Handbook of Language and Gender. Oxford: Blackwell. [on reserve]

Livia, Anna and Hall, Kira (eds.). 1997. Queerly Phrased: Language, Gender and

Sexuality. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Hall, Kira and Bucholtz, Mary (eds.). 1995. Gender Articulated: Language and the Socially Constructed Self. New York: Oxford University Press.

Class guidelines, requirements and policies

Classroom atmosphere. The nature of a course dealing with gender often brings up personal experiences and strong emotional reactions to things. It is critical that we promote the sharing of these experiences and reactions in a constructive, safe and positive atmosphere. Please be respectful of others. However, let’s try to focus and not make this class about group therapy.

Not a competition. This course is meant to be an individual and group exploration, even a team effort. You are strongly encouraged to discuss the readings and the assignments together, both in and outside of class. Written assignments should be yours and/or your team’s alone. In other words, talk things over as much as you like beforehand, but when you write your paper, the work should be all yours or confined to the team.

Consultation. Feel free to come talk with me about assignments, issues, questions, comments, suggestions or frustrations at any point.

Requirements. Class participation is far and away the most important component of this course. Regular attendance, therefore, is crucial. Not only should you come to class prepared in terms of the reading or other assignment, but you should also come ready to contribute actively to class discussion. You should also willingly contribute to class discussion and, perhaps more important, attentively listen to the contributions of others. Be conscious of letting everyone having a chance to say something and accord them the same attention and respect that you expect to receive.

Late assignments are strongly discouraged, although I will give extensions provided that you contact me before the assignment is due and your lateness is due to matters beyond your control (sickness, death in the family, etc.). Other late assignments will be accepted but knocked down a full grade, e.g., “A” to “B” and will also receive low priority for grading.

Evaluation. Grades will be decided on the following basis:

Undergrad 25% Grad 20% Written assignments

Undergrad 25% Grad 20% Mini-experiments

Undergrad 25% Grad 20% Gender Journals

Grad 20% Class presentation/Debate

Undergrad 25% Grad 20% Article/Chapter Critique

Class Participation includes regular attendance and participation in class discussions. Due to health issues and H1N1 hoopla, attendance is not mandatory. Do NOT come to class if you are ill, but DO let me know ahead of time through email.

Written Assignments – Undergrads are required to do 2 of these. Grad students must complete 3. All of the assignments will have a similar format: provide a synopsis of the events/discussion/information. Then analyze the various data that you collect (could be your reactions or experiences). Try to summarize what happened and then discuss how that relates to our class discussions and readings. Some will be hard to relate to language, but do your best to at least think of 1 language connection. Also, provide some of your personal reactions/criticisms, but try to present the data, then analyze it objectively, and THEN critique it from your point of view. The options for the written assignments are as follows:

Chapter Presentations includes summarizing the chapter/article and leading a short (10 mins) discussion (I will still help by adding my 2 cents of course). These are informal presentations that include restating the main points of the chapter/article by summarizing the data and methodology, as well as what the author(s) suggests these findings mean. In addition, tell us at least 1 thing you liked about the chapter and 1 thing that raised a question. Also, please bring 3 questions that you will turn in designed to elicit a discussion with the rest of the class. Remember, we want to be appreciative as well as critical of the work we are reading about. Each student will lead 1 discussion, either alone or in pairs. This is to bring other work in the field to the class’s attention that you find interesting. I can offer you some advice of where to look based on your interests.

Radio show compare/contrast – Compare the radios shows Your Time with Kim Iverson (http://yourtimewithkim.everyzing.com/ these are listenable online) and Loveline. Kim’s show is on 105.1FM (http://www.1051thebuzz.com/) from 7pm to Midnight M-F). Loveline is on 94.7 FM (http://www.947.fm/) and I believe it goes 10pm-midnight M-Th. I can’t find free ways to hear this show other than listening to the radio at that time.

Drag Field trip – Attend a drag show and pontificate gender and language. There is a free drag show (mostly drag queens) at C.C. Slaughters Sunday nights from 8PM-midnight (http://www.ccslaughterspdx.com/). There are also drag king shows from time to time at The Egyptian Club (http://www.eroompdx.com/). Just remember that these are gay and lesbian bars (respectively but not exclusively) so be respectful.

Magazine/media expose – Compare/contrast magazines designed for a specific gender and discuss how they differ in what they talk about as much as HOW they talk about it. You could also focus on TV commercials or print advertisements and discuss the gender and language involved with mass marketing (like, are there women’s vs. men’s exercises? Foods? Products?). You could also include gay and lesbian magazines and discuss how this fits in with the whole gender and language issues raised in the above.

Another chapter/article critique – It may be boring, but it works. You can do an additional critique for this assignment.

Your own mini-experiment – Devise your own mini-experiment and write up the findings following the format for mini-experiment write-ups (distributed soon). Please discuss with me ideas first so I can help with this.

Mini-Experiments will be conducted throughout the course (at least 2). These will be data collection (mostly attitudes) regarding specific topics in the literature and reporting back to the class. They may or may not be announced before class, so regular attendance is expected in order to fulfill this aspect of the coursework. We will discuss the format of how these should be written up.

Gender Journals are simply your personal thoughts and reactions to the readings or life in general relating to the course (either language and/or gender issues). There are a total of 6 journals due by the end of the term. These are not graded for content, but you are graded just for doing them. They should be anywhere from ¾ of a single-spaced typed page to 2 pages (try not to make them too long). Please only submit one journal a week in class Thursdays or by email. Any journal received after midnight Thursday night will count for the next week. Please do not wait for the last 6 weeks of the term to do these. Feel free to be creative and conduct your own mini-experiments if you like. There will also be 1 supplemental gender journal (for a total of 7) that can be turned in anytime and with other journals if you like. The assignment is to listen to Your Time with Kim Iverson on 105.5 FM (will post online option) and contrast that with Love Line on 94.7FM. You only have to listen to about 15-30 mins of each program, but be sure you can retell some of the major content about the program.

Article/Chapter Critiques. Since there is so much literature that we will not get to, this assignment will hopefully encourage you to look at other articles or chapters in other texts, or chapters in our text that we will not get to. I will be happy to recommend articles or chapters with specific interests if you ask or need direction on where to look. For undergraduate credit, only one critique is due. For those pesky graduate degrees, please do 3. More details about the content of this assignment will be distributed a little later in the term.

Class presentation/Debate (grad only). This project/debate will be developed as the term progresses and the presentations will be part of the last class. We may examine a very small data set using 2 different frameworks from the literature (dominance vs. cultural difference). Each group will be assigned an article discussing the different frameworks from the supplemental text, and will analyze the data using that framework. They will then make a small presentation to the rest of the class discussing how the data can be analyzed with their particular lens. More details about this project will also be distributed.

Info on H1N1 at PSU can be found here: http://www.shac.pdx.edu/. Attendance is not mandatory, but it is critical that you come to class as scheduled. To promote a healthy and safe environment, please do not come to class if you are feeling ill. Email me beforehand and we can make arrangements to deal with missing homeworks, etc.

For info dealing with students who need extra help, please visit the Disability Resource Center at: http://www.drc.pdx.edu/

The Pros and Cons of Learning Baby's Sex

Should you find out if you're expecting a boy or a girl?
By Julie Weingarden Dubin and Karin A. Bilich

Some parents can't wait to learn the sex of their baby. Others are content to wait until their baby makes its grand entrance. Here are the pros and cons of finding out your baby's sex:

Reasons to find out:

You only have to agree on one name
You can buy sex-specific clothes
You can decorate the nursery
You can better prepare for events after baby's birth, such as scheduling a bris (a Jewish circumcision ritual)
You may feel more connected to your baby
It may make the baby seem more real
It helps assure you that everything is okay

Reasons to wait:

The surprise can be exciting
The last few weeks of pregnancy may be more bearable not knowing
You could have fantasies about a baby of either sex
It's the way people have been doing it for centuries
It might annoy your relatives!

But what if you and your partner can't agree? One solution is for one partner to learn the sex and not tell the other. Or find out together and keep it a secret from the rest of the world. Either way, you'll find out the sex of your child sooner or later, so stop worrying and enjoy your pregnancy.