Gender, Propaganda, and War

Thanks to classmates Christine Bowden, Rebekah Glover, and Rebecca Nesbitt for this link to a 1950s British newsreel film that represents the Kenyan freedom fighters, known as Mau Mau, as terrorists. The reel was produced while Britain held colonial control over Kenya, and the newsreel is clearly intended to drum up anti-Mau Mau support for continued British occupation. Based on our discussions on gender, war, and militarism, what questions come to mind about gendering terrorism, war, and the military when you view this newsreel?

Sierra Leone Legalizes Free Health Care for Mothers, Infants

This news release from Medicins sans frontieres/Doctors Without Borders details Sierra Leone's new national law, which mandates free health care as of April 27, 2010, to the nation's most vulnerable groups: pregnant women, breastfeeding mothers, and children under the age of five. These groups represent the highest rates of mortality in the nation, and the new law seeks to reduce these numbers by improving access to preventive and urgent medical care that many cannot otherwise afford.

Film: Searching for Angela Shelton, 4/27, Keezell G3, 7pm

To raise awareness for Sexual Abuse Prevention Month, one of my world literature service project groups will screen the documentary Searching For Angela Shelton. The film's director, Angela Shelton, searched for women who share her name only to find that over half, like herself, have been sexually abused. Soon her journey turns into a vivid and moving commentary on both sexual and child abuse in society today, as Shelton confronts the man who abused her. The film will be shown Tuesday, April 27th, in Keezel Hall room G3 at 7:00pm. I hope you'll attend.

National Equal Pay Day is April 20th

Next week, the average U.S. woman will finally have earned, by working through all of 2009 and through most of 2010, what the average U.S. man earned in 2009. This article by the National Women's Law Center seeks to raise awareness of the continuing gendered wage gap. This relates to our recent class discussions.

Is Body Hair Only for Men?

This New York Times article on recent spottings of celebrities who do not shave their legs and/or armpits is a great discussion of the cultural pressure in the United States to perform certain beauty rituals that alter the body. These practices ultimately create more work that women and girls must perform in order to be socially acceptable. How does this track with your learning in this course? Reactions?

Backstreet Abortions: Few Other Options in Kenya

Thanks to classmate Rachael Capone for bringing this article to my attention, particularly as it's timely to our recent discussions about the State's regulation of women's reproduction. The connection between restricted abortion access and the maiming and/or deaths of mothers and fetuses is not a U.S.-only epidemic. I hope you'll read this troubling article in CNN.com.

Myth of "Gay Lifestyle" Fuels Discrimination

As we've discussed in class, terminology is political. Take, for example, the term "gay lifestyle," which suggests that homosexuality is a chosen, aberrant, way of life that differs dramatically from the "natural" heterosexual way of being. LZ Granderson's essay on CNN.com takes issue with this use of a mythology of difference as a means for discrimination. What's your reaction, vis-a-vis our course?

SMAD Spring Diversity Lecture 4/5, 7pm, 1261 Harrison

"A Space for Hate: The White Power Movement’s Adaptation into Cyberspace." The white power movement is steadily adapting its racist agenda into "user-friendly" cyber formats, ranging from social network websites to information databases. Adam Klein will discuss his research on twenty-six leading white power websites and their use of the Internet. Klein is SMAD Diversity Fellow for the spring 2010. He is a Ph.D. candidate in the Mass Communication & Media Studies program at Howard University. He is the author of numerous research articles and papers and the forthcoming book, A Space for Hate (Litwin Books). The presentation is sponsored by the Office of Diversity, the Honors Program, and the School of Media Arts & Design.

The Clothesline Project 3/26, 12-6, Transitions

The Clothesline Project is actually a series of clotheslines displaying thousands of tee-shirts, each made by a sexual assault survivor or survivor ally. The shirts bear witness to both the pervasiveness of sexual violence in our nation and the extent to which violence harms physically and psychologically. Walking among the shirts, reading the stories, I am overwhelmed by the sheer number of shirts--so many testimonials of pain, anger, and strength. Today, our class will visit the Clothesline Project. Please take as much time as you can so that you can fully experience the point of the Project. You are also welcome to make a shirt if you feel so moved. Information about campus and community resources on sexual assault prevention, education, and support will be available. This event is sponsored by Residence Life and UHC's Student Wellness & Outreach.

Assignment: By Monday, 3/29, at 5:00 p.m., please post a reply to this blog entry that will serve as your commentary for next week. Your commentary should draw a connection between your experience of the Clothesline Project and one of the assigned essays from Chapter 10, "Resisting Violence Against Women." Your commentary must quote the essay as per the usual commentary assignment. Your commentary may either advance an original idea or respond to one previously posted here.

Unwanted Touching, Race, and Gender

Allison Keye's essay on National Public Radio, "Keep Your Hands Off the Hair," is about the frequent and strange compulsion of others to touch her hair. An African American who does not chemically straighten her hair, Keyes seeks to understand and explain the relationship of a 400-years-old racialized history of assumed permission to her recoil. The essay does not discuss the aspect of gender as another assumption of free access to her body, but it surely exists and is germane to our recent discussions in class.

Gandhi Center Internship for Fall 2010

The Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence at JMU invites rising Juniors and Seniors (and exceptional rising sophomores) with strong leadership and academic backgrounds to be part of affecting change at the local, regional, and national levels through promoting nonviolence understanding, appreciation, and practice. Application materials and details are on the Center's website.

Busting the Media Myth that Feminism Is Finished

Susan J. Douglas's new book, Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message that Feminism's Work is Done is reviewed and excerpted on National Public Radio's website this week. I hope you'll take a look because Douglas considers the same questions we've been asking lately in our class--on women's under-representation in the upper echelons of the work force and in government; and on whether women who choose to be objectified in media representations are actually exercising autonomous sexual power. Plus, Douglas is wickedly funny. Her tone is imminently readable while simultaneously reminding female readers of the dangers of sounding dumb.

First Step Shelter Benefit Show 3/22, 7pm, TDU

Support the local domestic violence shelter with donations and non-perishable food items. See JMU and local performers. Sponsored by JMU Now. Contact: jmunow@gmail.com. This is an event supported by one of our class groups' community activism project.

House of Privilege: Chandler 3/22-24

In this experiential museum, participants are led through rooms of a house and observe scenes that highlight how privilege creates inequities in our society. Following the 20-minute tour of the house, participants take part in a brief facilitated reflection. Each room also contains “Windows of Opportunity” which share ways participants can act to level the playing field and embrace difference in their own lives.

Group sign-ups guarantee tours of up to 12 people. HOP can split larger groups into back-to-back tours. TIMES: 6 pm to 9 pm with tours leaving every 15 minutes. Pre-arranged group reservations take precedent over walk-ins; upon arrival individual walk-ins will be given a ticket with an assigned time for the nest available tour. Groups of five or more are invited to sign up for reserved times. To sign up for a slot, or to get more information, please contact Greg Meyer, meyergi@jmu.edu, 540-568-6218. To volunteer, click here.

VA Attorney General Bans Anti-Gay Discrimination

This article from the Associate Press continues our class discussion from Friday on legalized discrimination against the LGBTQ community: the Virginia Attorney General recently ordered state universities and colleges to remove sexual orientation from their anti-discrimination policies.

NPR Series on Campus Rape: Repeat Offenders, Failed Justice

NPR has been running a series of interviews, articles, and exposes on the continuing problem of rape on college campuses. The latest installment cites a recent study that finds 9 out of 10 campus rapists are repeat offenders, not single-incident occurrences. You can follow the links along this article's left and right margins to see other reports in the series. Given the upcoming Take Back the Night event here at JMU, and given our class discussions on women's sexuality and our culture's prevalence of gendered violence, I hope you'll take the time to read and comment on these articles.

TAKE BACK THE NIGHT 3/23, 6-10pm: The Commons

Take Back the Night is a night dedicated to raising awareness about ending sexual assault and violence against both men and women on college campuses and around the world. The event increases community awareness about sexual assault, serves as a voice for men and women to speak out about their experiences, and empowers each of us to take action.

6pm: Musical and dramatic performances
6:45pm-7:30pm: Dr. Rachel Griffin, Keynote Speaker. The speech is a PASSPORT EVENT. The keynote speech will be followed by a speak-out and a candle-lit march around campus. Dr. Griffin's research spans gendered violence, performance, Black masculinity, and critical race theory. Her work addresses notions of power, privilege, and voice.

The Vagina Monologues: 2/14 & 2/15

Tickets for this Valentine's Day feminist tradition are available online here. Please try to go, and let us know how it relates to this course.

Sponsored by Sister Speak, NOW, and the Student Wellness Office, The Vagina Monologues is a play by Eve Ensler meant to empower women and work toward ending sexual assault and other violence against women. Proceeds from the show will benefit the national cause, the plight of women in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; FirstStep, a local domestic violence shelter; and the Collins Center, a local rape crisis center. Shows are on February 14 and 15, Memorial Hall Auditorium at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Extra Credit Quiz

I will raise the lowest commentary grade by one (1) letter for the first five (5) people who answer any of the following questions about chapter 3 correctly. You can submit answers to all of the questions, but I will only raise one (1) commentary grade per respondent. Submit your answers as "comments" to this post. Answers must quote textual evidence and use proper citations. Here are the questions:

1. According to the readings, why do we need to accommodate more than two genders?

2. According to the readings, what limitations does the two-gender system impose? On whom?

3. How early does gender performance training occur, in the U.S. context, according to the readings? What form(s) do(es) such early gendering take?

4. In your day-to-day activities and interactions this past week, in what two ways were you rewarded for performing your gender correctly? In what two ways, if any, were you penalized for for not performing your gender correctly?

Course Schedule Changes Due to Recent University Closings

Updated 2/11, 1:27 p.m.

Please note the following schedule changes to accommodate the recent university closings. I have made these changes to the online version of our course schedule, available on this blog (see the January blog archive).

1. Due: online commentary on the readings for chapter 3, "Learning Gender in a Diverse Society." Please reply to my blog post of the same name, below, by Friday, 2/12, by 5pm EST.

2. During our next class meeting, we will discuss the chapter 3 readings. I expect this to be on Friday, 2/12.

3. We will discuss the introduction and readings for chapter 5, "Inscribing Gender on the Body," on Monday, 2/15.

4. Please note the following assignment date changes. Due:
M 2/15: Learning Activity: Thank a Feminist final paper
F 2/12: Learning Activity: Examining Privilege optional draft
F 2/19: Learning Activity: Tomboys and Sissies optional draft
M 2/22: Learning Activity: Examining Privilege final paper

6. Group Activism Project proposals are due on Wednesday, 2/24. See the January blog archive for the assignment. I will distribute hard copies of the assignment and take questions during our next class meeting. You should begin thinking now about possible group and project forms.

7. As we discussed in class, I have changed the League of Women Voters Learning Activity on the course schedule into a handout. The blog version of the Learning Activity handout reflects this change (see this blog's January archive or search the blog for "Assignments").