UWC2101G: Writing and Critical Thinking: Femininity: Of Mind, Body, Or Culture?

Unit One : (four weeks duration)

This unit will attempt to introduce students to the terms 'gender' and 'sex' and to argue and explore the possibility that there is a conceivable difference between the two terms. For this purpose, this unit will introduce the students to a few interesting theoretical perspectives from the science as well as the humanities perspectives. We will begin this unit by viewing a video programme entitled The Gender Tango. In this video, the term 'femininity' is explored and how women perceive themselves and are perceived by others, is interrogated. This will be a useful introduction to the course. This viewing will be followed by a reading of two different but related pieces of work on gender: The first will be a chapter on "Biology and Gender" by Joan H Rollins which looks at gender from the perspective of biology and psychology. The second will be a chapter, which will engage with the terms 'sex' and 'gender' from the sociologists' perspective. Groups of students will be asked to read (either one of) these essays and do a 10 minute summary of its main points.

Rhetorical Goals for Unit 1:

• To gather evidence to augment your argument from texts of various genres
• To develop analytical questions about texts
• To develop connections between theoretical and narrative texts
• To support a claim with textual evidence
• To revise your argument by incorporating relevant criticism and counter-arguments
• To compare thematic and other assumptions between two different kinds of texts

Primary Texts for Unit 1:

The Gender Tango [videorecording] / Point de Mire Inc ; CTV Television Netword ; directed by Léa Pool ; written by Rina Fraticelli, Léa Pool, Jon Kalina, Princeton, N.J. : Films for the Humanities, 1997, c1996. Call No.HQ1075 Gen; Stack No. CVC10387.

Virginia Woolf, (2000) Orlando, A Biography, London:Vintage Classics; First published London: Hogarth Press, 1928.

Theoretical Readings for Unit 1:

(Note: All theoretical readings will be made available to the students).

• Chapter 2 "Biology and Gender" from Women's Minds, Women's Bodies: The Psychology of Women in a Biosocial Context by Joan H. Rollins, Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1996.
• (Ch. 11 "Feminism, Gender and Sexuality" 171 "Varieties of feminism" 172 "Sex, gender and socialisation" 177 "Sexualities" 183 "Gender and popular culture" 186 "Is feminism dead? Has it gone too far?" 187) Extract from, Culture and identity / Warren Kidd, Basingstoke, Hampshire : Palgrave, 2002.

Assessment for Unit 1:

1. Students will be asked to do a class presentation (in pairs or groups) of around 10 minutes duration summarizing the main points of any one of the theoretical readings from Unit 1 discussed in class.
2. They will be asked to do a close reading of around 500-750 words on any one of the texts that have been discussed in unit 1.