Feminism 

Teacher(s): Felicity Markdal 

Lessons: 4/week

We live in a world structured in one particular way, i.e. the patriarchal way. (a system of “male” dominance and supremacy in terms of control of power) which helps neither women nor men, nor any other identity on the spectrum. In this class we aim to look at how this structure affects, determines, colours and impacts on the multitude of groups, individuals, tribes, species and identities that inhabit this world. Furthermore, and more interestingly to look through their eyes to see what the world looks like from their position and what kinds of proposals and ideas there are for a more “comfortable” and “inhabitable” world. Subjects we will cover within the course include (but are not limited to):

• Understanding Patriarchy- Looking at the world through the lens of patriarchy to see what the expectations and conditions are for all of us with regard to: State, Household, Violence, Paid Work, Sexuality, and Culture
• The three (or four) waves of Feminism- what did they bring us as a society in terms of both advancement and problems, who was driving these waves? and who were the beneficiaries?
• Sexual Difference Theory- pondering whether there even is a difference between men and women, human with these genitals, human with those genitals and what that might all mean for the feminist movement
• Post-Colonial Feminism- understanding how colonization and western views have impacted on people’s journeys across the globe, exploring the work of people like Chandra Mohanty, Audre Lorde and also transnational feminisms like the work of Gloria Anzaldua and Cherrie Moraga
• A mixed bag of feminisms- looking briefly in to the myriad of other feminisms that exist for example; ecofeminists, Marxist feminists, Womanism, Conservative Feminism, Radical feminism, to name but a few
• Intersectionality- in the 1980s Kimberle Crenshaw argued for a new way of looking at our rights and position in society, the idea that we are all a complex web of oppressions and privilege and only by looking in to these webs could we understand one another, so that’s what we will do
• Witch Hunts- a history of the feminist struggle in society, journeying from Salem, to #metoo, from Bad Feminists to Nasty Women- what has it been like being a person who fights for equal rights throughout history
• Sheroes and Heroes- looking at some of the individuals and movements around the world that have really made a positive change in the rights, comfort and habitability of this world for all of us
  Future of Feminism- exploring the idea of Feminist Utopias. Imagining what the world would look like without patriarchy, maybe even without privilege and how indeed we might get there.