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https://eand.co/the-three-things-ai-is-going-to-take-away-from-us-and-why-they-
matter-most-69956984b63f

HUMA1950.60 SU 2023
Concepts of Male and Female in the West

Course Director: Deborah Clipperton

dclipperton@sympatico.ca
Teaching Assistant: Catherine Swenson
cswenson@yorku.ca

LECT 01 T 14:30 120 DB  1004 Deborah Clipperton

R 14:30 120 DB  1004
TUTR 01 T 16:30 60 DB  0013 D17J02
R 16:30 60 DB  0011
TUTR 02 T 16:30 60 DB  0015 D17J03
R 16:30 60 DB  0013

Email: If you are emailing either myself or Catherine, always include HUMA1950 and
your tutorial number in the subject line. We teach a number of classes and this is
helpful.

Course Description: A critical examination of the origins of some concepts of gender,

their manifestations in Western culture and their effects on relations in both the private
and public spheres through myth, literature, art and artifacts from both past and present.
Note: This is an approved LA&PS General Education course.
Course credit exclusions: AP/HUMA 1830 6.00, AP/HUMA 1950 9.00 (prior to Fall
2013), AP/HUMA 1951 9.00. PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusions:
AK/HUMA 1830 6.00, AS/HUMA 1950 9.00.

This course will explore concepts of ‘male’ and ‘female’ in Western culture mainly in the
light of culturally constructed oppositions between them. Gender is now no longer
understood as limited to masculine and feminine, but that duality continues to provide the
central organizing principle in contemporary western society and gender as a “site”
becomes a social space where many ideas are contested. Thinking about the
consequences of gender on human subjectivity and culture, we will look at dualisms such
as mind-body, culture-nature, reason-emotion, heterosexual-homosexual and think about
how they shape our human experience, especially gender. Tracing the historical roots of
some of these ideas, we will examine how changing social, economic, political and
cultural conditions affect ideas of gender, and think about what happens when people do
not live according to the “norm”, however that is determined to be. The course argues
that gender is neither essential nor certain nor fixed. Rather, it is situated in a complex
social matrix that is impacted by class, race, nation, ethnicity and the body. Yet its power
to organize and regulate work, family, politics, social roles, romance, culture on every
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level is undeniable. An exploration of these ideas will help us to comprehend the

experience of the gendered individual in a rapidly changing world.

The Humanities Approach: Often students experience some confusion trying to

understand what we mean by the “Humanities” and how it is different from other
disciplines. It is important to have a grasp on this difference from other disciplines as it
naturally affects the ways in which we approach knowledge, as well as reading and
writing. The Humanities is a very different discipline from, say, social science. In this
course, we are not dealing with sexual identity, for example, but with the ideas about
gender that construct or shape sexual identity. We are not dealing with romance, or
courtship practices, but with the cultural ideas that shape those experiences. To
understand these ideas, the Humanities is very interdisciplinary in its approach, drawing
on cultural analysis, the arts, history, philosophy, literature, etc., as well as the more
recently developed disciplines of women’s studies and men’s studies, both of which think
about gender in these ways. How we read, what we look for, and how we write is also
shaped by the discipline of the Humanities. The practical application of the Humanities
approach to analysis will be an ongoing discussion in the course.

Technical requirements for taking the course: In order to participate in the course,
students will need good access to the internet in order to access eClass, Zoom, Scott
library and other websites. Occasionally students may be participating in video
conferencing and you may occasionally appear on video for tutorial discussion, meetings
and lectures. The same as if you were coming in person to lecture and tutorial, we
consider participation in this space to be public but limited to those registered in the
course. In addition to stable, higher-speed Internet connection, you will need a computer
with webcam and microphone, and/or a smart device with these features.
An occasion may arise where class or consultations may be held on Zoom. If on Zoom,
lectures and tutorials will be recorded and posted. Private meetings with tutorial leaders
will be recorded but not posted.

eClass: This course is on eClass with online components. To access this course,
including zoom links to occasional lectures, tutorials, announcements, and all other
aspects of the course, you must be registered in the class and in your proper tutorial. To
do this, go to eClass.yorku.ca and log in using your Passport York ID. As soon as you
use eClass for the first time, you will automatically have access to all your courses and
tutorials using that program. Please ensure you have registered your correct email address
and enabled the email function, otherwise you will not receive course announcements.

Required Readings:
Readings on-line.
Some films you may have to rent or purchase on-line.
This course is in process, and I may add or delete readings as we go.

Films: Selected films are also texts and are understood as required viewing. I may add or
delete.
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Grades:
Test 1 (June 8th) 20%
Test 2 (July 11th) 20%
Test 3 (August 8 th)
20%
Research Essay (July 25th) 20%
Reading Analysis & Presentation 10%
Attendance & Participation 10%

Course Organization:
This course is a six credit bi-weekly course over twelve weeks, with a break for Congress
May 27-June 2 (no classes May 30 and June 1), and a Summer Break June 27 – July 2
(no classes June 27 and 29). Each week students are expected to do the readings
assigned before the class.
HUMA1950 is a course that has moved online from an online to an in-person format due
to changing conditions determined by the university’s response to Covid-19. We are
building as we go, but if there are any changes students will be informed as soon as
possible by course announcement! To that end, and for any other communications, please
be sure your eClass profile is configured to your email so you get these important
messages.

Lectures:
Each week there will be a lecture on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:30 – 4:15 (ish). I
may go a bit longer or take less time.
The purpose of the lecture is to give context for the ideas and materials of the
course, and to begin the discussion of some of the ideas. I will have various ways of
doing this, but all of them will involved a powerpoint that I will narrate and post. With
exceptions, the powerpoint will outline what is being presented, but you will still have to
take notes to fill in the details. We will occasionally discuss quotations, poems, artworks
and so on that are not formalized as “readings” but which are still important, and
considered course material. These, or their links, will be included on the powerpoints
also. I will not be posting lecture notes.

Tutorials:
Tutorials meet after lecture is done. Each week, tutorials will focus on readings
and occasionally films that develop ideas and themes from lecture. Discussion is a key
part of knowledge development.
Reading Analysis: Students assigned to this weekly task will present on the
assigned text, based on their reading analysis. Each analysis will take fifteen minutes
or so. These two (ish) -page outlines will be posted. These files will be helpful reminders
and assist in making sure everyone understands the readings. More about this assignment
below in the section on Tests and Assignments.

Office hours: If you have any questions or issues that cannot be solved by email or in
tutorial, or you want to reach out for any reason, please email, and either Catherine or I
can set up a private zoom meeting.
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Exams and Assignments: There will be three exams in lecture time, one reading
analysis to be presented in tutorial and submitted, and one essay.
Exams: There will be three exams over the course of the term.
First Exam: 15% June 8th 2:30 – 4:20
Second Exam: 20% July 11th 2:30 – 4:20
Third Exam: 20% August 8th 2:30 – 4:20
Exams will be time-sensitive and will be administered during the appointed
lecture time, that is 2:30 – 4:20. Students requiring accommodations must make
arrangements with Student Accessibility Services a few weeks in advance. Exams will
be in-person. There will be no tutorials the day of the exams.

Essays: Students will write one essay due towards the end of term.
Essay Proposal: due in tutorial July 13th
Bring your proposal to tutorial. This will include your topic, research
question, and three proper academic sources. Be prepared to work it over.
Bring a pen. You will hand in your work-shopped proposal at the end of
class. (Take a picture so you have it in case you want to start work right
away.) You must do this component of your essay. It will be graded
pass/fail and be worth 5 % of your total essay grade. I.e. if you don’t do it,
you’ll automatically lose five marks off your essay grade (out of 100).
This is the difference between a B and a B+.
Essay: upload to Turnitin July 25th. Late essays lose 5%/day.
No tutorials that day.
Length 5-6 pages plus works cited and cover page. NO MORE, NO LESS!
Topics will be suggested but you are free to choose a topic, just run it by
your TA for doability.
z
Presentation/Reading Analysis (beginning in Class 4):
You will be required to present on one of the readings. You may work with another
member of the class. This presentation should be comprehensive and professional.
Power point presentations are welcome and can contribute to the professionalism of your
presentation, but beware! Lack of content cannot be disguised by technological
expertise. We will set these up in the second class. Each student will choose a reading,
with a maximum of two or three students per reading, depending on the size of the
reading. This will be made clear on the choice sheet.
Whether you are presenting on a theory piece, a collection of readings or film,
your presentation will:
a) summarise and explain the main ideas and discuss the relevant arguments,
characters, metaphors, events etc. that support these ideas. If you are presenting
on a novel or film, be careful that you don’t re-tell the story. Analyse, don’t
summarize. Develop some connections with other course material, if
appropriate. Think of your responsibility as teaching the reading to your class.
Ask yourself, what is the significance of this reading? Why is it on the course?
This section will occupy the greatest portion of your presentation.
Finally, construct two excellent discussion questions for the class.
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A few days before your presentation you may ask your TA to comment on it,
especially your questions. These generally need some work.

b) make a coherent outline of your analysis, two pages in total, to share with the
rest of the class – point form is fine, as long as it is comprehensive, focussing on
the ideas and some specific examples. No more than two pages, else no-one will
read it! Email your outline to the tutorial leader and she will post it on the class
page. The outline will help everyone, particularly when it comes time to review
for a test, and part of your mark will evaluate this outline. Be sure you put your
name/s on the outline!

COURSE OUTLINE

I. INTRODUCTION

1. Tuesday May 9th Introduction to the Course and Its Themes

No Reading Assignment.
Tutorials WILL meet today to go over protocols, grading assignments and do
introductions.

II. THE BASICS: HISTORY AND A LITTLE THEORY

2. Thursday May 11th Considering Gender

Film: The codes of gender: identity and performance in pop culture
Available through Kanopy, an e-resource you get through the Scott Library
catalogue. We will watch it in lecture and discuss in tutorial.
Tutorials will choose presentation/reading analysis topics in tutorial.

3. Tuesday May 16th Cultural Logic: Two and only Two,

or how many genders are there anyway?
Simone de Beauvoir, “The Existential Paralysis of Women”, from The Second Sex

4. Thursday May 18th Where did it start? Man the Hunter, Woman the Gatherer
– Ideas about Gender in Prehistory
Johanna Stuckey, Ancient Mother Goddesses and Fertility Cults
Stuckey article
Engels, Frederick. Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State
Selections from the last chapter, “Barbarism and Civilization” available as
an e-Resource

5. Tuesday May 23rd Foundational texts and ideas – Classical period

“Genesis”
Aristotle, “The Differences between Men and Women”
St. Paul, “Letter to the Corinthians”

6. Thursday May 25th The Medieval Period - Love, romance, courtship and gender
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Capellanus, Andreas. “The Art of Courtly Love” selections

May 27th – June 4th Congress Break – no classes

7. Tuesday June 6th The Enlightenment - “Biology”, culture and the Great
Reversal
Laqueur, Thomas, “Of Language and the Flesh” (selections)
Short selections from J.J. Rousseau Émile, to be posted.

8. Thursday June 8th First Exam (no tutorials)

9. Tuesday June 13th Romanticism and Industrialization – Masculinity and

Challenges to “The Rule of the Father”
Film: Sense and Sensibility, dir. Ang Lee, 1995
Selections from the Romantic male poets to be posted.

10. Thursday June 15th Romanticism and Femininity – The “Individual” and the
Rise of the Middle Class
Mary Wollstonecraft selections from A Vindication of the Rights of Women

11. Tuesday June 20th The Victorians and Gender: Class, separate spheres, and
scientific heterosexuality
Readings TBA

12. Thursday June 22nd The Mother Woman, the Angel in the House (and the Devil
Within!)
Selections from Adrienne Rich’s Of Woman Born: Motherhood as Experience
and Institution
Film: Women on the March (Part 1) available through Scott Library catalogue
https://www-nfb-ca.ezproxy.library.yorku.ca/film/women_on_the_march/?ctlgsrc=mr

Summer Break – Monday June 26th to Monday July 3rd (for July 1st) NO CLASSES

III. IMAGES OF THE FEMALE AND THE FEMININE

13. Tuesday July 4th Women on Display,

Bordo, Susan. “Reading the Slender Body”
Film: Killing Us Softly (Four) available through Scott Library
The Beauty Myth

14. Thursday July 6th Outlaw Women: Sirens and Witches

Dove, Brian. “Wanting the White Witch”, Vader, Voldemort and other villains in
popular media, ed. Jamey Heit.
Brothers Grimm, “Hansel and Gretel”

15. Tuesday July 11th Second Exam (no tutorials)

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16. Thursday July 13th How to Write an Essay

Proposal Due in tutorial:
Essay topic, Research Question, three proper academic sources.
In tutorial, proposals will be peer-reviewed.
Bring hard copy, and a pen. After feedback you will hand in your edited changes
for grading. (take a picture of them before so you have your revised work handy
to help you begin work on the essay.)

In our tutorials today, we will workshop your ideas for your first essay. Spend a few
minutes thinking about your essay.  Make a list of the "cultural forces" and "practices"
you were personally affected by in the formation of your gender. Choose the three you
are going to discuss. If you have time, make a few notes about elements you might want
to discuss. Turn this into an outline that you can share, and we can help you produce
something like a preliminary thesis.

IV. IMAGES OF THE MALE AND THE MASCULINE

17. Tuesday July 18th Martial Masculinity: Intellectual and Physical Machismo
Easlea, “Patriarchy, Scientists and Nuclear Warriors”

18. Thursday July 20th The Social Construction of Violence and Masculinity
Kaufman, “The Construction of Masculinity”
Film: Tough Guise, available through Scott Library

19. Tuesday July 25th No lecture or tutorials today.

Research Essay due at 23:59 pm – submit through Turnitin.

V. RACE AND GENDER

20. Thursday July 27th The Cultural Invention of Race and the After-effects of
Slavery
selections from bell hooks, “Chapter 2: gangsta culture: a piece of the action”, We
Real Cool. Routledge, 2003. Pp 15-31.gangsta culture

bell hooks, “Selling Hot Pussy: Representations of Black Female Sexuality in the
Cultural Marketplace”, black Looks: race and representation. Routledge, 2015.
Pp. 61-77. black female sexuality

21. Tuesday August 1st Orientalism and colourism in East and South Asian
communities.
Kaw, Eugenia. “Opening” Faces: The Politics of Cosmetic Surgery and Asian
American Women” in Many Mirrors: Body Image and Social Relations.

Abraham, Mary-Rose. “Dark is beautiful: the battle to end the world’s obsession
with lighter skin”. The Guardian Mon 4 Sep 2017.
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https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2017/sep/04/dark-is-beautiful-battle-to-
end-worlds-obsession-with-lighter-skin

22. Thursday August 3rd Imagine the world differently: Queer, Bi, Trans and Non-
binary folks
Susan Stryker, "Chapter 1. An Introduction to Transgender Concepts", in
Transgender History. Available as an e-resource through Scott
library.
Gould, Lois. “The story of X”

23. Tuesday August 8th Final Exam

no tutorials

_______________________________________________________________________

COURSE ADMINISTRATIVE DETAILS:

Religious Observance Days:

https://registrar.yorku.ca/enrol/dates/religious-accommodation-guidelines-2022-2023
Please advise your TA if you will be absent for one of these days.

Writing Centre:
As in all Humanities courses, the writing of clear English is essential to this course.
Instructors will carefully assess papers from the point of view of writing as well as
content. Students are strongly encouraged to contact the Writing Department and book an
appointment for assistance with specific aspects of writing. They offer individual and
personalized instruction at no extra cost. Instruction on essay writing will also be given
during tutorials.
The Writing Centre can be reached at the following website.
https://www.yorku.ca/laps/writing-centre/

Due Dates for Course Work: All course work will be due through Turnitin or by email
on the day assigned. Instructors will apply a lateness penalty of one grade per class for up
to three classes. After that, the work will not be graded. Legitimate excuses which are
documented may allow this rule to be waived at the course director’s discretion.
Instructors will not accept course work after the last day of term.

Academic Honesty:
Regarding policies, regulations and penalties on academic honesty please
refer to the York University Calendar and/or web page under University
Policies, Procedures and Regulations.
http://www.yorku.ca/univsec/policies/document.php?document=69

Turnitin:
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Plagiarism is an offense taken very seriously by this university. Any text that is not your
own must be properly cited or accredited. AI generated text is not your own, and not
appropriate in an academic setting.
Students agree that by taking this course all required work may be subject to submission
for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com for the detection of plagiarism. All
submitted papers will be included as source documents in the Turnitin.com reference
database solely for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of such papers. If you have
concerns about submitting your work, please speak to your course director and tutorial
leader. At any time, you should be prepared to demonstrate the originality of your work
by submitting drafts and notes, so keep records of your progress writing an essay. If you
are asked to submit to Turnitin, and do not, and no other arrangements are made for
demonstrating originality, or you are asked for other reasons to demonstrate the
originality of your work and do not, your required work will not be graded.

FOR YOUR OWN PROTECTION BACK UP AND SAVE COPIES OF YOUR

WORK AS YOU COMPOSE IT. YOU MAY BE REQUIRED TO
DEMONSTRATE THE ORIGINALITY OF YOUR WORK.
Keep copies of all your research notes, rough work and drafts. If you work on a
computer, save a dated backup file from time to time. If there are questions regarding the
authorship of work, this is your protection. If you do not have this, it may be impossible
for you to prove that you did your work and avoid a charge of plagiarism.
All assignments are due in tutorial. They must be typed, double-spaced, one-inch
margins, on one side of the sheet only, font Times New Roman 12. MLA style is to be
used for all assignments. The following website Purdue OWL is helpful, but there are
other sources. (stands for the Online Writing Lab at Purdue University, so nice of them!)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01/

Intellectual Property:
Please note that the copyright to any files that are posted on eClass, mine or students, are
the intellectual property of the author. Any time you copy or paste or transfer data from
said files without proper permission and/or accreditation constitutes a violation of
copyright, not to mention academic honesty. Don’t do it.

Student Conduct:
Students and instructors are expected to maintain a professional relationship
characterized by courtesy and mutual respect and to refrain from actions disruptive to
such a relationship. Moreover, it is the responsibility of the instructor to maintain an
appropriate academic atmosphere in the classroom and the responsibility of the student to
cooperate in that endeavour. Further, the instructor is the best person to decide, in the first
instance, whether such an atmosphere is present in the class. A statement of the policy
and procedures regarding disruptive and/or harassing behaviour by students in academic
situations is available from the Deans’ offices and the Office of the Vice-President,
Campus Relations and Student Affairs. (see the York University Calendar) If such
violations occur during our class, I will take steps to protect the integrity of the classroom
dynamic.
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Missed Exams or incomplete course work:

There will be only one makeup for each exam. If you miss the first exam, you must
provide proper documentation in order to write the makeup exam. Original medical
certificates only, please. See below for where to get the correct forms. Doctors may be
contacted to confirm legitimacy. If you miss the first and the makeup exam for
documented reasons, your grade will be pro-rated based on the work you have done.

Sometimes unforeseen circumstances make it impossible for students to write exams or

finish their work within the period of the term, and for medical or compassionate reasons
need to request more time. If you missed the final exam or for some extraordinary reason
need an extension beyond the final course date for course work, you need to do the
following:
1. Get a Final Exam/ Assignment Deferred Standing Agreement Form from the
Registrar's Office or download it from the website. The Course Director needs to sign it,
and a deadline set establishing by which time the make-up exam must be written or the
course work completed. Your final mark may appear as an F, but will be changed once
the make-up is written and marked or the course work completed.  
https://registrar.yorku.ca/pdf/deferred_standing_agreement.pdf. Provide appropriate
documentation. 
a) IF the reason was medical in nature you need an Attending Physician's
Statement.  This form is also available from the Registrar  [A "Doctor's Note"
is NOT sufficient.]
 https://secure.students.yorku.ca/pdf/attending-physicians-statement.pdf
b) IF the reason is other than medical then you require documentation to support
your reason.
3. Bring the signed forms to the Department of Humanities Vanier 262 and they will
forward them to the Registrar’s office.
4. If your Course Director refuses to grant deferred status, then you may appeal to your
home faculty.

Important Dates SU 2023:

Last date to add a course without
Permission of instructor: May 22nd
Last date to add a course with
Permission of instructor June 5th
Last date to drop course without
Receiving a grade July 7th
Break for the 2023 Congress of May 27-June 2 (no classes May 30 and June 1)
The Humanities and Social
Sciences
Summer break (includes Canada Day) June 27 – July 2 (no classes June 27 and 29)
Course Withdrawal Period
(withdraw and receive a “W”) July 17-August 15th
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