GENDER STUDIES

6 CFU - 1° Semester

Teaching Staff

MARIA GRAZIA NICOLOSI - Module “The Invention of Gender: Masculinity, Femininity and Their Others” - L-LIN/10 - 3 CFU
STEFANIA ARCARA - Module B - The Politics of Gender - L-LIN/10 - 3 CFU

Course Structure

“The Invention of Gender: Masculinity, Femininity and Their Others”
Teaching and group discussion in the classroom.
B - The Politics of Gender
The Gender Studies Course is divided into two Modules: a theoretical introduction, Module A, THE INVENTION OF GENDER: MASCULINITY, FEMININITY AND OTHER (Professor Maria Grazia Nicolosi) and Module B, THE POLITICS OF GENDER (Professor Stefania Arcara) which focuses on feminist politlcal thought and practice in the 20th century.

Detailed Course Content

“The Invention of Gender: Masculinity, Femininity and Their Others”
This Course will provide a theoretical and practical overview of issues bearing on the representation and self-representation of sexed and gendered identities from different perspectives. Special attention will be given to those theoretical paradigms traditionally marginalised in the humanities with the aim of offering students alternative models for the analysis of – mainly, but not exclusively – British literature and culture (including visual, media, and “pop” culture). The following issues will be analysed in depth:

Gender and sex: real and imaginary (dis)symmetries.

Gender inequalities and biological differences between men and women.

Symbolic, social, cultural, and historical construal of difference.

Gendered apprehension of otherness.

The body and signification.

Eros and desire.

Sexual orientation and identity.

Feminist studies.

Gender as a social power relation.

History of feminist political struggles.

The different forms of gendered violence.

The representation of the body in culture, literature, the arts, and the discourses of science and philosophy.

Gender as rhetorical device in literature, philosophy, the social sciences and new technologies.

Our methodology is a multi- and interdisciplinary approach with contributions from several trends of feminist criticism combined with additional analytical tools from diverse disciplines and theories such as Marxism, New Historicism, Freudian and post-Freudian psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, postcolonial studies, lesbian and gay studies, queer theories, sexuality studies, body and embodiment theories, etc.
B - The Politics of Gender
This Course will provide a theoretical and practical overview of issues bearing on the representation and self-representation of sexed and gendered identities from different perspectives. Special attention will be given to those theoretical paradigms traditionally marginalised in the humanities with the aim of offering students alternative models for the analysis of – mainly, but not exclusively – British literature and culture (including visual, media, and “pop” culture). The following issues will be analysed in depth:

Gender and sex: real and imaginary (dis)symmetries.

Gender inequalities and biological differences between men and women.

Symbolic, social, cultural, and historical construal of difference.

Gendered apprehension of otherness.

The body and signification.

Eros and desire.

Sexual orientation and identity.

Feminist studies.

Gender as a social power relation.

History of feminist political struggles.

The different forms of gendered violence.

The representation of the body in culture, literature, the arts, and the discourses of science and philosophy.

Gender as rhetorical device in literature, philosophy, the social sciences and new technologies. Our methodology is a multi- and interdisciplinary approach with contributions from several trends of feminist criticism combined with additional analytical tools from diverse disciplines and theories such as Marxism, New Historicism, Freudian and post-Freudian psychoanalysis, poststructuralism, postcolonial studies, lesbian and gay studies, queer theories, sexuality studies, body and embodiment theories, etc.

Textbook Information

“The Invention of Gender: Masculinity, Femininity and Their Others”
1. S. Ahmed, Living a Feminist Life, Duke UP, 2017, pp. 1-88 (“Introduction” + chapters 1, 2, and 3).
2. J. Pilcher, I. Whelehan, eds, 50 Key Concepts in Gender Studies, London: Sage 2004 (selected excerpts, 15 entries).
N.B.: Non-attending students are required to study the selected chapters from the following text:

3. A. Cranny-Francis and W. Waring, Gender Studies: Terms and Debates, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan 2003 (chapters 1, 2, and 4, pp. 1-88; 139-177).
B - The Politics of Gender
MODULE B: (Prof.ssa Stefania ARCARA)

The Politics of Gender (3 CFU)
- S. de Beauvoir, ‘Introduzione’ a Il secondo sesso, Il Saggiatore 2012, pp. 19-32; in English: S. de Beauvoir, ‘Introduction’ to The Second Sex, Vintage, 1989, pp. xix-xxxvi (pdf available from the University of Berkeley website: http://burawoy.berkeley.edu/Reader.102/Beauvoir.I.pdf)
- C. Lonzi, Sputiamo su Hegel, et al./Edizioni 2010, pp. 5-11;
- G. Rubin, ‘Lo scambio delle donne’, in A. Cavarero, F. Restaino, a cura di, Le filosofie femministe, Bruno Mondadori 2002, pp. 160-64; In English: ‘The Traffic in Women’.
- ‘M. Wittig, ‘Non si nasce donna’, in S. Garbagnoli, V. Perilli, a cura di, Non si nasce donna, Alegre 2013 (anche in ebook), pp. 143-158. In English: ‘One is not born a woman’.
- V. Woolf, Una stanza tutta per sé/A Room of One’s Own (English and Italian text) Einaudi 1995; or any English edition of V. Woolf's A Room of One's Own.
Please remember that in compliance with art 171 L22.04.1941, n. 633 and its amendments, it is illegal to copy entire books or journals, only 15% of their content can be copied.

For further information on sanctions and regulations concerning photocopying please refer to the regulations on copyright (Linee Guida sulla Gestione dei Diritti d’Autore) provided by AIDRO - Associazione Italiana per i Diritti di Riproduzione delle opere dell’ingegno (the Italian Association on Copyright).

All the books listed in the programs can be consulted in the Library.

Open in PDF format Versione in italiano