CTCS 411: Women + Media

Course Schedule and Weekly Readings

Spring 2001
Professor Tara McPherson


Course Schedule:
(For Reading Response Prompts, Click Here)

PART I: Hollywood Women

1/9: Watching the Woman: Welcome to Class

Screening: Coma 1978, 113"

1/16: A Strong Woman: An Introduction to Feminism and Film

Readings:
J. Mayne, "Feminist Film Theory and Criticism" (Voices)
L. Artel & S. Wengraf, "Positive Images" (Issues)
D. Waldman, "There's More to a Positive Image…" (Issues)

Screening: Blonde Venus 1932, 97"

1/23: Femininity, Fascination and Classical Hollywood Cinema

Readings:
L. Mulvey, "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" (Issues)
P. Petro, "Feminism and Film History" (Voices)
A.Weiss, "A Queer Feeling When I Look at You:…" (Voices)

Screening: Stella Dallas 1937, 106"

1/30: Sacrifice and Tears: The "Woman's Film"

Readings:
E. Kaplan, "The Case of the Missing Mother"(Issues)
L. Williams, "Something Else Besides a Mother" (Issues)

Screening: Desperately Seeking Susan 1985, 104"

2/6: Can Girls Have Fun?: The Female Spectator(s)

Readings:
M. Doane, "Film and the Masquerade…" (Issues)
J. Stacey, "Desperately Seeking Difference" (Issues)
L. Mulvey, "Afterthoughts . . ." (READER-Recommended)

Screening: Out of Sight; 1998; 122"

2/13: Sizzle and Spice: Latinas and Hollywood Cinema

Readings:
Roberts, "The Lady in the Tutti Frutti Hat" (READER)
Lopez, "Are all Latins from Manhattan?" (READER)
Valdes-Rodriguez, "Crossing Over?" (READER)

Screenings: The Silence of the Lambs 1991, 118" The X-Files
THIS SCREENING WILL RUN LONG

2/20: Detecting Women in the Nineties

Readings:
J. Halberstam, "Skin Flick…" (READER)
E. Young, "Silence… and the Flaying of Feminist Film Theory" (READER)

Screenings: Lucy, Roseanne, Ally McBeal, thirtysomething
SCREENING MAY RUN LONG

********************RECEIVE TAKE-HOME MIDTERM******************

Part II: Primetime and Beyond

2/27: Family Feuds: TV and the Domestic Sphere

Readings:
K. Rowe "Roseanne: Unruly Woman as Domestic Goddess" (FTC)
P. Mellencamp "Situation Comedy, Feminism & Freud…" (FTC)
E. Probyn, "New Traditionalism and Post-Feminism…" (FTC)

Screenings: assorted daytime and primetime soaps

3/6: Search for Tomorrow: the Television Soap Opera

Readings:
A. Kuhn, "Women's Genres" (FTC)
I. Ang, "Melodramatic Identifications…" (FTC)
T. Modleski, "The Search for Tommorow…" (FTC)

Screenings: Assorted Music Videos; Oprah selections

***********************MID-TERM DUE***************************

3/20: Seeing in Black and White: Race, Gender and TV

Readings:
J. Bobo & E. Seiter, "Black Feminism and Media Criticism" (FTC)
B. Squire, "Empowering Women?…" (FTC)
T. Rose, "Never Trust a Big Butt…" (FTC)

Screenings: Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Xena Warrior Princess

3/27: Girls Kick Butt: Gender and the Body on TV

Readings:
S. Bordo, "Reading the Slender Body" (READER)
L. Schulze, "On the Muscle" (READER)
A. McRobbie, "Fame, Flashdance, and Fantasies…" (READER)

Screenings: Thriller, Orlando 1993, 93"

PART III: Re-visioning Women

4/3: New Looks: Feminist Film Theory and Feminist Cinema

Readings:
Rich, "In the Name of Feminist Film Criticism" (ISSUES)
Kuhn, "Textual Politics" (ISSUES)
De Lauretis, "Rethinking Women's Cinema…" (ISSUES)

Screenings: A Question of Silence 1982, + film by L. Raymond

4/10: Rage and Fantasy: Women Do Film

Readings:
Gentile, "Feminist or Tendentious?" (ISSUES)
Williams, "A Jury of Their Peers…" (VOICES)
Stanko, excerpts on domestic violence (READER)

Screenings: Daughters of the Dust 1991 114", Body Beautiful
Screenings will run long.

4/17: In/visibility: Race, Gender, Representation and History

Readings:
Gibson-Hudson, "Aspects of Black Feminist Cultural Ideology" (VOICES)
Gaines, "White Privilege and Looking Relations" (VOICES)
hooks, "The Oppositional Gaze" (READER)

Screenings: The Virgin Machine, asstd. Short film and video

4/24: My Story: Sexuality, Autobiography and Documentary

Readings:
Kipnis, "Female Trangressions" (READER)
Butler, "Gender is Burning…" (READER)
hooks, "Is Paris Burning?" (READER)

Screenings: Storme: Lady of the Jewel Box; Paris is Burning

*********Final Paper/Project will be due during the scheduled exam period, Thursday, May 3, 7:00-10:00 p.m. The entire class will meet to screen creative final projects.***************