Course Description
Examination of the science, lived experience, and politics of sexed and gendered bodies. Topics include feminist critiques of sex differences research and evolutionary theory, the role of rhetorical language in the biological sciences, the history of obstetrics and midwifery, race and reproductive justice, the politics of infertility and prenatal genetic testing, ecology and the maternal body, and the science and medicine of sex, gender, and sexuality.
Additional Requirements for Graduate Students:
Graduate students will write a research paper on a specific area of scholarship covered in class.
Athena Title
SEX POL SCI REPRO
Undergraduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Graduate Prerequisite
Permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered spring
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
After completion of the course the student will be able to: 1. Discuss political and biological mechanisms of male's efforts to control female sexuality and reproduction, as well as mechanisms of female resistance to male control. 2. Describe main themes in the feminist critique of science. 3. Discuss evolving characteristics of feminist science. 4. Describe elementary evolutionary theory, particularly how natural and sexual selection work. 5. Identify the level of analysis in discussions of sources of gender inequity. 6. Describe the pulse points in women's life histories, including puberty, menarche, sexual cycling, pregnancy, child birth, parental care and women's roles, and menopause. 7. Discuss the known and suspected contributions to variation in life history components as a function of gender discrimination, race, and class (particularly as these pertain to North America. There will be no effort to cover all of world-wide cultural variants). 8. Read limited primary science literature with an awareness of the ways feminists might or might not criticize particular papers. 9. Use library research skills and other university resources to prepare a research paper addressing topics in the course from a creative and critical perspective.
Topical Outline
Part I: Evolutionary and feminist theory in the context of feminist science. 1. Mechanisms of male control of female sexuality and reproduction - biology and politics. 2. Mechanisms of women's resistance to men's efforts to control women's sexuality and reproduction - biology and politics. 3. Principals of feminist criticisms of science. 4. Principals of feminist sciences. 5. Elementary evolutionary theory. Part II: Variation in women's life histories 1. What is life history variation. 2. Variation in mating systems and reproductive tactics. 3. Variation in timing of puberty, menarche, births, and menopause. 4. Variation in anatomy and sexuality.
Syllabus