131-034 Gender, Culture and Identity Politics

This is a core subject for the interdepartmental program in gender studies. This subject may also be completed as part of the interdepartmental program in cultural studies or Asian studies.

Fifty points of first year from any area of study within the Faculty of Arts.

This subject looks at the ways in which highly gendered cultural contests have erupted both nationally and globally in recent years, and the analyses offered as explanations for these 'Culture Wars'. The areas covered include key issues in the study of gender, culture and identity within modernity and postmodernity; the war over 'the family', with especial interest in the battle between religious fundamentalists, feminists and other activists concerned with sexualities; the moral panics about forms of parenting, 'deadbeat dads', 'single mothers' and the crisis in masculinity; bodies and the politics of eating and food, with a focus on beauty and 'eating disorders'; the cultural politics of nationalist and ethno-nationalist representations of women and gender, with especial interest in the politics of veiling; and gender and the 'clash of civilisations', in particular the contests around 'human rights' and 'cultural values'. Students should complete the subject with the ability to demonstrate a sound understanding of the main developments in feminist theorising about gender and identity and of the issues involved in debates about feminist knowledges.

Class participation and written work totalling 4000 words.

A subject reader will be available.