In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

Why Do Women Take Women’s Studies?

Lauren

Rick Dement poses a valuable observation in response to Cleis’ piece on the value of women’s studies. He says:

I actually took more then a few “women’s studies” courses in collage to satisfy social studies credits. The first one I took because I thought that it would be good for me to study that which I clearly had no clue about at 19 years old. I was naively shocked to find out that I would be sharing a classroom with about 30 co-eds (shock quickly faded to glee).

This was a woman’s history class, I also took a women’s literature course and a course on black women. In all cases, I was genuinely surprised that only women took these classes (and not only was I the only white person in the black women’s class I was also, once again the only male). The reason that this surprised me is I really felt that men would get a lot more out of a women’s studies course then women might. I also took a lot of history courses that focused on history from a particular point of view because I learned that normal history courses should really be called the history of war. In addition to Women’s history, I took music history, film history and science history.

But why are woman’s studies course such a estrogen ghetto? Other then a broad based liberal education, which I firmly believe in, what is it that women get out of these courses exactly?

My short answer: I took women’s studies courses in order to glean some context from several issues I had faced in my life. I knew, thanks to the course texts, that some of my more disturbing experiences were not only common but that others were on the streets attempting to make positive changes on behalf of women. In addition, the interdisciplinary work helped me realize that the struggle for safety and opportunity is connected to parallel struggles around the world, nearly all of which stem from a general invisibility that many of these issues suffer from. Everything else sprung from there.

I know ya’ll will have some good answers to this one. Answers welcome in the comments.

22 thoughts on Why Do Women Take Women’s Studies?

  1. I got wrangled into it by a prof who was teaching a polisci class I was in. On her suggestion, I enrolled in the WS class she taught the next semester. There, I learned the formal language of what I already intuitively knew.

  3. I never took a women’s studies class but I regret that in hindsight. I did take a latin american studies class and several african and african-american history classes though. I think the value lies in getting a more well-rounded education offering perspectives and contributions of those who are often under-represented, As a history major, I found that most american history and world history classes are dominated by the study of white men. I would think that you would get a far more balanced, more complete perspective of history, literature, etc when you make an effort to emphasize the contributions of women.

  4. I myself regret not having taken a women’s studies class as an undergraduate; I would have gotten something out of it. I suspect a lot of men see women’s studies as a course where they’ll be yelled at and told how bad they are – this, from what I’m told, does not actually happen, but it’s urban legend style common knowledge that it does.

    Interestingly, I’ve heard a few women say that they would resent men showing up in appreciable numbers to women’s studies classes. Their reasons were that 1) men wouldn’t be serious and would just go there to see women 2) they saw their women’s studies classes as “safe” areas where they could talk about things without having men around.

    Personally, I would dispute both of those notion, but I know where they come from.

  5. When I minored in women’s studies back in the ancient late ’70s, when the field was still in pretty much its infancy, I got the feeling that one reason the classes were so female-heavy was because they were considered “safe spaces” for discussion of all manner of things that didn’t get brought up in “regular” literature and history and sociology classes.

  6. I think the question isn’t, “why do women take women’s studies,” but “why don’t men?” And I think it’s clearly that women’s studies is seen as an “estrogen ghetto,” as marginalized, as a “subfield” of “real” history, or literature, or whatever. I think that what Rick’s saying about how he saw it is the way it should be seen; but I think that very few undergraduates do see it that way.

  7. I agree with the last commenter; getting men in to these courses is a good and worthy goal. On the other hand, it is important that WS courses be more than fora for the dispensing of information — they are also safe places for women to process and discuss and debate topics that they may never have dared to previously.

  8. Well, as long as they don’t turn into Encounter Groups. The one thing I hated about some of my WS classes is that they often emphasized chit chat over scholarship.

  9. We recently began a minor in Gender Studies at our institution. We debated over the name, and in looking around, it seemed to us that the long-standing programs were “women’s studies,” newer ones, more often than not, were “gender studies.” To my mind this denotes a movement away from the idea of safe spaces and “encounter groups,” towards a more current approach. But there are just as few men in the classes, unless they are courses about masculinities. My friend — a woman — taught a course about hard-boiled detective fiction for the program — we privately called it the hard-boiled dick course — and that drew a lot of men. Go figure.

  11. Hmm, I didn’t take any women’s studies courses. However, when I took the History of the Third Reich class last year, there was this fascinating book we read (or in my part, unfortunately, skimmed, I’ll read it in the near future, I swear) was Between Dignity and Despair, which used women’s history as a method for understanding what life was like for typical German Jews during the Third Reich. Okay, this only has tangentially to do with your original question, but -uh- hmm . . .

  12. I took one women’s studies class in college (and none in grad school) to fulfill a requirement but I was never interested in taking women’s studies courses that were in my major field (English lit). I think the way our English department offered the courses marginalized classes like women’s lit – there were the classes on “serious” periods of literature like Romanticism and Modernism, and then the “special interest” classes like women’s lit and gay and lesbian lit (that your white heterosexual males weren’t exactly attending in droves). By setting these classes apart from the established scholarly canon, in reinforced many students’ thinking that women’s lit should not be considered on the same footing as the classics written by dead white men. I found it much more effective when women’s voices were incorporated into the readings in survey classes (and I think this wasn’t done so nearly enough) – this choice sent the message that women’s literature wasn’t something separate from literary movements centered on male writing. It affirmed that the canon is more diverse than traditionally considered and women’s voices aren’t shunted off into a ghetto where they aren’t read or taken as seriously.

  13. I T.A.ed a women’s history class a few years ago, and about a third of the students were guys. Most of them were history majors who I think either knew and liked the professor or needed another U.S. history class for the major. Also, the prof covers women and gender history in her other classes, so I think they had a sense of the kind of stuff they were going to study and that it wasn’t going to be a big man-bashing fest.

    I did find, however, that even when they were in the minority, the guys dominated the discussion. Part of it was that they were more likely to be history majors and therefore to be confident about the subject. But part of it was just the usual stuff about guys being more outspoken, even when they don’t have better things to say. So it’s nice that women’s history isn’t a ghetto, but there are some perils to having it be mainstream.

  14. I am currently taking a women and gender studies course. My reason for doing this is because of my own, gradual appreciation for feminism. More specficically, a move from a feminism grounded in individualism (the childish, girls are as good as boys because I am a girl and I must be as good as a boy) to a more socially oriented feminism, based on a truer respect for womankind and a desire for social improvement for people of that gender.

    Also, there was a desire for gaining a greater amount of knowledge of female role models, so that there is not a vacuum understanding of women’s role in history. Plus, I love learning anything about humanity as a whole, and this is an opportunity to learn something about half that population’s unique experiences, as well as how women’s experiences vary by social class, race, religion, historical perceptions, etc.

    Interestingly, there are only 4 guys in the class (of nearly 30), and most of them are gay. The one straight guy looks bored, tired, and impatient during most of our discussions. Certainly that’s a personal thing with him, and most hetero-guys may not react that way, but then, no others opted to take the class.

    This makes me wonder about the general perception of feminism and gender studies in society, and especially among men. Perhaps they feel like its being beaten over their head, or that it is anti-male, or perhaps they feel threatened or bored. As far as the guys dominating the discussion, though, it doesn’t happen. The guys contribute a little, but the girls are the ones becoming empassioned in debate.

    Personally, I would love to see guys actually get involved in these studies, and I would also like to do a survey of why most guys don’t seem interested. Of course, this is the first year that the course was offered, so maybe I’m judging prematurely. Perhaps it was simply that women were the first ones discussing these issues, and guys will follow behind later. I don’t know. Anyway, there’s my two cents. 🙂

  15. I think the question isn’t, “why do women take women’s studies,” but “why don’t men?”

    One thing that surprised me about my limited experience in WGS classes was how little attention was paid to anti-feminist voices. I recall my Feminist Philosophy class, which didn’t have any anti-feminist material until I brought it up. If this is par for the course, I could see it as a turn-off for other guys who fear “indoctrination.”

  16. Really? The class I’m in actually presents quite a bit of anti-feminist literature as context for understanding the whole issue of gender identity and women’s rights. It bothers and saddens me that other women and gender classes would be less egalitarian. Its important to know all sides of any issue with this much importance.

  17. If there was a Women’s Studies course available where I am, I’d be there like a shot. Sadly, we have to resort to diverting English Lit lessons into discussions about feminist theory.

  20. I’m currently studying for an MA in Women’s Studies. I’ve been surprised and irritated by the perception by some (many?) of WS as an academic ‘soft’ option. For me, much of the value of this discipline lies in its creation of a discursive space , a space that does not subject students to the conventions laid out by a white/male academy. WS challenges the hierarchy of knowledge which places objectivity above subjectivity and de-values the personal. For me, it provides a space where I can grow intellectually as myself, as a woman, and not try to squeeze myself into an academic suit that doesn’t fit me!

  21. bitchphd is right “I think the question isn’t, ‘why do women take women’s studies,’ but ‘why don’t men?'”

    i’m a guy who took intro to women’s studies in undergrad even though it satisfied no requirement. but i went to a traditionally women’s college (vassar) where i knew a guy who actually majored in women’s studies. but even in a school with a strong pro-women history and (generaly) pro-feminist sentiment among the male students, less than 10% of my class was male.

    i think there was also a sense that women’s studies classes were places where women could discuss problems they faced without men around. when i registered for the class, one male friend told me he was interested in the topic but thought he would feel like he was intruding.

  22. i just clicked on anti-bolshevik’s link.

    even though i took women’s studies, i never learned how to do a rotating graphic like that. i think he must have it confused with another class.

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