notes from 2/26, 3/5, 3/12, 3/25

Feb. 26            Presentation by a descendant of the Oneida religious community in upstate NY, active in the 19^th century.

March 5            “berdache”; Example of a passing Native American woman who was befriended by the wife of an anthropologist, who introduced her to British society. People all though she was a woman (as did the anthropologist’s wife), even though she was tall, big, etc. The case was discussed in terms of cultural differences in how we understand gender. Could have teased out more how ethnicity and culture influence gender norms—i.e., part of the reason the “berdache” was not recognized as male was because 19^th c. definitions of femininity only applied to whiteness, middle or upper classness, and westernness, that gender norms are defined by these often invisible factors.

March 12            Watched Paris Is Burning, described as a film about “transvestites”

March 25            Banner’s thesis about the 1920’s: The 1920’s were paranoid and schizophrenic. Hope and despair, feeling that something terrible would happen again.

Discussed the gains made/not made by women in the 1920’s.

1920’s—suffrage; Prohibition; WW I over; economic prosperity that ends with the Great Depression.

1920’s women’s gain: the right to vote; shorter skirts and hair; hats that cover almost to the eyes; dancing (Charleston, tango); reaction against homoeroticism (more heterosexual than the late 19^th c).

Era of Manners and Morals; Era of Wonderful Nonsense

Still don’t have birth control (1930’s-1960’s); abortion (Roe v. Wade). Comstock Act outlawed birth control, abortion, pornography.

Professor remarked on how Roe v. Wade was up for reconsideration in a few weeks and might be overturned. She outed herself as having an abortion at their age.

War War I (1914-1918): what was it like and why did it create paranoia/schizophrenia in its wake? US only in the war for a year and casualties much less than Europe (16 million vs. 1 million). Influenza epidemic (1918) killed 500 million people worldwide. She argues that its WWI that caused paranoia/schizophrenia, plus the ethnic conflict (ethnicity/race/class) within the U.S. (Claims racism has mostly disappeared in this generation! But I think that she means overt racism.)

WWI produced by nationalism and European alliances. First war since Napoleonic War a hundred years earlier (except the Civil War, but none in Europe). First war that uses major technology (canons with long range, machine guns, planes that drop bombs, poison gas). Trench warfare. Men disfigured by war. Also “shell shock” (PTSD, except they thought only effeminate men had shell shock, not manly men: nightmares, nervous disorders, visions).

1918 – Russian Revolution. Chinese Revolution followed.

notes from 2/12 and 2/19

2/12, Discussion of the Beecher-Tilton trial, where well-known 19th century Congregationalist preacher Henry Ward Beecher (related to Harriet Beecher Stowe of Uncle Tom's Cabin fame) of Plymouth Church in Brooklyn, NY was accused of adultery with the wife of a member of his congregation. Prof. Banner detailed the background leading up to the trial, which included the involvement of women's rights activist, Spiritualist and "free love" advocate Victoria Woodhull. Woodhull, who was the first woman to run for the presidency, revealed the Beecher-Tilton affair, and apparently was involved with Theodore Tilton. There was also a passionate friendship, and a series of letters to that effect, between Beecher and Theodore Tilton. Women's rights leaders Elizabeth Cady  Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were also involved. Professor Banner discussed the theology of Beecher's church, which preached love and New Testament ideals over the harsher, Old Testament theology of Beecher's Calvinist father. She also described Woodhull's doctrine of "free love," which advocated the rights of women to love whoever they wanted and to leave loveless marriages. Woodull published accusations against Beecher (who preached against "free love") that began the scandal.



2/19, Students watched The Bostonians, a film based on the Henry James novel.

1/22/13 and 2/5/13 class notes

1/22/13

Dr. Banner finished her discussion and comments about the American founding fathers, including Thomas Jefferson/Sally Hemmings story, John Adams/Abigail Adams story, and Ben Franklin (who, apparently, was a player). Her focus was on beliefs about men and women not mixing in public spheres because of concerns about sex and because it was believed that thinking, politics, and being in the public sphere would taint women’s morals. Different and more liberal ideas about sex in France. Banner’s point was that beliefs about women and men change over time.

Abigail Adams letter to John Adams: Women are going to rebel if they don’t have representation and say in creating the laws they have to follow. John Adam’s answer: women have indirect power in relationships, sex, family.

Development of the middle class as a new class, in classic definitions the business class. Professions were in the 19^th c. defined as middle class. White collar/blue collar, middle class/working class distinctions discussed, as was disappearance of the middle class. What defines class? Is it just money? For example, a plumber may have income enough to be considered middle class, but the profession is working class; the idea is that class isn’t defined by income alone, but by other factors such as education, type of work, etc.

Victorian roles for women discussed. The squeamishness about sex to the extent where language was changed (leg became limbs, etc.) and even piano legs were covered. Women weren’t told anything about sex, so rape often happened on one’s wedding night. The influence of the Ten Commandments and religion. Women needed to be covered and figleaves were drawn on paintings to cover sex organs. Women couldn’t appear in public while pregnant. Respectable women not only shouldn’t have orgasms, but were considered not able to have an orgasm.

At the same time as the behavior of women: pure, moral, pious (particularly middle class women) was tightly controlled, sex flourished (prostitution: 1 in 16 women in major cities were prostitutes).

Next time will show/discuss Dr. Banner’s slide show: “American Beauty,” about Victorian dress and appearance that will show how culture functioned at the level of dress/the aesthetic.

2/5/13

Dr. Banner absent, so TA gave students the day off after a brief accounting of the film paper term paper option. Tonight is a showing of Vito Russo’s The Celluloid Closet, which students who are doing the film paper must watch as a text that will prepare them to write about specific films to come. Celluloid Closet is a documentary about queer representation in film. Film paper people stayed to hear a more detailed accounting of the film paper option.

Thursday 1/17

Business:

Talked about enrollment issues, future fem. theory courses, and an upcoming conference focusing on the subject of human trafficking (info to be posted on the blackboard). Prof. Banner made clear that the majority of her lectures will not be derived from the texts. Nor are they structured as bullet-points... The methodological differences between science and humanities will be discussed in lecture and in discussion section -- her strategy includes pop quizzes.

The students took an ungraded pop quiz from the reading.

* patriarchy
* feminism
* hegemonic masculinity
* enlightenment


There is an argument being made that patriarchy no longer exists.

Talked about cliterodectomy; began in tribal societies as a means to keep women under control. The subject would come up more if focus of course fell outside of America or western cultures. Women carry out and enforce practice, but women reinforce oppressive regime.

Ideas:

Are we a peaceful species? Are we determined by our genetics?

The TAs will talk about the Kinsey scale in section.

Back to the 18th century.
Constitution in America: "We hold these truths..."
Written by Jefferson. Know this as a member of the ongoing debate about what is constitutional. WOMEN are left out of the declaration. Indentured servants, children, also left out.

Discussion of founding fathers and their views of women, how they treated their wives.l she is biographically oriented.

Common law, precedent law established. Discussed how similar and dissimilar the legal systems in America, France and other cultures have been established and continue to operate.
Single Woman. You have full rights.
Covered Woman. Your entire self is determined by your husband. No rights to property, children. Those was broke down. Laws involving relationships are state laws.

Enlightenment.
Gave an overview. Framework. The great age if secularism in European culture. Enlightenment is anti-clerical. Deists... Agnostics. God is like a clockmaker. He made the heavens and the earth and let it run on its own. Philosophs. Major thinkers Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau, Montesquieu. There are natural laws that govern individuals. Truths. Self evident. Endowed by our creator with natural rights. Inalienable means absolutely can't be taken away from them. Life. Liberty. The pursuit of happiness.
Out of this comes representative government... But they were not democratic (one man, one vote).


Salons.
Run by women aristocrats... Intellectual discussions. Marriages were arranged, older men, had affairs, some younger women had discreet affairs as well... Lacked puritanical lens.

Fathers appearances...
she believes that appearance matter.

Jefferson was 6 feet with flaming red hair... She's still working on what red hair means. Slave owner.

Franklin, medium height, great gourmet and connoisseur of "randy male culture." Known for his pornography. Wrote advice to a young man on choosing a mistress. Poor forms of birth control. Get a woman past menopause, besides which all cats look alike in the dark.

Adams was Puritan.

1/15/13 Notes

The first class meeting included an overview of the syllabus and an autobiographical narrative of the professor's academic and personal life. Professor Banner was active in the Second Wave women's movement of the 1960's when she lived in New York City, knew Betty Friedan, helped found women's history as an area of study within the discipline of history, and has published nearly a dozen books, mainly on women's history and popular culture (two on Marilyn Monroe). The class will use her textbook, Women in Modern America, as its main text, supplemented by two novels and a course reader that includes an excerpt from one of Prof. Banner's Marilyn Monroe books. Students can also choose to write their term paper on her new research (Greta Garbo) or her autobiography (about her discovery of Islam).

The course itself moves chronologically, beginning with 19th century Victorianism and Progressivism and ending with mid-20th century Second Wave feminism. The Crisis in Masculinity, a history of sexuality and a discussion of sexual orientation, and a history of the 1950's/60's will also be covered. The professor will be defining terms such as feminism, methodology, disciplines, and interdisciplinarity at the next class session. She also said she would reveal her theoretical framework and the framework for the course next time. Basically she wants students to understand that each academic discipline has its own methodology, or approach to study and research, and that these methodologies differ. However programs such as Gender Studies (she teaches Gender Studies as  well as history courses) and Thematic Option are interdisciplinary—scholars from various disciplines are part of these programs. I'm assuming she will talk about the ways these interdisciplinary methodologies differ from, or borrow from, methodologies that are strictly disciplinary. Because many of her books are about popular culture, I am hoping she will talk about cultural studies as an interdisicplinary methodology or at least discuss writing about popular culture; students will watch several films and read novels in the class, so having that understanding will be important to their success in writing about film and pop culture if they choose these as term paper topics. It also seems as though the professor's newest work has shifted into a more visual studies type of analysis, as she is writing about images of Greta Garbo. Again, I am hopeful we will hear about the different methodologies she has used or currently uses, which would be useful to Writing 140 students. The professor did stress her identity as a professional writer, researcher, and a publisher of many books, so that may be something we can reference in the writing classroom or ask her to talk more about.