WMST7025 Thinking through the body: contemporary feminist theory

2019

4.5

1 x 2-hour workshop weekly

1 of WMST3001, WMST3010, WMST7002 has been successfully completed

As an Honours level topic, this topic assumes a familiarity with the kinds of knowledge, conceptual understandings and skills that would be acquired by the completion of a major in Women's Studies, or a related and relevant major.

Available only by special arrangement. (This is an honours-level version of the core topic in Women's Studies, so most students will have completed as WMST3001.)

The traditions of (white-western) philosophy and social theory usually focus on the mind: to borrow from Descartes, 'we think, therefore we are'. But what happens if we switch attention to the body? How does our bodily experience influence our construction of knowledge, power and theory? This topic surveys a number of influential feminist theorists of the body and examines their contribution to ideas and practices in women's studies. The emphasis is on understanding various theories about gender, subjectivity and power that underpin different points of view on topics such as eating disorders, surgical modifications, sexualities, and more. It examines difference in two senses: sexual difference (that is, differences in men and women's corporeal experience); but also differences within the categories of 'women' and 'men' (incorporating other differences such as 'race', ethnicity, age, sexuality, and class). It is interdisciplinary, drawing from feminist philosophy, sociologies of the body, and cultural studies.

This topic aims to:

• equip students with the knowledge and skills required to understand relationships between gender, body and subjectivity in contemporary feminist thought;
• offer relatively in-depth exposure to some of the main theoretical approaches informing contemporary feminist thinking about the body and subjectivity;
• develop students' skills in analysing arguments and their theoretical frameworks;
• develop students' skills in researching and critically analysing debates in Women's Studies

After successfully completing this topic students should be able to:

• demonstrate an advanced understanding of relationships between gender, body and subjectivity in contemporary feminist thought;
• identify and employ some of the main theoretical approaches that inform contemporary feminist thinking about the body both within and across disciplinary boundaries;
• critically analyse a variety of arguments and advanced theoretical frameworks

  In the process, students should also:
  • demonstrate their ability to think critically and form independent judgements;
  • hone high-level written and verbal communication skills;
  • develop ethical leadership skills