Gender Studies 333WH - What Is A Woman?

What is a woman? French philosopher Simone de Beauvoir opened The Second Sex with this deceptively simple but, in effect, radical question. Beauvoir refuted essentialist substantiations of identity and interrogated -- through the categories of situation, ambiguity, and lived experience -- the politics of embodiment, freedom, and oppression. In this course, we bring her into conversation with feminist and trans* philosophers who have reflected on the political significance of sexual difference: Wittig, Irigaray, Lorde, Lugones, Butler, Bettcher, and Salamon. At the end of the course, we will re-assess our initial question and think about its resonance in feminist, trans* and intersex issues today.

Prereq: An introductory course in Gender Studies, Critical Social Thought, Philosophy, or Politics.