Women’s Studies J111:  Women in Culture
Research Projects
Due 14 December 2000

Your research project will provide you with the opportunity to practice your critical reading, interpreting, and thinking skills; to develop your research abilities; and to demonstrate your ability to convey information, draw conclusions, and make assertions in a clear and easily understood manner.  Generally, your research project will consist of a thorough investigation into a topic of your choosing, to be approved by me; I’ve provided some suggestions if you want them, but I encourage you to focus even your inquiries into those ideas to fit your own interests and inclinations.

The research papers will offer the information you have discovered as evidence in the presentation of an argument on that topic—you are primarily making an argument using research to support your assertions.

The papers may vary dramatically in length depending on the subject, but should be no less than 4 pages (1000 words) at a minimum and no more than 10 pages (2500 words); focus and narrow your topic accordingly.  Remember that this project counts for 200 of your total 800 points for the class—a full quarter of your grade.  Your paper will be evaluated primarily on its argument and support, but mechanical elements such as grammar and documentation of sources will also be an important part of the paper’s grade.

Project Proposals:  due Wednesday, 8 November 2000
Project Bibliography:  due Sunday, 19 November 2000
Some General Rules for all Research Projects
Possible Research Paper Topics

Project Proposals
Due Wednesday, 8 November 2000

In an email to me directly at lrashley@gwm.sc.edu, explain to me what your topic will be, both in broad terms and in more specific terms.  You may not yet know exactly what you plan to argue, but you should know what direction you want your research to take.  Be as specific as you can at this stage, focusing on what you ultimately plan to argue in your paper, although you may find this argument changing as you engage in your research.  In your proposal, also please describe the work you’ve already done with this topic in preparation for this paper.  What source materials have you already located and begun using?

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Project Bibliography
Due Sunday, 19 November 2000

Please submit in the digital drop box a formatted working bibliography for your paper.  You should use MLA Style for these papers (use the 5th edition of the MLA Handbook).  Your bibliography should be comprehensive at this point, but you are not obligated to use each source that you include in this working bibliography.  Your final paper will include both a Works Cited page (which references only the works you’ve actually cited in your paper, either by paraphrasing or by direct quotation), and a Bibliography, which will list all the sources you located for your paper, whether you used them all or not.

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Some General Rules for all Research Projects

• You may choose to write a tradition formal academic research paper, or you may choose to write a website.  Either should be comprehensive and thoroughly researched.
• Everyone should consider the potential relevance of historical research into even the most contemporary of topics—understanding the history of an issue can significantly affect your ability to write persuasively about it.
• You should, however, avoid historical coverage that simply summarizes past events; instead, focus on analysis of the historical material.
• All papers must use at the very least five sources.  I won’t give more specifics about how many sources you should have because your projects will each require you to make that decision individually.  Five is the barest minimum, however.
• Research sources should be a combination of scholarly and popular (in other words, use journals like Signs:  Journal of Women in Culture and Society in addition to more popular materials such as Newsweek or Cosmopolitan).  Generally speaking, however, the bulk of your research should come from scholarly sources.  Certain projects will be the exception to this rule; we will determine that together after I review your project proposals.  If you feel such an exception is warranted in your case, be prepared to argue your case persuasively.
• You may use Internet sources, but not exclusively.  I encourage you to also find other useful sources of information—interviews, graphics, broadcast media.  Make sure they’re relevant and useful (don’t interview your best friend, generally speaking, unless said friend is an expert on your subject).  All sources must be properly documented using MLA format.  If you visit the MLA web site at www.mla.org, and follow the links to MLA Style, then Frequently Asked Questions about MLA Style, you’ll find a link called HOW DO I DOCUMENT SOURCES FROM THE WORLD WIDE WEB IN MY WORKS-CITED LIST?  This site will give you the basic information you need to correctly cite online sources in your paper.

Possible Research Paper Topics

1. Choose a historical—or currently important—figure in American women’s studies and write a biography/analysis examining this person’s importance or contribution.
2. Examine the implications for women and American culture of an event currently or recently in the news (within the past ten years at the most), like the Citadel’s difficulties integrating women into the ranks of cadets or recent election campaigns by women for high government offices like the presidency, the Senate, or the House.
3. Deborah Tannen in her book You Just Don’t Understand argues that men are socialized to perceive language as competitive, even combative, while women often see it as creating the opportunity for connection, rapport.  Research the ways that current language and gender critics such as Tannen view language and address the question of whether you believe that language use today is gender-related.
4. In 1972, Marcia Lieberman published an influential article, “‘Someday My Prince Will Come’:  Female Acculturation through the Fairy Tale” (College English Volume 34 [December 1972]:  383-395—if you are interested in this topic and have any trouble finding this article, let me know).  Her basic premise was that fairy tales promoted a set of ideals for women based on beauty, passivity, and helplessness; powerful women tend to be wicked stepmothers and otherwise witches.  The motif of the rescue is particularly prevalent; how do these themes continue to be reinforced through adult culture?  What about Harlequin Romances, soap operas, women’s magazines?  Have these ideas changed?  What about the feminist fairy tale?  This article's been revised quite a bit by recent scholarship—what do those critics now argue about fairy tales?
5. Conduct research into the history of women in professional sports.  What advances have been made?  What inequalities still exist?  What differences do you see in the ways men’s and women’s sports are funded or publicized?  Should such sports be segregated by gender?
6. How do you believe women are depicted in films?  Stereotypically?  What are “women’s films”? “men’s films”?  How do images of women in film affect our thinking about gender?  What about women in traditionally male roles—like Sigourney Weaver in Alien?  What about Thelma and Louise?
7. Consider one basic inequality in our culture—that women are not equally represented in public life in this country.  For instance, in a letter to the editor published in Time 3 November 1997, Patricia Ireland, President of the National Organization for Women, notes that “91% of U.S. Senators and 95% of corporate CEOs are white men” (22).  An obvious consideration might be how this inequality in the Senate, for instance, affects our political system.
8. Explore how gender socialization is discussed in research.  For example, how do toys or clothes influence our children’s sense of themselves as gendered people?  Research has showed that parents speak to and handle infants differently depending on their gender; take these points as a beginning and explore the topic of early gender socialization in the literature more fully.
9. In “A Constitutional Right to be Treated Like American Ladies:  Women and the Obligations of Citizenship,” Linda Kerber argues that women’s responsibilities to their husbands, families, and households have traditionally exempted women from civic rights and responsibilities, noting for instance that in 1964 one congressman explained that he could not consider including women in the Civil Rights Act unless “he could be reassured that women would continue to perform their household chores” since congressmen expected “a hot meal on the table when [they] returned from work” (32).  While this notion seems very dated today, consider how it might influence the problems that women working today might experience as they attempt to create successful careers in addition to their personal and family lives.  You might look at Susan Strasser’s book, Never Done:  A History of American Housewife to get a good set of references for beginning this project.
10. We’ve discussed briefly the fact that women have often received less than equal treatment in the classroom, being called on less often than male students for instance.  How do student-teacher interactions affect girls and boys as they learn?  Consider this in your own educational experience also.
11. The feminist movement has been criticized for not being inclusive of the needs of women of color; read the section titled "Toward Multicultural Feminism" in Feminist Philosophies (473-500) and think about the questions these authors have raised.  Use the articles as a beginning place for research, and discuss the issues raised in this section.
12. One reaction to the feminist movement has been the men's movement; read the section titled "Toward Gender-Inclusive Feminism:  Men's Responses to Feminism" in Feminist Philosophies (501-531), and think about the questions these authors have raised.  Use these articles as a beginning place for research, and discuss the issues raised in this section.
13. Propose your own topic.  Your paper must make some claim about gender and culture; you may also consider race and class in addition to gender.  The paper must be interpretive or argumentative, not simply a report on your findings.  In other words, research in your paper should be used to support your own interpretation about how gender is reflected in culture, either American or another culture.