The University of Maryland

European Division

Professor: Michael S. Ofsowitz
E-mail: mofsowit @faculty.ed.umuc.edu
Home page: http://faculty.ed.umuc.edu/~mofsowit
Term 1, 1998- 1999

Textbook:
Masculine and Feminine: Gender Roles over the Life Cycle (2nd Ed.), M. Richmond-Abbott. (Note: textbooks are selected by the administrative department head for all courses.) Additional readings, selected by the instructor, will be distributed in class.

Sociology of Gender:
(3 hours upper-level SOCY credit.) This course takes a close look at the gender factor - maleness and femaleness - in the lives of Americans. Sociologists have a variety of interests when it comes to examining gender, and this course will address some of those interests (but not all of them). The main issues that are examined in this course are: the experiences of gender in daily life (what it means for everyday experience to be a boy, girl, man, or woman); the way we make people (or ourselves) into boys, girls, men, or women; and the way gender influences (and how people, based on their gender, are influenced by) the structure and functions of family life, work, medicine, and law.

Studying gender and the role gender plays in our lives and in the structure of society is one of the central interests of sociology. Much of what we take for granted as being a part of manhood or womanhood and boy-ness or girl-ness is based on minor biological differences within the human species, yet the social meaning of these minor differences is immense. If we violate basic expectations about our gender roles, for example, we subject ourselves to accusations of "fag" or "dyke." If we conform to old-fashioned gender roles we might hear accusations of "male chauvinist," "macho," "maid," or "housewife." Even those who conform to modern gender roles are called disparagingly at times, "typical man" or "typical woman."

In part, this course will investigate why men act like men and women like women. We'll see that there are not only biological and early childhood experiences that underlie this, but that there are ongoing cultural assumptions and expectations that we are exposed to, which continually realign our gender performances. By taking this course, students should become more aware of gender assumptions and biases embedded in our culture and gender inequalities embedded in some of our social institutions.

General purpose:
The purpose of this class is to expose students to current sociological views of how men and women in our society are created, how men and women are treated differently, and how these differences affect people's daily lives. Students who take this course should develop an understanding of the sociological forces that help create the types of men and women that we so often mistake for creations of nature or biology.

Students who develop a good grasp of the materials presented in this course should be able to entertain an intellectual awareness of at least some of the processes through which people become male or female. Students should be able to discuss in an intelligent manner the variety of influences that contribute to making people into what we commonly think are normal men or women. Students should understand that gender is largely a socially constructed concept, and they should be able to provide arguments to support some of the ideas that relate to explaining gender as a socially constructed concept. In general, students should be able to understand how people come to think of boys and girls and men and women, how people use these thoughts in some of their everyday interactions, and how the ideas that we have of boy, girl, man, or woman is structurally bound in the patterns of our entire society.

Responsibilities:
The student's responsibilities for this course are the same as the student's responsibilities for any course attempted at the university level. For example, you (the student) must keep up with the readings. For every hour you are in class, you should budget three hours of reading and preparation time (that means 18 hours per week - but take hourly breaks). Also, come prepared to listen to and understand what I have to say. The class will be in a lecture and discussion format. I will be prepared to lecture on and discuss a variety of topics - some covered by your readings, and some not - and you will be held responsible for attempting to understand the readings, the lectures, and the discussions engaged in by the members of the class. Throughout the class you should keep an open mind - one that is willing to entertain logical possibilities. Of course, I do not hold myself to be a sole authority on the subject, and therefore it is part of your job to protect yourselves from my own peculiar biases and perspectives by formulating questions and comments on my presentations. You should feel free to always ask questions, whether in class or in private. Regarding your written assignments, you may show me outlines and rough drafts prior to the due dates; I expect your final drafts to be neat, organized, well thought-out, free of plagiarism, and on time. Scheduling arrangements can be made for work-related absences that interfere with tests and homework assignments, although such arrangements are at the discretion of the instructor.

Expectations: I expect you: To make every effort to attend each class session prepared to learn; to be willing to participate positively and constructively in class; to abide by the procedures, regulations, and schedules described in this syllabus. You can expect me: To attend each class session prepared to teach; to be concerned about your ability to perform well; to uphold the procedures, regulations, and schedules described in this syllabus.

Grades:
This course will include one midterm test, a final exam, and three short writing assignments. The midterm is worth 25% of the final course grade and the final exam is worth 30% of the final course grade; the writing assignments are each worth 15% of the final course grade.

Michael S. Ofsowitz:
I was born and raised in Rochester, N.Y., and went off to college at The University of North Carolina-Charlotte, where I studied psychology and sociology, then to Tulane University for graduate study in social psychology. I have been teaching with The University of Maryland's European Division since 1990, and usually teach the following courses: SOCY 100, SOCY 105, SOCY 230, SOCY 300, SOCY 430, PSYC 100, PSYC 221, PSYC 334, and PSYC 341. My dominant interests concern the relationship of macro and micro social structures to interpersonal interaction and personality. My dominating non-academic interests center around my kid (a four-year-old boy), my appetite (for French-styled cooking, with an emphasis on game), and comedy. Since I am not part of the U.S. military, try to avoid calling me "sir." Also, since the University of Maryland European Division has no formal titles, use of the label "professor" is colloquial at best. Feel free to call me Mike, Michael, Mr. Ofsowitz, or "teach."

Weekend one:

A. Introduction.

What does it mean to be male? What does it mean to be female? How important is gender in a person's life?

B. A review of sociological perspectives and gender.

The main perspectives represented in this class are conflict theory (along with modern feminism) and interactionism. We'll review the basics.

C. The myths of biological determinism.

Which aspects of gender are determined by biology? Which are determined by culture and social experience? How do we separate the two? Do the similarities between male and female outweigh the differences?

D. Gender stratification: status differences and gender.

Men and women are not treated equal; we're familiar with this. Where did the status differences come from? Why are they maintained? What's changed in the 150 years since Seneca Falls?

E. Myth and reality: sources and functions of gender stereotypes.

Gender stereotypes are commonplace, and have been for some time. What are some of the modern stereotypes about men and women, boys and girls? Where do these stereotypes come from? What do they do for us? How are they popularized? How do we make them go away?

Read: Richmond-Abbott, chapters 1, 3, & 2.

Weekend two:

A. Socialization: the basics.

Before we start analyzing gender socialization we'll review the topic of socialization in general.

B. The early stages of socialization: parents, children, siblings, playmates.

This section allows us an in-depth look at socialization during the early years of life, with an emphasis on the effects from parents, siblings,and playmates. How do parents make kids into boys or girls? How do playmates and siblings contribute to the work of making boys into boys and girls into girls?

C. The early stages of socialization: influences from outside the home.

In addition to the direct effects of parents and other children on one's gender socialization, there are also influences coming from the language used within the culture, the mass media, pre-school and school, and other structured experiences that young children begin to have.

D. Midterm examination.

Read: Richmond-Abbot, chapters 4 & 5.

Weekend three:

A. The later stages of socialization: peers, friends, role models.

As we get a little older we confront influences coming from peer groups, close same-sex friends, older role models, and the like. We learn to be cool as boys or girls; we take separation of the sexes seriously; and we start imagining our place in the future as young or older adults.

B. The later stages of socialization: sexuality and gender.

As the body matures we experience yet another meaningful aspect of gender differences: the sexual attractions and concerns that plague teenagers. How do dating, sexual relationships, sexual fantasies, and body images contribute to our own gender identities and our fit with our own and the other gender?

C. Looking at gender in social life: Marriage and family.

What role does gender play in the life of a young adult getting married and forming a family? How does gender influence the growth, development, or dissolution of families? What happens to singles?

Read: Richmond-Abbot, chapters 6, 7, 8, & 9.

Weekend four:

A. Looking at gender in social life: Gender at work.

Sexual harassment is only one form of gender awareness in the workplace, but what is the everyday experience of men and women in the world of work?

B. Looking at gender in social life: Gender in medicine and in law.

Both the medical and legal communities have contributed to the creation and maintenance of gender differences in society. Medicine has made illness (and mental illness) out of gender issues and has often failed to address gender-specific problems; and the judicial system has upheld long-standing traditions both through the enactment of law and the treatment of gender in court. We'll examine some of the issues.

C. Final examination.

Read: Richmond-Abbot, chapters 11, 10, & 12.

The writing assignments will be detailed in class. All assignments have due dates. The due dates are deadlines; you may turn assignments in early, and you certainly should turn assignments in early if you anticipate problems at or near the due date. Late assignments are devalued one-third of a letter grade for each day overdue. Assignments never submitted are given zero points, which is considerably less than what is earned with an F. If you are ever unsatisfied with a grade on one of the writing assignments, you are welcome to rewrite the work and resubmit it for consideration. However, resubmitted work will not receive comments, and the maximum improvement on the original grade is limited to 2/3 of a letter (e.g., from B- to B+). Assignments penalized for being late can not earn improved grades by resubmitting them.

Additional readings for this course might include the following (in the case of books, only excerpts will be assigned).

Alderman, E., & Kennedy, C. (1995). The right to privacy. New York: Knopf.

Coontz, S. (1992). The way we never were: American families and the nostalgia trap. New York: Basic Books.

Daniels, A. R. (1987). Invisible work. Social Problems, 34, 403-415.

Fausto-Sterling, A. (1985). Myths of gender: Biological theories about men and women. New York: Basic Books.

Showalter, E. (1997). Hystories: Hysterical epidemics and modern media. New York: Columbia University Press.

Tavris, C. (1992). The mismeasure of woman. New York: Simon and Schuster.

A note on absences:

Since the military environment often leads to unexpected absences, it is to your benefit as student to be prepared to seek help from, and to give help to other students. If you miss class for any reason, you should find out from other students what went on in the class you missed. Ask for copies of notes, detailed explanations of the material, or, if available, tape recordings. I am available to clarify any problems you might have understanding course material or assignments, whether or not you were absent, but I will not provide reviews for missed classes. Due to the nature of the course, any absence may lead to lower grades. In other words, tests and homework assignments will relate to material covered in the classroom, which is not always the same as material covered in your textbook and other readings. Therefore, absences can severely influence your ability to get a good grade in the class. If you miss class on a test day you must have a valid excuse. Make-up tests must be completed within one week from the original test date, unless deployment keeps you from returning to the education center. (Such absences require documentation.) Finally, never leave a message for me to call you: I will not do it. If you have to phone me, my number is available from the UMD field representatives. If you miss the final exam and fail to contact me by the weekend immediately following the exam, anything can happen to your grade; the grade of I -- see below -- is not a default.

Incomplete (grade of I):

The grade of I, or incomplete, is available for special cases where the student is unable to finish the course by the scheduled end of the term. To receive an I, students who are having problems finishing the course as scheduled must fulfill the following requirements: 1) 55% of the graded assignments must be completed at the time of the request; 2) 60% of the class sessions must have been attended by the end of the course; 3) the student must provide evidence of a valid reason for not finishing the graded assignments by the end of the course; 4) the student must request an incomplete in writing, prior to the last day of the course, and this request must include the reason for the extension and a date by which the work for the course will be completed (which should not exceed one week from the expiration of the reason for the I). Granting the grade of I, and setting a date for its completion remain at the total discretion of the instructor. For students who are unable to finish the course as scheduled, alternatives to the grade of I include the W (withdrawal) and the F(n) (failure for non-attendance).

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism is academic dishonesty. In other words, it's a big word for cheating. If you are caught plagiarizing, or cheating in some other form, you may wind up failing the assignment you were working on, or, if the infringement is serious, the course as a whole. The common form of plagiarism is using someone else's work as if it were your own. That is, by copying the work of another person and presenting that work as if you wrote it, you are plagiarizing. To avoid plagiarism you should learn how to paraphrase and how to use quotation marks. Basically, if you copy anything word-for-word from a previously published source (a book, a magazine article, etc.), using three or more consecutive words, you must put the passage within quotation marks and show where the material came from with a footnote or other reference. If you put the ideas of someone else into your own words (and not just a rearrangement of the original words) you don't need the quotation marks but you still need to show where the material came from.

Under no circumstances should you ever use the work of a fellow student in any of your written work. Consulting with other students is encouraged, but when it comes to writing, you must write your own product. Anything else is down-right cheating. (Never let another student borrow a paper of yours for any purpose other than getting a general idea about the assignment or issue at hand.) Also, if you plan on using something that you had once written for another course as a piece of work for credit in this course, you must get prior approval.

I highly recommend that you get an English manual of some sort to help you avoid some of the common mistakes that result in accusations of plagiarism. The Harbrace College Handbook is one such manual.

Respect:

Go light on your fellow student, and show patience.
Assume your fellow student has good intentions.
Don't try to deceive your fellow students, don't be ambiguous or obscure when discussing.
Allow others to play Devil's advocate.
Take a joke, but don't insult anyone.
Treat the classroom as a confidential situation, and don't gossip.
Listen to others when they speak, pay attention to them, and hope they'll do the same for you.
Don't make unnecessary noise in the classroom.
Allow others to decline comment.
Speak in the first person; recognize that your opinions are your own and that you don't speak for others.
Try to be accurate and try to defend any of the claims you make.

1. Always think before writing. Don't try writing a paper without thinking first. Jot down your ideas, then sort through them; discard those of little value, and arrange the others in some logical order, using an outline for organization.

2. Avoid plagiarism at all costs. When you copy words, an idea, or other information from a source outside your own head, you must give credit to the original source. Failure to give credit for ideas, information, or words is called plagiarism, and may lead to failure on the assignment, or if intentional and repeated, failure in the course. (When you use the exact same words as you find in another source, such as a textbook, use quotation marks "..." in your paper around the copied selection when the selection is three successive words or more. If you alter the exact wording only a little, you can be in big trouble, so either copy exactly and quote, or paraphrase cleanly.) See tip five, below, for sources showing you how to give credit where credit is due.

3. Begin your essay with a clear introduction. Your introduction should do two things: 1) it should introduce the reader to the topic, clarifying whatever concepts you introduce; and 2) it should show the reader what your intentions are for the remainder of the paper. End the essay with a conclusion that summarizes the paper, and draws it to a close.

4. Be clear about what you are writing. Clarity demands that you understanding what you are talking about and that you communicate it to a reader who is not reading your mind, but is reading your writing. A terse style, or one using terminology carelessly, does not make for clear writing. Also, try avoiding wordy phrases. If necessary, work on your use of punctuation, past and present tense problems, the active voice, and other aspects of the English essay.

5. Use an English handbook to learn what you need to learn about basic writing mechanics. The Harbrace College Handbook is a good source, as is the American Psychological Association (APA) Publication Manual (summaries of which can be found on the Internet), the Chicago Manual of Style, and other such sources. If you plan on majoring in psychology, buy a copy of the APA manual. Use a dictionary for spelling and a thesaurus to improve your vocabulary.

6. Avoid sexist or biased language. Use "they" as a singular instead of "he or she." This is awkward at first, but less awkward than continued use of "he or she," s/he, he/she, his/her, etc. Use unbiased phrases when referring to different types of people (no "damn Commies" when you should use "Russians").

7. Proofread what you have written. Once you are down to your final draft (which should not be your first or even second draft, but maybe your third or tenth), give it a final, careful proof. Make corrections on the final draft in pencil. If you find too many errors, rewrite once more.

8. Double-space everything. This means using something like a 24-point spread for a 12-point font. (But use a 10 or 11-point font; nothing too small or too large.) Do not add empty spaces between paragraphs as you would in a business letter. (Headings or subheadings are treated as single paragraphs of their own.) Indent the start of each paragraph 5 spaces. Leave margins around the entire text of the paper (about 1" - 1.5"). Do not align the text to the right margin of the paper (don't "right-justify").

9. Number all the pages in the upper-right corner, that is, flush with the right margin. It is good habit to follow the APA style of providing a "running head" to your pages, just left of the page number in the upper-right corner. The running head is a short version of your paper's title.

10. In my classes only: you don't need a cover sheet or title page. Make sure your name appears somewhere on your paper. Staple the pages together yourself (don't ask me to do it for you, I'm not your secretary). No plastic folders! Manila folders are acceptable.

11. Follow the guidelines above!

Michael Ofsowitz

European Division