Unit Guide

General Information

Unit convenor and teaching staff	Unit convenor and teaching staff Convenor Emily Cachia emily.cachia@ Contact via email W6A 831 email to arrange Tutor Tricia Daly tricia.daly@mq.edu.au
Credit points	Credit points 3
Prerequisites	Prerequisites 12cp or admission to GDipArts
Corequisites	Corequisites
Co-badged status	Co-badged status
Unit description	Unit description This unit examines how gender functions in our day-to-day lives. We look closely at common activities like shopping, eating, grooming, talking, reading, going to the movies, using cosmetic surgery, getting married and more, to examine some of the discourses – biological, cultural, social, anthropological – that reproduce ideas of masculinity and femininity, of being a man or woman. We look at intersections of gender with class, ethnicity, and race. We also introduce students to some of the influential ideas on how gender works, theories by European philosophers like Freud and Foucault, as well as essays by feminist activists and post-modern writers on gender and sexuality.

Important Academic Dates

Information about important academic dates including deadlines for withdrawing from units are available at https://www.mq.edu.au/study/calendar-of-dates

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

Understand the ways in which gender is conceived and found significant in everyday life
Understand what gender studies is about, why it has developed and why it matters today
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Understand how the writing of scholars like Freud, Foucault and others has been taken up and critically extended in gender studies.
Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

General Assessment Information

Detailed Assessment Guidelines explaining the requirements for each assignment are available on the GEN210 iLearn page in the Assessment Resources section. It is necessary to have read these guidelines in order to successfully complete each task.

All essays are to be submitted electronically through Turnitin on the GEN210 iLearn page.

Essay extensions of less than one week should be requested through the student's tutor. Longer extensions should be submitted through the convenor and Disruption to Studies. Approved extensions will not incur a late penalty.

The late submission of essays (without approved extensions) will be accepted but will incur a penalty of 3% on the first day and 1% per weekday thereafter.

Assessment Tasks

Name	Weighting	Due
Quizzes	30%	Weeks 2-12
Two summaries	20%	Week 7
Essay	40%	Week 13
Participation	10%	throughout

Quizzes

Due: Weeks 2-12
Weighting: 30%

Starting from week 2, students will be required to complete one online multiple choice quiz each week (10 quizzes in total).
There will be three questions for each quiz based on the required readings and/or the lecture material.
Quizzes will be opened on the day of the lecture and remain open for one week.
Please see Assessment Guidelines in the Assessment Resources section on iLearn for further details.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Understand the ways in which gender is conceived and found significant in everyday life
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Understand how the writing of scholars like Freud, Foucault and others has been taken up and critically extended in gender studies.

Two summaries

Due: Week 7
Weighting: 20%

This assessment exercise requires students to write a short precis (a summary in one's own words) of two readings chosen from a provided list (see iLearn Assessment Resources for reading list).
The point of this exercise is for students to learn to reproduce a concise but accurate account of the principal argument of an academic text, rather than exploring their own opinions (this can be done during tutorials and within the research essay).
The minimum number of words for each summary is 500 and the maximum without penalty is 750.
Please see Assessment Guidelines in the Assessment Resources section on iLearn for further details.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Understand the ways in which gender is conceived and found significant in everyday life
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Understand how the writing of scholars like Freud, Foucault and others has been taken up and critically extended in gender studies.
Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.

Essay

Due: Week 13
Weighting: 40%

Compose a 2000 word essay on one of the questions listed on iLearn for this task.
Please see Assessment Guidelines in the Assessment Resources section on iLearn for further details.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Understand the ways in which gender is conceived and found significant in everyday life
Understand what gender studies is about, why it has developed and why it matters today
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Understand how the writing of scholars like Freud, Foucault and others has been taken up and critically extended in gender studies.
Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.

Participation

Due: throughout
Weighting: 10%

Regular contribution to group discussions within GEN210 online forums is a requirement of this unit for external students.
Two absences are permitted without penalty. Additional absences without supporting documentation will be penalised.
Participation should provide evidence of the student having done the readings, listened to the lecture and thought about the topics in relation to both local and global events and contexts.

Minimum Requirements:

external students need to respond to a minimum of 9 lecture topics in the forums
each topic requires a minimum of 2 x 150 word posts
minimum number of total posts required will be: 18 posts, each post 150 words (minimum), distributed across 9 topics

Please see Assessment Guidelines in the Assessment Resources section on iLearn for further details.

On successful completion you will be able to:

Understand the ways in which gender is conceived and found significant in everyday life
Understand what gender studies is about, why it has developed and why it matters today
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Understand how the writing of scholars like Freud, Foucault and others has been taken up and critically extended in gender studies.
Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Delivery and Resources

Delivery:

Day (on-campus) and Online (iLearn).

Lectures commence in Week One (Monday 2-4pm). The live lectures are recorded and made available shortly after delivery through the GEN210 iLearn site using Echo. Students require access to reliable broadband internet and a computer.

Forum Participation formally starts for external students in Week Two

Technologies used and required

This unit has an online presence in iLearn (http://ilearn.mq.edu.au). Students are required to have regular access to a computer and reliable broadband internet. Mobile devices alone are not sufficient.

Required Readings

Required readings can be accessed through hyperlinks on iLearn or via MQ Library by searching Unit Readings. These can be read online, printed out by the student and/or downloaded.

Week 1

Hines, Melissa, 2003. “Engendering the Brain” In her book Brain gender. Oxford; New York, Oxford University Press.

Hasinoff, Amy Adele (2009). ‘It’s sociobiology, hon! Genetic gender determinism in Cosmopolitan Magazine.’ Feminist Media Studies, Vol. 9, Number 3, Sept., pp. 267-283(17)

Week 2

Hrdy, Sarah Blaffer (2009) ‘Grandmothers among Others’ in Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual Understanding. Harvard Uni Press

Laqueur, Thomas (1990) ‘Of Language and the Flesh’ in Making sex: body and gender from the Greeks to Freud. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Uni Press

Week 3

Poole, Marilyn (2000) ‘Socialisation’ in Sociology: Australian connections. eds Ray Jureidini and Marilyn Poole. St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin

Goffman, Erving (1979) ‘Gender Display’ in his Gender Advertisements. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press

Week 4

Ebert, Norbert (2012) ‘Socialisation: A Continuous State of Becoming?’ in Individualisation at work: the self between freedom and social pathologies. Burlington, VT: Ashgate

Camhi, Leslie (1993) ‘Stealing Femininity: Department Store Kleptomania as Sexual Disorder.’ Differences vol. 5, no. 1

Week 5

Kingston, Anne (2005) Ch. 1. “The wife gap” from her The meaning of Wife. New York, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux

Boden, Sharon (2007) ‘Consuming pleasure on the wedding day: the lived experience of being a bride.’ in Gender and consumption: domestic cultures and the commercialisation of Everyday Life, eds. E. Casey and L. Martens. Ashgate

Week 6

Rand, Erica (1995) “Older Heads on Younger Bodies”, Ch. 2 in her Barbie’s Queer Accessories. Durham and London, Duke University Press

Rogers, Mary F (1999) “Plastic Selves” in Barbie culture. London, Sage Publications

Week 7

Moi, Toril (1982) 'Jealousy and Sexual Difference,' Feminist Review, 11, pp53-69

Yates, Candida (2000) 'Masculinity and Good Enough Jealousy,' Psychoanalytic Studies, Vol. 2, No.1

Week 8

Heyes, Cressida J. "All Cosmetic Surgery is Ethnic: Asian Eyelids, Feminist Indignation, and the Politics of Whiteness." In Cosmetic Surgery: A Feminist Primer. eds Heyes, Cressida J. and Jones, Meredith. Aldershot, UK: Ashgate. 2009

Haiken, Elizabeth (1997) “Consumer Culture and the Inferiority Complex” in Venus envy: a history of cosmetic surgery. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins UP

Week 9

Germon, Jennifer (2009) ‘Dangerous desires: intersex as subjectivity in her Gender: a genealogy of an idea. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan

Mak, Geertje (2012) ‘Early sex reassignments and the absence of a sex of self’ in Doubting sex: inscriptions, bodies and selves in nineteenth-century hermaphrodite case histories Manchester; New York: Manchester University Press

Week 10

Bordo, Susan (2004) 'The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity' in her Unbearable Weight: Feminism, Western Culture, and the Body. University of California Press

Haber, Honi Fern (1996) 'Foucault Pumped: Body Politics and the Muscled Woman' in Feminist Interpretations of Michel Foucault, ed. Susan J Hekman. University Park, Pa., Pennsylvania State University Press

Week 11

Bronfen, Elisabeth. ‘Medicine's Hysteria Romance: Is It History or Legend? The knotted subject: hysteria and its discontents. Princeton, N.J., Princeton University Press, 1998. (pp101-119 & pp131-138)

Micale, Mark S (2008) Male hysteria at the fin de siècle Hysterical men: the hidden history of male nervous illness. Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard Uni Press

Week 12

Peiss, Kathy. (1996 ) “Making Up, Making Over: Cosmetics, Consumer Culture, and Women's Identity” in The sex of things: gender and consumption in historical perspective, edited by Victoria de Grazia. Berkeley, Uni. of California Press,

Riviere, Joan.(1929/1986) “Womanliness as a Masquerade”, in Formations of Fantasy, eds. Victor Burgin, James Donald, Cora Kaplan, Methuen

Butler, Judith (1990) ‘Bodily Inscriptions, Performative Subversions’ and ‘Conclusion - From Parody to Politics’ in Gender Trouble: feminism and the subversion of identity. New York: Routledge

Unit Schedule

Week	Reading Gender in Everyday Life - Lecture topics
Week 1	Having gender (biology): the brain and hormones (no forum participation this week)
Week 2	Having gender (sociobiology): rape; mothering
Week 3	Representing gender (socialisation & coding): advertising
Week 4	Buying into gender (socialisation & consuming): shopping
Week 5	Playing out gender (socialisation & coupling): weddings
Week 6	Playing with gender (socialisation & queering): Barbie dolls
Week 7	Constructing gender (socialisation & psychoanalysis): stalking and jealousy
Week 8	Doing gender (cutting up the body; conforming/transforming): cosmetic surgery
Week 9	Doing gender (cutting up the body; conforming/transforming): inter-sex and trans-sexual surgery
Week 10	Doing gender (fighting back through the body): female body building
Week 11	Performing gender (fighting back through the body): madness and hysteria
Week 12	Performing gender (through the masquerade): make-up, masking and drag
Week 13	No lecture – film

Policies and Procedures

Macquarie University policies and procedures are accessible from Policy Central. Students should be aware of the following policies in particular with regard to Learning and Teaching:

Academic Honesty Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/academic_honesty/policy.html

New Assessment Policy in effect from Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy_2016.html. For more information visit http://students.mq.edu.au/events/2016/07/19/new_assessment_policy_in_place_from_session_2/

Assessment Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/assessment/policy.html

Grading Policy prior to Session 2 2016 http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/grading/policy.html

Grade Appeal Policy http://mq.edu.au/policy/docs/gradeappeal/policy.html

Complaint Management Procedure for Students and Members of the Public http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/complaint_management/procedure.html

Disruption to Studies Policy http://www.mq.edu.au/policy/docs/disruption_studies/policy.html The Disruption to Studies Policy is effective from March 3 2014 and replaces the Special Consideration Policy.

In addition, a number of other policies can be found in the Learning and Teaching Category of Policy Central.

Student Code of Conduct

Macquarie University students have a responsibility to be familiar with the Student Code of Conduct: https://students.mq.edu.au/support/student_conduct/

Results

Results shown in iLearn, or released directly by your Unit Convenor, are not confirmed as they are subject to final approval by the University. Once approved, final results will be sent to your student email address and will be made available in eStudent. For more information visit ask.mq.edu.au.

Student Support

Macquarie University provides a range of support services for students. For details, visit http://students.mq.edu.au/support/

Learning Skills

Learning Skills (mq.edu.au/learningskills) provides academic writing resources and study strategies to improve your marks and take control of your study.

Student Services and Support

Students with a disability are encouraged to contact the Disability Service who can provide appropriate help with any issues that arise during their studies.

Student Enquiries

For all student enquiries, visit Student Connect at ask.mq.edu.au

IT Help

For help with University computer systems and technology, visit http://www.mq.edu.au/about_us/offices_and_units/information_technology/help/.

When using the University's IT, you must adhere to the Acceptable Use of IT Resources Policy. The policy applies to all who connect to the MQ network including students.

Graduate Capabilities

Creative and Innovative

Our graduates will also be capable of creative thinking and of creating knowledge. They will be imaginative and open to experience and capable of innovation at work and in the community. We want them to be engaged in applying their critical, creative thinking.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Assessment tasks

Two summaries
Essay
Participation

Capable of Professional and Personal Judgement and Initiative

We want our graduates to have emotional intelligence and sound interpersonal skills and to demonstrate discernment and common sense in their professional and personal judgement. They will exercise initiative as needed. They will be capable of risk assessment, and be able to handle ambiguity and complexity, enabling them to be adaptable in diverse and changing environments.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Assessment tasks

Two summaries
Essay
Participation

Commitment to Continuous Learning

Our graduates will have enquiring minds and a literate curiosity which will lead them to pursue knowledge for its own sake. They will continue to pursue learning in their careers and as they participate in the world. They will be capable of reflecting on their experiences and relationships with others and the environment, learning from them, and growing - personally, professionally and socially.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Understand what gender studies is about, why it has developed and why it matters today
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Understand how the writing of scholars like Freud, Foucault and others has been taken up and critically extended in gender studies.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Assessment tasks

Quizzes
Two summaries
Essay
Participation

Discipline Specific Knowledge and Skills

Our graduates will take with them the intellectual development, depth and breadth of knowledge, scholarly understanding, and specific subject content in their chosen fields to make them competent and confident in their subject or profession. They will be able to demonstrate, where relevant, professional technical competence and meet professional standards. They will be able to articulate the structure of knowledge of their discipline, be able to adapt discipline-specific knowledge to novel situations, and be able to contribute from their discipline to inter-disciplinary solutions to problems.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Understand the ways in which gender is conceived and found significant in everyday life
Understand what gender studies is about, why it has developed and why it matters today
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Understand how the writing of scholars like Freud, Foucault and others has been taken up and critically extended in gender studies.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Assessment tasks

Quizzes
Two summaries
Essay
Participation

Critical, Analytical and Integrative Thinking

We want our graduates to be capable of reasoning, questioning and analysing, and to integrate and synthesise learning and knowledge from a range of sources and environments; to be able to critique constraints, assumptions and limitations; to be able to think independently and systemically in relation to scholarly activity, in the workplace, and in the world. We want them to have a level of scientific and information technology literacy.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Understand the ways in which gender is conceived and found significant in everyday life
Understand what gender studies is about, why it has developed and why it matters today
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Understand how the writing of scholars like Freud, Foucault and others has been taken up and critically extended in gender studies.
Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Assessment tasks

Quizzes
Two summaries
Essay
Participation

Problem Solving and Research Capability

Our graduates should be capable of researching; of analysing, and interpreting and assessing data and information in various forms; of drawing connections across fields of knowledge; and they should be able to relate their knowledge to complex situations at work or in the world, in order to diagnose and solve problems. We want them to have the confidence to take the initiative in doing so, within an awareness of their own limitations.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Understand the ways in which gender is conceived and found significant in everyday life
Understand how the writing of scholars like Freud, Foucault and others has been taken up and critically extended in gender studies.
Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Assessment tasks

Quizzes
Two summaries
Essay
Participation

Effective Communication

We want to develop in our students the ability to communicate and convey their views in forms effective with different audiences. We want our graduates to take with them the capability to read, listen, question, gather and evaluate information resources in a variety of formats, assess, write clearly, speak effectively, and to use visual communication and communication technologies as appropriate.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Assessment tasks

Two summaries
Essay
Participation

Engaged and Ethical Local and Global citizens

As local citizens our graduates will be aware of indigenous perspectives and of the nation's historical context. They will be engaged with the challenges of contemporary society and with knowledge and ideas. We want our graduates to have respect for diversity, to be open-minded, sensitive to others and inclusive, and to be open to other cultures and perspectives: they should have a level of cultural literacy. Our graduates should be aware of disadvantage and social justice, and be willing to participate to help create a wiser and better society.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Understand the ways in which gender is conceived and found significant in everyday life
Understand what gender studies is about, why it has developed and why it matters today
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Assessment tasks

Quizzes
Two summaries
Essay
Participation

Socially and Environmentally Active and Responsible

We want our graduates to be aware of and have respect for self and others; to be able to work with others as a leader and a team player; to have a sense of connectedness with others and country; and to have a sense of mutual obligation. Our graduates should be informed and active participants in moving society towards sustainability.

This graduate capability is supported by:

Learning outcomes

Understand what gender studies is about, why it has developed and why it matters today
Develop a sense of the complexity and significance of a number of key cultural issues and debates (local and global) in contemporary gender studies
Develop a practical sense of how to research a variety of texts in public circulation, how to evaluate their content and engage with it effectively.
Develop an understanding of the relationship between forms of knowledge and forms of everyday living. The topics covered will help the student to approach real-life situations, analyse them, and remedy problems when necessary.
Share information and debate ideas with peers. The material in this unit raises questions about everyday life, and by coming to grips with it, we expect that the student will have a stronger sense both of who they are and where they come from, and how others from very different backgrounds and situations view the world.

Assessment tasks

Quizzes
Two summaries
Essay
Participation

Changes from Previous Offering

The assessment has changed in 2015. The Quiz component has been reduced from being worth 40% to 30%. This change is made in order to reduce the fail rate. The Essay component has been decreased from being worth 50% (in its previous, two-part total) to 40%. The Summaries component (worth 20%) no longer needs to be accompanied by an essay plan. This latter change is made in order to reduce confusion (each component is now stand-alone), and increase flexibility.