ANTH 1718 - GENDER AND WORK IN CROSS CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

Minimum Credits: 3
Maximum Credits: 3
This class takes a cross-cultural perspective to inquire why we find it difficult to abandon deep-seated beliefs that men and women are not equally suited to pursue certain professions. We question whether women belong in the army, the cockpits of airplanes and space shuttles, or whether men make good nurses and babysitters. In this course, we will read scholarly texts and watch documentary films to analyze the relationship between gender and work in various social contexts. We will ask how the realm of work operates as a site where gender differences and hierarchies are reinforced. We will examine how our beliefs about gender-appropriate occupational identities are culturally conditioned and how employers perpetuate gender biases in their hiring practices as they prioritize growth and profit over ideals of gender equity. We will read about flight attendants who were able to negotiate less sexist weight standards only in 1991, women in factories who are hired for their nimble fingers, sex workers, hostesses, hosts, and exotic dancers who are expected to perform gender at work.
Academic Career: Undergraduate
Course Component: Seminar
Grade Component: LG/SNC Elective Basis
Course Attributes: Asian Studies, DSAS Cross-Cult. Awareness General Ed. Requirement, DSAS Social Science General Ed. Requirement, SCI Polymathic Contexts: Global&Cross Cul GE. Req., SCI Polymathic Contexts: Soc/Behav. GE. Req.

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