DISCUSSION FORUM #6 - Health & Sexuality
BACKGROUND
For this forum we're going to focus on how women's health and sexuality became a major political focus of the women's rights movement during the 1960s-70s and how some of these issues caused divisions between women. Obviously, this is in keeping with our dual-track focus throughout the course on how the women's rights movement progressed and changed over time, as well as the issues and ideas on which women disagreed.
QUESTIONS
What concerns and priorities did women have during this period regarding their health, their bodies, and their sexuality?
How did some of these issues cause division amongst women during the 1960s-70s? Do you think any of these divisions still exist today?
NOTE: Make sure to discuss the Rosen chapter and the Griswold article on Rachel Carson.
DISCUSSION FORUM REQUIRED READING
Ruth Rosen, The World Split Open, Chap. 5 (entire chapter)
Eliza Griswold, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring and the Beginning of the Environmental Movement, New York Times, 9/23/12URL
EEKLY ESSAY #6 - Diversity & Women in the Media
BACKGROUND
In Chapter 8, Rosen shows that not all women experienced feminism and the women's movement in the same way. Groups based on race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, class etc. often had somewhat different experiences, goals, views, and priorities. Chapter 9 examines how women were depicted in the media and whether those depictions were beneficial or detrimental to women's rights. Since how women are represented in the media is an ongoing topic of debate today, it should be instructive to analyze an earlier period with a similar dilemma.
QUESTIONS
(A) (Rosen, Chap. 8): How did different groups of women (race, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, class) experience and change feminism and the women's movement?
(B) (Rosen, Chap. 9): How did the media portray feminists in magazines, television, advertising, etc.?
(C) (Rosen, Chap. 9): Do you think "first women stories" were a useful way to view the women's rights movement or do you think the stories detracted from the big picture of women's rights?
ESSAY REQUIRED READING
Ruth Rosen, The World Split Open, Chapters 8 and 9