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Women's Studies... good idea/bad idea?

I started the thread because I'm really interested to know more. I never took any classes in the department at my university, and I'm not entirely sure what all is taught.

Based on a posting by SlingBlade, if I'm understanding correctly, it's to point out all the contributions by women over the years.

I'm just not sure what the motivation is. I know that in most disiplines most figures spoken of are men, but certainly not all. But I've not taken this as sexist in the present, but rather a reflection of a sexist history. It was less likely for women of the past to make significant contributions. I'm I missing something?

Aaron
 
HeavyAaron said:
I started the thread because I'm really interested to know more. I never took any classes in the department at my university, and I'm not entirely sure what all is taught.

Based on a posting by SlingBlade, if I'm understanding correctly, it's to point out all the contributions by women over the years.
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I'm willing to admit I don't know all I could about it. That's just what the class offered on my campus was: a study of women's contributions, especially their writings. I was under a probably mistaken idea.

I'm just not sure what the motivation is. I know that in most disiplines most figures spoken of are men, but certainly not all. But I've not taken this as sexist in the present, but rather a reflection of a sexist history. It was less likely for women of the past to make significant contributions. I'm I missing something?

Aaron
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I don't know. I'm not sure now. I respect DrKitten and if she's that against it, then I have to question it, at least.
 
EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENT: BA in Women's Studies preferred.

You just don't see that a lot on Monster.com

I can understand study for study's sake, but know going in that if you are studying for study's sake, and don't be surprised or pissed if the result is unemployment: there will be little if any monetary return on your educational investment.

Same goes for lots of majors.

Still, some places will accept any degree, no matter the subject matter. Personally, I would find a way to disqualify anyone with that particular degree in favor of another that is not dedicated to activism...unless of course it is an activist that I needed.





Same goes for many subjects.
 
Rob Lister said:
EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENT: BA in Women's Studies preferred.

You just don't see that a lot on Monster.com
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No, but if you decide to go ahead and get, say, an MSW and work in the field of domestic violence, a BA in Women's Studies as an undergrad degree would look good.

There are very few liberal arts degrees that are meaningful without a Masters or PhD in something related. Example: my (undergrad) degree is a BA in Anthropology, particularly focused on biological anthropology (genetics, paleoanthropology) and archaeology.

By itself, I couldn't get a job doing jack squat. But I could leverage it into getting a PhD in archaeology, population genetics, paleoanthropology, or something of that nature.

I'm trying to think of other LA undergrad programs. English, Poli-Sci, women's studies, African-American studies, sociology, linguistics...They're universally meant to be stepping-stones to higher degrees, not to be career paths in themselves.

But then, I tend to reject the idea that college is a trade school. You go to get an education, not necessarily to carve your career path in stone. I work in IT, and I don't regret my Anthro degree for a second. I learned quite a bit, even if it's not directly related to my job description.
 
Womens studies? Isn't that just the new name for Home Economics?




:runaway
 
Most of history ignores women's contributions. If a discussion on Women's Studies invites the question, 'should we have a Men's Studies?', well, we have that anyway.

It's a legitimate academic discipline, but I wouldn't want to go into five figures worth of debt to get a degree in it.
 
Ian Osborne said:
Most of history ignores women's contributions. If a discussion on Women's Studies invites the question, 'should we have a Men's Studies?', well, we have that anyway.
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How do you know? And what makes you believe that?

Note that these are two distinct questions.

Aaron
 
It's do-nothing broads moaning that women belong in everything except those things they are actually good at.

For their entire education, nothing is stopping them from registering for the programs they talk about - nothing, that is, except the glaring deficiencies they have in key academic areas.

(And of course, motivation...)
 
Looking at Wikipedia, (which of course is the best source ever) it seems that Women's studies isn't merely the study of the history of women, but rather an interdisciplinary study which tries to examine women in society as a general thing.

Maybe it would be better for the field to be a bit broader and call itself "gender studies," (which... is something that exists in its own right) but I don't see what's wrong with it. It's something to study, and more knowledge is always good.

I think that the assumption that research needs to have sort of applicability to it is generally dangerous. Maybe it's because I'm sort of a math guy (which is a field that alternates between being extremely useful and being extremely useless on a fairly regular basis) or maybe it's because I'm just an idealistic twit in this area, but I think that all information is of value, but that sometimes its usefulness is not always immediately obvious. In order for knowledge to advance, we need to study every possible nook of realities, not just the ones which look "interesting."

Of course, studying "seemingly useless" things is not for everyone, in that people have to eat. But still, it's knowledge, so that seems like enough of a point for its existance.
 
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Well, I don't see how it could possibly hurt to have gender studies, and I still don't really see how even women's studies can hurt.

This topic came up a while back, as I recall, and it was asked then what you do with a degree in this topic. I'd have asked that, too. So, I went to have a look and found web sites about it. Seems it applies (but is probably not required) in several occupations, largely dealing with women's issues like domestic violence, rape counseling, such as that.

Look, I'm an English major. We studied literature a lot. I found it very helpful to look at what women were writing, and when, and why, in order to better understand women and their societal roles, how they got them and where we might be going in them. And I learned a lot I hadn't ever considered before about....well, about a lot of things.

I guess I'm still waiting to hear why these sorts of studies cause such reactions.
 
Ian Osborne said:
It's a legitimate academic discipline
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Not in my experience, it's not. The problems I've encountered haven't been with the premise, but with the execution. Academic rigor is lacking. BS is accepted uncritically.
 
Piggy said:
Not in my experience, it's not. The problems I've encountered haven't been with the premise, but with the execution. Academic rigor is lacking. BS is accepted uncritically.
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Oh, well that makes sense, but in that case a poor method doesn't justify abhoring the subject.

Hmmm. Maybe my school is unusual, then, because I never got the impression from my friends who took women's studies that they were being, I dunno, brainwashed in feminism (?). I mean, none of them went all militant on us, or anything. They just seemed to get a new appreciation for certain aspects of society they hadn't really questioned before.
 
Cleon said:
No, but if you decide to go ahead and get, say, an MSW and work in the field of domestic violence, a BA in Women's Studies as an undergrad degree would look good.

There are very few liberal arts degrees that are meaningful without a Masters or PhD in something related. Example: my (undergrad) degree is a BA in Anthropology, particularly focused on biological anthropology (genetics, paleoanthropology) and archaeology.

By itself, I couldn't get a job doing jack squat. But I could leverage it into getting a PhD in archaeology, population genetics, paleoanthropology, or something of that nature.

I'm trying to think of other LA undergrad programs. English, Poli-Sci, women's studies, African-American studies, sociology, linguistics...They're universally meant to be stepping-stones to higher degrees, not to be career paths in themselves.

But then, I tend to reject the idea that college is a trade school. You go to get an education, not necessarily to carve your career path in stone. I work in IT, and I don't regret my Anthro degree for a second. I learned quite a bit, even if it's not directly related to my job description.
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I wouldn't want a degree in it hanging on my wall, and I wouldn't imagine there being enough subject matter to fill an academic year, let alone an entire college career, but if someone wants to become a professional student and waste other people's money, that's their business.

I think it's a bit disingenuous to see domestic violence as strictly a women's issue. It also affects men who see it as kids and turn into abusers, the children of abused spouses (men and women - imagine the children of abused MEN, where domestic violence against men is frequently seen as comedic in popular culture). As a social work issue, absolutely. I just think studying it as part of women's studies leans a bit too much into the "women are victims" school of thought, which I think is too black and white.

I tend to agree with you at least in theory about college not being a trade school. However, when it comes to the job market I've found that specific skills are much more desirable to employers than a rounded education - or at least that's what the offers always say. That and experience (how one gets experience if nobody will hire people who don't have experience is a mystery).
 
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