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

nails said:
Personally, I like the idea of the general assumption of what a woman is being challenged (before anyone says it, yes, the same applies to men, there just isnt as much material, because men have less gender specific issues).

My sister is a womens studies major, she just needed some sort of degree for her career goals and womens studies ended up striking her fancy. I end up reading her books when she is done with them. I do think womens studies is important. No, she doesnt hate men and neither do I. Hating men does not fall in well with feminist theory. Neither does thinking that women are naturally more understanding or nurturing than men, or that women have something extra to offer over men (or science, as someone claimed earlier). Ive seen my fair share of womens studies woo with 'godess powers' and such, but that does not represent the main stream nor does it represent feminism accuratley. Its a lot more than history, btw. I don't want to go into a huge rant about what it is and isnt, when clearly many here are content with having an opinion without cracking a book first.
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You don't have to go into a rant, just some specific examples of what women's studies is and what it isn't. How about an outline of a syllabus or two.

Maybe start with what exactly is mainstream feminism and what/who is representative of feminists? I'm curious, too, what books and authors are you reading?

Why is cracking open a book the only way to be informed enough to have an opinion? My opinion is based on my experience with those self-proclaimed feminists at college who were women's studies majors, who accused me more than once of being a traitor to my own gender because I dare base my opinions and beliefs on thought and research rather than my vagina.

Granted this is only my experience on one campus.
 
nails, I've been following this discussion. It's been great so far, but I'd be very interested to hear more from you.

In my experience, feminism and Women's Studies are a lot more complicated than what has been presented here. While I have also experienced a lot of the things being criticized so far in this thread, I think we could benefit from a bit more balanced perspective.

There are lots of different types of feminism and Women's Studies curricula. I have yet to see a department where the two weren't attached at the hip, though.
 
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