Syllabus: Trimberger, Single Women in the US

Syllabus:

SINGLE WOMEN IN THE U.S.:
SOCIAL, PSYCHOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES

Instructor: Kay Trimberger
E-mail: Kay.Trimberger [at] sonoma.edu

Sonoma State University

Spring, 2002

Course Description: This course will address the following questions: How does society view single women and how has this changed historically? Hoe do single women view themselves? Do ethnicity and race make a difference? What are the differences and similarities between younger and older single women, between lesbian and heterosexual singles, between the childless and single mothers, and between women of different social classes? How have changes in the culture of love and romance, and in the institution of marriage, affected single women? What is the future of singleness in the U.S.?

Required Reading: (On sale in paperback at the campus Bookstore)

Helen Fielding, Bridget Jones’s Diary

Elizabeth Berg, Until the Real Thing Comes Along

Carol Anderson & Susan Stewart, Flying Solo: Single Women in Midlife

Xerox Reader of articles listed below: On sale at College Center Copy Shop, 1435 E. Cotati Ave (707) 792-0837

Course Requirements:

1) Class attendance and participation. (30% of grade). Come to class each week having read the assigned reading, ready to ask questions and participate in discussion. Be ready to summarize the articles, ask questions about material you don’t understand, discuss new insights you achieved and material with which you disagree. Your grade will depend on your attendance and on your active participation in class discussion

2) Short oral presentation on either a T.V. show featuring single women or on a panel presentation in class. (10% of grade). See separate sheet for instructions

3) Two short (4-5 page) take-home essay exams on the readings and class discussion (15% of grade for each essay) Dates as follows:

Questions for first essay handed out on 3/12

Essay Due on 3/26

Questions for second essay handed out on 4/23

Second Essay Due on 5/14.

4) A short (8 - 10 page) research paper on a topic to be decided with instructor. (30% of grade) See separate page for suggested topics. Students will present a brief oral (10 minute) summary of their research on May 7 or 14 . Final paper due on May 21.

Outline of Topics and Reading Assignments

1/29 - Introduction & Discussion of two short handouts:

Betty Hares, “Singleness” (poem)

E. Kay Trimberger, “ Life & the Single Woman” (op-ed)

2/5 - Contemporary Cultural Scripts & Lack of Scripts about Single Women

Lee Reilly, Women Living Single, intro & chap. 1, 3.
Mary Ann Cejka, “A Demon with No Name: Prejudice Against Single Women,” in Single Women: Affirming Our Spiritual Journey.
Karen Gail Lewis, “Single Heterosexual Women through the Life Cycle,” in Women in Context.
Topic for Oral Report Due

2/12 - Dilemmas of Single Women in their late 20s and in their 30s

Bridget Jones Diary
Peggy Orenstein, Flux, chaps 1, 4.
Jaclyn Geller, Here Comes the Bride: Women, Weddings and the Marriage Mystique, Introduction
Reports on T.V. shows on singles

2/19 - The Ideal of a Soul Mate and Singleness

Barbara Dafoe Whitehead & David Popenoe, “Who Wants to Marry a Soul Mate?” Rutgers University, National Marriage Project.
Ethan Watters, “In My Tribe,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 14, 2001.
Sasha Cagen, “The Quirkyalone,” To-Do-List Magazine, Vol I, #1, 2000.
Laura Kipnis, “Against Love: A Treatise on the Tyranny of Two,” New York Times Magazine, Oct. 14,
Katryn Ein, “Few Good Men: Why Poor Women Don’t Remarry,” The American Prospect, Vol. 11, issue 4, Jan. 3, 2000.
Reports on T.V. shows on singles

Topic for Research Paper due

2/26 - Single Women in Historical Perspective

Zsuzsa Berend, “ ‘The Best or None!’ Spinsterhood in Nineteenth-Century New England,” Journal of Social History, summer 2000 V. 33, issue 4.
Lee Chambers-Schiller, Libery: A Better Husband, chap. 10.
Christina Simmons, “Companionate Marriage & the Lesbian Threat,” in Women & Power in American History, Vol. II.
Susan Ferguson, “The Old Maid Stereotype in American Film, 1938 - 1965,” in Film & History, Vol. XXI, #4, Dec. 1991.

3/5 - Autonomy, Intimacy, and Sexuality

Lee Reilly, Women Living Single, chaps 8, 9.
Stephanie Dowrick, Intimacy & Solitude: Balancing Closeness & Independence, chaps. 10 - 13.
Christa Donner, “10 Reasons Why Being Single Completely Rocks!” Bust, 18, Summer, 2001.
Flying Solo, chap. 13, 14.
Film: Ruby in Paradise

3/12 - Single Lesbians

Natalie Schwartzberg, et. al, “Single and Gay: Issues & Opportunities,” in Single in a Married World, chap. 10.
Sylvia Cole, “The Elusive Lesbian Date,” In The Family: A Magazine for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals & Their Relations, Vol. 1, #5, Jan. 1990.
Melissa Plaut, “Looking for Mrs. Goodbar: Is it Easier to be a Playgirl when You’re a Gay Girl?” Bust, 18, Summer, 2001.
JoAnn Loulan, “Celebacy,” in Boston Marriages: Romantic but asexual relationships among contemporary lesbians.

3/19 - Single and African-American, Latina, Asian-American or Iranian-American.

Aurora Levins Morales, “Shameless Desire,” in Telling To Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios.
Norma Cantu, “A Working-class Bruja’s Fears and Desires,” Ibid.
Sandra Cisneros, “Never Marry a Mexican,” in Woman Hollering Creek
Susan Ferguson, “Challenging Traditional Marriage: Never Married Chinese American & Japanese American Women,” Gender & Society, Vol. 14, #1 (2000)
Andrew Cherlin, “Marriage and Marital Dissolution Among Black Americans,” Journal of Comparative Family Studies, Vol. 29, #1 (Spring, 1998).
Judy D. Simmons, “Mars Conjunct Neptune,” in Wile Women Don’t Wear No Blues: Black Women Writers on Love, Men & Sex.
Lisa Phillips, “Love, Iranian-American Style,” Bust, 18, Summer, 2001.

3/26 - No class

4/ 2 - Spring Break

4/9 - Single Mothers

Elizabeth Berg, Until the Real Thing Comes Along
Women Flying Solo, chap. 16, 17
Rosanna Hertz & Faith Ferguson, “Kinship Strategies & Self-Sufficiency Among Single Mothers by Choice: Post Modern Family Ties,” Qualitative Sociology, Vol. 20, #2 (1997)
Jane Bock, “Doing the Right Thing? Single Mothers by Choice and the Struggle for Legitimacy,” Gender & Society, Vol. 14, #1, Feb. 2000.
Linda Blum & Theresa Deussen, “Negotiating Independent Motherhood: Working-Class African American Women Talk about Marriage and Motherhood,” Gender & Society, Vol. 10, #2, April 1996.

4/16 - Single and Childless or Childfree

Mardy Ireland, “”Childless in the 1990s: The ‘Other’ Woman and Why Now?” in Reconceiving Women.
Irena Klepfisz, “Women Without Children; Women Without Families; Women Alone,” in Bearing Life: Women’s Writings on Childlessness.
Elissa Raffa, “The Vow,” in Ibid.
Carolyn Megan, “Childless by Choice,” Ms., Oct/Nov. 2000.
Flying Solo, chap. 15.

4/23 - Issues for Mid-Life and Older Single Women

4/30 - Life Outside the Nuclear Family - Living Alone, Living with Others, Friendship Networks