WMN2260

Sexing the text: constructions of female sexuality

Denise Cuthbert

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* Second semester
* Clayton
* Prerequisites: A first-year sequence

Objectives Upon completion of this subject, students will have an increased knowledge of a range of contemporary theories of gender and sexual difference; an ability to analyse and critique texts of different genres; developed skills of oral presentation and of written argument.

Synopsis This subject will ask how ideas about femaleness, about the female body and sexuality are represented within a range of texts - eg poetry, criticism, prose and film. It will pose questions such as: To what extent do these texts inscribe or critique femaleness as biologically determined, and/or as constructed or performed? What are some of the alternatives to a rigid masculine/feminine model to account for sexual difference and for the mechanisms of desire? This subject will consider these issues through a focussed analysis of selected textual examples in the context of a range of feminist theories about gender and sexual difference.

Assessment Seminar paper and Major essay (3000 words): 50%
* Short essay (1500 words): 25%
* In-class essay (1500 words): 25%

Prescribed texts

Carter A The bloody chamber Penguin, 1979
Morrison T The bluest eye Picador, 1990
Porter D The monkey's mask Hyland House, 1994
Lucas R and McCredden L Bridgings: Readings in Australian women's poetry OUP, 1996
Winterson J The passion Penguin, 1987
A Mills and Boon romance
A reading pack will also be available from the Centre for Women's Studies and Gender Research.