Principles of Gender Theory
Code: 106988 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Sociocultural Gender Studies | FB | 1 |
Contact
- Name:
- Laura Benitez Valero
- Email:
- laura.benitez@uab.cat
Teachers
- Anabella Laura Di Tullio Arias
Teaching groups languages
You can view this information at the end of this document.
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites to take this course.
Objectives and Contextualisation
The objective of the course is to present the principles of gender theory within the framework of contemporary thought, especially feminist thought. Through this course, students will acquire introductory knowledge of theories related to gender, exploring concepts such as identity, power, discourse, difference, body, sexuality, justice, and materiality. Additionally, they will become familiar with the authors who have made significant contributions to the development of gender theory up to the present day. Special attention will also be given to the most relevant debates in the public sphere, both locally and internationally.
Learning Outcomes
- KM30 (Knowledge) Identify the fundamental establishing narratives of different feminist approaches, taking intersectional considerations and context into account.
- KM31 (Knowledge) Critically analyse popular discourses, particularly those related to ideology and ethnocentric and sexist biases.
- KM32 (Knowledge) Describe the fundamental principles of gender theory and relate them to the cultural substratum in which they are found.
- KM34 (Knowledge) Contrast debates on feminism and masculinities to find commonalities, clashes and possible biases derived from androcentric assumptions.
- SM27 (Skill) Use genealogical accounts to contextualise different socio-cultural manifestations of gender from different periods.
- SM28 (Skill) Justify in an orderly, coherent and distinctive narrative the specifics of debates on gender, its branches and related aspects, in different socio-cultural contexts.
- SM31 (Skill) Use organised and correct discourse both in writing and to be performed aloud, in the corresponding language, which relies on inclusive language and is suitable for all kinds of situations.
Content
Module 1. Introduction to Gender Theory.
The term “gender” in academic studies. Sex/gender distinction. The sex/gender system as structure.
Authors: Gayle Rubin, Joan Scott, Teresa de Lauretis, Anne Fausto-Sterling, Mary Wollstonecraft, Simone de Beauvoir.
Module 2. Power and subjection: how gender is produced.
Power as relation and as device. Gender as a technology of subjectivation. Critique of the autonomous liberal subject
Authors: Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Kate Millet, Sara Ahmed, Gayatri Spivak, Iris Marion Young.
Module 3. Difference, equality and recognition.
Equality versus difference. Recognition of identities vs. critique of essentialism. Feminist critique of enlightened universalism.
Authors: Geneviève Fraisse, Luce Irigaray, Rosi Braidotti, Nancy Fraser.
Module 4. Intersectionality and relations of multiple oppression.
Intersectionality: origin and development. Criticism of the notion of “woman” as the only subject of feminism. Non-hegemonic feminisms.
Authors: Kimberlé Crenshaw, Patricia Hill Collins, bell hooks, Angela Davis, Gloria Anzaldúa, Maria Rodó.
Module 5. The body: norm, performativity and vulnerability.
Body and normalization. Gender performativity. Vulnerable bodies, insubmissive bodies
Key authors: Judith Butler, Paul B. Preciado, Silvia Federici, Rita Segato.
Module 6. Justice, care and dependency relations.
Critique of the Autonomous subject. Interdependence and relational justice. Care as a political issue.
Authors: Joan Tronto, Eva Kittay, Virginia Held, Martha Nussbaum, María Puig de la Bellacasa.
Module 7. Science, knowledge and gender
Science and objectivity: critique of the neutral point of view. Situated knowledge and embodied knowledge. Gender, technology and technoscience.
Authors: Donna Haraway, Sandra Harding, Alicia Puleo.
Activities and Methodology
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Course presentation. Theoretical presentations of the main concepts. Textual analysis. Evaluation of course content and methodology | 45 | 1.8 | |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Tutorials. | 22.5 | 0.9 | |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Preparation of topics and texts. Presentation preparation. Textual analysis preparation. Exam preparation. | 75 | 3 |
In class, the teacher will introduce the topics and provide a brief introduction to the texts that will be discussed collectively. It is highly recommended that students come to class with their notes and the assigned readings. Attending and actively participating in class is crucial.
Students will be required to prepare a textual analysis following a provided guideline and deliver a presentation in class to demonstrate their understanding of the discussed content and achieve the assigned learning outcomes.
If relevant training activities related to the course content take place within the department or other educational contexts, it is advisable to attend them.
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Assessment
Continous Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final exam | 50% | 4 | 0.16 | KM30, KM31, KM32, SM27, SM28, SM31 |
| Text commentary / Oral presentation. | 25% / 25% | 3.5 | 0.14 | KM30, KM31, KM32, KM34, SM27, SM28, SM31 |
The course evaluation is continuous, and attendance in class and consistent course follow-up are recommended. To pass the subject, the minimum grade on the final exam must be 5. If a student fails to meet this condition, they will need to take the reevaluation. However, any student can choose to take the reevaluation to improve their exam grades.
Commentaries and presentations are not subject to reevaluation.
A student who has only completed evaluation activities worth less than 30% will be considered non-evaluable.
There is no second opportunity for assessment.
The professor will assign a date, time, and location for exam review once the course activities have been evaluated and the overall grade has been determined. Students who have to take the reevaluation will have a specific review day after completing the reevaluation activity.
The exam will consist of answering a question and developing a text commentary based on the guidelines explained and worked on in class, which serves as the basis for the presentation.
Class participation: Since the subject is structured as a seminar, the professor will assess active participation in class beyond the mandatory presentation. Activities such as preparing for classes at home, expanding content, making contributions, etc., in addition to their value in the course evaluation, will contribute to rounding up the grade.
If tests cannot be conducted in person, their format will be adapted (maintaining their weighting) to the possibilities offered by the virtual tools of the UAB. Homework, activities, and class participation will be carried out through forums, wikis, and/or exercise discussions via Teams and the Virtual Campus, etc. The professor will ensure that the student can access them or offer alternative means within their reach. In the event that a student engages in any irregularity that could significantly affect the grading of an evaluation act, that evaluation act will be graded as 0, regardless of any disciplinary process that may be initiated. If multiple irregularities occur in the evaluation acts of the same subject, the final grade for that subject will be 0.
For this subject, the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is allowed exclusively in support tasks such as bibliographic or information search, proofreading or translations. It will be necessary to clearly identify which parts have been generated with this technology, specify the tools used and include a critical reflection on how these have influenced the process and the final result of the activity. Non-transparency of the use of AI in this evaluable activity will be considered academic dishonesty and may result in a partial or total penalty in the grade of the activity, or higher penalties in serious cases.
This course does not include a single evaluation system.
Bibliography
Ahmed, Sara (2015). La política cultural de las emociones. UNAM.
Anzaldúa, Gloria E. (1987). La Frontera. Aunt Lute Books.
Beauvoir, Simone de. (1949). El segundo sexo. Ediciones Cátedra.
Braidotti, Rosi (2000). Sujetos nómades. Paidós
Butler, Judith. (1993). Cuerpos que importan. Paidós.
Butler, Judith. (2004). Deshaciendo el género. Paidós.
Collins, Patricia Hill. (2000). Interseccionalidad. Blackwell.
Crenshaw, Kimberlé (1989). “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics”, University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1, pp. 139-167.
Davis, Angela Y. (1981). Mujeres, raza y clase. Women's Press.
De Beauvoir, Simone (2015). El Segundo Sexo. Cátedra.
De Lauretis, Teresa (1996). "La tecnología del género". Mora, Revista del Área Interdisciplinaria de Estudios de la Mujer, (2), 1-26.
Federici, Silvia. (2004). Caliban y la bruja. Traficantes de Sueños.
Fausto-Sterling, Anne. (2000). Cuerpos sexuados. La Marca Editora.
Foucault, Michel. (1976-1984). Historia de la sexualidad (Vols. 1-3). Siglo XXI.
Fraisse, Geneviève (1991). Musa de la razón: La democracia excluyente y la diferencia de los sexos. Cátedra.
Fraser, Nancy. (1995). Redistribution or Recognition? A Political-Philosophical Exchange. Verso.
Fraser, Nancy (2006). La justicia social en la era de la política de la identidad: redistribución, reconocimiento y participación. En N. Fraser & A. Honneth, ¿Redistribución o reconocimiento? Un debate político-filosófico (pp. 21-67). Morata.
Harding, Sandra. (1986). Ciencia y feminismo. Siglo XXI.
Haraway, Donna J. (1985). Ciencia, ciborgs y mujeres. Cátedra.
Held, Virginia (2006). TheEthics of Care: Personal, Political, and Global. Oxford University Press.
hooks, bell. (2015). Teoría feminista: De los márgenes al centro. Routledge.
Irigaray, Luce. (1974). Especulo de la otra mujer. Siglo XXI.
Irigaray, Luce. (1977). Este sexo que no es uno. Pre-Textos.
Kittay, Eva (1999). Love's Labor: Essays on women, equality, and dependency. Routledge.
Laqueur, Thomas (1994). La construcción del sexo. Cuerpo y género desde los griegos hasta Freud. Crítica.
Maffía, Diana y Cabral, Mauro (2009). Los sexos ¿son o se hacen? En D. Maffía (Comp.), Sexualidades migrantes. Género y transgénero (pp. 95-107). Librería de mujeres editoras.
Millett, Kate. (1970). Política sexual. Siglo XXI.
Nussbaum, Martha C. (2006). Las fronteras de la justicia: consideraciones sobre la exclusión. Paidós.
Preciado, Paul B. (2008). Testo Yonqui. Espasa Calpe.
Puig de la Bellacasa, Maria (2017). Matters of Care. University of Minnesota Press.
Puleo, Alicia (2017). Perspectivas ecofeministas de la ciencia y el conocimiento. La crítica al sesgo andro-antropocéntrico. Daimon. Revista Internacional de Filosofía, Suplemento 6 (2017), pp. 41-54.
Rodó-Zárate, Maria (2021). Interseccionalidad. Desigualdades, lugares y emociones. Bellaterra.
Rubin, G. (1986). El tráfico de mujeres: notas sobre la "economía política" del sexo. Nueva Antropología, VIII(30), 95-145.
Scott, J. W. (2011). Género: ¿Todavía una categoría útil para el análisis? La Manzana De La Discordia, 6(1), 95–101.
Segato, Rita Laura. (2016). El sexo y la norma: frente estatal, patriarcado, desposesión, colonidad. Prometeo Libros.
Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. (1988). ¿Puede hablar un cuerpo subalterno?. Macmillan.
Tronto, Joan(1993). Moral Boundaries: A Political Argument for an Ethic of Care. Routledge.
Wollstonecraft, Mary. (1792). Vindicación de los derechos de la mujer. Penguin Books.
Young, Iris Marion. (2006). Responsabilidad por la justicia. Routledge.
Software
There is no specific software for this subject.
Groups and Languages
Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.
| Name | Group | Language | Semester | Turn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| (PAUL) Classroom practices | 1 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |
| (TE) Theory | 1 | Spanish | second semester | morning-mixed |