Cross-dressing and Gender Performance

This week's readings, in addition to being entertaining, encourage us to think about gender and the performance of gender roles in early America. We see characters "putting on" and "taking off" different genders in different situations, to accomplish different goals.

We discussed in class tonight that dressing as men allowed these female characters certain liberties not generally afforded to women in early America. Of course, women in contemporary society move around much more freely and have many more opportunities, but are there still times that women must "put on" masculinity in order to achieve certain goals? And conversely, can we think of any times men may be encouraged by society to "perform femininity"?

Please discuss these ideas in your posting. And remember that your blog posting is due by 5 on Thursday and your response to your peers by 5 on Friday.

Parents, teach your children well...

Our discussion of Charlotte Temple covered many interesting topics, but one of the most thought provoking was our exploration of agency in the text. Who was to blame for Charlotte's fall? And could it have been prevented? We get the impression that her parents did all they could to keep her out of harm's way, yet despite their efforts, the text did not provide a happy ending for Charlotte.

In your posting, please discuss the portrayal of Charlotte's parents—their actions, words, thoughts—and compare them to contemporary parenting roles. How have things change? How have they stayed the same? What can contemporary parents do to keep their children safe? How can parents today save their daughters and sons from a “treacherous heart” leads to betrayal and abuse?

Another Cause of Female Depravity?

As we turn our attention to novel reading, our recent discussions have revolved around the practice of reading novels as a sure road to "female depravity." It's almost as though the printed words on the page would erase a woman's virtue and ability to reason.

Our conversation in class today turned to modern examples of depravity-inducing texts, though it was limited to comparing novel reading to things like contemporary romantic comedies. But let's take a closer look—if the author of "Novel Reading: A Cause of Female Depravity" were writing today, what would be his or her subject? Remember, we were unsure if the author was male or female, so either perspective could work.

Please answer and discuss this question in your post. And remember, your post is due Thursday by 5, and your response to 3 peers is due Friday by 5.

Retrospective Readings

During the last three weeks we have read a number of early American magazine texts dealing with seduction and fallen women. What are your thoughts, reactions, and reflections on these curious texts? What did you get out of these texts? Which—if any—of the texts spoke to you in a direct, relevant way? Although yesterday’s texts dealt with familiar and topical issues like domestic abuse and teenage pregnancy, we could not generate much discussion about them, and we wondered why. Reflect back on this strange grouping of texts, and reflect back on your reading experiences, and comment on what happened when you encountered these texts.

Please remember that your posting is due by Thursday at 5pm, and your responses to your peers are due by Friday at 5pm.

What's Love Got To Do With It?

Tina Turner asks an excellent question: what, if anything, does love have to do with it? And we could ask this same question of this week's texts. How has the emergence of a social narrative detailing romantic love made its way into print culture? And to what ends? As we discussed in class, to this point most marriages were arranged. In light of that information, could a dependence on romantic love been seen as a rejection of the patriarchal structure? Or since all these women were victimized by their love, should marriage be (perhaps, still?) arranged? Please discuss these ideas and questions in your post.

NOTE: Your posting is due by Thursday at 5pm and your responses to your peers by Friday at 5pm.

Depictions of a Rake

The readings this week talk specifically about seduction and track the creation of the rake in American print culture. In your post, please discuss and describe a rake you have observed in contemporary American texts (movies, books, magazines, songs, TV shows, etc.) and/or in your life. How are these male figures different, or similar to, the seducers depicted in the late eighteenth-century magazine pieces? How has the persona evolved?

Your post is Monday, October 13 by 5pm and the responses to your peers due by Tuesday at 2pm.

Lessons for the Ladies

One of the common themes in this week’s readings is that of female instruction. Some of the narratives touch explicitly on the topic of education (reading, books, etc.) and others simply offer examples of the “ideal” woman, but they all instruct, in one way or another, women’s behavior.

In your posting, please discuss the types of instruction and education you see occurring in these texts. What are women encouraged to do? Not to do? According to the texts, how far does a woman’s education extend?

Please remember that your posting is due by Thursday at 8am and your response to your peers by Friday at 5pm.

Times They Are A-Changin'

In recent weeks we’ve read a variety of texts revolving around the “Fallen” woman. From Mather’s The Wonders of the Invisible World to “A Very Surprising Narrative of a Young Woman, Who Was Discovered in a Cave” (The Panther Narrative), women have been condemned, executed, converted, and sentimentalized.

Please discuss the changes you see developing in these texts. How has the agenda of the author seemed to change? How has the conception of an American audience changed as well? Have we seen revisions to the manner in which women are represented in print culture?

Please remember that your posting is due by Thursday at 8am and your responses to your peers due by Friday at 5 pm.

Young Readers, Take Heed!

Our readings this week feature supposedly “normal” women who simply fell of the path of morality and were forced to pay the consequences. Readers of these curious texts—especially young readers—were encouraged to believe that this “fall” could happen to anyone who dozes off in church, “runs out at night,” or mingles with the wrong crowd. In fact, these earlier moral indiscretions are more fully explored in the text than the alleged infanticides. These women are portrayed as representative figures in order to warn the rising generation of Americans not to disobey parental or civil authority.

How are these women similar or dissimilar to women in contemporary America? To focus more closely, how are they similar of dissimilar to students at TCU? Clearly women today have certain advantages and means to control their reproductive systems, but is it possible that women are still stigmatized running out at night with lewd men? We’ve since outlawed hanging for such “crimes,” but have we developed other ways to punish women for these activities? Please discuss these issues and ideas in your weekly posting.

Remember that your posting is due Thursday at 8am and respond to 3 of your peers by 5 pm on Friday.

Responding to Rountree's "New Witch of the West"

This week, we’d like you to find and read a critical article and respond to it in your posting. Kathryn Rountree’s 1997 Journal of Popular Culture article, “The New Witch of the West: Feminists Reclaim the Crone,” explores a feminist movement to re-examine “the witch and the goddess as images of womanhood” (Rountree 211). This article is available, full-text, from the MLA International Bibliography database, and we talked about accessing it in class.

According to Rountree, the women participating in feminist witch movement claim that, rather than existing as opposites, the witch and the goddess are one and that ordinary women can self-identify with both. Rountree is not advocating for the feminist witch lifestyle, nor is she demeaning it. Rather, her essay charts her process of understanding this movement and researching its participants. She begins (like we did in last week’s posting) by tracking her exposure to witchcraft and witches, leading us through her current understanding of the feminist witch social movement.

Please respond to this essay, incorporating your own developing understanding of witches and witchcraft. What are you reactions to this movement? Have you seen elements of this process of reclaiming agency in your own life?

Please remember to post by 8am Thursday morning and respond to 3 of your classmates’ posts by 5pm on Friday.

Wonders of the Invisible World

In his lengthy discussion and condemnation of witches and witchcraft, Cotton Mather predicts, “Witchcraft will not be fully understood, until the day when there shall not be one Witch in the World” (131).  His prediction is curious, for both early American culture and contemporary, mainstream American culture.  For early American people, Mather’s statement allows for an inexplicable, unceasing presence of evil in the world—a belief that could be (and was) wielded irresponsibly and detrimentally.   As contemporary American readers, Mather’s prediction causes us to reexamine mainstream portrayals of witches and other supernatural beings, indicating that we might still be trying to understand both witchcraft and the supernatural.  Cable TV shows like Supernatural, Charmed, The Ghost Whisperer, Bewitched—even Marge is accused of being a witch on The Simpsons Halloween special!—exploit our fascination with witchcraft in contemporary terms.  We can also think of movies like The Sixth Sense, Practical Magic, The Blair Witch Project, or The Craft, all dedicated to exploring and understanding witchcraft in contemporary times and all pointing to the idea that our society may still need the presence of an inexplicable power.  Consider also that Wicca and various forms of paganism and natural religion are among the fastest growing beliefs today.

As you continue to re-read and digest Mather’s musings (and convoluted syntax), consider possible encounters you may have had with witches, witchcraft, or the supernatural.  These “encounters” can and should be broadly defined—textually, visually, spiritually, personally, or theoretically.  You may also consider how terms and phrases used in Mather’s Wonders of the Invisible World have translated into modern rhetoric (for example, “going on a witch-hunt” usually means some sort of campaign of persecution directed against a person or a group holding unpopular or unorthodox views).  Can you think of any “witch-hunts” that you have observed, or heard of?  Also, consider Mather’s concept of evil.  He and his contemporaries believed that evil was an active agent, an entity known as the devil, that sought to corrupt the world.  How do we explain or understand the existence of evil in our contemporary world?

Please remember that your post in response to this prompt is due by Thursday (9/4) by 8:00 am, and your 3 responses to your classmates are due by Friday (9/5) at 5:00 pm.  

Blog Links Posted

Hi All. If you scroll down on this page, you'll see that we've posted links to all your blogs-- which are excellent! Please take the time to click on your own link, just to make sure everything is in working order. If there are any issues with the technology, just let us know.

Also, remember that you should read and comment on your classmates' blogs (at least 3); length requirements (50 words each) and additional details are listed on your "Blog Assignment" handout. Please do this by 8 am, Tuesday (9/2).

Finally, if you take the time to poke around our class blog, you'll notice that we've labeled the postings. We do this to help us (and you) keep track of what we've said, where, and some times why. Here's a quick list of the labels and what they mean so that you can keep track as well:

• "Prompts" are questions/topics that you will be required to answer or discuss on your blog. Prompts are usually announced and discussed in class, but a more detailed version/any changes will appear here.
  
• "Posts" are our own responses to some of the prompts or topics. We won't post on every topic, but we'll participate in many of the discussions emerging on the blogs.
  
• "F.Y.I." will be anything interesting (course-related) that might interest you.

We hope this helps. Happy blogging!

Welcome and First Assignment

Your first assignment for this class is to create your own blog using Blogger and to write your first post. Here are the instructions:

[1] Set up your blog: To do so, go to www.blogger.com, and follow the on-screen directions for setting up a free blog. Please take some time to personalize your blog. This is a way for your classmates, Dr. Williams, and I to get to know you, so feel free to include a photo, links to other sites you enjoy, etc. Please make sure that your name (first/preferred name and last initial) is clear on your blog. We know that some/many of you already have a blog where you write posts; however, for the purposes of this class, you will need a separate blog that is focused on reflecting on your work in this course. Feel free to provide links to your other blog(s) if you would like to share them with us and with your classmates. Keep in mind, though, that we will post your blog address on the course website, so your class members will have access to your blog. You can restrict general public access to your blog, however, under “Settings” by marking “no” for the question “Add your blog to our listings?”

[2] Write your first entry: Write a letter of introduction about yourself. Start with the basics—where you are from, what year you are at TCU, what major, etc. Then, we’d like to know a few more specific things about you and your participation in the course.

*First, help us to get you know you. What brought you to TCU? If you were made Chancellor of TCU, what are the first things you would change? What do you feel makes a good teacher? A good students? If you could have dinner with any three people (living or dead), who would they be? What are three things we should know about you? What are three things you'd like to know about us?

* Next, think about your interest in this course. Why did you choose to take this course? If your answer is simply that it’s required, then what would you like to get out of it?

* Now we'd like you to consider your academic and personal experiences as they relate to this course. What types of reading do you do, inside and outside the classroom? What types of texts do you enjoy? What types of writing do you primarily do (think beyond traditional school papers to other kinds of writing and technologies, like email, texting, etc.)? How do you feel about your writing? Why?

* Finally, throughout the semester, we’ll discuss the personal, political, and historical arguments inherent in texts—arguments that are some times not readily apparent, intended by the author, or easily understood by a contemporary audience. As a first step to uncovering, analyzing, and understanding these arguments, take a few minutes to talk about what kind of argument you think your blog is making. Consider choices you made about colors, images, the way you introduce yourself, etc. What do these choices say about you as the blog author? About your participation in the course?

At the end of your letter to your blog audience, please write a final statement letting us know that you have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the course syllabus, which we see as a contract for our course. Remember that all of your blog entries should be in paragraph form.

[3] Follow up: Add a comment to this post that includes your name, section, and blog address (http://____.blogspot.com), so that we can add it to the list on our course page. Also let us know if you have any questions regarding the syllabus or anything discussed in our first meeting of the course.