The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Women’s Studies, IYKWIMAITYD

Posted on | June 30, 2014 | 20 Comments

What aspect of feminism was I researching when I found this? Never mind; it doesn’t matter now. The point is that I found a 2009 syllabus for a Women’s Studies course (“Introduction to Feminisms”) at Boston College, which was taught that year by Ellen Friedman. This sophomore-level class is cross-listed under the departments of sociology, history and English, and is required of Women’s Studies minors (Boston College doesn’t offer a major in the subject).

Friedman’s syllabus includes the names of many authors familiar to any student of feminism: Audre Lorde, Simone de Beauvoir, Adrienne Rich, Gloria Steinem and Susan Brownmiller, to name a few. However, the principal textbook for the course was Feminist Frontiers, edited by Verta Taylor, Leila Rupp and Nancy Whittier. This is a 576-page paperback described by its publisher, McGraw-Hill, as the “most widely used anthology of feminist writings,” which is now in its ninth edition.

Feminist Frontiers, earlier editions of which were subtitled “Rethinking Sex and Gender,” was first published in 1983, edited by Taylor — then at Ohio State University — and her mentor, sociology professor Laurel Richardson. It was while at Ohio State that Taylor met Leila Rupp, who became (a) the first faculty member of the Women’s Studies program there, and (b) Taylor’s lesbian lover. Taylor and Rupp are now on the faculty of the University of California-Santa Barbara, where they are proud to be known as “the professors of lesbian love.”

The third editor of the ninth edition of Feminist Frontiers, Nancy Whittier, got her Ph.D. in sociology at — you guessed it — Ohio State University. She is now a professor at Smith College, where she lives with her lesbian partner, feminist historian Kate Weigand, and their three children. Weigand, who gets a shout-out in the preface of Feminist Frontiers for her “feedback” and “companionship,” is the author of Red Feminism: American Communism and the Making of Women’s Liberation, about which reviewer Henry Makow says, “Weigand . . . shows that modern feminism is a direct outgrowth of American Communism. . . . Many second-wave feminist leaders were ‘red diaper babies,’ the children of Communists.”

So, the three editors of “the most widely used anthology of feminist writings” — a basic college textbook for introductory Women’s Studies classes, which has been in print for more than 30 years — are all lesbians. Just a coincidence, I’m sure.

 

Category: Education, Feminism

Comments

20 Responses to “Women’s Studies, IYKWIMAITYD”

  1. Evi L. Bloggerlady
    July 1st, 2014 @ 12:08 am

    Come on, them all being lesbians…why would that be?

  2. Kirby McCain
    July 1st, 2014 @ 12:22 am

    Let’s call it ‘How Not To Be A Mother’ and speculate about the declining birthrate of European peoples.

  3. qwertyuio
    July 1st, 2014 @ 2:22 am

    I wish more men were this honest about how threatening they find lesbianism

  4. DeadMessenger
    July 1st, 2014 @ 2:39 am

    Just an odd coincidence.

  5. Anon Y. Mous
    July 1st, 2014 @ 5:02 am

    There are an awful lot of names I never heard of before in this post, or at least I’m not aware of hearing them in the past. Gloria Steinem spoiled my otherwise perfect batting record by somehow forcing her way into my consciousness.

  6. Gunga
    July 1st, 2014 @ 6:54 am

    Men find lesbianism threatening? Did I miss another meeting?

  7. Quartermaster
    July 1st, 2014 @ 8:42 am

    Obviously you weren’t on the distribution list for the memo. Neither was I.

  8. texlovera
    July 1st, 2014 @ 8:56 am

    Nice straw man ya got there. Too bad it’s on fire…

  9. texlovera
    July 1st, 2014 @ 8:57 am

    Who knew that OSU was the epicenter of the lesbofeminazi movement? One more reason to hate the effing buckeyes.

  10. Daniel O'Brien
    July 1st, 2014 @ 9:29 am

    My HS English Honors class teacher said when making a point in writing: Once is an incidence, Twice is a Coincidence, but Thrice proves a point.

  11. Jeanette Victoria
    July 1st, 2014 @ 10:51 am

    Does anyone remember moral clauses for teachers?

  12. Mike G.
    July 1st, 2014 @ 1:02 pm

    Those went out with prayer in schools. Say in the early sixties.

  13. Jeanette Victoria
    July 1st, 2014 @ 1:38 pm

    I wonder what this country will look like in 50years will it even exist? We are the new Sodom

  14. ameryx
    July 2nd, 2014 @ 12:50 am

    Why is the woman of color on the book cover topless? Are the authors racists?

  15. K-Bob
    July 2nd, 2014 @ 1:11 am

    Maybe they hired an artist from National Geographic to do the cover.

  16. Their Agenda, and Hers : The Other McCain
    July 3rd, 2014 @ 7:19 am

    […] suggest that Kelsey Miller take time to read a Women’s Studies textbook, except that her boyfriend would never forgive me. Ultimately, feminist theory is incompatible with […]

  17. Crazy: #RadFem Announces ‘Major Shift or Breakthrough in My Feminism’ : The Other McCain
    July 8th, 2014 @ 5:41 pm

    […] In case anyone wondered why Ohio State University was singled out for scrutiny, the answer is: My choice was entirely random. Pick any major university, look up their Women’s Studies program and look up the syllabus for the introductory course, and compare your findings. This kind of radicalism is ubiquitous in Women’s Studies curricula, and it is no surprise that the most popular anthology of feminist writings — Feminist Frontiers, widely used as a standard textbook — is edited by radical lesbians. […]

  18. ZION'S TRUMPET » “Communitarianism”, “Intersectionalism”, and Other Totally Worthless Shit Taught at our Universities
    July 9th, 2014 @ 7:31 am

    […] In case anyone wondered why Ohio State University was singled out for scrutiny, the answer is: My choice was entirely random. Pick any major university, look up their Women’s Studies program and look up the syllabus for the introductory course, and compare your findings. This kind of radicalism is ubiquitous in Women’s Studies curricula, and it is no surprise that the most popular anthology of feminist writings — Feminist Frontiers, widely used as a standard textbook — is edited by radical lesbians. […]

  19. What Is Radical Feminism? ‘Make Deviance the Core of Our Identity’ : The Other McCain
    July 10th, 2014 @ 9:48 am

    […] it “anti-woman” to tell the truth about feminism? Do I examine Women’s Studies textbooks and Women’s Studies curricula because I hate women? Is it ignorance, homophobia or misogyny […]

  20. Sex Trouble: Radical Feminism and the Long Shadow of the ‘Lavender Menace’ : The Other McCain
    July 14th, 2014 @ 11:17 pm

    […] us to argue that the most eminent academics in the field of Women’s Studies (including the lesbian editors of the widely used textbook Feminist Frontiers) are not […]