WGST 305 Q* - Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Class in Popular Culture (3 credits)

This class gives insight into the historical foundations, theoretical concepts, political manifestations, and social issues concerning feminist interpretations of popular culture. Students explore how popular culture generates and articulates understandings of gender and sexuality and their intersections with other identity markers such as race, class, and ability. Popular culture is never simply entertainment. It provides us with the stories, images, and scripts that enable us to imagine and practice femininities, masculinities, and sexualities. These, in turn, are imbued with class and racial values and characteristics. We absorb these norms in the ads we see, the movies/television we watch, and the music we listen to. The class focuses especially on how feminist concepts and theory provide the tools to become aware of issues of discrimination and oppression in pop culture, to discuss them effectively, and to promote social justice. F, S.