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Kathy Lubey, Fall 2000
Cornell and Ehrenreich: Feminism and Social Equality
In their respective essays, Drucilla Cornell and Barbara Ehrenreich both
position themselves within feminist debates about social inequality. In
your fourth essay, I would like you to explore the extent to which the
two authors seek to achieve similar or dissimilar goals in society through
feminism. Are there ways in which Cornell's essay provides a model
for the resolution of the various social ills described by Ehrenreich?
Can we imagine Cornell's legal categories being mobilized in the maid
industry? Does either essay expose the limitations and/or strengths of
the other?
Please remember that I do not want you to attempt to answer all
of the above questions. They are intended to provoke thought rather than
to provide an outline for the way you approach your essay.
As always, you should only include quotes that help you to assemble
your own, original discussion. These quotes should be dense and complex,
thereby requiring your analysis of them.
Kathy Lubey, Fall 2000
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Cornell and Faludi: Femininity within The Citadel
In her essay "Living Together," Drucilla Cornell emphasizes
the importance of "demand[ing].the recognition of the equivalent
value of the feminine within sexual difference" (181). That is, rather
than dismiss the feminine as inherently inferior, we should value it as
equal with characteristics that are seen to be masculine. Susan Faludi,
in "The Naked Citadel," shows us many ways in which the customs,
practices, and beliefs of the Citadel faculty and students use and react
to the presence of the feminine.
In this essay, I would like you to use Cornell's concept of the feminine
to examine the ways in which the feminine works, or is perceived to work,
in the sexual dynamics studied by Faludi. Which groups of people
can be seen as feminine in Faludi's essay? To what extent does the Citadel
correspond to Cornell's demand for equivalence, and to what extent does
it refuse to do so? You may draw on Ehrenreich's "Maid to Order"
to elucidate your discussion of the position of femininity, if you so
choose.
Kathy Lubey, Fall 2000
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Faludi, Cornell, and McLaughlin and Heath: The "Group" in
Social Reform
In "Casting the Self: Frames for Identity and Dilemmas for Policy,"
Milbrey W. McLaughlin and Shirley Brice Heath take a sociological approach
to problems of youth culture in economically depressed urban areas. Among
the many facets of their discussion, McLaughlin and Heath emphasize the
importance of group support for urban youths as a crucial component of
youths' sense of security and belonging. How can we connect the discussion
of the group as a unit of society in this essay to notions of the group
in Cornell's and Faludi's accounts?
In this essay, I would like you to consider the role of group identity
in the models of social reform offered by Cornell, Faludi, and McLaughlin
and Heath. In formulating your discussion, you might consider any of the
following: What defines a group? Alongside, or within, the group, how
does the individual function in these models? How do the concerns of sex/gender
identity in Faludi and Cornell become complicated by Heath and McLaughlin?
As always, these questions are intended to provoke thought, not to provide
a model for your essay.
In assembling your discussion, be sure to reference at least two
passages from Faludi and Cornell, and at least three from McLaughlin
and Heath. The passages you cite should be complex and should require
your analysis to make clear their importance in your essay.
Kathy Lubey, Fall 2000
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