AMST 43147 - American "Chicks" in a Global World: The Politics of Postfeminist Culture

Institution:

University of Notre Dame

Subject:

American Studies

Description:

Since the mid 1990s, a new wave of American popular culture has featured (and been marketed toward) the figure of the "chick": a single woman in her twenties or thirties who finds individual empowerment, sexual agency, and self esteem as she navigates the muddy waters of careers, relationships, and shopping. Most academic readings of this cultural explosion have understood it as a symptom of *postfeminism*: the myth that the political goals of American feminism have been accomplished, and that women in the US can now seize freedom by making empowered choices at work, at home, and at the mall. Our study of "chick" culture will use this academic literature on postfeminism as a starting place. We will then expand existing critiques of postfeminist culture by putting them in conversation with critical race and transnational feminist scholarship, in order to critically read various examples of postfeminist popular culture. We will assess how these examples -- including film (chick flicks), literature (chick lit), video games (action chicks), and music (rock chicks), as well as television, video, and internet texts -- define "Americanness" in relation to social and political formations such as gender, generation, race, sexuality, globalization, and political economy. The senior seminar is designed to be a capstone experience for American Studies majors. Readings and assignments will explore course themes in the context of American Studies as a field. Throughout the semester, students will keep a reading journal and be responsible for occasional presentations of course readings. Requirements will also include seminar-style discussions and either a final research paper of approximately 20 pages or a creative project accompanied by a critical essay, based on primary source research.

Credits:

3.00

Credit Hours:

Prerequisites:

Corequisites:

Exclusions:

Level:

Instructional Type:

Lecture

Notes:

Additional Information:

Historical Version(s):

Institution Website:

www.nd.edu

Phone Number:

(574) 631-5000

Regional Accreditation:

North Central Association of Colleges and Schools

Calendar System:

Semester

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