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WOMEN AND SEX ROLES C S etter
The City University Graduate Center
33 West 42 Street, New York City 10036 212 790-4435

Vol. II, No. 2 November 1980

THE NEW SCHOLARSHIP ABOUT WOMEN

In the 1970s feminist scholars spent a good deal of productive energy mapping the
female world, Catharine Stimpson said in her October 8th talk on "The New Scholar-

ship about Women: The State of the Art." Providing an overview of this new
scholarship about women as the first speech of the Center's Fall 1980 Lecture Series,
Dr. Stimpson noted, however, that the idea of a "female world" was actually only

one of four paradigms that the short life af the feminist studies had already
experienced. These shifting paradigms contributed to an accumulating wealth of

images and ideas in the studies rather than a simple march from one concept to another,.

Setting the stage for these studies, Dr. Stimpson pointed out, was the first of
these paradigms, an attention to women's sufferings and invisibility, sex discrimina-
tion, male fear, and women as Others. Deeply influenced by Simone de Beauvior's
The Second Sex, this early study of an Other world "documented the belief that
women, as victims of discrimination, were not hallucinating and were perhaps

saying something real about the real world."" Pervading this avenue of study was

a quarrel: whether or not the subordination of women was universal. 'No one
doubted discrimination against women politically or subordination politically or
repression psychologically," said Dr. Stimpson. "The quarrel was not over the
fact: the quarrel was over rather the universality and the effect. If one
believes it is, depression is an emotional consequence. If one believes it is not,
a certain sense of hope may creep in through the cloudy sky."

In response, a more complex set of ideas evolved and a postulate of two independent,
intersecting worlds was formed. In this second paradigm, the new scholars of women
began to investigate the idea of women acting in each of these independent but
interdependent spheres, one, "a world of production, of public activity, of culture,
and of formal speech" -- the world of men -~ and the other, "a world of reproduction,
of private and domestic activity, of nature and the natural, and of informal speech" --
the world..of women. It was the world of the male, or the realm of the father,

which "had decided what history was. This world had formed our consciously collective
memory, with all its repressions, omissions, and stutters," Dr. Stimpson noted. "The
three words, performance, competence, and success were almost watchwords for studies
in the 1970's. There is some belief that perhaps there was an internalized,

implicit notion of success in these studies: to be successful was to be rich, public,
and powerful." The realm of the mother and of the daughter was “at least in theory,
the domain of love. Because it had lacked control over the codification of our
conscious and collective memory, it had no collective memory, except perhaps in

family histories, lost diaries, and old wives' tales." Topics of study as diverse

as the economic of housework, the psychology of female friendships, and the histories
of convents lent a new importance to the ordinary life and to the everyday. Asa
result, in certain academic clusters there was a new concern for the subjective and
the articulation of a particular set of attitudes about women.


Dialectical reasoning, however, was one of the forces that soon crossed thes
course of the new scholarship, and this newest paradigm's validity was questioned.
In its place, or rather, soon at its side was a new paradigm for study. Dr. Stimpson
explained: "Some believe now that it [the notion of two spheres] may be an
unconscious: perpetuation of older habits of thought, rooted in the Greeks, that
practice of dividing the world into polarity, a habit of thought the Victorians
helped to burnish for the modern world. Others, very legitimately, believe that
the paradigm simply does not account for the specifics of too many women's lives,
for the differences in their existences." The model was considered incomplete

for women who are black, lesbian, and citizens of the Third World. She continued,
"The third development has been the insistence on particularities on the study of
differences and on the creation of an enormous number of micro-studies, empirical
studies that have value in and of themselves, even though they might not always
have had an overarching theory behind them, but as the study of differences

became popular, almost simultaneously, it was joined by the profound debate about
sexual difference itself."

Forming the basis of this debate about differentiation for more than ten years

and becoming the third paradigm was what Dr. Stimpson referred to as the minimal
theory of sexual differentiation. The minimal theory stated that the biological
differences, especially in terms of reproduction, had been inflated, and most
differences were merely the results of culture, ideology, education, and socializa-—
tion. Dr. Stimpson noted, "Everyone who believes in the minimal theory says

nurture means more than nature. Gender controls sex; not sex, genders." She
observed, "The political consequences of this are clear. For a logical consequence,
the minimal theory of differentiation is the belief that history is a record of
change and of cultural creations. If this is what history is, we can change. So
Nancy Chodorow reassures her readers in The Reproduction of Parenting that parenting
can be reconstituted as one step towards establishing a sexually egalitarian world."

However, this optimistic paradigm too shifted in the past four years into what

Dr. Stimpson called the maximal theory of sexual differentiation: "Its implicit
historiography is that history is an evolutionary record that stresses not simply
change, but continuities....It is articulated by people who would call themselves
feminists.'' She continued, "They believe that we must destabilize the bad treat-
ment of women, not continue it. They believe we.must release and not repress the
female. They believe we must honor and not sentimentalize the maternal. They
believe that we should applaud women’s rich sexuality rather than mourn the lack of
a phallus, but nevertheless, from several different sources, an interest in and an
attempt to justify profound or maximal sexual differentiation has emerged."

Dr. Stimpson traced this theory to three sources: American social science, cultural
feminism, and contemporary French theory and noted that the maximal theory had an
analog in the political battles about the women's movement: "The political and
intellectual movements have merged simultaneously in time, as part of our dis-
quietude abou shifts in our sex gender arrangements."

There is resistance to the new scholarship about women, Dr. Stimpson said, but
counteracting this force are research centers and women's studies programs. Dr
Dr. Stimpson offered her only prognosis in the beginning of her speech: "I think
for those of us who wonder if we're going to survive the 1980's it is important
to remember that the new scholarship about women has survived the 1970's."

-excerpted by the Newsletter editor,
Nancy Brocklehurst


Notes

e The Association for Women in Psychology has planned its Fall series of meetings:
' , November 21, 7:30 p.m. - Room 1629, CUNY Graduate Center - "Humor, Sex, and
Power," discussed by Leigh Marlowe, Pearl Lewyn, and others.
- December 14, 2-4 p.m. ~ Holiday Party
. January 16, 7 p.m. - "Professional Issues for Women in Psychology"

Also, the Association has formed small special-interest groups. For information
about the "Psychological Research on Women" group, call Anne Viviano at 589-7774.
¥f you're interested in "Peer Supervision for Psychotherapists," call Hilda Meltzer
at 873-0314.

eThe Committee to End Sterilization Abuse has disbanded. Some CESA members are now
working with the National Women's Health Network on their sterilization abuse
monitoring project. The Network can be contacted at 2025 "I" St., N.W., Suite 105,
Washington, D.C. 20006.
Other organizations that have information on this issue:
Reproductive Rights National Network
41 Union Square West, Rm. 206-9, New York, NY 10003

Committee for Abortion Rights and Against Sterilization Abuse
386 Park Ave. South, Rm. 1502, New York, NY 10016

eWomen's Pentagon Action will be a meeting of women in Washington, D.C. to recognize
the connection between the violence of the Pentagon and the violence in women's
daily lives. On Sunday, November 16, women will share political concerns, cultural
experiences, and work skills. On Monday, November 17, they will demonstrate at
the Pentagon, many participating in a nonviolent civil disobedience. For more
information, contact Women's Pentagon Action, 29 W. 21 St., New York, NY 10010

ePaula Webster, a Center Research Associate, and Lucy Gilbert, a psychologist who
works with battered women, are writing a book for Beacon Press on the psychological
and cultural meanings of women victimization. Both have been active in the women's
movement for the past 10 years.

"We're particularly interested in women's experiences of child abuse, incest,
rape, and battering. We think that recording women's testimony is crucial in
telling the story of women's coping strategies in the face of great danger.

Without these stories, no understanding of the sexual antagonism and gender

violence that conditions our lives can emerge. We believe that it is women themselves
and not the ‘experts' who will ultimately make sense of and change the social
relations that perpetuate women's victimization. It is for these reasons that

we are asking for your help," says Paula Webster.

If you have survived one or more of these experiences and would be willing
to discuss it with them, please contact them at either 865-8742 or 663-0142.

eDr. Joyce Gelb will teach a course on "Women, Power, and Public Policy" (Political
Science 835.1) next semester at the Graduate Center. The four-credit course will
meet Thursdays from 11:45 to 1:45 p.m.

eThe Mothers’ Center of Central New Jersey is a support system of mothers for
mothers in the community. Founding member and CUNY psychology graduate student
Ann Saltzman stresses the peer-centered orientation of the service. It offers
support and study groups led by mothers (some with advanced degreas) ,workshops
and lectures, resources and referrals, and research and dissemination of information.
Call Ann at 201-889-5305 for information.


Research

The Women's Educators’ Fourth Annual Research on Women in Education Award will
recognize a published or unpublished research report in journal or article format

on any aspect of women in education that was conducted or written up during 1979-80.
Entries must be postmarked by December 15, 1980. For more information about the
award, see the Center's bulletin board or contact Carol Shakeshaft; Coordinator-
Elect; Women Educators; School of Education; Hofstra University; Hempstead, New York.

Radcliffe College has announced a program of small grants to support post-doctoral
research on women. Eligible projects must draw upon resources at the Schlesinger
Library on the History of Women in America and the Murray Research Center and not

be receiving support from any fellowship program at the time of research at Radcliffe.
Three application deadlines remain in the coming year: December 15, 1980 and
February 15 and April 15, 1981. For more information, see the Center's bulletin
board or write to the Director of the Library or of the Center; Radcliffe College;

10 Garden Street; Cambridge, MA 02138.

The Women's Studies Program of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
will be awarding grants averaging $1,000 to be used for research expenses connected
with a dissertation for research about women in any field of study. The last day

to request applications is November 14. For more information, see our bulletin board
or write to the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation; Women's Studies
Program; Box 642; Princeton, New Jersey 08540.

NETWORKS

As the content of a Directory on the Research on Women, 1980, the Center for
Continuing Education of Women at the University of Michigan seeks to identify

people who have recently completed or are now working on research topics related
to women. If interested, send your name to the University of Michigan Center for
Continuing Education of Women; 330 Thompson Street; Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.

Interested in a chance to achieve a non-sexist, ecologically-sane future? The
Clark Force Confluence of Feminists and Environmentalists is a network of women
living in the Northwest who are involved in making connections between feminism
and environmentalism, women's roles and technology. They are interested in
contacting others who share their concern. For more information, write to them
at 315 S. 4th E.; Missoula, Montana 59801.

Graduate students at the University of Miamt need help in locating women who

are returning to graduate school (or are recent graduates) after a hiatus of

five years. They hope to create a guide that will alleviate the apprehension
these women feel. If you have contact with such women, please ask them to

write to Wendy Kheel or Barbara Gomez at 1750 NE 115th St.; Miami, Florida 33181.

PROJECTS

Dr. Linda Ching Sledge asks Center associates to contact her if they would like

to serve as subjects of her research. She is particularly interested in inter-
viewing young Asian-American women with strong opinions on changing women's roles
within the family structure. She may be reached at 68 Grandview Avenue; Pleasant-
ville, New York 10570.


Se eee... ee ———eeoe
CALL FOR PAPERS

The Women's Studies Division of the Western Social Sciences Association is calling

for papers for their 1981 meetings in San Diego, California on April 23 through 25.
This year's focus will be on the effect of sex, race, and class. The deadline

is November 15. See our bulletin board or write to Pat MacCorquodale; WSSA Women's
Studies Division; Department of Sociology; University of Arizona; Tucson, Arizona.

Ethnic American Women will be the topic of a conference of the Program for the

Study of Women and Men in Society at the University of Southern California on

April 30 through May 1, 1981. The purpose of the conference will be to showcase
ethnic women who are engaged in scholarly work within an academic framework and

whose work may or may not be connected with their respective communities. If you

can help identify such women, write to Patricia Lin Blinde; Chair, Planning

Committee on Ethnic American Women; Program for the Study of Women and Men in Society;
University of Southern California; University Park; Los Angeles, CA 90007.

The International Interdisciplinary Congress on Women, which our Center is cospon-
soring, will be held at the University of Haifa, Israel in December 1981. This
Congress is designed to help feminist scholars throughout the world share their
research with one another. Deadline for submission of papers is April 1, 1981.

For more details, contact the Center or write to The Secretariat; International
Interdisciplinary Congress on Women; 122 Hayarkon St.; P.O. Box 3054; Tel Aviv, Israel.

The Association for Women in Psychology seeks program proposals for their National
Conference in Boston, March 5-8, 1981.

Jobs

A tenure-track position is available at the University of New Hampshire in the
Women's Studies Program. The applicant selected will divide time between teaching
and program coordination, beginning July 1, 1981. The applicant should send a
resume, names of three referees, and sample syllabuses or outlines of past or
potential women's studies courses by December 1, 1980, to Barbara White; Women's
Studies Program; Murkland Hall; University of New Hampshire; Durham, NH 03824.

Newcomb College of Tulane University is searching for a director of its women's
center, who will hold an adjunct faculty appointment and teach one course in

an academic department. Candidates should have the Ph.D. and experience in
funded research, preferably in women's research areas. Salary: $17,000-$19,000.
Resumes should be sent by December 1 to Dean Susan Wittig; Newcomb College;

1229 Broadway; New Orleans, LA 70118.

William Paterson College may have a part-time position for the Spring 1981
semester only to teach some of the following courses: women and politics,
political socialization, and seminar on women in comparative politics. Teaching
experience is required and a Ph.D. preferred. Send resume by December 1 to
Mildred Weil; Dean, School of Social Science; William Paterson College of

New Jersey; Wayne, NJ 07470.

SUNY at Albany is anticipating an opening, contingent on funding, which combines

the directorship of the Women's Studies Program with teaching responsibilities in
an academic department. Send applications before November 15 to Women's Studies;
c/o Office of Personnel; Administration Building 318; SUNY at Albany; 1400 Wash-

ington Avenue; Albany, New York 12222.


Conferences

The Federation of Organizations for Professional Women will be holding their

annual meeting in Washington, D.C. on November 14-15. The theme of this meeting

is "Public Policy, Professional Women, and Politics: The Next Four Years.
Registration forms may be obtained from the Federation office at.2000 P Street, N.W.:
Suite 403; Washington, D.C. 20036.

"Women: A Developmental Perspective" is a research conference that will address
a broad range of research issues concerning the physical and psychological
development of women. It will be held in Bethesda, Maryland on November 20-21
and is sponsored by the National Institue of Child Health and Human Development.
Call Pamela Driscoll of the Office of Research Reporting, NICHD, at (301) 496-
5133 for more information.

"Women in Science Careers" will be workshop that will encourage women who are
unemployed or underemployed to consider training for a career in science. The
workshop will be held in New York on January 15-16. For applications, write to
Women in Science Careers; The New York Academy of Sciences; 2 E. 63rd St.3;

New York, NY 10021.

'"Jomen and Men in Greece: A Society in Transition," will be a symposium held in

Philadelphia on November 14-16.

The Modern Greek Studies Association will present a symposium on "Women and Men
In Greece: A Society in Transition" in Philadelphia on November 14-16. For
more information about this meeting, see the brochure on our bulletin board.

"In Praise of Half the Saints: Theology of the Changing Ministry of Women" will
be a conference sponsored by the Committee on the Ministry of Women at The
Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine on Saturday, November 8. For more infor-
mation, call the Cathedral or see the Center's bulletin board.

"Women Taking Charge: Personal and Political Empowerment" will be the theme of

a conference at Ramapo College on Saturday, November 8. Robin Morgan will be the
keynote speaker, and the registration fee is only $7! For more information, contact
Ramapo College Women's Center; 505 Ramapo Valley Road; Mahwah, New Jersey 07430.

The Women's Center at SUNY, Stony Brook is sponsoring a Lesbian Feminist Conference
on November 22 and 23. Call the Center at (516) 246-3540 for more details.

The American Association of University Women will be having a community forum on
"Women and Aging: Realities and Myths," on Thursday, November 6 at Brooklyn College
from 7-9 p.m. See our bulletin board for details.

"The Identification and Treatment of Spouse Abuse: Health and Mental Health Agency
Roles" will be the topic of a conference at the Warwick Hotel, New York City, on
Friday, November 21. See our bulletin board or call Anne Boehme of Long Island
Jewish-Hillside Medical Center at 470-2114 for more information.


Publications

Read any good books lately? We'd like to hear about them. A one or two
paragraph review or simply a short annotation about a new publication would be
fine for sharing your finding with Newsletter readers.

Theories of Women's Studies, edited by Gloria Bowles and Renate Duelli-Klein of the
Women's Studies Program, University of California, Berkeley. Selections include
Bari Watkins on "Feminism: A Last Chance for the Humanities?" and Renate Duelli-
Klein on "How to Do What We Want to Do: Thoughts about a Feminist Methodology."

To order the publication, make checks for $4.50 payable to the Regents of the
University of California, Berkeley. The address is Women's Studies; 301 Campbell;
UC Berkeley; Berkeley, CA 94720.

Women _and Technology: Deciding What's Appropriate. Proceedings from a conference
held in April 1979 at the University of Montana. Highlights include Judy Smith on

"What Could Appropriate Technology Mean for Women?" and Corky Bush on "Cultural
Images of Women and Technology." Copies of the proceedings are $2.50 each from
Women & Technology Network; 315 S. 4th E.; Missoula, Montana 59801.

International Directory of Researchers in Jewish Folklore, Ethnology, and Related
Fields, compiled and edited by Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, with Anne Kaplan,

Devorah Sperling, and Toby Blum-Dobkin. This directory is the first comprehensive
and detailed listing of over 350 researchers engaged in the study of Jewish folklore
and culture in more than 16 countries. The directory is fully indexed and includes
research on women. To order the directory, make checks for $5.75 payable to the
Jewish Folklore and Ethnology Newsletter and mail to JFEN; Max Weinreich Center for
Advanced Jewish Studies (YIVO); 1048 Fifth Ave.; New York, NY 10028.

Proceedings of the National Conference on Rape Prevention Theory, Strategies and

Research, November 17-19, 1978, Columbus, Ohio. Mail a $5 check to Women Against
Rape, P.O. Box 02084; Columbus, Ohio 43202.

Don't Go Dancing Mother, by Rose Safran. This unusual and informative story has
a strong feminist thrust: women, not men, are the caretakers of the elderly.

To order, send a check for $4.95 to Tide Book Publishing Company, Box 268,
Manchester, Massachusetts 01944.

The following publications are available from The Program on Women; Northwestern
University; 1902 Sheridan Road; Evanston, Illinois 60201.

Grantsmanship, by Arlene Kaplan Daniels. $2.75.

Managing the Life Cycle: Conference Proceedings and Commissioned Papers, edited

by Marilyn D. Jacobson and Dorothy H. Salene. $6.
The Health of Women at Work, by Vilma R. Hunt. $6.

Women and Health Care, by Sheryl K. Ruzek. $3.50.


1980

November —-December

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Friday, November 7 2 p.m. Menstruation Study Group, Room 1401

Thursday, November 13 7 p.m. Committee for Abortion Reform and Against
Sterilization meets at 380 Second Ave., 22nd fl.
"Our Lives on the Liné," a video of black
women discussing ahortions,will be shown.
Call their office at 532-6685 for details.

Friday, November 14 2-3 p.m. JUDY WALKOWITZ, Associate Professor of History
at Rutgers University, will speak about
"'MURDER, MURDER, MUTILATION WHITECHAPEL':
JACK THE RIPPER AND OUTCAST LONDON," a study
of the effect of public discourse on class
and sexuality on a working class neighborhood.
Third Floor Stuéio.

Tuesday, November 18 1:30= Steering Committee Meeting
3 p.m.
Friday, November 21 3 p.m. Women and Health Group, Room 1401

"Effects and Experiences of Pregnancy in
Different Social Groups" will be the topic
of discussion.

November 27-30 THANKSGIVING

Tuesday, December 2 6:30 p.m. Women and Urban Environment Group, Room 1437
Katrin Adams of the Women's Development Corp.
will talk about "Working with Community Women
on Housing and Community Services."

Friday, December 5 2-3 p.m. Menstruation Study Group, Room 1401
Friday, December 5 3-5 p.m. Associates Meeting, Room 1401
Thursday, December 11 7 p.m. Committee for Abortion Reform and Against

Sterilization meets in Room 207, Grad. Center.
First of a two-part discussion on the relation-
ship between reproductive rights and lesbian rights.

Friday, December 12 4 p.m. LINDA NOCHLIN, Distinguished Professor of Art
History at the Graduate Center, will speak on
"THE IMAGERY OF THE WORKING WOMAN IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY."
Third Floor Studio.

Friday, December 19 2-5 p.m. Women and Health Group - Film Festival and
Holiday Party - The well-known movie, "Birth,"
by R.D. Laing, and "All My Babies" will be shown.
Third Floor Studio.

December 24-31 WINTER RECESS

CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF WOMEN AND SEX ROLES