Category: Womens Studies

Our
rubric includes: 
Paper
includes and labels the following: Introduction, Literature Review, Methods,
Findings -Descriptive, Findings – Analytical, Conclusion and reflections Each
section meets the required number of pages.
Sources: Paper include a minimum of 8-9 academic sources as well as the
following required articles: 1. Doing Gender (West and Zimmerman) 2.
Intersectionality (Collins and Bilge) 3. Performance of Sexuality (Trautner) 4.
Children Constructing Gender (Messner). 
Works
Cited Page and In-text Citations: Works Cited Page included Works Cited
follows ASA or CMS style (per examples). Movie citation included in
bibliography and properly cited (if applicable). In-text citations included
throughout paper and wherever applicable. In-text citations follow ASA or CMS
style (per guidelines).
Methods:
Methods sections address perpetration, description of observation site or
movie, how many hours and days researcher observed, researcher’s role as the
observer, and how researcher focused their observations. The required article
is cited.
Analysis:
Descriptive Findings are clear and detailed with direct quotes or paraphrasing.
And Analytical findings address all four levels or analysis. Analysis applies
required theories (and other relevant theories) and is academically
substantive. And the required article is cited.
Literature
Review: Literature review provides a clear review of the existing literature on
intersectionality, doing gender and discusses strengths and weaknesses of the
existing literate. Review is academically substantive. Review cites the
required articles.
Conclusion: Conclusion
is academically substantive and includes the significance of the research and
personal reflections.
Research Paper Criteria:
•Use this step by step outline to set up
your research paper. The paper must meet the following criteria:
•MS Word Document
•7 – 8 double spaced pages
•Works Cited on a separate page
•Times New Roman, 12 point font
•Must include in-text citations
•Must have 8-9 academic sources.
•Academic sources come from academic journal articles
and books.
•Do not use Wikipedia, websites, or blogs. These
sources must come from academic journals or academic books. You will need
to use the University library resources.
•You may also use additional articles assigned in
this course to meet the requirement. However, the selected articles must be
relevant to your paper.
In-text Citations:
•In-text citations allow writers to provide relevant
source information in parentheses throughout the body of their paper, whenever
a sentence uses a quotation or paraphrase.
•When you use a direct quote, the quote must have
quotation marks and the in-text citation must include the page number of the
source.
•Example: “The quick brown fox jumped over
the lazy dog” (Seuss 2007:7).
•When you paraphrase someone’s work (you put their
work in your own words) you do not need quotations marks and you do not need to
include the page number.
•Example (1): In his scholarly study, Dr. Seuss
(2007) observed that a very fast fox leaped over a slow moving dog.
•Example (2): The researchers argue gender is an
accomplishment as opposed to a role (West and Zimmerman 1987).
•In-text citation of a movie.
•Directors last name year of
publication    
•For example: (Judge 1999) 
Bibliography:
•      
Your
bibliography or Works Cited page must follow ASA or CMS style. Here are examples
of how to cite your work using ASA style:
•      
Journal
Article with  one author
•      
Example:
Campbell, Mary E. 2009. “Multiracial Groups and Educational Inequality: A
Rainbow Or a Divide?” Social Problems 56(3):425-446.
•      
Journal
Article with two authors
•      
Example:
Mouw, Ted and Arne L. Kalleberg. 2010. “Occupations and the Structure of
Wage Inequality in the United States, 1980s to 2000s.” American
Sociological Review 75(3):402-431.
•      
Book
with one author:
•      
Example:
Beeghley, Leonard. 2000. The structure of social stratification in the
United States. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
•      
Book
with two or more authors
•      
Lareau, Annette and Dalton Conley, eds. 2008. Social
class: how does it work? New York: Russell Sage Foundation.
•      
Chapter
in an Edited Book
•      
Suiter, Sarah V. 2019. “Sex Work: Free and Equal.” Pp.
247-275 in Women and Inequality in the 21st Century, edited
by B. C. Slatton, and C. D. Brailey. NY: Routledge.
•      
Movie
•      
Last, First name of director. Year of
publication. Name of Movie. Movie source. Location: Film
Studio. 
•      
For example:  Judge, Mike. 1999. Office
Space. DVD. Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox.
Research
Paper Outline:
Introduction (0.5-1 page):
·       Create a unique
title for your research paper.
·       Introduce the
focus of your research.
·       You may start with
an interesting quote/paraphrase from your observations (although this is not
required).
·       Introduce your
topic.
·       What is the focus
of your research? (for example: How women do gender in the the criminal court
room)
·       Be sure to state
whether you will focus on just gender, or the intersection of gender, with
race, class, sexuality, religion, etc. (For example you will examine the
experiences of women of varying racial and class backgrounds in the criminal
court room).
·       Also, please be
sure to specify if you focus on transgender, cisgender, or both
·       Where is your
research site (location)?
·       Why did you select
this site? 
·       Why is this
research important or significant to analyze in the field of WGSS? (Why should
we know more about this specific area of focus?)
·       Be sure to use
in-text citations.
Literature
Review (1.5-2 pages):
·       What does the
literature say about doing gender?
·       What does the
literature say about intersectionality?
·       How does the
literature inform your specific research focus?
·       What are the
strengths of the current literature on your topic?
·       What are the
weakness of the current literature? What is missing from their theories;
analyses? 
·       What is
problematic—if anything-about their analyses or theories? (Please make sure
these arguments are grounded in the literature and not opinion)
·       What might your
research contribute to the current literature on the topic?
·       You are required
to cite the following works in your literature review. Please note that you can
cite other academic sources as well.
·       West, Candace and
Don Zimmerman. 1987. Doing Gender. Gender & Society 1:125-151.
·       Hill Collins,
Patricia, and Sirma Bilge. 2016. Intersectionality. Cambridge, UK: Malden, MA
Polity Press: 1-30.
·       In addition to
these two required articles, please use two additional relevant articles in the
literature review.
·       Be sure to use
in-text citations
Methods
(0.5 pages):
·       How did you
prepare for your observations?
·       What was your
observation site? Describe the site.
·       How many hours did
you observe?
·       How many days did
you observe?
·       What was your role
as an observer? Did you participate? Did your observe from the sidelines?
·       What did you focus
your observations on?  For example, you
may have focused on interracial interactions between Black women and White
women or interactions between lower class transgender women and upper class
cisgender women.
·        
·       Be sure to use in
text citations.
·       You are required
to use the following source.
·       Trautner, Mary
Nell. 2005. Doing Gender, Doing Class: The Performance of Sexuality in
Exotic Dance Clubs. Gender & Society 19(6):771-788
·       Use the methods
section of this article to guide your own methods section for this paper.
·       Please note that
you should cite other sources in this section as well.
Descriptive
Findings (1.5-2 pages):
·       Provide a detailed
description of how people do gender or do difference in the specific setting(s)
you observed.
·       Be specific and as
detailed as possible
·       Please use direct
quotes and/or paraphrase.
·       Any reader should
have a clear understanding of what you observed.
·       Be sure to take an
intersectional approach and discuss how the “doing” of gender is connected with
race, ethnicity, class, and/or sexuality.
·       Use Mary Nell
Trautner’s description of how men and women do gender, class and sexuality in
an exotic dance club as a guide (see the article Doing Gender, Doing Class: The
Performance of Sexuality in Exotic Dance Clubs by Trautner).
Analytical
Findings (1.5-2 pages):
·       Use course
material/theories to help you make sense of what people are doing in the observation
setting. Discuss doing gender/difference using the following levels of
analysis.
·       Interactional
Level: Use interactionist theories to explain how people do or perform
gender/difference in this particular setting/ social context. How do people
produce or challenge gender in their interactions and through their bodies.
·       Organizational
level: How do particular social and organizational institutions impact
your findings? For example, if you observe interactions between sports teams.
How does the organization of that sports institution impact your findings?
·       Cultural Level: What
role does culture play? How does culture/popular culture provide symbolic
resources for the creation of categorical difference or sameness between men
and women of varying backgrounds (race, age, ability, sexual orientation etc.).
·       Structural level: What
are the structural implications of their actions and interactions? How does
structure constrain and/or enable their interactions? Discuss how the gendered
practices of people reproduce or disrupt the sex/gender system.
·       You are required
to cite the following article in this section.
·       Messner, Michael
A. 2000. The Barbie Girls versus the Sea Monsters: Children Constructing
Gender. Gender & Society 14(6): 765-784.
·       Please use
Messner’s article (pages 269-279) as a guide, when writing this section.
Clearly identify each level of analysis in your write up.
·       In addition to the
Messner article, please cite at least two additional revelent articles in this
section. 
·       Please be sure to
use in-text citations
Conclusion
(1-1.5 pages):
·       Provide a summary
of the overall research project and your findings.
·       What is the
significance of your research in terms of the existing literature?
·       What are your
personal reflections on the research project?
·       What was it like
for you doing this research?
·       What did you
personally learn or take away from this research project?
·       What emotions, if
any, did this project pull from you? 
·       Were you shocked
or surprised by your findings? Please explain.
Bibliography
(separate page):
·       All sources must
be cited using ASA or CMS style. Please follow the examples listed on pages 4
and 5 of this PowerPoint.
These are my observations. They are what the essay needs to be about. 
I want to focus on women interactions with male peers.
1)   
Date
Time
January 29, 2024
12:15pm-1:37pm
January 31, 2024
4:00pm-5:00pm
February 7, 2024
9:27am-10:23am
February 14, 2024
2:00pm-3:00pm
March 8, 2024
11:15am-11:45am
March 28, 2024
12:36pm-1:48pm
April 8, 2024
8:30am- 9:00am
April 11, 2024
6:30pm-7:30pm
2)   
I conducted my observations at my place of study, the
university of Houston. I sometimes observed my observations at Cougar Grounds,
the Student Center, and/or the library on first, second, and third floor. Cougar
Grounds which is a coffee shop on campus was frequently visited by multiple
students and staff members. The Student Center is a central hub full of food,
arcades, shops, and dessert.
3)   
University of Houston is located in the downtown area of
Houston called Third Ward. This is a working-class neighborhood. The clientele
are students, teachers, staff, professors, and visitors. Some of the clientele
can be low income or high income. No specific racial, ethnic, or religious
groups frequent the campus.
4)   
Here is what all I noticed while I was observing the
various gender dynamics between man and woman of different racial and religious
groups in college at three different central locations: Cougar Grounds, the
Library (both first, second, and third floor), and the Student Center of our
school, University of Houston.
o  
Student-Student Interaction: On Monday
January 29th, 2024 at 12:15pm, I arrived at the library. I walked to
the 3rd floor. This was my first time up there, so I did not know
what to expect. I had heard from many people that it was a cool place to hang out.
When I get there, it’s packed to the brim. There are many people. I see many
young girls with the “hijab”. I hear constant laughter and see many smiles on
everyone’s face. I grab a spot. As I pull out my notebook, I see a group of
three Muslim girls come, some who wore the religious head covering, the hijab,
and some who did not. I also see four boys with them. They sat at the open
table besides me. I listened in on their conversations and realized that they
all came from a Chemistry lab. They quickly take their worksheets out to start
working on them. I notice their collaboration and them talking about how to
solve a problem. One of the Muslim girls who was wearing the hijab got up to
help a boy. She leaned in to draw something on his paper, but the boy instantly
gave her some distance. I perceived that the boy was trying to be respectful of
her religion. He made sure their fingers did not touch nor were their faces too
close. It seemed as if the boy wanted to give her space and not mock her
religion. It was very nice to see. Even though both students were trying to
achieve an academic goal of finishing their lab work, they maintained a modest
level.
o  
Student- Faculty Interaction: On January
31, 2024, I came to cougar grounds for a coffee. I sat down near the
entrance/exit of the coffee shop. I was sitting to start observing man and
woman dynamics when suddenly, I saw a white woman who looked a bit older. She
was about to leave the building when a Pakistani man ran up to her. I wondered
what this conversation could be about. Although, it all made sense. The woman
was the Lab TA for the man’s bio-chemistry class. He approached her asking for
guidance for the next exam. He required academic assistance which the TA
quickly provided. To see that TA’s and teachers are always there to help
clarify concepts and guide students is very nice to see. 
o  
Student-Student Interaction: I was in the
Student Center on February 7, 2024 when I see classmates having a bake sale.
There are three woman and 1 man. One of the women is gay and was in a
relationship with the other women. I was sitting right across on a chair
observing the environment. Something about the bake sale felt wrong. The other
women, who was Asian, looked distressed. Her peers asked her a question, but
she responded with an abrupt reply and looked away. Every time a customer was
coming to support the bake sale, she’d turn away and avoid eye contact.
o  
Student- Student Interaction: On February
14, 2024, I was at cougar grounds. I sat near the bean bags. A group of 18-20
people grabbed chairs and occupied a large table. I realized that there was a
club meeting for ASDA which stands for American Student Dental Association.
They were a bit loud. I heard the organizers of the group announce to everybody
to go around in a circle and announce your names. It seemed as it was their
first/second meeting of the new semester. When it came around to the last part
of the circle, there was a woman who was middle eastern and had asked to be
skipped. Everyone laughed and moved on. At the end of the club meeting, I saw
an Asian man approach the Middle eastern woman and introduce himself. He asked
her about her major and what she wants to do in the dental field. She was
laughing a bit here and there and they both seemed like they were friends now.
o  
Student and Peer Mentor: All our lectures
have peer mentors. These peer mentors are very educated. On March 8, I went to
the first floor in the library by the laptops and grabbed a seat. I heard an
African American woman explaining to an Asian man how to properly understand
Biology. She continued to tell him that when she took this class, she bought an
iPad, and it was the best decision she ever made. The Asian man seemed sad as
though, he could not buy one. The woman reassured him that even if he can’t get
one, taking notes is good too. She shared her experiences and helped him build
a stronger note taking strategy.
o  
PHD Grad Student and Professor: I
attended a research meeting in the student center on the second floor on March
28. The professor was a white man, who was very accredited and had many
research publications. He had a grad student who was his assistant. She was
also white. In the first meeting, I felt so welcomed and the vibes were just
amazing. The professor talked to his assistant with no condescending tone but
so politely. He laughed with her and treated her fairly.
o  
Student-Faculty Interaction: On April 8,
I was studying for my exam on the first floor of the library in the quiet zone.
This area is quite close to the printers. I get up to make a trip to the
restroom when I see an African American woman approach the printers to print
something. At that moment, a man who was a Russian professor requests to cut
Infront of her. The woman permits his action. The man was extremely thankful.
The woman was very kind to let this happen.
o   Student-Student
Interaction: I was in the line to get Panda Express in the Student Center
on April 11. The line was very long. As I waited, there was a Muslim woman, who
was wearing the religious head covering the hijab, who stood behind me. While
waiting in the line, I heard a white woman stop by and ask the Muslim woman
behind me if she showers with that thing on. She was referring to the “hijab”.
The Muslim woman did not even look phased. She replied saying, “No”. The other
lady left. I turned to ask her how she felt after being asked that and she told
me that many people ask her these types of questions about her religious
covering. She told me she felt proud wearing it and that she felt so elegant
with it on. She said that when people tend to ask obvious questions, she
accepts their jokes and comments and moves on. 
This is what I have so far. I have only written the introduction. 
Introduction:
“I perceived that the boy was trying to be respectful of her religion. He made
sure their fingers did not touch nor were their faces too close”. Witnessing
this on the third floor of the library at University of Houston inspired me to
explore the interactions between women and male peers at University of Houston.
I examined the gender dynamics while reflecting factors which included religion,
culture, and race. I conducted my observations at my place of study, the
university of Houston. This is a college located in the Third Ward which is a
working-class neighborhood in upper Houston. I witnessed my observations at
three places in University of Houston: Cougar Grounds, the Student Center,
and/or the library on first, second, and third floor. Cougar Grounds which is a
coffee shop on campus was frequently visited by multiple students and staff
members. The Student Center is a central hub full of food, arcades, shops, and
dessert. I chose this site location because I spend majority of my day here and
I see many interactions between men and women. This research is important to
analyze to gain a greater understanding of how gender is strengthened in
day-to-day life. “gender is not a set of traits, nor a variable, nor a but the
product of social doings of some sort” (West and Zimmerman 1987:129). We are
shaped by society and all our interactions within it.