A new year brings a new semester for me, and so far things seem encouraging. I don’t mean that in the academic sense (although I’m optimistic about that), but in terms of the demographics of my fellow students in two particular courses. Last year I was disappointed by the fact that there was nary a dude in my course on women’s intellectual history; this year is different. One course, on how Elizabethan gender hierarchies affected the poetry and drama of the era, has two dudes. Another course, on women and Islam, is about one-third dude students (I kind of want to combine those words and coin a neologism called “dudents”).
So how significant is it? Maybe not at all. And my love of statistics starts kicking in here, saying “this is a really small sample pool, sarah.of.a.lesser.god! Three courses does not a study make! There are too many unknown variant factors!” Okay, fair enough. Still, when there were zero dudents last semester, and six this semester, it makes me feel like maybe some guys realize that embarking on these studies will give them a broader understanding of history and culture. Since I don’t view my gender studies classes as an “us vs. them” construct, I hope that these dudents will take as much away from these courses as I think I will.
Awesomeness! I hope this is a trend that continues. Learning another viewpoint on history should be mandatory, honestly. It is possible to get through college learning only the dead white male version, and that is sad.
Interesting. Keep us updated on how everyone behaves!
“how Elizabethan gender hierarchies affected the poetry and drama of the era”
This sounds like exactly what I want to do when I grow up.
Sigh. I want to go to college again. Enjoy and keep teaching us vicariously. And giving us dirt on the dudents. As a womens college grad I am always super voyeuristic about that exotic phenomenon, the male collegiate.
Also, why don’t you study statistics???? It seems like a natural fit and I am sure it is an area ripe for feminist reform.
@Cimorene: It’s a pretty awesome class, and we have a terrific professor. We spent Tuesday doing an analysis of “Astrophel and Stella.”
@J.D.: Yeah, having previously gone to a women’s college, it’s nice to see that the dudents at this school seem to be pretty cool. As for studying stats, my dad actually used to teach that subject, so I’ve always liked it. I’m doing a huge independent research project right now that may one day become a book, and it’s about statistical analysis of the popularity of first names in 20th century America. It would probably only have a niche audience. ::grins::
Here’s an odd one for you… I’m taking a course on masculinity and manhood right now, and only 6 out of about 45 of us are dudents. (Good word, btw). It may have something to do with the course only being listed under women’s and gender studies, but I would have thought there would be at least a few more dudes. I wonder how cross-listing a course like yours with the history department or sociology might help. I imagine a lot of men (unfortunately) aren’t going to browse the offerings from a women’s studies program.
My class is great though… I find myself wishing I had another semester or two to take an intro to women’s studies course.
That is great news! I enjoyed reading about your experience with your professor last year. I also hope you share some of what you learn in women in Islam class – sounds very interesting.
@Dave: Thank you for sharing that! That course sounds really interesting, and I hope you enjoy it.
My school doesn’t have an actual gender studies/women’s studies department, and so one course is listed under History and one under Religion. Now, I do think there is a higher concentration of women than men at my undergrad program, so I don’t discount that certain dudes could/do feel intimidated by the prospect of taking one of these courses.
@that brown girl: I’m actually going to post about a movie we watched in the Women and Islam course. It’s a fascinating class.