Beyond Sex and the City: Becoming a Woman in Western Cinema
| Module title | Beyond Sex and the City: Becoming a Woman in Western Cinema |
|---|---|
| Module code | EAF3508 |
| Academic year | 2019/0 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Dr Fiona Handyside (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 11 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 15 |
|---|
Module description
What does it mean to be a girl in contemporary Western culture? How does cinema represent the process of becoming a woman? On this module we will study how both arthouse and popular films from America and Europe narrate young women's lives in contemporary society that both celebrates and denigrates girls and their achievements. In particular we will draw upon the theories of postfeminism and place these into an unusual comparative context, exploring the simultaneous local and global articulation of contemporary girlhood and its pleasures and pains.
Module aims - intentions of the module
- To interrogate contemporary films from American and European cinema that map out the fraught process of attaining adult femininity. You will examine how a range of cinematic cultures, in both art house and popular modes, represent and refract the status of young women in contemporary society against a backdrop of anxiety concerning the sexualisation of young women and the status of feminism. In order to do so, you will draw upon the theories of postfeminism and place these into a comparative context.
- To enable you to debate and critique representations of femininity within a range of cinematic cultures; to be able to discuss and articulate a range of feminist and postfeminist positions and ideas; to appreciate and understand a wide range of films, drawn from both ‘popular’ and ‘art-house’ traditions; to understand the narrative and formal devices films use to articulate female life stages, and the political and aesthetic consequences of this; to be able to apply a range of theoretical concerns to films and television programmes with which you may be familiar.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate an informed understanding and detailed knowledge of the works studied on the module
- 2. Demonstrate an understanding of their significance in the broader cultural context in which they were produced
- 3. Demonstrate an informed understanding of a number of key debates in feminist and postfeminist theory and an ability to apply these to film
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 4. After initial input from the course tutor(s), apply and evaluate critical approaches to the material under analysis independently
- 5. Argue at length and in detail about an aspect of the topic, supporting the argument with evidence from the text and with opinions from secondary literature
- 6. Use a range of film-critical terminology, applying it to independently researched material as well as to material introduced by the course tutor(s)
- 7. Access and use critically printed and, where appropriate, electronic learning resources identified as useful by the course tutor(s); find independently and evaluate critically other relevant resources.
- 8. Analyse films in a variety of genres and styles, showing awareness of their relation to the social, historical and generic context in which they were written, and present the results orally and in writing
- 9. Use available library and electronic resources to investigate a given aspect of the subject, and make recommendations for further study to the rest of the group
- 10. Using recommended bibliographical tools, present a critical bibliography giving a balanced overview of an aspect of the subject
- 11. Demonstrate advanced skills of visual literacy, e.g. an understanding of the role of film genre and an ability to distinguish and evaluate techniques of mise-en-scene, cinematography, vision editing and sound editing
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 12. Through seminar work and group presentations, demonstrate communication skills, and an ability to work both individually and in groups;
- 13. Through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographic skills, a capacity to construct a coherent, substantiated argument and a capacity to write clear and correct prose;
- 14. Through research for seminars and essays, demonstrate proficiency in independent information retrieval and analysis.
- 15. Through research, seminar discussion, and essay writing demonstrate a capacity to question assumptions, to distinguish between fact and opinion, and to critically reflect on their own learning process.
- 16. Through sequence analysis, demonstrate their ability to analyse film as an audio-visual medium
- 17. Manage own learning time and learning activities with minimal guidance from course tutor(s)
- 18. Present information and arguments on a designated or negotiated topic to a group of listeners and respond to questions and responses from the group
- 19. Using bibliographical material provided, select, plan and carry out a programme of study leading to an essay / presentation on a chosen topic, to a specified length and deadline
- 20. Work in a group to reach an agreed statement on a disputed or controversial aspect of the subject
- 21. Demonstrate ability to combine a variety of IT skills in researching and reporting on a topic
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
Unit 1: What it Feels Like For a Girl
How is girlhood represented on film? How is girlhood theorised? What do we think of the mediation of individual experiences of girlhood?
- Screenings: La Naissance des pieuvres/Water Lilies (Sciamma, 2007) and Somewhere (Coppola, 2009)
- Extra viewing: Mean Girls (Waters, 2004)
Unit 2: Girlhood, sex and sexualisation
Why is there a ‘moral panic’ about girls and sex? Are girls prematurely sexual? Can/should we see sexuality as empowering or objectifying? How does feminism/postfeminism frame the questions of girls and sex? What about comparisons to different historical periods?
- Screenings: Ginger and Rosa (Potter, 2012) and Cosmonauta (Nicchiarelli, 2009)
- Extra viewing: Easy A (Gluck, 2010)
Unit 3: ‘Race’ and Girls
The dominant model of girlhood in the contemporary mediascape is of a slim, heterosexual, middle-class white girl. What happens in films which take account of race and racial difference? What are the politics of acknowledging difference? How does intersectional politics inform our understanding of girlhood? Can we think about this in philosophical as well as sociological/cultural studies terms?
- Screenings: Bend it Like Beckham (Chadha, 2002) and Il y a longtemps que je t’aime/I’ve Loved You so Long (Claudel, 2008)
- Extra viewing: Precious (Daniels, 2009)
Unit 4: Performing Femininity
How does girlhood get performed in these films? What is the role of sport/dance/beauty pageants in the depiction of girlhood? Can we see this as a positive vehicle of self-expression or is it a Foucauldian display of surveillance and punishment? How might phenomenological accounts of the body help us think about control and expression via the corporeal?
- Screening: Fish tank (Arnold, 2009) and Ricordati di mi/Remember me, my love (Muccino, 2003)
- Extra viewing: Little Miss Sunshine (Dayton and Farris, 2006)
Unit 5: No longer a girl? Pregnancy and abortion
The issue of teen pregnancy crystallises many of the debates about girl’s right to autonomy over their bodies, fear of sexually active girlhood, and narratives of girls ‘at risk.’ Meanwhile, abortion rights are a touchstone of feminist politics. How is teen pregnancy represented on film? What options are offered to pregnant girls? How does the political context inform our opinions on these choices?
- Screening: Juno (Reitman, 2007) and Four Months, Three Weeks and Two Days (Mungui, 2007)
The overall theme of each unit will be as stated. Each unit lasts 2-3 weeks.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 55 | 245 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 33 | Seminars |
| Scheduled learning and teaching | 22 | Film screenings |
| Guided independent study | 33 | Study group preparation and meetings |
| Guided independent study | 70 | Seminar preparation (individual) |
| Guided independent study | 142 | Reading, research and essay preparation |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group presentation | Oral feedback and feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow-up |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sequence analysis | 35 | 1500 words | ||
| Essay | 65 | 3000 words |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Class presentation | Essay 1500 words | 1-6, 8, 10-11 | Referral/deferral period |
| Essay (review of postfeminist film theory) | Essay (review of postfeminist film theory) | 3, 6-8, 10, 12-13 | Referral/deferral period |
| Essay | Essay | 1-5, 6-9, 10-12 | Referral/deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Secondary Reading:
- Cinema Journal, 44: 2, Winter, 2005 – Special edition on postfeminism
- Suzanne Ferriss and Mallory Young, Chick Flicks: Contemporary Women at the Movies (London and New York: Routledge, 2008)
- Rosalind Gill, ‘Postfeminist Media Culture: Elements of a sensibility’ in European Journal of Cultural Studies, Vol. 10 (2), 147-166
- ---. Gender and the Media (Cambridge: Polity, 2007)
- Joanne Hollows and Rachel Moseley (eds.), Feminism in Popular Culture (Oxford, New York: Berg, 2006)
- Angela McRobbie: The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change (London: Sage, 2009)
- Tania Modleski, Feminism without Women: Culture and Criticism in a “Postfeminist Age” (London: Routledge, 1991)
- Diane Negra and Yvonne Tasker (eds.), Interrogating Postfeminism: Gender and the Politics of Popular Culture (Duke University Press, 2007)
- Diane Negra, ‘ “Quality Postfeminism?”: Sex and the Single Girl on HBO’, Genders Online Journal, 39: 2004
- ---. What A Girl Wants?: Fantasizing the Reclamation of Self in Postfeminism (London: Routledge, 2009)
- Sarah Projansky, Watching Rape: Film and Television in Postfeminist Culture (New York University Press, 2001)
- Hilary Radner, Neo-Feminist Cinema, Girly Films, Chick Flicks and Consumer Culture (New York: Routledge, 2011)
- Imelda Whelehan, Overloaded: Popular Culture and the Future of Feminism (London: Women’s Press, 2000)
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None
|
| Module co-requisites | None
|
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 01/10/2011 |
| Last revision date | 24/10/2018 |
