Women's Studies, Intersectionality, and Adichie's "Danger of a Single Story"

The Importance of Women's Studies and Intersectionality

Please answer the questions below. 

Women’s Studies? If people are so concerned about equality, then why would they have “women’s studies”? I mean, why isn’t there “men’s studies”?

You study patriarchy? Like “all men are evil”?

You study gender? Seems pretty basic to me. You’re either a boy or a girl. (gender vs. sex)

How can you say that something like disability is socially constructed?

I believe in equal rights and that every person is valuable and all that, but I'm pretty uncomfortable with the term "feminist." From what I've seen on TV and social media, feminism seems a bit extreme.

Why do you cover subjects like race, class, or ability (intersectionality) in Women’s Studies?

I don’t understand why people complain so much about these things. I have never seen or experienced racism or sexism. For the most part they just don’t exist anymore. (post-racial/post-feminist perspective)

We started the semester watching Adichie’s “We Should All Be Feminists” talk. Let’s bookend the midterm by watching another Adichie talk: “Danger of a Single Story.” You may review the transcript here.

After you've watched the talk, write an essay in which you analyze and respond to Adichie’s “Danger of a Single Story” talk.

Incorporate at least three other sources drawn from our course materials so far (so, four, including the “Danger of a Single Story” talk).

Identify specific insights and discuss them in light of your own thoughts/experiences, as well as points drawn from other course materials so far.