Why do Women's Studies?

Women’s Studies addresses the broad question of how gender (social definitions of femininity and masculinity) operates, both in contemporary life and historically, in Australia and in other cultures. Gender, intersecting with other social orders of difference (principally race, class and sexuality) shapes culture and social institutions, as well as personal identity and relationships. Women’s Studies reflects this wide scope by including social, cultural and political perspectives. It is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge.

So if you want to know, for example:

• How are our lives affected by the way media represent gender differences?
• How have campaigns against sexual harassment changed the face of the workforce?
• How do Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women negotiate their survival in a non-indigenous culture?
• How are styles of masculinity changing, and what are the causes?
• How should women and men be represented in the institutions of parliamentary democracies?
• What is the relationship between gender, sex and sexuality?
• What disagreements do feminists have about the idea that ‘the beauty myth’ works against women’s freedom?
• How are women’s lives shaped by different cultures in different historical periods?

Then Women’s Studies is for you!

Do you have to be a feminist to take Women's Studies?

No. Women’s Studies is related to feminism, in that it has its origins in the movements for women’s rights which continue to have far-reaching effects on our world today, but you do not have to identify as a feminist to take these topics and gain interesting and useful insights into culture and society. However you do need to be interested in what it means to live as a woman or a man in contemporary society, and to be willing to explore some challenging ideas.

Student responses to Women's Studies topics:

• 'Topics presented in a way that held my interest and enthusiasm to find out more'
• 'Stimulating discussion in tutorials'
• 'The readings and information are contemporary and relevant to areas of my life'.
• 'Very interesting, though challenging subject matter'
• 'I liked the engagement of experience/personal response with theory'
• 'I relished the openness and the ways that most students experienced diverse opinions'

What can you do with a major in Women's Studies?

You can contribute to any area of work where Arts graduates are employed, with an enhanced knowledge of the significance of gender issues, and the capacity to analyse and explain areas of disadvantage for women and minority groups. These employment areas include:

• entertainment industry
• public relations and journalism
• teaching
• political work
• community service work
• social and policy planning
• small business
• human resource management
• postgraduate study