April 2008
Women’s studies, which came to prominence in the wake of the 1960s feminist
movement, is to vanish from British universities as an undergraduate degree this
summer. Dwindling interest in the subject means that the final 12 students will
graduate with a BA in women’s studies from London’s Metropolitan University in
July.
Universities offering the course, devised as the second wave of
the women’s rights movement peaked, attracted students in their hundreds during
the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the mood on campuses has changed. Students,
it seems, no longer want to immerse themselves in the sisterhood’s struggle for
equality or the finer points of feminist history.
The disappearance of a course that women academics fought so
long and hard to have taught in universities has divided opinion on what this
means for feminism. Is it irrelevant in today’s world or has the quest for
equality hit the mainstream?
The course’s critics argue that women’s studies became its own
worst enemy, remaining trapped in the feminist movement of the 1970s while women
and society moved on.
“Feminist scholarship has become predictable,
tiresome and dreary, and most young women avoid it like the plague,” said
Christina Hoff Sommers, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute
for public policy research in Washington and author of Who Stole Feminism?
“British and American societies are no longer patriarchal and oppressive ‘male
hegemonies’. But most women’s studies departments are predicated on the
assumption that women in the West are under siege. What nonsense.”
Others believe young women have shied away from studying
feminist theory because they would rather opt for degrees that more obviously
lead to jobs, especially since the introduction of tuition fees.
“[Taking] women’s studies as a separate course may not feel as
relevant to women who go to university to help them enter the job market,” said
Jean Edelstein, an author and journalist.”As the feminist movement has become
increasingly associated with extreme thoughts, women who may have previously
been interested in women’s studies may be deterred by these overtones.”
Anyone ruing the degree’s demise can take heart: many gender and
equality issues are now dealt with by mainstream courses, from sociology and law
to history and English. And many universities, including Oxford, still offer the
course to postgraduates.
Mary Evans, visiting fellow at the Gender Institute at the
London School of Economics, said: “This final closure does not signal the end of
an era: feminist ideas and literature are as lively as ever, but the
institutional framework in which they are taught has changed.”
Ms Edelstein added: “Feminist critique should be studied by
everyone. If integration into more mainstream courses means more people looking
at gender theory and increases the number of people who are aware of the issues,
then that is a good thing.”
But Dr Irene Gedalof, who has led the London Metropolitan
University women’s studies course for the past 10 years, defended the
discipline.
“The women’s movement is less visible now and many of its gains
are taken for granted, which fuels the perception there is no longer a need for
women’s studies. But while other disciplines now ‘deal’ with gender issues we
still need a dedicated focus by academics. Despite the gains women have made,
this is just as relevant in today’s world,” she said, blaming the course’s
downfall on universities’ collective failure to promote the discipline.
Given that graduate courses in women’s studies are thriving in
many countries, such as India and Iran, the decision to stop the course here has
surprised many.
Baroness Haleh Afshar, professor in politics and women’s studies
at the University of York, said: “In the past quarter of a century, women’s
studies scholars have been at the forefront of new and powerful work that has
placed women at the centre but has also had echoes right across academia. In
particular, it is important to note the pioneering work of Sue Lees, which began
at the Metropolitan and still has a long way to go. I am desolate to see that
the university has decided to close it.”
Additional reporting by Maryam Omidi
Independent.co.uk, March 23, 2008.
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