Advanced Feminist Discussion Group

The Advanced Feminist Discussion Group is a weekly class designed to give participants a chance to dive deeper into their understanding of intersectional feminist theories, histories, and ideas. It is a place that looks through these feminist ideas through an intersectional lens, but works to understand previous waves and movements of feminism and what roles they played in people's lives. 

Each week, we introduce and discuss a new feminist concept and analyze it from as many perspectives as possible. These will often be topics where there is an unsettled debate among feminists; that is a big part of what makes this class advanced. The class is social and engaging, but also informative and loosely structured to make room for the conversation to naturally follow the group's lead. Most weeks, the class will include a slideshow that covers some course content, and an ongoing discussion as we learn about the material. 

This course is self-directed, and students will be directly involved with choosing the topics from week to week. However, topics will typically look at the intersections of gender and issues like race, disability, neurodiversity, economic status, education, consent, and body size/shape. We will also look at more complex and sometimes controversial figures in feminist history. 

Feel free to message me if you would like to know what topics are next up for discussion! 

Past and Current Topics!

2022: 

Sept. 14: The Politics of Body Hair Removal
Sept. 21: What are "Men's Rights Activists" and What Do They Have to Do with Feminism?
Sept. 28: What is Womanism and Who Is Alice Walker?
October 5: How Should Feminists Address the Movement's History with TERFS (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminists)? (Discuss JK Rowling)
October 12: TBD By Students
October 19: Pocahontas: The Woman, the Myth, and the Movie
October 26: Human Trafficking Myths vs. Facts
November 2: How Do We Make Sense of Women Against Feminism? 
November 9: No Class
November 16: Candace Cameron Bure's comments about her production company excluding LGBTQ+ couples
November 23: No Class (Thanksgiving)
November 30: Iran protests
December 7: Pocahontas: The Woman, the Myth, and the Movie
December 14: Discussion about the best ways to become more inclusive during the holidays (Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays; schools moving toward more inclusive holiday celebrations, respecting multiple traditions, etc.)
(We will take a break for the last few weeks of December.)

2023: 

January 4: Topics TBD by class
January 11: Feminism & the Fashion Industry (How does fashion affect women as consumers and models?)
January 18: "Hysterical" Women & Institutionalism (How has mental health been weaponized against women and femme-presenting people in history?)
January 25: Environmental Sexism (What is it and how do we address it?)
February 1: Students' Choice
February 8: Types of Activism (Equitable Action, Performative Action, Slacktivism, etc)
February 15: Toxic & Sexist Fandoms for Things We Enjoy
February 22: Extreme Ideologies & the Effects on Women & Femmes 
February 27: Students' Choice
March 6: Beauty Pageants
March 13: the Land Back movement
March 20: Women & Femmes in Sports
March 29: Students' Choice
April 5: Students' Choice
April 12: Salem Witch Trials
April 19: Modern Witch Trials
April 26: Midwives, Week 1
May 3: Midwives, Week 2
May 10: Anti-Trans Laws
May 17:
May 24: Why Ida B. Wells Challenged Frances Willard 
May 31: NO CLASS
June 7: Literacy Tests & Attacks on Voting Rights
June 14: Beauty Commercials & Advice in the 50s and 60s
June 21: Pride Topics
June 28: Discussion
July: Summer Break
August 2: Back together again! Plan the next few weeks
August 9: Barbara Walters & Harvey Fierstein discussion in the 1980s
August 16: Gendered division of labor in straight relationships
August 23: History of no-fault divorce laws
August 30: NO CLASS
Sept. 6: Dog-whistling: what it is, how to spot it
Sept. 13: Q-Anon trafficking myths vs. reality
Sept. 20: Students' Choice
Sept. 27: Men's Rights Activists: what are they saying about custody laws, and what is true? 
Oct. 4: Update on recent Supreme Court decisions
Oct. 11: Communal living; is communal living a remedy for sexism? 
Oct. 18: Students' Choice
Oct. 25: Feminism, Gender, and Queer Representation in 2023 Movies
Nov. 1: Barbie Movie
Nov. 8: Students' Choice
Nov. 15: National Day of Mourning for Native Americans/MMIW
Nov. 22: NO CLASS
Nov. 29: State of Sex Education Standards in the USA (Important note: this lesson is not about sex education and does not provide sex education; it is an overview of what is required/not required to be taught in each state) 
Dec. 6: Mother & Baby Care guide from 1921
Dec. 13: Art analysis of 3 paintings of women
Dec. 20: The life and death of Breonna Taylor 
Dec. 27: NO CLASS 

2024: 

January 3: 2024 Class planning
January 10: New Year's advertising
January 17: Global maternal mortality rates
January 24: Women in comedy 
January 31: What was Gamergate? 
February 7: Womanism & Alice Walker
February 14: Taylor Swift
February 21: Retro videos
February 28: Social Media Influencers (Related: Image filters)
March 5: Concept of "Compulsory Heterosexuality" 
March 11: Medical Misogny in History (Class meets on Monday at 5pm Eastern)
March 18: Child Marriage in the US (Class meets on Monday at 5pm Eastern)
March 25: Sojourner Truth (Class meets on Monday at 5pm Eastern)
April 1: TBD (Class meets on Monday at 5pm Eastern)
April 8: No class
April 15: TBD (Class meets on Monday at 5pm Eastern)
April 22: No class 
May 1: TBD (Class returns to its regular meeting time of Wednesdays at 5pm Eastern)
May 8: TBD
May 15: Gay Travel Index
May 22: Influencer/Celebrity "Block Party" -- Pros and Cons
May 29: Discrimination in the healthcare industry 
June 5: Anne Bonny & Mary Read--Women Pirates
June 12: LGTBQ+ Representation in YA Lit
June 19: Spotting fake news/misinformation/disinformation online
June 26: Six Wives of Henry VIII
July 3: NO CLASS
July 10: TBD
July 17: Kamala Harris
July 24: The politics of periods, week 1
July 31: The politics of periods, week 2
August 7: the Olympics and feminism
August 14: Understanding the convent as an option for LGBTQ+ women in history
August 21: Topic planning
August 28: Discussions around dark romance genre
September 4: Women-centered franchise reboots
September 11: No Class
September 18: Wedding traditions in America
September 25: Show & tell and politics update
October 2: Feminism & romance genre
October 9: Gender stereotypes in the horror genre
October 16: Ghosts and gender in pop culture 
October 23: True crime
October 30: How MLMs target women 


To determine if the Advanced Feminist Discussion Group is a good match, potential participants should confirm that they have an understanding that there are different waves of feminism, that not all historical feminists would recognize the movement as it exists today, and that intersectional feminism understands that there are both individuals AND systems that need to be addressed for the world to get better for marginalized groups. 

Students who have been a part of my Weekly Feminist Social Club for any period of time are welcome to join Advanced Feminist Discussion Group. It is also fine to be part of both classes. 

Students are expected to participate either via video chat or through the chat.