Composition Forum 15 - Feminism and Cultural Studies in Composition: Locating Women and Men in College Writing Courses

Oct 15, 2026

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Article examines how feminist cultural studies and rhetoric-based thinking can be used in college writing courses to help students understand “location” as both a physical and ideological position shaped by identity categories. It explains how language practices, media representations, and power/knowledge struggles influence what learners and others take as reality. The author outlines theoretical foundations drawing on feminist geography and postmodern gender theory, then proposes a pedagogical approach for teaching students to analyze political effects of location on life and resource access.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time18 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

What is Feminism?

Composition Forum 15 , Spring 2006 Feminism and Cultural Studies in Composition: Locating Women and Men in College Writing Courses Merry G. Perry Introduction I teach English courses (both writing and literature) at West Chester University of Pennsylvania (WCU), a public , regional state university about twenty five miles west of Philadelphia where the majority of the students are middle class , white, and conservative. My most challenging task as a feminist composition instructor is not teaching grammar, punctuation, or editing skills; instead, my most challenging task is to challenge students to think about and understand the powerful effects of rhetoric (spoken, written, and visual) on how humans think , speak , and interact with one another. After more than ten years of teaching college English courses , I have found that one of the most useful ways to frame my classroom discussions is to use the concept of location. Feminist geographers use this term (and also space and place) to discuss how gendered identity affects one’s position within society , constituting a fluid, ongoing, social process that reflects power and knowledge struggles . { 1} In fact , Susan Friedman argues that location, or the politics of identity within different spaces , is the primary concern of feminism because identities , as they develop, are narratives of formation moving through time and space. She also explains that feminism has shifted over the years from an earlier focus on “silence and invisibility” to this concern withlocation and“being and becoming” (3) . Similarly , Doreen Massey describes “space time as a configuration of social relations within which the specifically spatial may be conceived of as an inherently dynamic simultaneity. Moreover, since social relations are inevitably and everywhere imbued with power and meaning and symbolism , this view of the spatial is an ever shifting social geometry of power and signification” (3) . Besides being a fluid process inextricably linked to time and space, location is simultaneously physical (as constituted by one’s body ) and ideological (as constituted by the social beliefs about that particular body in terms of identity categories) . Thus , one’s physical body cannot be separated from ideas about—and meanings attached to—that body. As such, I first want students to understand that their identity categories (gender, race/ethnicity , social class , sexuality , education, age, disability , etc . ) determine their location (physical/ ideological position) in American culture, affecting their current and future access to privileges and opportunities . In addition, I want them to understand that the language they use to speak about themselves and others affects what they , and what other people, conceive of as reality. Finally , I want students to understand that the media reflects and reinforces—and sometimes even challenges—social beliefs and ideologies that may affect how people think , speak , and interact with one another. In the simplest terms , I want students to realize that location does matter; the place one occupies within our cultural hierarchy makes a difference in terms of how one is perceived by others , how one is represented in the media, and one’s access to resources and privileges . While I find it easier to introduce students to feminism theory by initially differentiating between sex (the biological category to which one belongs—usually female or male ) and gender (the socially constructed meanings identified as either feminine or masculine ), I subscribe to the postmodern notion that no core identity {2} exists prior to language and social influence; thus , identity is shaped by language practices and social conditioning. According to Judith Butler, identity and gender are “performative”; thus , “gender is always a doing, though not a doing by a subject who might be said to preexist the deed” ( Gender Trouble 25) . She defines gender as the “repeated stylizat

FAQs

What is the stated classroom goal and how will the author achieve it?

The major goal is to teach students to consider the political effects of location on life and access to resources. The author plans to use a feminist cultural studies approach to composition, explaining definitions and theoretical rationale, addressing criticisms, and offering brief pedagogical suggestions for integrating it into courses.

Oct 15, 2026

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