Because today’s political science textbooks are often liberal, they serve as an excellent vehicle for teaching women’s studies. With their coverage of equal rights and the subsequent emergence of women’s rights, every topic from abortion, sexual harassment to the glass ceiling find their way into classroom dialogue.

Raising consciousness of women’s issues is important in today’s “post-9/11 world of growing religious fundamentalism, political conservatism and the blurring of the line between the two” (Baker and Madden 2005). Many women in the rural south believe “they can happily coexist with patriarchy” (196). It is only when they choose to pursue their own dreams that they learn otherwise.

It’s not just young people who benefit from studying women’s issues. Many women go back to college after their children are grown in order to have marketable skills for rejoining the workforce. They know that leaving behind the life full of days of diapers, driving their children to soccer practice, and paying for Advanced Placement (AP) classes has to be exchanged for the acquisition of skills for a new career.

They come to the classroom thirsty for an education and soon realize that while learning can slake their thirst, it can also begin to reveal the opportunity that the world can hold for them. In order to embrace the world of today, they have to learn what women’s issues are. “The Southern Baptist principles of female submission and male dominance in marriage” (194) need to be explored. Hand in hand with the marital principle can come the tradition of blaming the victim for sexual harassment. Women cannot fully understand what they’re dealing with in that tradition without an understanding of patriarchal hegemony.

An example of legislative patriarchal hegemony in the south is the ultrasound bill in the state of Virginia. It creates a conflict between what could be considered a conservative value and patriarchal intrusion.

The state government refuses to make health insurance companies pay for trans-vaginal ultrasounds. At the same time, it does not force the male responsible for the impregnation to bear any of the costs for the procedure. Therefore, not only are women forced to undergo procedure after procedure until a baby’s heartbeat is detected, but also they are financially penalized for enduring the unwanted procedures.

When college students are offered a glimpse into how women’s rights are currently being trampled by the legislative system, it makes them realize how women’s rights can be overlooked in everyday life. A glimpse into women’s studies can open a window that otherwise may have remained shut. For the instructor, teaching in the rural south offers the opportunity to expand the understanding of conservative principles.

Work Cited

Baker, Carrie N. and Jaime Madden. “‘An Orchid in the Arctic:’ Women’s Studies in the Rural South.” NWSA Journal , Vol. 17, No. 2 (Summer 2005) pp. 192 - 198.