I need a good research topic for a women's studies class. Any Ideas?

Question

Okay .. please don't say feminism, or abuse or abortion or anything typical like that. It would be really easy to just pick one of those obvious topics and right a research paper about. I'm trying to figure out something that is not as common and that you don't hear about all the time, but is still interesting and I will be able to find enough information on it to write a 10 page paper. I'm really stumped and have been rackin my brain and trying to look something up for weeks. Does anyone have any good ideas about what I could pick to do my paper on that my professor will be impressed with and the other students will not be bored to death when I present it?

Okay.. after reading these I really like the one about birth controll because I know there will be a lot of information out there to find and I know people who have taken birth control. My only question no is what would my arguments be for it? Because this is a RESEARCH paper.. not just an informative paper.

Answer 1

Is this a POSITION paper? Will you argue that BC is a good thing? If so, think about how it has given women freedom that they never had before. We never would have had such a large female work force without BC. Before BC, the average married woman had a child or pregnancy every year or two, often resulting in huge families (my grandpa was one of 11, my mother in law was one of 13, etc.). Would women have ever really been able to pursue higher education and top levels of management with 13 kids? Don't think so. Would our economy be where it is (on a global level as well) with only men working full time? Also, it gave women sexual freedoms never known before. Now, hardly any woman is a virgin when she marries, because BC lets her have sex with a partner with whom she only has a sexual interest, not a marriage interest. Conversely, BC lets women postpone childbearing to the point that when they DO want kids, they encounter fertility issues due to age. Would we have the multi-billion dollar a year infertility/IVF industry we have now if there were no BC? No way. Also, what about the health issues? The Pill has probably saved many lives--lots of women died in childbirth or suffered ill effects from so many pregnancies. But, the pill also raises your risk for heart attack, stroke, and deadly blod clots, especially when you're older. What are the long term concerns involved in being on the Pill for 15 or more years? Why isn't there a male BC pill? Is it just because it's the woman that carries the baby and is therefore her sole responsibility? What role has BC played in the spread of AIDS and other STDs--that is, if a woman doesn't worry about getting pregnant, is she less likely to have safe sex?

The Pill literally changed the world in MANY ways, and you should have no trouble writing your minimum pages! If you just stop to think about how many things have changed since it's use became so widespread, it really is astounding. I would say it's up there with penicillin in terms of a drug that has affected virtually everyone and in a lot of not-so-obvious ways. Hope this has helped and good luck!

Answer 2

How about a paper about Women's studies as a discipline. It is often disparaged -- as we see on this forum -- and in many Universities the enrollment is in decline or the programme has been discontinued or they don't have one. In my own University we have Women's Studies (undergrad) and Gender studies at a post-grad level -- yet we do not have a dean like the other programmes -- we have a coordinator -- and when cuts were being discussed one of the first programmes to be on the chopping board was Wms studies. You could look at the political aspect of why that is -- or discuss the attitudes etc........ You could look into the areas where scholars have created Men's studies as another discipline -- some in contrast to and some as a compliment to Wms Studies. Australia has some excellent scholars of masculinity -- RW Connell is one -- and he is not anti-female -- just pro people -- he says you can't study one without the other. You could come up with some really great arguments either for or against -- or even come up with ways to "save" Wms Studies......... I think it would be different and give your fellow students something to think about.

Answer 3

You should write about women and raunch culture- ie. the impact of the sex industry (pornography, stripping, Girls Gone Wild, prostitution etc), but with the added dynamic of how women have begun to be active participants in this industry, operating under the assumption that if they choose to do it, they are actually gaining power over men ( a covert form of exploitation and manipulation, as well as a sad, sad state of denial). Not enough research has been done on this topic in general, but definately enough for a ten page paper. I also think women and crime is an interesting topic. Research shows that women are convicted more often and given longer sentences than men for nonviolent crimes. Studies also show that women are impacted by incarceration more negatively than men and have greater difficulties getting jobs, maintaining parental rights, are given harsher probation terms, and are given less resources to stay out of trouble. If you didn't like either of these, hopefully they at least got you thinking...Good luck.

Answer 4

You could try writing a paper on female psychology sort of thing including relationships, women's history (Eleanor Roosevelt, etc), and real-life situations women go through, though it may be just a little complicated. Or a pro/con for a women compared to men type of deal. Last but not least, women against the world: how some things like jobs are sometimes harder to acquire for women and that kind of stuff.

Answer 5

What about current child support /vistation laws... with a spin that noone expects. Focus on the stepmother: her role, the impact upon her family unit, which includes a husband, and another woman's child/children. It isn't always the evil woman portrayed in all the media, and there is some great research to validate all of your arguments.

I know some great sites if you are interested in them for the information gathering stages... Just let me know!

Good Luck with the research no matter which direction you go!!

Answer 6

First, I presuppose that your women's studies class has already covered such obligatory Feminist critics as Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, Elaine Showalter, and Helene Cixous, and that perhaps the course syllabus started out the semester reading Virginia Woolf's "A Room of One's Own". Having stated the "givens" of almost every survey women's studies class along with its mandatory theories, such as "writing the body" and "women's time", as a former college English professor (and a current secondary English teacher), I'd first suggest you need to narrow your topic and then twist it a tad.

For example, you might write about a pop-cultural icon , such as Madonna, Anna Nicole Smith (selections from her diaries are now online), or (dare I suggest it) Paris Hilton, and show how her actions either empower women or detract from their empowerment.

If all else fails, Amy Tan and Margaret Atwood continue to write some very fine contemporary Feminist novels. My favorite Atwood novel, "Alias Grace" (1996), for example, deviates from the Victorian idea of "the angel in the house."

Answer 7

I'd do some historical research on Margaret Sanger and the early reactions to the movement or historical research on oral contraceptives (the pill) and how it changed women's lives (being able to control their own fertility without a man's intervention or mechanical barriers) in the late 1960's, or even the discovery of the HPV virus and the cervical cancer connection, and whether the necessary reliance on condoms is changing women's ideas about their own sexual empowerment.

Answer 8

I would be curious to read about female inventors and whether they fiind it any more difficult to get others to take them seriously about their ideas and possibly to fund them to be able to bring those ideas into production. I "googled" female inventors and came up with quite a few references. Does that sound like something you might be interested in researching? I think we usually associate that field with males, but why should we? Women have very creative minds and are good problem solvers. I am listing a few of the sources, but I know beyond a doubt that you can do the research yourself if you select this topic. Best of luck.

Answer 9

Yeah, write why some religions consider birth control as a bad thing. Or how some third-world countries are getting aid in the form of condoms.

Definitely interesting.

Answer 10

I think you should take a stand on birth control because while it may be legal in some places it was not always so. Also, there is the possibility of status/stigma across cultures. Some places see woman who take birth control as loose while others see it as responsible. Good luck.