Abstract
In this article Magda Lewis investigates the psychological, social, and sexual dynamics of the feminist classroom as the women and men in her course struggle with the realities of violence against women and the negotiation strategies women use to succeed and survive in a patriarchal society. Lewis presents a feminist critique of patriarchy through her own feminist teaching practice within a context of both blatant and subtle forms of physical, social,emotional, and psychological violence against women. She analyzes students' resistance to such a critique, and self-consciously examines and questions the conditions under which her students make meaning of these events. Lewis shares some of the teaching strategies she has used to subvert the gendered status quo of classroom interaction between women and men by including her thoughts and reactions to her students' accounts of their experiences, perceptions,frustrations, and anger as they grapple with these issues. These stories illustrate the use of such instances as pedagogical moments of transformative power to lead students toward a more critical political perspective. Lewis concludes by suggesting a specific framework that articulates the terms of feminist teaching.
