Texts focus on issues of women around the world and how many patriarchal societies place limitations on them. We also trace the struggle for gender equality shown in the literature. Our readings sample a variety of women writers in the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia, ca. 1840 to the present. Works center around unifying aspects of coming of age at various stages of life. Class sessions emphasize discussion of texts through close reading of individual passages to highlight important points. Supplemental materials and writing assignments will place those texts within their literary and cultural contexts.