Professor Williams is a sweatheart. She comes into class everyday very excited to begin lecture and insight her students. She is very approachable and, as the class goes on, becomes more personal as she shares with us stories about her family.

With that said, do not expect this to be an easy GE. You have weekly readings that average to about ~60 pages per week; they're not an easy-read either. Every page takes a good 5-7 minutes to read to be able to fully comprehend the text. The authors are also very superfluous in their writing, so you have to be patient when reading the text and refrain from taking a dump on the textbook.

I stopped attending lectures week 2 because I felt like Professor Williams talks the whole period. Though she makes excellent points, the material is projected in a monotone voice and made very dry because she condenses the text to the main, abstract points. I.E "The Master's Tool Will Never Dismantle The Master's House" *palm face*

Section is a piece of cake as long as you keep up with the reading. If you miss just one article, you're behind and will have play catch-up. You're grade is based 20% on discussion, 20% on midterm, 20% on a paper, and 40% on the final. The paper is easy but time-consuming because you have to review old material if you want to write an articulate paper. Section, as previously mentioned, is easy as long as you keep up with the reading as you have weekly quizzes (topics are very easy/general to write about). Now, the mid term and final are a fucking bitch. Every reading, Professor Williams gives you a set of keywords. Now, given that we read upwards of 100 articles throughout the quarter, that's about 200 key terms. Those key terms, my friends, are what's gonna be on the midterm/final.

OH AND THE CATCH IS, she doesn't tell you which ones you're gonna be examined on. BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE. You have to list the the author of the term! Oh! And significance! So good luck studying 200+ key terms. I actually had a breakdown during the midterm because I was so overwhelmed. I wasn't alone though, as everyone during the day of the midterm were shaking of nervousness.

Overall, I think the class is very insightful and engaging. However, you have to work for your grade. It can be fun if you're into modernism of feminism and LGBT issues, but other than that, it's very hard to keep engaged.

Personally, I did not enjoy the class. Yeah, she shows you videos about Beyonce and Shakira. But I feel that the class lacks real insight on feminism, maybe I'm old school and want to learn about how the feminism movement came about and all that stuff, but I think it shouldn't be called " Introduction to Women's Studies: Feminist Perspectives on Women and Society" if the majority of the class focuses on transgender issue it should be called that. I personally do not understand why she gets bothered by people sleeping, texting or conversating, its their choice. She's a very nice women don't get me wrong, its just not the class for me. Good luck on the midterm too, she hands out a study guide and you guess what your ids are, she won't tell you, she does give the essay question. The TAs like to focus on making you think, so it's not an average class where you "discuss" but really get told what's on the midterm, so prepare for a big chunk of the class begin an actual discussion. Best you make study groups with your friends because you'll need it.

Professor Williams is WONDERFUL! This was my favorite GE I have taken at UCLA. Go to class and take good notes and do the readings (which are interesting). She incorporates a lot of media and videos - we watched a Justin Timberlake or Beyonce video almost every class (and wrote an essay on them for the final!) Rana is an awesome TA too. I got an A- in the class without putting in too much extra study time. The class is a lot of concepts rather than memorization. TAKE IT!

Williams is very passive aggressive. The Ta makes the grade and showing up to lecture is not worth it. She takes attendance on poll everywhere and you can easily take attendance from your dorm with the app. The book is mostly online and it is far too overpriced. Class is not hard to do well just do the extra credit and do the readings. The class had one midterm and a final no essays. Easy Class

This class was phenomenal. Professor Williams was engaging, confident, eloquent, and clearly an expert in her field. Her lectures were clear and insightful, and challenged the way I think about the world. The weekly readings were sometimes dense but very rewarding, and the ta's were dedicated, helpful, and very knowledgeable. There were 3 essays and no tests (only weekly reading responses in section), and overall the material was both eye-opening and relevant. No textbook was required, just articles posted on the class website. Take this class! I would definitely recommend it if you are looking for a great GE!

Williams is a sweet woman that is very passionate and knowledgeable n the subject. Highly recommend this as a GE. No midterm of final, just three short essays. Lecture was usually hit or miss for me, with some being very engaging and others seeming to be pointless or repetitive. Lecture is not all that important in this class, but discussion is definitely worth it because this is where you discuss the main ideas of the readings which you can then use to write about. There was a good amount of reading but it was almost always very interesting to read about and can change your perspective on things. That being said, don't take this class if you're not willing to be open-minded.

Since this class doesn’t have any exam m, your grade entirely depends on how lenient is your TA. My TA is very picky in terms of everything that she grades and even said during discussion that she absolutely disregard any negotiations.

The unfairness in this class is sickening

Your grades totally depend on your TA, with some TAs being really lenient and give perfect grades on your essay(I know this from my friends who had an easier TA); while others being extremely strict and somewhat unfair.
I had a TA who failed to explain the concepts clearly in the discussion and was inconsistent in her grading. Although she is not the most strict to my knowledge, as commented by others earlier, "the unfairness in the class is sickening ".

I'm not sure why there are negative reviews about Prof Williams! I loved her lectures, and found the topics very interesting. If you're closed minded about what gender, sex, and race are, don't take this class. However, you're grade completely depends on your TA. I highly recommend Shondra Thompson. She was amazing and knew what she was talking about. I wish I could take this class again and again.