Documentary Studies: Gender and Identity

I was really looking forward to taking this documentary class on gender and identity, and came into the class expecting to learn about contemporary issues dealing with the specified topics. But - and this has nothing to do with the teacher - well, maybe a little bit - I feel like the class is REALLY dated and uninformed. Now I'm not an expert on feminist theory at all, but the class is fortunately divided up between photographers and women's studies majors., who are up to par with their readings. I've taken the opportunity to talk to the women's studies majors about feminist theory to come and find out that what we're being taught in the class was new - 40 years ago.
I was always under the assumption that Betty Friedian, author of The Feminist Mystique, was the mother of feminism for practically defining the "thing without a name," but her writings though still taught and always referenced, are a bit behind the times. She was/is an advocate for the privileged white woman who feels useless because she is expected to be content with housewife duties, and feels that things like raising children and cleaning a house are burdensome and stopping her from living her life. But Friedians thoughts only apply to the white woman because in other cultures and races, women were expected to not only clean, cook, and raise children, but to work as well. Having a family and taking care of a house did not hold them back because children and family were not burdens, but joys and essential to life.(The Diversity of American Families- Eleanor Palo Stoller and Rose Campbell Gibson)
The professor in the class is a Betty Friedian - everything she preaches is in reference to Freidian's beliefs and the rights of a white woman. Now, this post is not meant to come off as if I'm badmouthing my teacher, because I have a lot of respect for her and I think she has good intentions. But if you are going to teach a class that is specifically gender, it would be nice to know what is needed to be taught and what has been written since Friedian times.
I also have this inkling that race is something the professor does not want to talk about, whether she feels like it has nothing to do with gender and identity, or she's just uncomfortable with it. I have a friend that took a course with her that focused on Class structure, like poor, rich, etc. and how it is defined. When race was mentioned as one obvious reason for creating class, the professor felt race was not a prevailing factor in determining class - so they were not allowed to talk about it.

For the documentary class I am taking, we are suppose to pick an issue dealing with gender that we would like to create a documentary photo series about. Sadly, at this point in the semester I still do not have a concrete idea of what I am going to do. Because I am interested in issues with race, I wanted to create a series that somehow incorporated race and gender. And when I talk to the professor about my interest in doing so - it is completely ignored.
One day in the beginning of the semester, I stayed after class to talk about my idea and discuss my concerns and hesitations about what I wanted to do. I specifically said, I don't know very much yet about gender, but I would like to somehow incorporate race into my project. Do you have any suggestions of where I could start from there?
So we sat down together - she said get out some paper and a pen, and let's brainstorm some ideas. Her first idea for me to write down was: Women and cooking. Okay. Second idea. Women and knitting? Women and reading, dressing, leisure activities, on and on. Nothing to do with race what so ever. I left more frustrated then before, and honestly still do not know where I gave off the impression that I was ever interested in doing a documentary series about knitting and cooking.
I guess the point of this rant is not very clear and concise. What I'm trying to say is that the class has revealed a lot about some issues I am trying to address in my work. First - being liberal does not mean you are anti-racist or aware of whiteness. And secondly, race/racism is still very difficult to talk about. I am still deeply frustrated with the class, and I think it's beginning to show among other students as well. Attendance is low, participation is sparse, and some students have just become blatantly rude. But even though the class is focused on gender and identity, it has become another lesson for me in my quest to understanding race and whiteness.