SECTION III: GENDER & SEXUALITY, LAW & MARRIAGE

Paper #3: Gender & Race and Marriage & Citizenship

PROMPT AVAILABLE: Friday October 23rd
PAPER DUE: Friday November 13th, 11:30am

Objective: synthesize and examine concepts surrounding "race," "gender," "sexuality," "marriage" and "citizenship" in the context of current and past legal regulation(s) in America.

In a typed, double-spaced 3-4 page (800-1200 word) essay, respond to the following questions:

In this section of the course we have attempted to analogize race and gender as we examined the institution of marriage and its intersections with citizenship and sexuality. We have considered how the identifying traits of race, gender, citizenship and sexuality are constructed and discussed how marriage has been an important tool by which these identities are proscribed. In particular, by considering the issues surrounding the historical ban on interracial marriage, we have been able to analyze similar issues surrounding the current ban on same-sex marriage. In addition, we have discussed the many conceptual meanings of marriage. These include, but are not limited to, marriage as an institution that links private and public contract, marriage as a societal legitimation of particular relationships, and marriage as a producer and a product of imbalanced power relations.

While you think about these ideas and others, write an essay that critically examines how the historical ban on interracial marriage and the current ban on same-sex marriage participate in the construction of the race, gender and sexuality of contemporary "Americans."

You should consider, but not necessarily explicitly answer, the following questions.
How is the citizenship of a minority group affected by limitations on whom they can marry?
What are the ways in which marriage is used to delineate differences based on race, gender and sexuality?
What is the relationship between public regulations and private intimacy?

Your essay must have a clear thesis and be analytic, not merely descriptive.

Consider the language of the court rulings in Loving and Baehr (and others) to see how judges framed their arguments and how law enforces and reflects racial and gendered scripts.  Your essay can include commentary on the desirability of marriage as a social institution, arguments which agree or disagree with judicial reasoning (in Loving, Baehr, Goodridge et cetera), and the cultural and societal implications of same-sex marriage and interracial marriage. You should refer to at least one current event (occurring in 2009) that you analyze to reveal soci(et)al constructions of gender and/or sexuality in your essay.

REMINDERS
0) YOUR NAME SHOULD APPEAR NOWHERE ON YOUR PAPER UNTIL THE BACK OF THE VERY LAST PAGE (ON WHICH YOU CLEARLY HAND WRITE  IT ON THE REVERSE OF YOUR WORKS CITED PAGE).
1) NO LATE PAPERS OR ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL.
2) YOUR PAPER SHOULD BE DOUBLE SPACED, IN 12 POINT FONT WITH 1-INCH MARGINS AND INCLUDE A TITLE AND WORD COUNT.
3) YOUR PAPER SHOULD INCLUDE A THESIS STATEMENT (BOLDED) WHICH DEMONSTRATES A CRITICAL EXAMINATION OF THE CONCEPTS REFERENCED ABOVE  AND WHICH RESPONDS TO THE PROMPT.
4) YOUR PAPER SHOULD INCLUDE A "WORKS CITED" PAGE OF ANY ARTICLES YOU REFERENCE IN YOUR ESSAY. YOU MAY USE MLA OR APA CITATION STYLE.
5) A SUCCESSFUL PAPER WILL REFERENCE AT LEAST TWO OF THE COURT CASES THAT ARE INCLUDED IN THIS SECTION OF THE COURSE AS WELL AS A CURRENT EVENT WHICH HAPPENED IN 2009.

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