Gender, Sexuality, Marriage and
Citizenship
"The Construction of Gender"
Begin assignment: Friday
Publish assignment to the web: Friday, (1 week
later)
Hand-in assignment: (Section 1 and Section 2)
Same Day (11:30am in colloquium)
Objective: Reflect on how the construction of gender is affected by race, sexuality and other "identitfying traits."
Section 1: Construction
Reflection
Write a short (2-3 page / 300-500 word) reflection on how "gender"
is constructed. How do your appearance, dress, experiences, relationships with peers and
family and interactions with public actors (such as school officials, government bodies
and the medical establishment) affect or impact what "gender" you are?
How do specific societal expectations (especially of masculinity/femininity and sexuality) of others impact this determination of your "gender"? In what ways do race, culture and class affect the way "gender" is constructed?
For example, what are common scripts associated with people of your "race" AND "gender"? How do the scripts change depending on the gender of the individual? And how are these scripts perturbed by including sexual orientation? national origin? class? language?
Section 2: Regulation
Exercise
Write a short (1-2 page / 200-400 word) reflection on how "gender"
is regulated. To do this you will conduct a public experiment to illustrate and expose how
gender roles are reinforced and enforced by society.
The idea is this: without forewarning people around you (your roomate, your family, your friends, people you are eating with, people on the street or in the room) you will act in a "gender inappropriate way." That is, you will make a remark, gesture or act which you know will surprise the people around you will because of the gender positionality you occupy. If you like, you can tell the people that you were completing an exercise for CSP 1.
Your short reflection on this exercise should discuss how you chose what to do, what you did, and what were the reactions of the people around you (there must be atleast one other witness besides you--someone NOT in CSP 1). How does the exercise of these reflect, reinforce or reproduce 'scripts' about how gender roles are regulated in society?
Typed, double-spaced, hard copies are due
at 11:30 a.m. on Friday November 7 (at the beginning of colloquium)
You must also publish both these papers to the web by 11:30am on Friday
November 5.
Extra Credit Questions for Online (Forum) Discussion
How does your "gender" affect the nature of your
citizenship? That is, how do the concepts of nation and "gender" intersect?
REMINDER: NO LATE PAPERS OR ASSIGNMENTS WILL BE ACCEPTED WITHOUT PRIOR APPROVAL.