Gender, Sexuality, Marriage and
Citizenship
"Paper #3: Race and Gender and Marriage and Law"
Begin assignment: Friday,
Draft due: Wed./Thur. 5/6 days later (in seminars)
Hand-in assignment: Monday, 10 days after
initial (in colloquium)
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 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 a 3-5 paged (double-spaced, typewritten, 12pt, 1" margins, 900-1500 words) essay that discusses 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 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 the results in Loving and Baehr, cultural and societal implications of same-sex marriage and interracial marriage. You should have references to current events (occurring in 1999) revealing constructions of gender/sexuality in your essay. YOU MUST ALSO CITE ATLEAST ONE LEGAL CASE IN YOUR ESSAY.
Typed, full drafts are due in the second seminar
of the week (Wednesday or Thursday ).
Typed, double-spaced, 3-5 page (900-1500 word) papers are due at 11:30 a.m. on
following Monday (in colloquium in Booth 204).
REMINDER: GRADES FOR LATE PAPERS WILL BE LOWERED.