Teaching Gender and Sex in Contemporary America PDF
Preview Teaching Gender and Sex in Contemporary America
Kristin Haltinner · Ryanne Pilgeram Editors Teaching Gender and Sex in Contemporary America Teaching Gender and Sex in Contemporary America Kristin Haltinner (cid:129) Ryanne Pilgeram Editors Teaching Gender and Sex in Contemporary America Editors Kristin Haltinner Ryanne Pilgeram Department of Sociology and Anthropology Department of Sociology and Anthropology University of Idaho University of Idaho Moscow , Idaho , USA Moscow , Idaho , USA ISBN 978-3-319-30362-8 ISBN 978-3-319-30364-2 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-30364-2 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016937499 © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016 T his work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. T he use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. T he publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG Switzerland Foreword I started teaching gender and sex under what are perhaps ideal conditions. In 2006 as a graduate student, I took a Feminist Pedagogy course and led a small discussion group for a Women’s and Gender Studies 101 course: Women, Power and Difference. I was then hired (as part of a four-person graduate student team) to teach the WGS 101 course and went on to do it six times. Our team was hired together and spent the fi rst term each year as teaching assistants for a large course. The faculty member who taught that class served as our mentor for the year. As graduate assistants, we took turns developing and delivering a communal syllabus was well as material for the large class—all while running large discussion sections. Part of our mentoring involved weekly meetings to discuss the material, pedagogical theory, as well as the practical challenges of teaching this topic. Practically, it meant that I was teaching a topic that I felt passionate about while sharing an offi ce with three other people who felt similarly and were teaching what I was teaching. However, because we were an interdisciplinary team, we often approached the same topics from different angles. If that wasn’t perfect enough, across the hall we had a seasoned instructor who served as our mentor to reach out to when we weren’t sure how to handle a topic. I also became a mother during those years and got to be part of theory in action. I was encouraged to bring my infant to meetings, and my faculty mentor brought in a swing for my son after I tried to “rock” him in an offi ce chair. When I began teaching at the University of Idaho in 2010, I found myself sur- rounded by colleagues who cared about teaching and who were eager to discuss the challenges and possibilities that teaching offers, but as the only person teaching the Sociology of Gender course, I found myself wishing I could discuss the issues that arose specifi cally around gender and sex. For one thing, despite being a newly minted Ph.D. in 2010, I realized how quickly the fi eld had changed and worried that my course material was dated. For example, does “Women’s Reproductive Justice” still belong in a class that presumes sex is a social construction? As I mulled—well actually agonized—over these questions my department grew. Dr. Kristin Haltinner joined the department in Fall 2013, and the classes that I had been entirely respon- sible for became a shared load. Once again I found myself discussing the challenges and possibilities for teaching on sex and gender. Furthermore, because our training v vi Foreword happened at different institutions—Dr. Haltinner earned her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota, I at the University of Oregon—we often approached the same topic from different angles. These discussions helped me reshape my syllabus, rethink some of my readings, and change my class for the better. It also gave me space to talk through the issues I was having in class and become more confi dent in the deci- sions I made. As we talked more about our teaching, we realized how important these kinds of discussions were both as teachers and researchers. We decided if these discussions were important to us that they would likely benefi t other instructors as well, and this anthology was born. This volume is designed as both an in-depth resource for instructors developing a new course in sex and gender or as a quick reference for instructors looking to update a particular element of a course. Specifi cally, this vol- ume is divided into four sections: Part I: Reframing Gender; Part II: Intersecting with Systems of Power ; Part III: C reating Intentional Classroom Dynamics ; and Part IV: Teaching About Gender and Sex in Broader Contexts . I n Part I: Reframing Gender the authors provide a variety of strategies for decon- structing the powerful belief that gender, sex, and sexuality are dichotomous and inseparable categories. This section provides direction on how to frame teaching about sex and gender in ways that support student learning. These chapters range from the deeply theoretical—one offers suggestions about how post-structuralism can disrupt conventional thinking on gender—to practical examples to teach com- plexities, like the chapter that uses recent controversies in international athletics about the sex of athletes to underscore the complexities of sex and gender. P art II: I ntersecting with Systems of Power is organized around four themes: Reproductive Rights, Violence, Work, and Media. In this section the authors offer new ways to incorporate these traditional elements of a sex and gender course. The authors offer examples from their own courses while sharing some of the pitfalls and potential forms of resistance instructors might face. T he unique classroom dynamics involved in teaching sex and gender is picked up more fully in Part III: C reating Intentional Classroom Dynamics . Teaching is always more than preparing a syllabus and picking readings, but this is particularly true when teaching about sex and gender. This section is a useful reminder that the work of teaching involves emotional labor, and the authors share some of their struggles and triumphs in this work. What happens in the classroom is part of the experience of the course, and in this section the authors offer candid and thoughtful examples about creating classrooms that are intentional: classrooms that can be both challeng- ing and relaxed, and depressing and hopeful; classrooms that accept emotional labor as part of the work and see rage as productive. I n the fi nal section of the book, Part IV: T eaching About Gender and Sex in Broader Contexts, the authors suggest how to take the lessons from sex and gender classrooms and apply them more broadly. The fi rst two chapters suggest practices to create classroom activities and dynamics that are inclusive of LGBTQ students in sex and gender classes and other classes. The second half of this section includes examples for including gender in courses not explicitly about gender and sex to demonstrate the importance of these topics to students learning outside the rigid compartmentalization that sometimes happens in coursework. Foreword vii O ur goal is that this volume will assist you in your teaching whether you need support with teaching a particular topic or are looking to create (or overhaul) an entire course. The authors in this volume provide examples from their own teaching, suggested readings, activities, and potential pitfalls. A s we’ve worked with the authors on their chapters, we have been simultane- ously working on our syllabi. We’ve been re-energized in our teaching as we’ve been reminded, once again, that even if they are not across the hall, we are sur- rounded scholars who can support us in our teaching. Whether you are alone in the wilderness (or perhaps alone in the cornfi elds), or teaching about sex and gender, or teaching among a group of likeminded scholars, our hope is that this volume has the same affect on you. For detailed information about each chapter, please see Alder and Adler’s thoughtful introduction. University of Idaho Ryanne Pilgeram Moscow, ID, USA [email protected] Contents Part I Reframing Gender 1 Sex and Gender in International Sports: Athletes and the Social Construction of Sex . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Sumner McRae 2 The Mis-education of Lady Gaga: Confronting Essentialist Claims in the Sex and Gender Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Andrea D. Miller 3 Performances of Pronouns: Using Feminist Post-structuralism to Explore the Social Construction of Gender . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Alison Happel-Parkins 4 Undoing Gender: Making the Invisible Visible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Lindsay Custer 5 Gender Bending in the Classroom: Teaching Gender Inequity Without Reifying Gender Essentialism and Heteronormativity . . . . 45 Kristin Haltinner 6 Make Us Whole!: Deconstructing Gender Narratives to Build Solidarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Annie D. Jollymore 7 SGS: A Sensitizing Concept for Teaching Gender Diversity . . . . . . . . 63 Linda J. Henderson Part II Intersecting with Systems of Power 8 Choosing to Abort, Alter, Adopt, or Accept: Teaching About Abortion in the Undergraduate Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 Elroi J. Windsor ix
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