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EXP 26. Transgressing
Binaries: Sex, Gender, Race and Sexual Orientation
Instructor: Robyn
Ochs (booking@robynochs.com,
617-413-2717)
Fall semester 2002,
Wednesday evenings 6:15-9
The last two decades have seen a dramatic rise
in the visibility of those who challenge existing binary categories of sex (male
and female), gender (masculine and feminine) race (in the United States,
primarily black and white), and sexual orientation (gay and straight). We will study the experiences of
bisexuals, transsexuals, intersexuals, and others who blur the boundaries of
gay/straight, male/female, and masculine/feminine as well as people who
self-identify as biracial and multiracial using novels, films, short stories,
essays, guest speakers, poetry and autobiography. Theoretical readings will be used
to frame our discussions.
PURCHASE
REQUIRED:
Available in
the University bookstore:
Leslie Feinberg,
Stone Butch Blues. Ithaca: Firebrand, 1993. ~$14.
Note: All
assigned readings are available on reserve in Tisch Library.]
The criteria for
grading are regular attendance (no more than one absence will be allowed without
permission of the instructor), and timely and thoughtful completion of the
required readings and writing assignments. Preparation and participation in
class discussions will be considered as part of the grade, though students who
have difficulty speaking in class should talk to me about
this.
Students may also
be invited to attend selected lectures, discussions, or films on related topics
during the fall semester, including a conference on Saturday, October
20.
OFFICE HOURS:
I plan to
arrive at least 20 minutes prior to class every week. I can also meet with
students during break, after class, or by appointment. Please feel free to email
or telephone me if questions arise during the week, or to schedule an
appointment.
GRADING will be determined as
follows: paper #1 (5%); paper #2 (15%); response papers and Life stories (30%);
paper #3 (25%); participation (25%). There will be a 5% penalty for each
unexcused absence. 3 latenesses of
10 minutes or more will count as one absence. PLEASE BE IN YOUR SEAT BY 6:15
PM!
ABOUT THE
PAPERS:
Papers are required of all students, as follows:
1)
Due every week, beginning
week #2: response papers (2 pages); Life Stories (1 page)
2)
Due week #2: Please tell me
about yourself. Who are you? What are your hopes and expectations for this
course? Are there any particular issues you would like to see addressed? Is
there anything you would like me to know about you? (2
pages)
3)
Due week #7: Midterm paper
(5 pages): topic to be assigned
4)
Due week #10: outline of
final paper/project
5)
Due week #13: final paper
(10-12 pages)
WEEKLY RESPONSE
PAPERS:
Unless an alternative theme is announced, write 2 pages answering the following:
What was the overall point of the readings and/or film for this week? What did
you agree with/disagree with? Was there anything that you didn’t understand?
These papers are not letter-graded, but are expected to be
thoughtful.
LIFE
STORIES: All students will keep a notebook in
which they will record instances in which sex, gender, race or sexual
orientation is clarified, reinforced, interpreted, enforced by those around
you. (for example: you are filling
out a form on the internet that requires you to select either male or
female. A woman standing behind you
at the convenience store says to her young son “stop acting like a girl!” Examine the way a parent has dressed her
children of different sexes. Your
professor asks for two strong young men to help move a table. Recount a
conversation you had with your roommate.
Get the idea?
9/4. Week 1:
INTRO
What will this
class look like? Outline and
expectations
Coming to terms:
definitions & terminology
Film
in class: Scent uva Butch
Due in
class:
n/a
9/11. Week 2:
Gender I: Butches
Preparation:
Holly Devor,
Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1989, pp. 1-41.
Judith Lorber,
“‘Night to His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender,” in Readings for
Diversity and Social Justice, ed. Adams, et al. Routledge, 2000, pp.
203-211.
In Dagger,
ed. Lily Burana, Roxxie, and Linnea Due. San Francisco; Cleis Press, 1994: Carol
Queen, “Why I love Butch Women,” pp. 15-23; and Achy Obejas, “Butchiest Dyke
Contest,” pp. 121-126.
Sharon Bridgforth,
“a wo’mn called sir,” in Curve, June 2002, pp.
46-47.
Sherrie McInness
and Michele E. Lloyd, “G.I. Joes in Barbie Land: Recontextualizing Butch in
Twentieth Century Lesbian Culture,” in Queer Studies: A Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual & Transgender Anthology, ed. Brett Beemyn and Mickey Eliason.
NY: NYU Press, 1996, pp. 9-34.
Due in
class:
Paper #1, Response paper #1, Life story #1.
9/18. Week 3:
Gender II: Butches, Queens
Guest speakers:
Butch Panel
Preparation: 1) View film: Paris is
Burning; 2). Starting with the
links on my website: http://ochs.bi.org/website/resources/Transgender.html,
spend 60 minutes surfing the web, learning about trans issues. Select one article that you found most
helpful/interesting. Print out
enough copies so distribute in class.
Judith Butler,
“Performative Acts and Gender Constitution,” in Conboy, Katie; Medina, Nadia and
Stanbury, Sarah (editors), Writing on the Body: Female Embodiment and
Feminist Theory. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1997, pp. 401-417.
Due in
class:
Response paper #2, Life story #2.
9/25. Week 4:
Sexual Orientation I: Bisexuality
Preparation:
in Bi Any Other
Name: Bisexuals Speak Out. (LA: Alyson); Susan Carlton, “This Poem Can Be
Put Off No Longer” (14-16); Kei Uwano, “Bi-Loveable Japanese Feminist”
(185-187); Sharon Hwang Colligan,
“One” (240-243); Sheila Mabry, “Conflicts” (299-302); Lani Ka’ahumanu, “That
Naked Place,” in Bisexuality: The Psychology and Politics of an Invisible
Minority,” ed. Beth Firestein. Sage: 1996, pp.
xv-xviii.
in Bisexual
Politics: Amanda Udis Kessler, “Identity/Politics: A History of the Bisexual
Movement,” pp. 17-30; Liz. A.
Highleyman, “Identity and Ideas: Strategies for Bisexuals, pp. 73-92; Indigo Chi-Lien Som, “Open Letter to a
Former Bisexual (or, Do I Hear ‘Post-Bisexual’?)”, pp. 93-97; Robin Sweeney, “To
Butch to Be Bi (or You Can’t Judge a Boy By Her Lover,” pp. 179-187; and
Michèlle T. Clinton, “Politics of the Bisexual Deep Fry,” pp.
189-191.
Due in
class:
Response paper #3, Life story #3.
10/2. Week 5:
Sexual Orientation II: Bisexuality
Guest speakers:
Bisexual Panel
Preparation:
Paula Rust, “Sexual
Identity and Bisexual Identities: The Struggle for Self-Description in a
Changing Sexual Landscape,” in Queer Studies: A Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual &
Transgender Anthology, ed. Brett Beemyn and Mickey Eliason. NY: NYU Press, 1996,
pp.64-81.
Christina Chiu,
“Mama,” in Troublemaker and Other Saints. (NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2001), pp.
77-101.
Due in
class:
Response paper #4; Life story #4.
10/9. Week 6.
Race 1: Multiracial Identity
Preparation:
Michael Omi & Howard
Winant, “Racial Formations,”in The Social Construction of Difference &
Inequality: Race, Class, Gender & Sexuality (Mayfield, 2000), pp.
18-25.
Ramona E. Douglass,
Üpgrading America’s Conversations on Race: The Multi-Race Option for Census
2000, on the web page of the Association of Multiethnic Americans (http://www.ameasite.org/census/upgrade2k.asp)
“Summary Information from
Census 2000.” http://www.census.gov/, Data
Set: Cencus 2000 Redistricting Data
(Public Law 94-171) Summary File.
Selected excerpts from
Half and Half, ed. Claudine Chiawei O’Hearn. Pantheon, 1998:
--Philippe Wamba, “A Middle Passage,” pp.
167-169.
--Lisa See, “The Funeral
Banquet,”pp. 135-138.
--Julia Álvarez, “A White
Woman of Color,”pp. 146-149.
--James McBride, “What Color
is Jesus,”pp. 184-196.
--Danzy Senna, “The Mulatto
Millenium,” pp. 12-27.
Maria P.P. Root, “A Bill of
Rights for Racialy Mixed People,”in Readings for Diversity and Social
Justice, ed. Adams, et al. Routledge 2002, pp.
120-126.
Due
in class: Response paper #5; Life story #5.
10/16. Week
7: Race II: Multiracial Identity
Guest speakers:
Bi/Multiracial Panel
Preparation:
“Selected excerpts
from Lise Funderburg, Black, White, Other: pp. Paul Whitaker
219-220, 233-235; Jeana Wooley
250-256; Adebowale Patrick Akande Adegbile 256-262; Natasha Wild 263-269; John
Blake 269-276; Larene LaSonde 334-340; Marpessa Outlaw 341-342; Bernette Ford
342-344.
Using the provided
list of links at http://ochs.bi.org/website/resources/Multiracial.html,
spend 60 minutes online. Make sure
to spend time in particular at http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/secret/portraits/.
Due in
class:
Response paper #6, Life story #6.
Midterm paper.
10/23. Week
8: Intersex
Film in class:
Discovery special on intersex
Guest speakers:
Intersex Panel
Preparation:
Review www.isna.org web page
Martha Coventry,
“Making the Cut,” in Ms Magazine, October/November 2000, pp. 52-60
In Dawn Atkins,
ed., Looking Queer: Cheryl
Chase (or article above), “Affronting Reason,” pp. 205-219; Morgan Holmes,
“In(to) Visibility: Intersexuality in the Field of Queer,” pp. 221-226; Raven
Kaldera, “Agdistis’ Children: Living Bi-Gendered in a Single-Gendered World,”
pp. 227-232.
James Cañon, “The
Two Miracles of the Gringos’ Virgin,” in Bésame Mucho: New Latino Gay
Fiction, ed. Jaime Manrique and Jesse Dorris, (NY: Painted Leaf Press,
1999), pp. 32-48.
Suzanne Kessler,
“Creating Good Looking Genitals in the Service of Gender,” in Queer
Studies, pp 153-173.
Due in
class:
Response paper #5, Life story #7
10/30. Week
9: Sex I: Transgender
Film in class:
You Don’t Know Dick
Preparation: View film: Ma Vie en
Rose.
Holly Boswell, “The
Transgender Paradigm Shift: Toward Free Expression,”in The Social Construction
of Difference and Inequality: Race, Class, Gender and Sexuality (Mayfield,
2000), pp. 120-124.
Ricki Anne Wilchins,
Read My Lips: Sexual Subversion and the End of Gender. (Ithaca NY:
Firebrand Books, 1997). pp. 19-57; 79-88.
Sara Asch, “On the
Way to the Water,” in Lesbians Raising Sons, Jess Wells, ed., pp.
3-9.
Louise Kennedy,
“The unvarnished truth,” in The Boston Globe, December ??,
2001.
Bernadette Mchenry,
“Gender, transgender and beyond,” in The Daily Targum, Rutgers
University, 1/18/01.
NOTE: Start reading
Stone Butch Blues (due 11/13)—it’s a full-length
novel.
Due in
class:
Response paper #7, Life story #7
11/6. Week
10: Sex II: Transsexual
Guest speakers:
Transsexual Panel
Preparation: View film: Boys Don’t
Cry
In Leslie
Feinberg’s Trans Liberation ((Boston: Beacon Press, 1998): Leslie Feinberg, “We Are All Works
in Progress,” pp.1-13; Craig Hickman, pp. 110-112; Gary Bowen, pp.63-66; Linda
Phillips, pp.36-42.
Boye, “Beautiful
Boy: A Girl’s Own Story,” in Atkins, Looking Queer, pp.
245-248.
In Boys Like
Her by Taste This. (Vancouver: Press Gang Publisher, 1998): Ivan e. Coyote, “Just Like My Dad,” p.
116; Lyndell Montgomery, “Plastic Pearls,” pp. 137-139.
Max Wolf Valerio, "The Joker is Wild: Changing Sex + Other Crimes of Passion,"in Anything that Moves, Issue # 17, 1998, pp, 32-36.
In Minnie Bruce
Pratt, S/He. Ithaca: Firebrand, 1995: B “Beard,” p. 77; “Lunch,” pp.
88-90; “Paint,” pp. 91-93; “Tattoos,” p. 157; “Housework,” pp. 161-162; “Palace,”
pp. 168-170; “Art Gallery,” pp. 177-178; “Bathroom,” pp. 179-180; “Border,”
pp. 181-185.
Due in
class:
Response paper #8; Life story #8.
11/13. Week
11: Drawing Outside the Lines
Film in class:
Selection from Gender documentary: Native American
Preparation:
Leslie Feinberg,
Stone Butch Blues. Ithaca: Firebrand, 1993.
William J. Mann, “A
Letter to My Friend Maeve I’ll Never Send,” in Contra/Dictions: new queer
male fiction, ed. Brett Josef Grubisic. Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 1998,
pp. 110-112.
Due in
class:
Response paper #10. Life story
#10. Final paper proposal (1-2
pp.).
11/20. Week
12: Making the connections
Preparation:
Janet Clausen,
“Something Happened,”in Harvard Gay & Lesbian Review. V. VI, No. 2,
Spring 1999, pp. 37-39.
Tonia Bryan,
“Pure,” in Does Your Mama Know? An Anthology of Black Lesbian Coming Out
Stories, ed. Lisa Moore. (Decatur, GA: Redbone Press, 1997), pp.
213-221.
In Minnie Bruce
Pratt, S/He. Ithaca: Firebrand, 1995: “New Year’s Eve,” pp. 85-87; “Café
Paradiso,” pp. 103-104.
Elias
Farajaje-Jones (a.k.a. Eliahou Farajaje), “Loving Queer,” in In the
Family, Summer 2000, pp. 14-21.
Review: Maria P. P.
Root “A Bill of Rights for Racially Mixed People” from week
6.
Additional readings
may be suggested by students.
Due in
class:
No written assignments.
11/27. No
class
12/4. Week
13: Paper presentations / what have we learned?
Preparation:
none.
Due in
class:
FINAL PAPER