Syllabus and Readings

Gender, Sexuality and the Body
ANTH 3325
Spring 2020
Prof. Laurie Greene

Syllabus: Readings, Responsibilities and Assignments

In this course, we will be exploring the human body, in particular as it relates to the expression of sex, gender and sexuality. (Though there are MANY more topics we can discuss in this course)

• In doing so, we will examine the body as a focus for anthropological investigation. The body is a rich site upon which practices, images, meanings, norms and cosmologies are inscribed. 
• Furthermore, it is through the everyday experience of lived bodies (phenomenology) that power, identity, and inequality are expressed. 
• Building upon these ideas, we will explore the body not as a skin-bound biomechanical individual, but as a dynamic, malleable and experiential entity around which society, culture and economy intersect. 

Course Objectives

• Students will understand how the MIND has been privileged in importance over the BODY in the Western (Decartes/Cartesian Dualism) dichotomy of mind/body. 
• Students will review the philosophical and social science perspectives upon which anthropologists draw. 
• Students will gain an understanding of importance of the body as a focus of inquiry. 
• Students will understand why the body is a marker of identity and personhood(sex, gender, sexuality). 
• Students will see the importance of the body as the subject on which human culture is founded.

Student Learning Outcomes 
At the conclusion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Examine the ways in which ideas regarding the body are socially and culturally constructed.
• Think critically about the division between the mind and the body. 
• Understand importance of the body as a focus of power, identity, and economy. 
• Recognize the value of anthropological understandings of the body.

Introductory Summary:
Anthropologist Mary Douglas (1978) distinguished between the natural body and the social body. Each body, she claimed, is a physical entity but also is a representation; it is a medium of expression but one that is controlled and restricted by the social system. These two bodies constitute different realms of experience; they mirror the physical into the social and cause the physical to be experienced in social terms. These categories are meaningful, because the body is a  "natural symbol with which to think about nature, society and culture” (Scheper-Hughes & Lock 1987, p. 7).

According to Scheper-Hughes & Lock 1987, The individual body is the domain of the “lived” or embodied experiences people have of their bodies. The social body, in contrast, relates to the ways the body (including its products: blood, milk, etc.) operates as a natural symbol, as a tool at hand to think and represent social relationships such as gender, kinship, and mode of production (see Featherstone et al. 1991). A third-dimension states that power and control are embodied as well. This is the body politic: the human body as tool or weapon of domestication and discipline and of identification, subjectification, and resistance. These three bodies also constitute three levels of experience and analysis. What mediates between them are emotions.

Thomas Csordas argues that the body is essential to anthropological study, because "It is not an object to be studied in relation to culture, but is to be considered as the subject of culture, or in other words, as the existential ground of culture." (1988, p. 5).

In addition, the body is "malleable." In all cultures, the body is never left "as-is," but is manipulated in ways which the culture deems "normative." Body modification is the norm, whether these modifications be prescribed daily (dress, hygiene, comportment), or permanent (mutilation, transformation, enhancement-scarring, tattooing, piercing, enlargement (focal range), etc.). Each of these alterations has strong cultural meaning.

We will touch on these and other theoretical understandings of the body which anthropologists believe is the subject (foundation) on which culture is enacted. This runs counter to most of Western philosophy which sees the mind as primary (the body as incidental), most poignantly articulated by Desartes and his theory of mind/body dualism.

Because this is a small class (less than 10-YAYYYY!) I am going to run this course like a seminar. I am really excited about this. Instead of a traditional text(s), we will be able to read materials which I will distribute and "lend" to you. The following syllabus includes readings FROM WHICH I will choose as the course progresses. You will all be responsible for different readings and we will discuss these readings in class, and experiment with them through both "reflective" (self-inquiry) and short ethnographic (fieldwork) projects.

I AM REALLY EXCITED ABOUT THIS SEMESTER AND EXPLORING THESE TOPICS WITH YOU!

The only text you should buy is (make sure you get THIS edition):

     Weitz, Rose and Samantha Kwan. (2014). The Politics of Women's Bodies: Sexuality, Appearance and Behavior. (Oxford University Press).

Syllabus and Readings (to be assigned in class)

I. Sex, Gender and Local Biologies

(1) Anthropological Perspectives on Body Image. Read HERE (1/21)

• Social Theory and the Body: Mauss, Douglass, Bourdeiu and Foucault
• social construction of sex and gender

(1) Howsen, Alexandra, " The Body, Gender and Sex," in The Body in Society, 2nd edition.(New York: Polity); pp. 50-84. (1/23)

(2) Anne Fausto-Sterling, "Duelling Dualisms," in Sexing the Body (New York: basic Books) pp. 1-29. (1/23)

(3) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 2: Judith Lorber, "Believing is Seeing: Biology as Ideology" pp. 13-26.(1/23)

(4) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 3: Karin Martin, "Becoming a Gendered Body: Practices of Preschools"pp. 27-48. (1/23)

                                       GENDER IS A PROCESS, NOT A TRAIT (watch)

II. The Body Politic

• Abortion and the disciplining of women's bodies (1/28)

(1) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 20. Rachel Roth, "Backlash and Continuity: The Political Trajectory of Fetal Rights" pp.322-330. (1/28) River
(2) Lynn M. Morgan: "Mediated Bodies: Fetal Bodies Undone." (A Companion to the Anthropology of the Body). (1/28) Rachael
(3) Anne Borovoy, "Beyond Choice: A New Framework for Abortion" HERE (1/28)Denise
(4) Carolyn Sufrin "When the Punishment is Pregnancy" HERE Susan
(5) the NYT versus Anthropologists on Infanticide HERE laurie

FILM VIEWING: Citizen Ruth (1/30)
(1) Due: 2/3: Autoethnography "My Body, My Self" (Tuesday)

• Athletic bodies

(1) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 18. Susan K Kahn, "From the Muscle Moll to the Butch Ballplayer." pp. 293-308. (2/4) Laurie

(2) Black Male Bodies and Sports HERE (2/4) Susan

(3) Who Owns Black male Athlete's Opinions HERE (podcast) (2/4) ALL

(4) Breeding and Controlling the Black Male Through Sports HERE (2/4) Denise

(5) How Gender Transitions Alter Athletic Performance" HERE (2/4) River

(6) Sex Testing female Athletes HERE (2/4) Rachael

(7) #takeaknee HERE (2/4) ALL

• Aids and the scourge of homosexual bodies

(1) John W.Burton, "You and Me:The Social Life of the Body," in Culture and the Human Body. (Prospect Heights: Waveland Press); pp.25-50. (2/6) Denise
(2) "Impact of AIDS on the Body of the Gay Male"HERE (2/6) River

• politics of pee and warfare

(1) "school toilets as a site for political resistance" HERE (2/11) Susan
(2) "Bisexual Bathrooms Rob Women of an Important Cultural Space" HERE (2/11) Laurie
(3) War and Bodies HERE Rachael (2/10)

Film: Hoop Dreams (2/12)
(2) Due: "Politicizing the Athletic Body" (2/19)

III. Normative Sex, Bodies and gender

• Disability (2/17)

(1) The Body Silent Excerpt
(2)  Lennard J. Davis "Visualizing the Disabled Body," in (The Body: A Reader)
(3)  Alice Domurat Dreger. "Jarring Bodies: Thoughts on the Display of Unusual Anatomies." (The Body: A Reader)

(4) Weitz and Quan , chapter 6(53)
(5)Weitz and Quan, Chapter 18

• Unacceptable Bodies (2/19)

(1) Karen Dias'. "The Ana Sanctuary: Women's Pro-Anorexic narratives in Cyberspace."(The Body: A Reader)

(2) Men's Bodies and Masculinity PDF

• The Homosexual Body (2/24)

(1) "Performing the Fat Body" in Fat Gay Men.
(2) Big, Fat, Gay Bears HERE
(3) gay Athletes and Body Image HERE
(4) Body Ideals and the Health of Gay Men HERE
(5) Heterosexual and Lesbian Bodies in Advertising HERE
(6) Lesbian Bodies: Tombois, Tribades and Tarts  HERE

Film: Take a Look at This Heart (2/26)

IV. Presenting/Enacting Sexuality and Gender (3/2)

• Make up, Dress & Ornamentation

(1) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 21

(2) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 22
(3) Excerpts from Body, Dress and Identity.
(4) Tracey Owens Patton. Hey Girl, Am I More Than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair."
(5) Terrance Turner. "The Social Skin."

V. Important Parts I: A Mind of It's Own-The Penis (3/4)

• Dick-Pics and other displays
• You Have to know when to hold it: Penis sheaths and Cockpieces
• Does size matter?
• Viagra and Cialis
• Famous Penis's
• Napoleon
• William Penn
• Lorena Bobbit (errr not her exactly)-and castration anxiety
• Porn stars/and dildos

(1) Tom Hinkman: "As Individual as Faces,"in God's Doodle (Berkeley: Soft Skull Press), pp. 7-33.

(2) Maggie Paley: "Circumcision and Castration," in The Book of the Penis (New Yor: Grove Press), pp. 101-117.

(3) Maggie Paley: "Famous for Their Dicks," in The Book of the Penis (New York: Grove Press), pp. 209-227.

VI. Important Parts II: A Room of Her own-The Vagina (and boobs) 3/10

• vagina monologues
• Vagazzling
• NYC fieldtrip
• Rated R not X
• Penis envy-Freudian analysis and feminism

(1) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pmPMJ727dSh5_A03dpAl5Ir8pIeQrr74/view
(2) https://www.thecut.com/2018/11/what-even-was-vajazzling.html
(Vagazzling)
(3) https://med.virginia.edu/family-medicine/wp-content/uploads/sites/285/2017/01/Llamas-Paper.pdf
(4) https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1035&context=honors
(5) https://aeon.co/essays/are-male-and-female-circumcision-morally-equivalent

Film: (3/12): The Vagina Monologues

VII. Reproduction and the Body (3/24-3/26)

• Reproduction and identity
• Metaphors of sex and gender: the egg and the sperm
• Surrogacy: the commodification of the body and its parts
• egg and sperm donation

(1) Weitz and Quan Chapter 4
(2) Emily Martin, The Sperm and the Egg: A Love Story. Read Here
(3) Black Surrogate Mothers. Read HERE
(4) Emily Wentzell and Marcia C. Inborn. "Masculinities: The Male Reproductive Body." (A Companion to Anthropology and Embodiment). HERE
(7) Barbara Katz Rothman, "Laboring Now: Current Cultural Constructionsmof Pregnancy, Birth, and Mothering."HERE
(8) Rayna Rapp. ""Real-Time Fetus: the Role of the Sonogram in the Age of Monitored Reproduction." HERE (similar title from Rapp)

(3) Due: Culture and Reproduction (3/23)

NO CLASS, TUESDAY, MARCH 31st: ADVISING

VIII. Transforming the Body

• Transgender identity and the Body (4/7)
• two spirit
• berdache
• nadel
• etc.

• Plastic Surgery: Creating Identity (4/9)
• women
• men

(1) Roger Lawrence, "Autoethnography: When I Was a Girl." (A Companion of Anthropology and Embodiment) HERE. whole book
(2) Evelyn Blackwood, "(Trans)gend: Tomboy Embodiment." (A companion to Anthropology and Embodiment) HERE
(3) Nonbinary Identity HERE
(4) Gender and the Body: Malaysia HERE



(1) Brazil: Plastic Surgery HERE
(2) Pro-plastic surgery-against the stigma HERE
(3) Plastic Surgery and ethnicity HERE
(4) Global Trends in Plastic Surgery & Cultural Beauty Ideals HERE
(5) South Korea, the new Plastic Surgery Capital HERE
(2) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 13
(3) watch two films above 

(4) Due: 4/9: Circumcision or Mutilation?

• Body problems 
• hair (4/14)
• fat (4/16)

(1) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 14 Hair RIVER

(2) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 15 Race and the Body DENISE

(3) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 16 skin color/race SUSAN
(4) Weitz and Quan, Chapter 17 Body Modification RACHAEL
(5) Matthew Immergut. "Manscaping: The Tangle of nature, Culture and male Body Hair." HERE and HERE ALL
(6) The Hair Down There HERE ALL

(1) Nicole Taylor. "When I Run, My Legs Jiggle," in Schooled on Fat (Chicago: Routledge). pp. 88-117.
(2) Matti Bunzi. "Chasers" (Fat) pp. 199-210
(3) Mark Graham. "Chaos" (Fat) pp. 169-184
(9) Don Kulick and Thais Machado-Borges "Leaky" (Fat) pp. 121-138.
(4) Don Kulick "Porn" (Fat) pp. 77-92
(5) Le'a Kent. "Fighting Abjection: Representing Fat Women."(The Body: A Reader)

IX. Gender Bending/Gender Trouble (4/21)

• Performing gender (Butler and beyond)
• drag: kings and queens

Film: Paris is Burning (4/23)
(5) Due: Forming and Transforming the Body in Culture (4/23)

(2) Judith Butler, "Bodies that Matter," in The Body: A Reader. (New York: Routledge) pp. 62-66.
(3) Hopkins, "Let the Drag Race Begin." HERE
(4) Strubel, "Drag as Masquerade" HERE

Final Exam: May 7th

Classroom Policies 

• Be on time. 
• Turn off cell phones. 
• No computers are allowed in class. (unless it is an access issue) 
• All course handouts, readings, and assignments can be found on the blog and in your texts.
• Students are responsible for all course content, whether or not they are in class. 
• You are responsible for knowing about, and avoiding, academic dishonesty. 

Grading:

(1) Preparation/Presentation 25% (responsible for preparing and presenting/leading discussion 

                                                      assigned articles for the week. 

(2) 5 Assignments.                50% (10% each)

(3) Final Exam.                     25%

TOTAL.                                100%