AN260: SEX AND GENDER IN ANTHROpological PERSPECTIVE

SPRING 2020 - BOSTON UNIVERSITY . UNDERGRADUATE. TEACHING FELLOW UNDER THE DIRECTION OF PROFESSOR LAURIE LAPORTE . TAUGHT ONE SECTION

Sex and gender are fundamental aspects of the human experience. They are also useful analytic constructs. In this course we will investigate through a variety of theoretical approaches and ethnographic works what it means to be masculine, feminine, transgender, and agender in societies around the world. Some of the questions we will address include: What different ways are there of being masculine and feminine? What room is there for ambiguity and variability in gender and the social expression of sexual identity? How are transgender or third gender identities conceptualized and experienced cross-culturally? What roles do biology and ecology play in what people perceive to be “typically” gendered behaviors and what role does cultural learning play? How can we address the vexing question of the universality of women’s subordination? What is the relationship between gender and the division of labor, and what is the impact of globalization on this relationship? Case studies include research conducted in the United States, Ghana, Japan, Brazil, China, the Philippines, and India, among others. One of our aims throughout the course will be to explore other societies and cultures as a means of better understanding our own.