Instructor: Ali Fogarty, afogarty@stanford.edu
Class Meetings: Thursdays 2:15-5:05pm in 90-92Q
Office hours: Wednesday 3-4pm and by appointment
Destroying Dichotomies:
Exploring Multiple Sex, Gender, and Sexual Identities
Femst 140A
Course Description
This course is designed to broaden the student's awareness of the human experience by
introducing scholarly debates about sex, gender and sexual identities and expressions. We will
begin by considering theories of the social construction of sex, gender and sexuality. We will
then examine the history and community of those who identify as intersexual, transgender,
homosexual, bisexual, asexual, pansexual and/or queer. We will address issues of fear and
violence and look at the politics regarding sex, gender and sexuality. We will explore these
subjects through texts, discussion, films, and class presentations. This course will challenge
students to improve their academic skills of critical reading, writing, and thinking. This course is
intended to encourage an open intellectual dialogue; therefore an attitude of tolerance will be
maintained and discussed throughout the semester. The course’s thematic focus is valuing the
diversity of human experience.
Course Objectives
It is my intention that through this course you will learn and improve upon the following
essential academic skills:
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Critical analysis skills: you will learn to identify and evaluate arguments, synthesize ideas,
and develop well-substantiated, coherent, and concise argument.
Problem solving skills: you will learn to identify social and political problems and debates,
evaluate various responses to them, and adapt the knowledge gained through this process to
everyday situations.
Creative thinking skills: you will learn to bring together, in creative ways, texts (of various
kinds), ideas, practices, events, and so on, in order to respond imaginatively to social and
political problems.
Research skills: you will learn to search (in various ways) for material, and to sort the
information gathered in terms of its relevancy to your topic.
Writing skills: you will learn to write in an analytical manner and form cohesive and
persuasive arguments.
Interview skills: you will learn how to conduct an interview, including how to establish a
rapport and successfully probe for important information.
Communications skills: you will learn to express your ideas verbally and in written form,
and to tailor your arguments in relation to audience and context.
Collaborative and interpersonal skills: you will learn to share information and debate ideas
with your peers.
Leadership skills: tutorial presentations will help you to develop the capacity to lead class
discussion and to manage your tutorial group.
Critical self-awareness: you will learn to be self-reflexive about your ideas and the social
and political positions that you take.
Instructor: Ali Fogarty, afogarty@stanford.edu
Class Meetings: Thursdays 2:15-5:05pm in 90-92Q
Office hours: Wednesday 3-4pm and by appointment
Topics and Readings
(Readings are subject to change)
January 7th -- Sex, Gender, and Sexuality; Discussion of False Dichotomies
Lucal. “Building Boxes and Policing Boundaries: (De)Constructing Intersexuality,
Transgender, and Bisexuality
Fausto-Sterling. “Dueling Dualism.” Pp. 1-29 in Sexing the Body: Gender Politics and
the Construction of Sexuality. New York: Basic Books, 2000.
January 14th -- Multiple Sex Identities: Intersexuality
SOSAS Panel Presentation
Fausto-Sterling. “The Five Sexes.” The Sciences, 1993, Vol. 32(2):20-25.
Coventry. 2000. “Making the Cut,” Ms. Magazine. October/November pages 52-60.
Chase. "Hermaphrodites with Attitude: Mapping the Emergence of Intersex Political
Activism." Pp 300-314 in The Transgender Studies Reader edited by Stryker and Whittle.
New York: Routledge, 2006.
Supplementary reading:
Fausto-Sterling. “Should There Be Only Two Sexes?” Pp. 78-114 in Sexing the Body:
Gender Politics and the Construction of Sexuality. New York: Basic Books, 2000
January 21st -- Gender as Structure and Doing Gender
West and Zimmerman. "Doing Gender." Gender and Society, 1987, vol. 1, 125-151.
Kimmel. “Introduction.” Pp. 1-17 in The Gendered Society edited by M. Kimmel. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Ridgeway and Correll. “Unpacking the Gender System: A Theoretical Perspective on
Gender Beliefs and Social Relations.” Gender and Society, 2004, vol. 18, 510-531.
Lorber. “‘Night to His Day’: The Social Construction of Gender.” Pp. 80-96 in
Paradoxes of Gender. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
Supplementary readings:
Risman. “Gender as Structure.” Pp. 13-35 in Gender Vertigo edited by B. Risman. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1998.
Instructor: Ali Fogarty, afogarty@stanford.edu
Class Meetings: Thursdays 2:15-5:05pm in 90-92Q
Office hours: Wednesday 3-4pm and by appointment
Lorber. “Men as Women and Women as Men: Disrupting Gender.” Pp. 80-96 in
Paradoxes of Gender. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
DUE: Bem Sex Role Inventory and 1 page response
January 28th – Multiple Gender Identities: Transgenderism
McKenna and Kessler. “Transgendering: Blurring the Boundaries of Gender.” Pp. 478481 in The Gendered Society Reader 3rd ed., edited by Kimmel and Aronson. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2008.
Hirschfeld. "Selections from the Transvestites: The Erotic Drive to Cross-Dress." Pp
28-39 in The Transgender Studies Reader edited by Stryker and Whittle. New York:
Routledge, 2006.
Whittle. "Where Did We Go Wrong?: Feminism and Trans Theory- Two Teams on the
Same Side?" Pp 194-202 in The Transgender Studies Reader edited by Stryker and
Whittle. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Taylor and Rupp. "Chicks with Dicks, Men in Dresses: What it Means to be a Drag
Queen," Journal of Homosexuality, 2004, vol. 46, 113-133.
Gagne, Tewksbury, and McGaughey. “Coming Out and Crossing Over: Identity
Formation and Proclamation in a Transgender Community.” Pp. 230-249 in Sexualities:
Identities, Behaviors, and Society edited by M. Kimmel and R. Plante. New York:
Oxford University Press, 2004.
Supplementary readings:
Serano. “Coming to Terms with Transgendersim and Transsexuality.” Pp. 23-34 in
Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity.
Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2007.
Sullivan. "A Transvestite Answers a Feminist." Pp 159-164 in The Transgender Studies
Reader edited by Stryker and Whittle. New York: Routledge, 2006.
February 4th – Transsexuality and Genderqueer
Interviewing 101
Serano. “Trans Women Manifesto.” Pp. 11-22 in Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman
on Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2007.
Instructor: Ali Fogarty, afogarty@stanford.edu
Class Meetings: Thursdays 2:15-5:05pm in 90-92Q
Office hours: Wednesday 3-4pm and by appointment
Serano. “Trans-Sexualization.” Pp. 253-272 in Whipping Girl: A Transsexual Woman on
Sexism and the Scapegoating of Femininity. Berkeley, CA: Seal Press, 2007.
Butler. “Doing Justice to Someone: Sex Reassignment and the Allegories of
Transsexuality.” Pp 183-193 in The Transgender Studies Reader edited by Stryker and
Whittle. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Bulldagger. "The End of Genderqueer." Pp 137-148 in Nobody Passes: Rejecting the
Rules of Gender and Conformity edited by Mattilda aka Matt Bernstein. Emeryville, CA:
Seawl Press, 2006.
Supplementary readings:
Schrock and Reid. 2006. "Transsexuals' Sexual Stories." Archives of Sexual Behavior,
Vol. 35(1):75-86.
Dozier. 2005. "Beards, Breasts, and Bodies: Doing Sex in a Gendered World." Gender
and Society, Vol. 19(3):297-316.
Schilt and Connell. 2007. "Do Workplace Gender Transitions Make Gender Trouble?"
Gender, Work and Organization, Vol. 14(6):596-618.
DUE: 2-3 memo on the differences between first person and media representations
of trans experiences.
February 11th -- Multiple Sexual Identities: Homosexuality, Bisexuality, Asexuality, and
Pansexuality
Seidman, Meeks, and Traschen. “Beyond the Closet? The Changing Social Meaning of
Homosexuality in the United States. Pp. 427-445 in Sexuality and Gender edited by C.
Williams and A. Stein.. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2002.
Brown. “Lesbian Identities.” Pp. 171-183 in Sexualities: Identities, Behaviors, and
Society edited by M. Kimmel and R. Plante. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Rust. “Two Many and Not Enough: The Meaning of Bisexual Identities.” Pp. 216-229 in
Sexualities: Identities, Behaviors, and Society edited by M. Kimmel and R. Plante. New
York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Scherrer. 2008. "Coming to an Asexual Identity: Negotiating Identity, Negotiating
Desire" Sexualities, Vol. 11: 621-641.
Supplementary readings:
Instructor: Ali Fogarty, afogarty@stanford.edu
Class Meetings: Thursdays 2:15-5:05pm in 90-92Q
Office hours: Wednesday 3-4pm and by appointment
Halperin. "Is There a History of Sexuality?" Pp 416-431 in The Lesbian and Gay Studies
Reader edited by Abelove, Barale, and Halperin. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Lorber. “How Many Opposites? Gendered Sexuality.” Pp. 55-79 in Paradoxes of
Gender. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
Savin-Williams. “Dating and Romantic Relationships among Gay, Lesbian, and
Bisexual Youths.” Pp. 113-123 in Sexualities: Identities, Behaviors, and
Society edited by M. Kimmel and R. Plante. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
February 18th -- Fear and Violence
Tips for Oral Presentation
Smith. "Homophobia: Why Bring It Up?" Pp 99-102 in The Lesbian and Gay Studies
Reader edited by Abelove, Barale, and Halperin. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Girschick. “Gender Policing.” Pp 133-153 in Transgender Voices: Beyond Women and
Men. New England: University Press, 2008.
Bornsetin. “Gender Terror, Gender Rage.” Pp 236-243 in in The Transgender Studies
Reader edited by Stryker and Whittle. New York: Routledge, 2006.
Namaste. "Genderbashing: Sexuality, Gender, and the Regulation of Public Space"
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 1996. vol. 14, 221 – 240.
DUE: Transcribed interview and 2-3 page memo
February 25th -- Oral Presentations
March 4th -- Politics of Sex, Gender and Sexuality
Writing Tips
Sedgwick. "Epistemology of the Closet" Pp 45-61 in The Lesbian and Gay Studies
Reader edited by Abelove, Barale, and Halperin. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Hall. "Deviance, Politics, and the Media" Pp 62-90 in The Lesbian and Gay Studies
Reader edited by Abelove, Barale, and Halperin. New York: Routledge, 1993.
Gamson. “Publicity Traps: Television Talk Shows and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and
Transgender Visibility.” Pp 311-331 in Sexuality and Gender edited by C. Williams and
A. Stein.. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2002
Instructor: Ali Fogarty, afogarty@stanford.edu
Class Meetings: Thursdays 2:15-5:05pm in 90-92Q
Office hours: Wednesday 3-4pm and by appointment
Viviane Namaste, Interview "Addressing the Politics of Social Erasure: Making the Lives
of Transsexual People Visible" from the New Socialist
http://www.newsocialist.org/magazine/39/article04.html
Supplementary reading:
Clark. "Commodity Lesbianism" Pp 186-201 in The Lesbian and Gay Studies
Reader edited by Abelove, Barale, and Halperin. New York: Routledge, 1993.
March 11th – Last Day of Class: TBD
Assignments
1. Take the Bem Sex Role Inventory and write a 1 page response to your
masculinity/femininity/androgyny/undifferentiated score. Due January 21st and will count
for 5% of total grade
2. Research blogs, newspaper articles, films/documentaries, made-for-TV movies, other media
coverage, and interviews (when available) of trans people that have been recently on the
public eye, such as Calpernia Adams, Gwen Araujo, Tyra Hunter, Fred Martinez, and
Brandon Teena. Write a 2-3 page memo exploring the following:
 What are trans people saying about themselves? (In the cases in which they have said
anything about themselves – there are cases where they became well known after
death, in which case report about what their family and friends say. )
 What are the various media outlets saying about trans people? Trans experience?
(And here, pay special attention to the various media outlets and the regional,
cultural, and religious differences, as well as other potential differences, in their
reporting.)
 Are the messages about transsexual and transgender expression/identity clearly
separated in these illustrations?
 Which (re)presentations link homosexuality to transsexuality? Which separate it?
Under what arguments are these fusions and distinctions being made?
Due February 4th and will count for 15% of total grade
3. Conduct an interview with someone who self-identifies as gender variant or/and LGBTQQI
and ask your interviewee about the obstacles and barriers ze has faced as a result of hir
sex/gender/sexual identity. Transcribe the interview and write a 2-3 page memo on what you
learned and how this experience has increased your understanding of the diversity of human
experience. Due February 18th and will count for 15% of total grade
4. Select a topic relevant to the course material that you are interested in learning more about
(must be approved). Select at least 2 scholarly journal articles or book chapters to help you
prepare a 7-10 minute oral presentation on the topic you’ve chosen. Discuss your motivation
Instructor: Ali Fogarty, afogarty@stanford.edu
Class Meetings: Thursdays 2:15-5:05pm in 90-92Q
Office hours: Wednesday 3-4pm and by appointment
in pursuing this particular topic and summarize the major aspects of the new information that
you have learned. Due date February 25th and will count for 20% of total grade
5. Final Exam (take-home essay): Write a 5-7 page research paper on a relevant topic of your
choice (must be approved). Use at least 5 scholarly journal articles or book chapters to help
you construct a persuasive analytical argument. If you are continuing to study the same topic
you examined in your oral presentation, discuss how your new material enhances your
previously gained knowledge. Due March 14th and will count for 25% of total grade
In addition, participation will count for 20% of your total grade. Your participation grade will
be based on attendance, your contributions to class discussions, discussion questions, in class
assignments, and any additional homework assigned. Two discussion questions must be
emailed to me by 5pm on the Wednesday before each class.
Accommodation of Students with documented disabilities: Students with documented disabilities (physical,
psychological, or learning disabilities that may necessitate an academic accommodation or the use of auxiliary aids
and services in a class) must initiate requests for accommodations with the Disability Resource Center (DRC), not
with the instructor. The DRC will evaluate the request along with the required documentation, recommend
appropriate accommodations, and prepare a verification for the instructor. If at all possible, students should contact
the DRC in the first week of the quarter as timely notice is needed to arrange for appropriate accommodations. Be
sure that your instructor, the DRC, and you have a common understanding, at least two weeks before any
examination, of the precise logistical arrangements by which you will be accommodated. The DRC is located at 123
Meyer Library (phone 3-1066; TDD 725-1067).