Journal #2- Due date postponed until May 21st
To write this journal, reflect on our classroom discussion and notes as well as the reading,
“The Gender of Sexuality” (which is available under “Materials” on the class website).
Remember, your analysis needs to take up at least ½ your paper.
Gender is socially constructed, not biologically determined. All of us have been raised to
understand this world in terms of gender (masculinity and femininity). In each of our
lives, our own experiences with gender have been a part of this larger social process, and
our own ideas, beliefs, and values about sex and sexuality are also shaped by these larger
social processes.
This journal will reflect on your socialization within your family; you can draw on your
childhood, adolescent, and current memories and experiences to help understand your
how your socialization was shaped by your families’ ideas and interactions around
gender and sexuality and by cultural ideologies of patriarchy. I want you to each try and
understand and explain how your gender socialization has impacted/shaped your values
and beliefs surrounding sexuality.
Choose one or more of the following questions to reflect on your experience with gender
and sexuality – in depth. You are not responsible for all of the questions, they are simply
here as a guide to help write this journal.
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What kinds of cultural messages did you receive from your family as a child
about what it meant to be a "boy" or a "girl"? How were these messages tied to
cultural ideas about sexuality?
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As a teenager, how did you know how to act masculine or feminine? In what
ways did your family shape how you performed your masculinity or femininity?
In what ways did your families cultural values shaper your gender? How does
this all tie into your values and beliefs around sexuality?
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What kinds of formal ways did your family shaped your gender and sexual
identities (rules about - who you could date, how late you could stay out, chores,
what you could wear, what kinds of activities you were allowed to participate in)?
What kinds of informal ways did your family shape your gender and sexual
identities (having friends around that challenged gender and sexuality norms,
disapproval of family members or family friends that challenged gender and
sexuality norms, verbal or physical violence relating to gender and sexuality)?