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English 114a (section 21)
Fall 2013
MW 2:30-3:45
Location: TBD
Ksenia Sidorenko
Office: TBD
Office hours: TBD
ksenia.sidorenko@yale.edu
Sexuality and Society
Is sex a site of liberation or domination? Are sexual differences between men and women intrinsic or constructed?
How do representations of sexuality in visual and written media shape, challenge, and transgress sexual norms?
Many prominent theorists, including Michel Foucault, Judith Butler, Gayle Rubin, and Michael Warner, have
considered these questions in a wide variety of historical contexts, revealing sexuality to be a field of ambivalence
and a potential locus of social and political conflict. In this writing seminar, we will explore the topic of sexuality
from a broad range of disciplinary perspectives, including critical theory, sociology, law, medicine, gender studies,
film studies, and evolutionary biology. We will address different arguments as to how sexuality is defined and
regulated, how it is depicted in works of art and in the media, and how it has been harnessed for the purposes of
marketing.
Course Goals
ENGL 114 is designed to teach students formal academic writing skills and to prepare them for the different types
of reading and writing situations that they will encounter throughout their college careers. We will write in a
variety of academic genres, from the short textual analysis to the longer essay drawing upon secondary sources,
and give special attention to close reading, research, and revision skills. We will focus specifically on four
elements in a successful argument: identifying a problem, making a debatable claim, supporting the claim with
evidence, and establishing a motive for writing.
Requirements
1. Attendance and participation: Classroom work will include discussion, writing workshops, and
presentations. Each student is required to come to class on time and to be fully prepared to
participate actively. Students are required to do the readings, to print them out ahead of time, and
bring them to class. Laptop use during class discussion will not be permitted.
2. Brief writing assignments: For many of the assigned readings, you will be asked to complete short
informal writing assignments as homework.
3. Four formal essays, drafted in stages: These essays consist of 1) a close analysis of an argument; 2)
an argument using several sources; 3) an extended researched argument; 4) a paper dealing with a
problem chosen by the class.
Grading
First paper (close analysis, 3-4 pages): 10%
Second paper (controlled research paper, 5-6 pages): 20%
Third paper (researched argument, 8-10 pages): 30%
Fourth paper (reflective argument, 4-5 pages): 15%
Class participation, including contributions to discussion and workshops: 20%
Brief writing assignments and exercises: 5%
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Texts
All course readings will be PDF's on the Classes *v2 server, listed under this course and section in the Resources
folder. Available as an online book on Orbis: Wayne C. Booth, et al., The Craft of Research, 3rd ed., 2008.
Academic Honesty
Everyone must adhere to Yale’s code of academic honesty which can be accessed at:
http://www.yale.edu/yalecollege/freshmen/academics/introduction/honesty.html. This code includes plagiarism, the
use of another person’s work, words, or ideas without proper citation or without their permission.
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Schedule of Readings and Assignments (subject to slight change)
W, Aug. 28 Course Introduction
Introduction to Academic Arguments: Problem, Claim, Evidence, Motive
Unit 1: Private and Public Sexuality
F, Aug. 30
MONDAY CLASSES MEET
Foucault, History of Sexuality Volume 1, “We Other Victorians”
Booth, The Craft of Research, Ch. 7
M, Sept. 2
LABOR DAY: NO CLASS
W, Sept. 4
Foucault continued
Booth, The Craft of Research, Ch. 8
M, Sept. 9
Kogan, “Sex Separation: The Cure-All for Victorian Social Anxiety” in Toilet: Public Restrooms
and the Politics of Sharing
Tennessee “Bathroom Harassment Bill”
Complete draft of Paper 1 due
W, Sept. 11 Workshop Paper 1
Booth, The Craft of Research, Ch. 12, 13
M, Sept. 16 Warner, Publics and Counterpublics, “Public and Private”
Booth, The Craft of Research, Ch. 9, 16
W, Sept. 18
Warner continued
Final draft of Paper 1 due
Unit 2: (De)Constructing Sexuality
M, Sept. 23
Butler, “Imitation and Gender Insubordination”
W, Sept. 25
Prum, “The Lande-Kirkpatrick Mechanism is the Null Model of Evolution by Intersexual Selection:
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Implications for Meaning, Honesty, and Design in Intersexual Signals”
M, Sept. 30 Messner, “Barbie Girls versus Sea Monsters: Children Constructing Gender”
Booth, The Craft of Research, Ch 14
Draft of Paper 2 due
W, Oct. 2
Workshop Paper 2
Booth, The Craft of Research, Ch. 17
M, Oct. 7
Bass Library Session
W, Oct. 9
Coltrane, Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity, “Parenting in Transition”
Final draft of Paper 2 due
M, Oct. 14
Spade, “Resisting Medicine, Re/modeling Gender”
The April Working Group, “Beyond Same-Sex Marriage: A New Strategic Vision for All Our Families and
Relationships”
Research proposal for Paper 3 and working bibliography due
Unit 3: Representing Sexuality
W, Oct. 16
Jordanova, Sexual Visions: Images of Gender in Science and Medicine between the Eighteenth and
Twentieth Centuries, “Body Image and Sex Roles”
S, Oct. 20
Film screening: Paris is Burning (Livingston, 1990, 71 min)
M, Oct. 21
Goldsby, Queer Looks: Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Film and Video, “Queens of Language:
Paris Is Burning”
Booth, The Craft of Research, Ch. 5, 6
Annotated bibliography for Paper 3 due
W, Oct. 23
OCTOBER RECESS
M, Oct. 28
Haskell, From Reverence to Rape: The Treatment of Women in the Movies, “The Big Lie”
Partial draft of Paper 3 due
W, Oct. 30
Oral Presentations
M, Nov. 4
Butler, “The Force of Fantasy: Feminism, Mapplethorpe, and Discursive Excess”
W, Nov. 6
Gluckman and Reed, Homo Economics: Capitalism, Community, and Lesbian and Gay Life, “The
Gay Marketing Moment”
Complete draft of Paper 3 due
M, Nov. 11
Workshop Paper 3
Unit 4: Consuming Sexuality
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W, Nov. 13
Williams, Porn Studies, “Proliferating Pornographies On/Scene: An Introduction”
M, Nov. 18 MacKinnon, Feminism Unmodified: Discourses on Life and Law, “Francis Biddle's Sister:
Pornography, Civil Rights, and Speech”
Final draft of Paper 3 due
W, Nov. 20 Rubin, Deviations: A Gayle Rubin Reader, “Misguided, Dangerous, and Wrong: An Analysis of
Antipornography Politics”
FALL RECESS
M, Dec. 2
Cooper, Delmonico, Griffin-Shelley, Mathy, “Online Sexual Activity: An Examination of
Potentially Problematic Behaviors”
W, Dec. 4
Workshop Paper 4
Course Conclusion
READING WEEK
W, Dec. 11
Final draft of Paper 4 due