1. Considering Gender & Sexuality in America
Renee M. Kingan
PhD Candidate in American Studies
The College of William & Mary

2. Feminine or Masculine?
Write a few words to describe each image.

10. KEY CONCEPTS Performativity Reproduction Compensation Legislation
Intersectionality

11. Early American Gender Roles
masculine – strong, protective, independent, militaristic, aggressive
feminine – weak, dependent, helpless, emotional, nurturing
“By marriage, the husband and wife are one person in the law. The very being and legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated into that of her husband under whose wing and protection she performs everything.”
Nuclear Family
Husband earns money
Wife household labor

12. GENDER
set of social and behavioral norms appropriate for people of a specific sex

13. GENDER
set of social and behavioral norms appropriate for people of a specific sex
popular, decided by group

14. GENDER
the way a person acts
set of social and behavioral norms appropriate for people of a specific sex
popular, decided by group

15. GENDER
usual, typical
the way a person acts
set of social and behavioral norms appropriate for people of a specific sex
popular, decided by group

16. GENDER
usual, typical
the way a person acts
set of social and behavioral norms appropriate for people of a specific sex
popular, decided by group
okay, acceptable

17. GENDER
usual, typical
the way a person acts
set of social and behavioral norms appropriate for people of a specific sex
popular, decided by group
biological traits,
“male” or “female”
body parts
okay, acceptable

18. GENDER
performativity of gender is stylized repetition of acts, imitation of dominant gender conventions
repeated behavior
(“performance”)
that acts the way
society expects

19. Cisgender – gender identity matches biological sex assigned at birth

20. Women in America
1848 – Seneca Falls asks for end of discrimination against women
1870 – Women serve on grand jury
1918 – Doctors give advice on birth control
1920 – Women earn right to vote
1960 – Birth control pill legal
1963 – Equal Pay Act

21. Women in America 1972 – Title 9 no discrimination in education
1973 – Roe v. Wade Abortion legal
1978 – Pregnancy Discrimination Act
1993 – Family and Medical Leave Act
1994 – Violence Against Women Act
2013 – Women permitted in military combat

22. Intersectionality – interconnected social categories (race, class, gender, sexual identity, religion, ethnicity) that create systems of oppression

23. Men in 21st-Century America
Economic transition from “brawn to brain”
More women graduate from college, but earn less money than men
More men: homelessness, alcoholism, suicide, violence, crime
Mass incarceration
80% of US Congress

24. SEXUAL ORIENTATION/sexuality
sexual habits and desires

25. SEXUAL ORIENTATION/sexuality
who a person has sexual relations with
sexual habits and desires

26. SEXUAL ORIENTATION/sexuality
who a person has sexual relations with
sexual habits and desires
who one feels attracted toward

27. LGBTQ Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer/Questioning
Asexual/Allies
Intersex
Nonbinary
Pansexual

28. Sexuality in America
– American Psychiatric Association said homosexuality was mental disorder
1969 – Stonewall Uprising
– “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
1998 – Matthew Shepard murder
2003 – Anti-Sodomy Laws end
2015 – Same-sex marriage legal

29. ANTI-SODOMY LAWS
1980s
1990s
2000s

30. Sexuality in America
People talk about LGBT community as a single group... Yet, this mixes up two separate concepts: sexual orientation and gender identity... Transgender people are those who identify with and present as a sex that’s different from the one assigned at birth.

31. Sexuality in America
Policies that protect ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ are more comprehensive than ones only protecting ‘sexual orientation.’ They protect transgender people from societal expectations of how they should dress and act.

32. CASE STUDY ONE: Bathroom Bills
video

33. “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell”
CASE STUDY TWO: Military
“Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell”
1994 – 2011
video
Transgender Soldiers
2016 – end of ban
video

34. CASE STUDY THREE: Reproduction
video

35. Discussion Topics
How do masculine/feminine behaviors affect you every day?
How does the media portray different identities and orientations?
Should government protect or limit gender identity and sexual orientation?
Should government protect or limit reproductive rights?