Gender and Sexuality Course

Lesson 1 • Historical Overview of Gender Studies

Traces the emergence of gender as an academic field from early feminist scholarship to contemporary interdisciplinary approaches. Contextualises current debates within their historical origins.

Lesson 2 • Defining Key Terms and Concepts

Distinguishes sex, gender, and sexuality as distinct analytical categories. Provides the definitional baseline required for all subsequent theoretical work.

Lesson 3 • Reading and Evaluating Scholarly Sources

Builds skills for locating, assessing, and citing peer-reviewed literature in gender and sexuality studies. Prepares students to engage critically with assigned readings throughout the course.

Lesson 1 • Language, Discourse, and Gender

Explores how language constructs gender meanings through naming, pronouns, and discourse. Applies discourse analysis to real-world texts and conversations.

Lesson 2 • Institutions and Gender Reproduction

Analyses how schools, religion, law, and medicine encode and enforce gender norms. Students identify institutional mechanisms that sustain or challenge binary gender systems.

Lesson 3 • Gender Socialisation Across the Life Course

Maps how family, peers, media, and education transmit gender norms from infancy through adulthood. Connects socialisation processes to the reproduction of gender inequality.

Lesson 4 • Doing Gender in Everyday Life

Applies West and Zimmermann's 'doing gender' framework to routine social interactions. Students conduct observational analysis of gendered performances in familiar settings.

Lesson 1 • Biological and Psychological Theories

Reviews genetic, hormonal, and psychological models of sexual orientation. Students assess the evidence base and ideological uses of biological determinism.

Lesson 2 • The Kinsey Scale and Beyond

Traces the development of sexual orientation measurement from Kinsey to multidimensional models. Evaluates the strengths and limitations of each measurement approach.

Lesson 3 • Queer Theory and Its Applications

Examines queer theory's challenge to fixed identity categories and heteronormativity. Students apply queer analytical tools to texts, policies, and cultural artefacts.

Lesson 4 • Sexuality, Power, and Regulation

Analyses how states, religions, and professions regulate sexual behaviour and identity. Connects regulatory mechanisms to broader structures of social control.

Lesson 1 • Race, Ethnicity, and Gender

Examines how racial and ethnic identities shape gendered experiences and expectations. Uses historical and contemporary case studies to ground abstract theory.

Lesson 2 • Disability, Age, and Gender

Explores how disability and age interact with gender to shape access, identity, and social participation. Introduces crip theory as a complement to feminist disability studies.

Lesson 3 • Origins and Core Principles of Intersectionality

Traces intersectionality from Crenshaw's legal scholarship to its broader theoretical development. Establishes the framework as an essential tool for the rest of the course.

Lesson 4 • Class, Labour, and Gender

Analyses the intersection of economic class with gender in paid and unpaid labour contexts. Connects structural economic forces to individual gendered experiences.

Lesson 1 • Resistance, Agency, and Social Movements

Analyses feminist and LGBTQ+ social movements as collective responses to structural power. Students evaluate movement strategies and their outcomes.

Lesson 2 • Sexual Violence and Structural Power

Examines sexual violence as a mechanism of social control rooted in gender and power hierarchies. Covers prevention frameworks and survivor-centred approaches.

Lesson 3 • Patriarchy and Structural Gender Inequality

Defines patriarchy as a system of male dominance operating across institutions and culture. Students map patriarchal structures in contemporary societies.

Lesson 4 • LGBTQ+ Discrimination and Structural Barriers

Documents structural discrimination faced by LGBTQ+ individuals in housing, employment, and healthcare. Connects individual experiences to systemic heteronormativity and cisnormativity.

Lesson 1 • Gender Representation in Film and Television

Examines stereotyping, the male gaze, and narrative roles assigned to women and gender minorities in screen media. Students conduct close readings of selected film and TV texts.

Lesson 2 • Advertising, Beauty, and Body Image

Analyses how advertising constructs idealised bodies and links them to gender and consumer identity. Connects media images to real-world body image outcomes.

Lesson 3 • Feminist Media Criticism Methods

Introduces content analysis, semiotics, and discourse analysis as tools for examining gendered media. Establishes the methodological foundation for the chapter's applied sections.

Lesson 4 • Pornography, Erotica, and Representation

Surveys feminist debates on pornography and examines how erotic media constructs gender and sexual norms. Students engage with both anti-pornography and sex-positive feminist positions.

Lesson 1 • Postcolonial Feminist Theory

Introduces postcolonial critiques of Western feminist universalism and examines how colonialism shaped gender systems. Builds on intersectionality to add a global power dimension.

Lesson 2 • Gender and Development Policy

Evaluates gender mainstreaming and women's empowerment approaches in international development. Students assess policy effectiveness using feminist development frameworks.

Lesson 3 • Sexuality Rights in Global Perspective

Maps the global landscape of LGBTQ+ rights, from criminalisation to legal recognition. Analyses international human rights frameworks and their limitations.

Lesson 4 • Global Gender Inequality Indicators

Surveys quantitative measures of global gender inequality in education, health, and economic participation. Students critically evaluate the assumptions embedded in global indices.

Lesson 1 • Capstone Project Development and Presentation

Guides students through the final stages of their capstone project, from draft to public presentation. Integrates feedback, revision, and professional presentation skills.

Lesson 2 • Gender Auditing Organisations and Policies

Teaches systematic methods for assessing gender equity within organisations and policy documents. Students apply audit tools to a real or simulated organisational case.

Lesson 3 • Communicating Findings to Diverse Audiences

Develops skills for translating complex gender and sexuality research into accessible formats for varied audiences. Covers written reports, presentations, and public communication.

Lesson 4 • Ethical Practice in Gender and Sexuality Work

Addresses ethical responsibilities when conducting research or practice involving gender and sexuality. Covers informed consent, confidentiality, and researcher positionality.