Gender and Sexuality
by Dr. Robert Marx
Don't feel like reading? Here's a welcome video:
Hello, and welcome to the Gender and Sexuality Module! My name is Prof. Robert Marx, and I use they/them and he/him pronouns. I'm an Assistant Professor in Child and Adolescent Development in the Lurie College of Education, and my work focuses on better understanding the ways in which queer and trans adolescents survive and thrive in settings that were not set up for their success.
In this module, we'll be learning about gender and sexuality, with a focus on how we can incorporate our knowledge into our daily practices, interactions with others, and current and future work.
To that aim, by the end of this module, students will be able to:
- describe a range of experiences using appropriate terminology related to gender and sexuality;
- examine the ways in which gender and sexuality operate in our daily lives;
- relate gender and sexuality terminology to their own experiences and development;
- advocate for changes in their schools, workplaces, or communities that advance equity and push back against anti-queer and anti-trans sentiments.
I know that sounds like a lot for a week, but I'm hopeful we have a productive, meaningful week together that's full of accomplishments!
Gender and Sexuality
Basic Terminology
Let's start with some basic terminology related to gender and sexuality.
Here's a video lecture that walks you through some terminology:
If you'd like to follow along with the slides, here is a link to the Google Slide deck.
You may also find these resources to be helpful [they are much more complete than the video lecture]:
Understanding Gender, from Gender Spectrum
Graphics, from TSER (Trans Student Educational Resources]
Glossary, from PFLAG [might be most useful if you had a specific term you wanted more clarification on]
Glossary, from San Mateo County LGBTQ Commission [might be most useful if you had a specific term you wanted more clarification on]
Gender and Sexuality Development
Here is the video lecture for Gender and Sexuality Development:
If you'd like to follow along with the slides, here's a link to the Google Slide deck.
Gender and Sexuality and You
For this unit, we're going to be reflecting on our own gender identity and sexual orientation development, These questions can be used to guide your own reflection, and may also be used by your instructor as part of an assignment collected in the unit.
These reflection questions can be found in the following Google Doc.
This activity is not meant to make you divulge information to your professor that you do not want to; rather it's meant to provoke reflections and thoughts and give you the space and freedom to explore your own gender and sexual orientation. I hope that you're able to draw connections between the module material and your own life.
Knowledge into Action
It is important that we understand that everyone has a gender identity and a sexual orientation and that denying people the right to freely and safely explore and express themselves has negative consequences (see your Meyer 2003 reading [Download Here] [pdf]). Importantly, discrimination based on gender and/or sexual orientation is not allowed in the workplace or in school, and yet many queer and trans people experience unfair treatment, harassment, and violence.
After you've read the above links about protections of the rights of all people in terms of their gender and sexuality, learn a little more about the experiences of queer and trans people by reading one of the below:
- GLSEN's 2019 Report [Download Here] [pdf]on queer and trans students in schools
- An article on queer and trans people's experiences of discrimination in healthcare [Download Here] [pdf]
- The Williams Institutes Report [Download Here] [pdf] on discrimination in the workplace
Based on your interests and the course you're taking, find a relevant issue of discrimination. For example, if you're in a kinesiology course, you may want to learn more about discrimination against queer and trans people in sports; if you're in an education course, you may focus on a school district that is working against trans and queer rights. Unfortunately, regardless of the topic, you're likely to find a relevant example of discrimination based on gender and/or sexuality.
Once you've picked your topic, research it more thoroughly. Try to find at least two news articles that cover the topic in what seems to be a relatively unbiased way, and also find information that each group is putting out [for example, if you're researching a local hotel chain that is discriminating against queer and trans people, you might find two news articles that interviewed people on both sides of the issue, and then you'd also want to find a source that is put out by the hotel chain, explaining their stance, and a source by the organization opposed to the hotel chain that explains their stance]. Our goal is to understand the perspectives of all people involved.
If you feel like you can summarize what the issue is, why it's an issue, and what each side believes, you're ready to move on to your assignment!
Readings
Gender identity development among transgender and gender nonconforming emerging adults: An intersectional approach
Kuper et al., 2019 [Download here] [pdf]
Sexual Identity Development Milestones in Three Generations of Sexual Minority People: A National Probability Sample
Bishop et al., 2020 [Download here] [pdf]
Prejudice, Social Stress, and Mental Health in Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Populations: Conceptual Issues and Research Evidence
Meyer Minority Stress Theory [Download here] [pdf]
The 2019 National School Climate Survey
2019 GLSEN Executive Report [Download here] [pdf]
Discrimination in the United States: Experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans
Discrimination in Healthcare [Download here] [pdf]
LGBT People's Experiences of Workplace Discrimination and Harassment
Workplace Discrimination [Download here] [pdf]
Media Clips
Here are some film that might be of interest to you as you work to better understand gender identity and sexual orientation.
Laverne Cox in Conversation with ALOK about moving beyond the gender binary
Webinar on Black LGBTQ+ Experiences
Assignments
Reflection
The prompt for your reflection is in the following Google Doc.
Please answer the questions that feel most salient to you; you don't need to respond to every question, and please don't feel that you have to divulge anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.
Knowledge into Action Assignment
You can find the description of your Knowledge into Action assignment in the following Google Doc.
