Monash University Arts Undergraduate Handbook, 1997

SCY2031/3031

Sexuality, gender and social relations

C Lloyd

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Caulfield
* Prerequisites: First-year SCY sequence or equivalent

Objectives Students should develop a familiarity with a range of theoretical accounts of sexuality and the relationship between sexuality and gender; an increased understanding of the historical and cultural diversity of patterns of sexual meanings, behaviour, desire and identity; an enhanced awareness of the gendered differences in the social/cultural/political regulation, representation and enactment of sexual desire; the ability to apply theoretical approaches to the analysis of gendered/sexual life; an understanding of sexual/gendered life as a site of political contestation and challenge.

Synopsis The subject starts by examining a range of theoretical positions that address sexuality and its linkages with gender. These will include social constructionist approaches, feminist positions, Foucauldian and postmodernist accounts and psychoanalytic views. These theoretical positions will be used to explore the social construction and regulation of sexualities and women's and men's gendered bodies; sexual diversity, sexual transgression and political contestation; the commodification and commercialisation of sexualised bodies, including the `trade' in bodies and desire (eg prostitution and pornography); sexuality, domination and the eroticisation of violence in contemporary society. The subject considers how different modes of theorising have implications for understanding the relationships between sexuality and power and for intervening in the area of sexual politics.

Assessment Essay (2500 words): 40%
* Project (1500 words): 30%
* Seminar presentation and summary (500 words): 10%
* Five article reviews (300 words each): total 20%

Recommended texts

A book of readings will be available from the department

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