The primary purpose of the course is to deepen students’ awareness of and challenge society’s sexual and gender beliefs, attitudes, conduct, relationships, and ethical responsibilities. This objective is pursued in various ways. First, we describe and critique the social and cultural norms of U .S. society and explain their historical, philosophical, psychological, and cultural bases. Second, as a means of deepening consciousness, we introduce a variety of sexual and gender variations, most of which may lie outside of conventional public acceptance. Third, we provide several opportunities for students to describe their own experiences, beliefs, and attitudes in discussions, panels, and term papers, so that the range and the strength of their emotions can be vividly recalled and described and the contradictions between beliefs and behavior can be revealed. Fourth, with the growing realization that we are living with increasing sexual and gender variety, we hope that the course provides a means to learn how to remain faithful to our own beliefs and practices and to the options for change and how to challenge normal behavior and belief without imposing our beliefs on others or allowing others to impose theirs on us.

Another way to think about the primary purpose of this course is that it is to think critically about issues involved in sexual variation including gender beliefs, attitudes, behavior, relationships and ethical responsibilities. This objective will be pursued by examining current norms relating to sexuality and their development and then critiquing them from a variety of perspectives including historical, philosophical, psychological and cultural. A second objective is to become more conscious of the variations among humans in their sexualities and more accepting of individuals with sexualities different than your own. To accomplish this we will examine a number of variations with a sympathetic perspective without regard to their acceptability within the current cultural perspectives of our society. A third objective is to help you examine your own sexuality in both critical and sympathetic ways incorporating the insights gained in the course. To do this you will discuss and write about your own beliefs and experiences and hopefully will discover their origins, contradictions and meaning for your self. It is intended that doing this will allow each individual to discover which sexual beliefs and practices are most fulfilling for them as well as to understand the possibility of changing those that are not fulfilling without being limited by social norms nor imposing our beliefs on others nor allowing others to impose theirs on us.

Two Required Papers – telling your story and gaining insight into it. This is the largest assignment of the course. It is intended that you will pick the most important sexual or gender conflict in your life at present or in the recent past and exam it critically. These conflicts typically involve a high degree of emotion and beliefs that are central to our sexual desires and to our sense of who we are as people.

Paper 1 – You and Your Story – First place yourself in personal, social and historical context. Describe who you are where you have come from following the outlines given below. Then tell a detailed story of one of your personal sexual or gender conflicts which has aroused strong emotions in you. You must be the one in your story having the conflict or confusion.

Paper 2 – Analyzing Your Conflict. In the second paper you will analyze the roots of the conflict and imagine how it might have been different and how you might think and act differently in the future. Instructions for this second paper will be passed out later in the semester.

PAPER I: DESCRIBING YOUR SEXUAL/GENDER CONFLICT
PAPER ONE ASSIGNMENT DETAILS

PAPER II: ANALYZING THE CONFLICT

1. Turn in papers on the due dates listed in the Syllabus

2. Late penalties of 1 point per weekday will be deducted from late papers.

3. Each paper will be worth a total of 50 points.

4. Place your initials and the last 5 digits of your student ID number at the top of each page. DO NOT PUT YOUR FULL NAME ANYWHERE ON THE PAPER. This is to maintain your confidentiality.

5. Fill out and staple the rating sheet which will be given to you to the front of your paper.

6. Keep a copy of your paper in case it is misplaced. If your paper is lost and you do not have a copy you will be required to rewrite it!

7. Staple Term Paper 1 to the back of Term Paper 2 when submitting it.

Conflicts occur with a wide range of persons and over a large number of issues. Listed below are some general categories you may wish to consider:

1. Conflicts with partners, friends, roommates, neighbors or other people close to you. Possible issues are the following: Opposing your dating a particular person ( e.g., age, race, ethnic group, social class, lifestyle); denying you situations in which there were opportunities to engage in sex; objecting to your reading, seeing movies, reading, meeting someone through telephone, ads or the internet, or taking a course about sexuality; objecting to your dressing or acting in ways that were sexually provocative or not conventionally masculine or feminine; imposing restrictions based on religion, ethnic traditions, fear of ruining your reputation, etc.

2. Conflicts with friends neighbors roommates etc.: Opposing your being ( or not) being sexually active; attempting ( or refusing) sex with any of these individuals; their or your objecting to having sex with particular type of persons ( e.g., .brand new acquaintances, street, cafe, campus or bar pickups, sex workers ); their or your objections to bringing such people to your shared home or room to have sex; their or your combining the use of alcohol and drugs with sexual activity; objecting to having close friendships or sexual relationships with individuals who belong to various sexual and gender minorities (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, etc.); opposing open and graphic talking about sexual experiences; your rejecting ( or your friend)
rejecting an offer or attempt to having sex with each other .

3 . Conflicts with Partner: Your or their feeling pressured or coerced into having sex; your or their feeling sexually used rather than respected - such as inadequate foreplay and attention to one person's desires; separating sex from emotion and love; engaging in particular forms of sex (e.g., masturbation, oral or anal sex, spanking, bondage, cross-dressing, tops); taking or not taking precautions against disease transmission and pregnancy; using or not using drugs or alcohol in order to stimulate or force sex or to stifle anxiety and fear; pretending love as a way to get sex; jealousy and possessiveness - .you or your partner insisting on strict exclusivity or non-exclusivity; your or their teasing, flirting, seductive behavior that promises but does not deliver
sex; your or their objecting to having sex simultaneously with more than one person.

4. Conflicts with groups communities lifestyles les: Having your participation in sexual or gender political activity restricted or criticized ( or your objecting to their participation); having your views on sexuality and gender censored and denied full expression, particularly if they do not represent traditional beliefs ( or your objecting to their views); disclosing or objecting to disclosing or coming out about one's gay, lesbian bisexual, or transgender identity or unusual past experiences; your or their objecting and raising obstacles to joining political groups working for changes in attitude. about sex and gender; raising objections and obstacles to your or their openly living an unconventional sexual or gender lifestyle.

There will two tests of about 50 items for which you need to purchase a Zeus machine score-able answer sheet at the bookstore. The exams will cover both reading and lecture about equally. The first exam will cover the material in class and assigned up until the time of the test. The second exam will focus on material assigned since the first test but some questions will assume knowledge of the material from the first half of the course.

There will be about three student panels over the course of the semester. The purpose of a student panel is to allow students the opportunity to describe and examine their experiences and points of view and to discuss these with fellow students. If you are interested in being on a panel you must sign up in advance and meet and discuss the panel with the instructor to determine who will be on the panels. Panels will be limited to six students. You will receive 10 points of extra credit for being on a student panel. Student will be allowed credit for only one panel.

Several opportunities to be a subject in research will occur over the course of the semester. Students who volunteer to participate in research which has prior approval of the instructor will receive 5 points per hour of participation up to a maximum of ten points. No credit will be given for participating in research for which student receives credit neither in another class nor in research which has not been approved by the instructor in advance of participation.

The Student Health Center has many workshops each semester on topics related to sexuality. Participation in a workshop at the Student Health Center will earn the student 5 points of credit. Only one workshop may be used to gain extra credit.

Students may earn extra credit by bringing new materials to the instructor which may be of use in teaching the course. These could include videos, new topics together with informational materials, web sites or other materials of which I haven’t thought. Materials may earn anywhere from 1 to 5 points depending on their newness and utility to the class. You can receive credit if you personally bring the materials to me during my office hours and discuss it with me. If credit is given it will reflect the value of the material to the course and the degree of effort you have expended in obtaining it.