1. Week 8: Gender, Sexual
Identities, and Schools

2. Agenda: Week 8







Welcome, Attendance, Announcements (5 min)
Institutions and Sexism (10 min)
Killing Us Softly (45 min.)
Gender Questions/Activity (15 min.)
It‟s Elementary Clips (15 min.)
Sexual Identity Questions/Activity (30 min.)

3. Welcome, Attendance, Announcements
(5 min)


4. Institutions (5 min)
 “A large-scale and established
set of laws, customs, practices
and organizations that govern
the political and social life of a
people.” (p. 80)
 “Institutions
produce, circulate, and
maintain the dominant
cultures
norms, values, definitions, lan
guage, policies and
ideologies…”
 “Institutions are directly
connected to (and reflective
of) larger dynamics
(interests, power
relations, fears) of a given


5. Signifier (5 min)

 “A sign or symbol that conveys specific cultural meaning.
Signifiers connect to larger discourses that work together to
construct that meaning” (p. 88)

6. Sexism: Global Context (5 min)
 Women and girls comprise
80% of the 12.3 million adults
and children in forced labor.
(p. 80). Includes
trafficking, prostitution, and
sweatshop labor in the US.
 Of 3 billion women
worldwide, about 1 billion are
affected by gender-based
violence the, “most pervasive
yet least recognized human
rights in the world.”
 “War rape” is increasingly
common
(Rwanda, Bosnia, etc.)


7. Sexism: National Context (5 min)

 1 in 4 U.S. women will experience
domestic violence and 1 in 6 has
experienced rape. 300,000/year
 1.3 million U.S. women are victims
of physical assault by an intimate
partner each year
 Women are underemployed, the
majority do unpaid work at
home, and are overrepresented in
minimum wage positions
 Women in the U.S. and Canada
earn 65-80% of their male
counterparts

8. What Makes Sexism Hard to See?


9. Sexism in Advertising and Media


10. Killing Us Softly (2010)
of women in media
How do representations
relate to the power that they exercise in U.S.
society?

11. Activity: Gender and Sexual Identities
Questions (10m)
 the questions
In groups, discuss and answer
on the handout

12. Questions: Gender (10 min)

1. What is the difference between gender and sex? Discuss
especially what we need to consider when talking about
gender.
2. According to DeMarrais, what does gender have to do
with ideals of beauty, self-esteem, patriarchy?
3. According to the readings how is gender bias and gender
equity in education a complicated issue? Use at least 6
examples from the readings to support your answer.
4. How is gender both a male and female issue? What are
some of the new gender challenges that we need to
consider according to both of the articles. Discuss at least
6 examples from the readings assigned

13. Questions: Sexual Identities
(10 min)

1. What is the culture of heteronormativity in schools? What is
heterosexism?
2. Describe different forms of peer harassment of LGBTQ students and
anti-gay abuse in school.
3. Explain various ways that LGBTQ students are systematically excluded
in schools?
4. Describe various things schools can do to help LGBTQ students and all
student develop positive self identities.
5. What is the impact of “multiple marginality” for students of color in
terms of race, class, gender, and sexuality?

14. Questions: Gender (10 min)

1. What is the difference between gender and sex?
Discuss especially what we need to consider when
talking about gender.
2. According to DeMarrais, what does gender have
to do with ideals of beauty, self-esteem, patriarchy?

15. Questions: Gender (10 min)

Gender: Social or cultural categories used to refer to
men and women. Refers to physiology and learned
behaviors and understandings (DeMarrais, 2000).
Gender is theorized as something that is both socially
constructed and performed. (Judith Butler).
Sex: A “visible and usually permanent identifying
attribute acquired at birth, refers to physical
characteristics associated with being male or female.”
(DeMarrais, 2000)

16. Questions: Gender (10 min)
“Half-drag” portraits
Gender Performativity and

17. Questions: Gender (10 min)

Is sex always “visible,” “permanent” and based on
“physical characteristics?”

18. Questions: Gender (10 min)

Patriarchy: Literally “the rule of fathers,” feminist
theory extends it beyond the family to include all
systems of male dominance through
political, economic, and social structures. Patriarchy
is a social construction which feminists believe can be
overcome through revealing and critically analyzing
it‟s various manifestations.
Tickner, Ann J. (2001). "Patriarchy". Routledge Encyclopedia of International Political Economy:
Entries P-Z. Taylor & Francis. pp. 1197–1198

19. Questions: Gender (10 min)

3. According to the readings how is gender bias and
gender equity in education a complicated issue? Use
at least 6 examples from the readings assigned to
support your answer.
4. How is gender both a male and female issue?
What are some of the new gender challenges that we
need to consider according to both of the articles.
Discuss at least 6 examples from the readings
assigned

20. Questions: Gender (10 min)

Anderson, Jenny.
“Widespread Sexual
Harassment in Grades 7 to
12 Found in Study.” The
New York Times, November
7, 2011, sec. Education.
http://www.nytimes.com
/2011/11/07/education/
widespread-sexualharassment-in-grades-7-to12-found-in-study.html.

21. Gender Activity (10 min)

Male (Normal)
Male (Deviant)
Female (Normal)
Female(Deviant)
-Bro
-Dude
-Athletic
-Macho
-Tall
-Muscular
-Handsome
-Brave
-Tough
-Provider
-Stud
-Sensitive
-Fag
-Gay
-Girl
-Effeminate
-Expressive
-Fairy
-Lame
-Artsy
-Flamboyant
-Creative
-Sensitive
-Sweet
-Submissive
-Caring
-Domestic
-Hottie/Beautiful
-Quiet
-Mom/Mother
-Gentle
-Calm
-Slut
-Lesbian
-Butch
-Bitch
-Independent
-Tomboy
-Assertive
-Dike
-Naggy
-Hormonal
-Powerful

22. Questions: Sexual Identities
(10 min)

1. What is the culture of heteronormativity in
schools? What is heterosexism?
1. Describe different forms of peer harassment of
LGBTQ students and anti-gay abuse in school.
1. Explain various ways that LGBTQ students are
systematically excluded in schools?

23. Questions: Sexual Identities
(10 min)
 and…institutions that
Heteronormativity “…practices
legitimize and privilege heterosexuality and heterosexual
relationships as fundamental and „natural‟ within society”
(Garcia, p. 522)
Heterosexism “…a term analogous to sexism and
racism, describing an ideological system that
denies, denigrates, and stigmatizes any nonheterosexual
form of behavior, identity, relationship, or community
(e.g. Don‟t Ask Don‟t Tell).” (Herek, 1990)
Source: Gregory M. Herek. "Definitions: Homophobia, Heterosexism, and Sexual
Prejudice"

24. Questions: Sexual Identities
(10 min)

4. Describe various things schools can do to help
LGBTQ students and all student develop positive self
identities.
5. What is the impact of “multiple marginality” for
students of color in terms of race, class, gender, and
sexuality?

25. Questions: Sexual Identities
(10 min)

Intersectionality: the notion that sociocultural
categories like gender, race, class, ability and other
axes of identity interact on multiple and
simultaneous levels, contributing to systematic
inequality. (Crenshaw, 1991). Associated with black
feminist thought and standpoint theory.
Crenshaw, Kimberlé W. (1991). Mapping the Margins:
Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence against Women of
Color, Stanford Law Review, Vol. 43, No. 6., pp. 1241–1299.

26. Activity: Intersectionality
(10 min)

Matrix of Domination: The various intersections of
social inequality that oppress and privilege people in
different ways (Collins, 1986).
Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness and the Politics of Empowerment, ISBN 0-41592484-7, by Patricia Hill Collins, 1990, 2000
Race
Class
Gender
Sexuality
1.
1.
1.
1.
2.
2.
2.
2.
3.
3.
3.
3.

27. Activity: Intersectionality
(10 min)
Matrix of Domination:

Race
Class
Gender
Sexuality
1. White
1. Upper
1. Male
1. Heterosexual
2.
2.
2.
2.
3.
3.
3.
3.
4.
4.
4.
4.

28. Activity: Intersectionality
(10 min)
Matrix of Domination:

Race
Class
Gender
Sexuality
1. White
1. Upper
1. Male
1. Heterosexual
2. Asian
2. Middle
2. Female
2. Bisexual
3.
3.
3.
3.
4.
4.
4.
4.

29. Activity: Intersectionality
(10 min)
Matrix of Domination:

Race
Class
Gender
Sexuality
1. White
1. Upper
1. Male
1. Heterosexual
2. Asian
2. Middle
2. Female
2. Bisexual
3. Latino
3. Working
3. Intersex?
3. Homosexual
4. Black
4. Lower/Poor
4. Pansexual

30. Activity: Intersectionality
(10 min)

Matrix of Domination (Examples):
Race
Class
Gender
Sexuality
1. White
1. Upper
1. Male
1. Heterosexual
2. Asian
2. Middle
2. Female
2. Bisexual
3. Latino
3. Working
3. Intersex?
3. Homosexual
4. Black
4. Lower/Poor
4. Pansexual

31. It’s Elementary (20 min)

Trailer/Summary (4m)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWyj_OfQpnU
Elementary Gay Marriage Discussion (2.5m)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EH5gfqC8V6g
High School Discussion (7m)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBzMBabVddY&feature=related
Film Context/Update on Kids (3.5m)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV_YYc7G4Iw