Sexualities Syllabus

Welcome to my Sexualities Syllabus! The task at hand here is defining and identifying just what the term ‘sexuality’ means – in this day and age especially, this can feel daunting. In my methodology, I found myself drawn to the concept of sexuality being individualistic, but assisted by cultural associations and determinations. While sexuality is very different from gender identity, the two are often tied together. Additionally, there is a necessity for dividing what constitutes sexual acts versus sexuality and sexual orientation. Because of these factors, my definition and sources to be laid out focus on different perspectives of sexuality that acknowledge the cultural impacts and roots of identifications and assumptions held by others. While sexuality is not defined by culture, it is near impossible to completely separate dominant culture from sexuality.

• Physical Sex/Sexuality Education
  • The Every Body Book: The LGBTQ+ Inclusive Guide for Kids about Sex, Gender, Bodies, and Families by Rachel E. Simon, LCSW
    • Geared toward children ages 8-12, this book travels different forms of the word sex, as the term carries a range of explanations – physical acts, internal orientation, biological genital assignment, and more. An excellent introduction to the topic for any age, this book stands as a strong introduction to my personal definition of sexuality because it lays the foundations for what is to come.
  • In Case You’re Curious: Questions About Sex From Young People With Answers From the Experts by Planned Parenthood
    • Another read technically geared toward younger audiences, and just as helpful in unraveling the differences in what sex is versus sexuality. As is often the case in my experience, education at a young age is often more inclusive, even for adults, and one can only hope this may carry forward as the audience grows. In providing this source, I hope to give the example of how clearly defining what sex is as opposed to sexuality can better work toward understanding the nuances.
  • Too Hot to Handle: A Global History of Sex Education by Jonathan Zimmerman takes a look at how sex and sexuality are framed in an educational perspective around the world. This is admittedly a Western-standpoint book, but one that nonetheless adds to the understandings of sexuality and how it is understood.
  • Specifically looking at sex education in developing countries, this article from the Guttmacher Institute looks at ways in which education has already been underway, as well as what the various levels and methods of education mean for the people who live there.
  • From the description of Sexuality in School: The Limits of Education by Jen Gilbert, “From concerns over the bullying of LGBTQ youth and battles over sex education to the regulation of sexual activity and the affirmation of queer youth identity, sexuality saturates the school day.” That is the kind of thinking that is incredibly important, rather than teaching a very generic and heterosexual perspective of abstinence and banning all talk or mention of sex and sexuality outside of “sex ed” classes.
• https://www.columbusmuseum.org/stonewall/
  • Beginning with an overview of the Stonewall Riots of 1969, the art exhibition “Art After Stonewall 1969-1989” branches across art mediums and messages. This exhibition specifically focuses upon the queer experience of sex and sexuality, an often underrepresented voice in understanding the topic. The cultural context is found within late 20th century America, providing a specific location for a snapshot of societal understanding of sex and sexuality.
• https://www.kentmonkman.com/
  • Artist Kent Monkman has created a multitude of art pieces, branching different media, and representing sexual acts, sexuality, and gender expression. Throughout historical perspectives, peoples subjugated to European dominance are often also represented as being either over-sexualized or not experiencing sexuality at all as they were deemed as property and not holding human experience. Monkman uses this hurtful misrepresentation and flips it on its head, giving a new viewpoint to long-held assumptions regarding Indigenous sexualities and genders.
• Sex Work
  • https://www.spectrumsouth.com/art-of-queer-sex-work/
    • Flipping pre-conceived notions of what sex work entails, how participating in the business affects queer sex workers, and more, this art exhibit showcases first-person narratives from the trade. The author of this article about the show gives their own perspective having been a sex worker as well, making this a nicely rounded perspective on what differentiates sex and sexuality, including the role of pleasure in the two terms.
  • Hustling Verse: An Anthology of Sex Workers’ Poetry dissects the often stigmatized but worldwide phenomenon of sex work, drawing intersecting lines between race, class, gender, religion, and other social structures with sex and sexuality. One of the key points found in this anthology is that sexual acts and behavior don’t necessarily align with someone’s sexual orientation, but can merely be a means to an end.
  • Policing Pleasure: Sex Work, Policy, and the State in Global Perspective gives a blunt and necessary academic understanding of sex work and its role around the world, including where it is legalized and the stigmas that still surround the industry.
  • In a blog post on the Tourism Teacher website, the author delves into sex tourism, and the habit of certain people to travel to various countries for legal sex work. Sex is still treated as a taboo subject even in these cultures, yet it can be a great asset to the economy, as well as a way for people to make a decent wage in otherwise tumultuous job markets.
  • Call Girl Confidential is a memoir written by Rebecca Kade, a woman who worked with the FBI to bring down the owner of a famous escort service, and in it, she not only details her work both before and during her time with the FBI; the author also discusses biases held about the sex work industry in the United States and how she was treated differently for being a sex worker depending on circumstances.
• The music video for Sorry Out of Gender addresses concerns related to culturally constructed definitions of gender and sex and many of the lyrics also apply to the culturally constructed definitions of sexuality.
• In a slightly different turn, “Asexual Erotics: Intimate Readings of Compulsory Sexuality” takes a look at the identity of asexuality, taking for granted it is an accepted sexuality, not only shedding light on an often ignored identity but also allowing for a greater understanding of the line between sexual behavior and enjoyment and sexuality itself.
• Traversing through time in the specified country, Queer Korea provides insight to a non-Western viewpoint towards sex and sexuality, emphasizing the cultural influences on perceptions and beliefs among and about queer folx in Korea.
• Literature
  • Analyzing the presence of sex and sexuality in children’s literature, Corinne Matthews looks at a variety of cultural cues in “Sexuality” to try and determine the boundary between children’s and young adult’s literature, pointing out that education and action are not universally decided to be approved at a specific age, nor is information clearly distilled in all instances. Literature may have great power to educate and bring experience to a new level, including about sex, but it should not be given the responsibility to take the place of culturally-defined education.
  • In an article for The Guardian, Ilana Masad tackles the presence of queerness in children’s books as an evolution over time, including examples from the 1990s and early 2000s, pointing out that inclusion in the market for this age bracket is not a new occurrence – and it is just as important as when it was more ignored or brushed aside.
  • Innocence, Heterosexuality, and the Queerness of Children’s Literature is truly a beautiful title, and in this text, readers can find an examination of classic children’s literature, including more recent books such as the Harry Potter series, and the assertion that even providing “safe” examples of heterosexuality to children thereby opens the entire door of understanding sex and sexuality, not merely limited to that very specific identity. There is also the bold assertion that by showing children these examples in literature, their innocence is no longer pure, as deemed by the societal assumption that sexual awareness negates innocence.
• Film
  • Throughout its many twists and sometimes over-eroticized scenes, The Handmaiden stands as an excellent example of how desire, friendship, sex, and sexuality can seamlessly blur together, making the definition of what sexuality itself is even foggier. While under the direction of the male gaze, the film eventually subverts many tropes regarding women being sexual objects, and the two female characters at the center are left empowered and free to be with each other. Originally based upon a European novel and location, this film instead transports viewers to 1930s Korea, giving much different context to the cultural implications and understandings of sex and sexuality.
  • Gender, Ethnicity, and Sexuality in Contemporary American Film by Jude Davies and Carol R. Smith provides an overarching view of how different orientations and labels are utilized in the film industry in the United States. As with a few of the other sources within this Syllabus, having a limited perspective does stagnate the research process, but it is still an important piece nonetheless. One of the big things I like about this source is it looks at the entanglement society creates around gender and sexuality.
  • In a blog post on The Charlatan, the issue of a lack of acknowledgment of female sexuality in film is addressed on a more personal, less academic level. This quote by the author truly hits the nail on the head: “I was taught to fall in love and have children, but was never taught to embrace my body.” This is the sort of viewpoint I love seeing in addition to more nuanced academic research because it brings the very broad topic onto a digestible level.
  • Innocence, Heterosexuality, and the Queerness of Children’s Literature is truly a beautiful title, and in this text, readers can find an examination of classic children’s literature, including more recent books such as the Harry Potter series, and the assertion that even providing “safe” examples of heterosexuality to children thereby opens the entire door of understanding sex and sexuality, not merely limited to that very specific identity. There is also the bold assertion that by showing children these examples in literature, their innocence is no longer pure, as deemed by the societal assumption that sexual awareness negates innocence.