Additional Questions To Consider:

Dear Students,

Don't forget to post your revised sperm and egg stories as "practice" for your weekly entries that will be due beginning next week.

Below are some additional questions you may wish to consider in response to last Friday's reading that we did not have time to address in class.

1. Why do Grewal and Kaplan begin the book with a discussion of the ways in which gender has been constructed by modern Western scientific and medical discourse? 

2. In class, some of you seemed to argue that the concept of "sex" does not change over time, whereas others thought that it did.  Explain further, using the information presented by Oudshoorn to shape your response.  How would Oudshoorn respond to this debate?  What evidence does she provide?

3. According to Martin, what is the cybernetic model and how might it be useful in rewriting gender stereotypical scientific and medical descriptions?

4. According to Martin why is it potentially dangerous to endow cellular entities (such as egg and sperm) with the characteristics of personhood?

5. What does Vance mean when she argues that gender and sexuality are "socially constructed"?

6. What is essentialism and how does it relate to gender and sexuality?

7. Vance argues that sexuality is socially constructed.  Does this mean that individuals can change their sexual orientations at will?  Explain.

8. Does the concept of social construction imply that biology plays no role in determining human behavior?

9. What are some problems of social construction theory as identified by Vance?

10.  What is deconstruction and how does it relate to gender and sexuality?

You need not answer all of these questions, but may choose one or several to respond to if any strike your interest.  Remember that your entries can be about anything you wish as long as you make connections between the course readings and the social world.

Best,
Jeff