Gender Debate

Debate--Do we need gender presentation distinctions today in the USA? Yes or No?

No binary gender = Disaster or liberation?

• What aspects of life in the US would be harmed or improved without the presentation of binary genders?

• Is the gender binary a form of violence?

• Are binary genders a necessary fiction?

We’ll have half the class on each side of the issue. Depending on the side you’ve been assigned, come to class with two supporting points to contribute to the debate. Try to provide evidence for your points with quotes from Walton and Anthropology readings, etc., and/or examples from everyday life.

Focus on Gender Performance/Expression (External)

Areas of Life in which gender distinctions are performed. Think of self-presentation.

• Clothes, dress

• Make Up, Hair

• Body language

• Speech

What would happen if there were no gender distinctions? Where would the harm be?

Definitions of Terms related to sex and gender:

(Considered to be socially constructed, not based in biology or physiognomy)

Gender Presentation: how someone presents themselves (dresses, etc.) in terms of binary or non-binary gender systems

Gender Identity: what a person feels inside to be their "true" gender, binary or non-binary

Sexual Preference: the gender of a person that one finds sexually attractive

Sex-- based (usually) on physical sexual markers

Cis-Gender--a person who's sex named at birth matches their gender identity and/or gender presentation