The purpose of this assignment is to
- Appraise the relationship between sex, gender, sexual orientation, culture and social structure.
- Evaluate the impact that sex, gender and sexual orientation have on the lives of men and women in the areas of work, ethnicity, sexuality, kinship, politics, economics and cultural production.
- Identify and examine sociologically relevant problems and issues about sex, gender and sexual orientation in contemporary U.S. social life.
- Appraise the relevance of interdisciplinary research in the study of sex, gender, and sexual orientation.
To achieve the objective(s),
- Collect notes from your observations for your paper.
- Analyze your notes through a sociological lens with special attention to concepts of sex, gender and sexuality.
- Write your Auto-Ethnographic Gender Analysis Paper.
The course content will help you understand the difference between sex and gender, analyze gender and sexuality in everyday social interactions, and explore gender in your personal life.
Outcomes and Objectives
Student Learning Outcomes
- Evaluate the impact that sex, gender and sexual orientation have on the lives of men and women in the areas of work, ethnicity, sexuality, kinship, politics, economics and cultural production in different societies.
Objectives
- Appraise the relationship between sex, gender, sexual orientation, culture and social structure.
- Analyze the interrelationships between gender, race-ethnicity and social class as systems of social stratification.
- Evaluate the impact that sex, gender and sexual orientation have on the lives of men and women in the areas of work, ethnicity, sexuality, kinship, politics, economics and cultural production.
- Identify and examine sociologically relevant problems and issues about sex, gender and sexual orientation in contemporary U.S. social life
Instructions
Auto-ethnography is a form of qualitative research into one’s biography—following C. Wright Mills “sociological imagination”—to link personal experience to larger social practices and culture.
For at least three full days (they don't need to be consecutive days), keep a log of your activities, making note of “everyday gendered behaviors” you observe yourself engaging along with those around you whom you encounter.
Then, engage in a critical sociological analysis of your observations to unpack the gendering of your life. As you construct your analysis, consider what particular shape is given to your gendered experiences that may be further revealed by considering not only gender but also race, class, sexuality, etc. (any other social characteristics). How do these social categories intersect to shape your experiences within different social settings/contexts? How does this reveal relations of power and privilege?
Important Note:
Your paper should be a critical reflective essay, not a summary or mere narrative, but an analysis of your narrative/story that may use experience as example but doesn’t stop there. In your analysis you should make clear references to relevant scholars, readings, as well as to theoretical concepts and insights from lecture and readings.
Guidelines
Paper Format:
- 3-4 pages double-spaced, 12-size font, 1-inch margins
- Draw from at least 3 scholarly sources/references. In other words, you should make a connection of your own observations to previously published research and/or literature.
- Cite using ASA Download APA, or ML Links to an external site. citation styles. Include in-text citations and a reference page (Reference page does not count toward page requirement).
- Heading should only include your name and date.