As we complete the first third of our course, I'd be curious to read your reflections on how the course is going for you. Looking back at everything we've read thus far, what reading or issue has engaged you most fully? What has surprised or even frustrated you in our reading? Have you discovered something already that has enlarged or shifted your sense of the history of sexuality, queerness, or the North American West? If so, what was it? If not, what would you like to see us focus on to promote your own growth as a scholar of gender, race, and sexuality?
I'd also be curious to hear what you think about our class discussions. Is there anything you need from me or the rest of class to enhance the community we're building together? What are you most interested in focusing on in the next phase of our class?
For me, I've been delighted by the quality of our discussions and the thoughtfulness the rest of you have brought to the material. Out of all the readings, I was most struck by Will Roscoe's essay. Even though I've read it before and have valued his work, for some reason his argument about the inter-relatedness of Native American sex/gender systems and the evolution of modern sexual identities in Europe and Anglo-America resonated with me more strongly than it had before. I think scholars of sexuality can sometimes focus too much on distinct traditions (for good reason) and lose sight of how different cultures have shaped each other's notions of sex and gender. This may seem like an obvious point, but I thought his article reminded me of something very important. As I look ahead, I'm eager to shift the focus of our analysis from history to literature and see how the stories of Bret Harte and a film/short story like "Brokeback Mountain" relates to the material we've just studied. I hope you all enjoy this material, too.
At any rate, I'm looking forward to reading your responses.
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The readings all have engaged me eqaully I would say; however, the link between all of them has engaged me even more! When I think of America, I think of a very individualist state, unattached to neighbors, communities, or even sometimes a national identity as Americans. In these readings, I find that this America, the one venturing out of the 19th century and into the early 20th century, has a great deal more communal identity. This identity, at the time, allowed individuals the freedom to act sexually with one another without being labeled different, meaning less or supurior. This time in American history seems to be freeing in some aspects, allowing both men and women to grow up experimenting; however, the normative image of a breadwinner and reproduction usually pulled most back into the average way of life in the East. The West allowed a way to continue to live, freely of description and outside an identity box, for a few years after the dream had ended in the East and other intellectual capitals around the world.
ReplyDeleteI am really interested in the concepts of the free love communities as well as this perspective where humans live outside of identity markers. The more capitalism is combined with the literature about the West, the more I am convinced that identity markers, such as race, sexuality, and gender stand for, in a capitalist society, items to be categorized so other things or items cane be sold and marketed to you. These concepts do allow individuals to speak about their experiences; however, there were experiences before this as well. Also these identities have only seemed, at least within many movements, to split individuals and groups because of issues surrounding oppression sweepstakes or instances were different identities compete, in a way, to say one has been more or less privileged by those in power.
I really love the conversational aspect of our class and have very little I need to see more of or anything like that! Thanks everyone ☺
For me I have found the experience of reading all these articles extremely rewarding because I'm not used to reading material like this at any rate, and I love the fact although it can be "wordy" I can comprehend what I'm reading because it's interesting. I think the one reading so far that has really captured my attention was "Definitions and Deviance: Sexual Transformations at the Turn of Century. I found this reading particularly engaging because of all the information that I had no idea of. The passage on Romantic Friendships was so great to read, and totally made sense of that time for things like that happen. I feel so new to all of this information since I've never taken a women and gender studies course, and I'm so happy I picked this one as my first. Everything is overwhelming in the sense of wonderment and total excietment at the fact that I feel I'm learning so much, that has been left out of history, in the part of the US that I am from.
ReplyDeleteI love the class discussions I wouldn't change a thing!
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While taking this course has been an interesting experience for me to apply my queer theory experience to the Western American Frontier, and how it applies to a history that is beyond my scope of normal study. The essay that fascinated me the most is Rupp’s “Definitions and Deviance: Sexual transformations at the Turn of the Century”. I find it intriguing the way that we have defined our sexualities and our identities, language plays such a large role in our lives but we never talk about how the words we use and how we define them impacts our experiences. I think the words that scientists and academics use to define queer bodies is rather interesting because they do not know how to classify us or our experiences. I hope one day queer folks will be able to define themselves again and use terms and ideas that we can call our own. As for the class I think the discussions are going great, but I am struggling with the room set up because it is really hard to talk to everyone without being able to see them. In the end, I am having a great time!
ReplyDeleteSo far I've really enjoyed this class, our discussions and the readings. Although at times the readings can be somewhat dense, I really love that we can go through them as a class and dissect the important ideas and concepts. I woud have to agree with J.P. and Christopher on the reading that most enganged me. The definition and meaning behind a word is essentially a very basic concept, but when you think about how these definitions impact life on every level its really interesting. It also makes one thnk of how definitions are somewhat subjective and how we define things is on some level how we define ourselves. The discussions in class have been great, and I don't think I need anything from you guys!
ReplyDeleteI have really enjoyed expanding my definitions of terms that are so easily thrown around and interchanged, such as sexuality and gender. I have also found it very useful and insightful to ponder the notion of heterosexuality and the assumed genders for males and females as natural. I have a better understanding of what queer is now. Sometimes I feel like the language that we use in class is overly complicated and too cloudy for me. Perhaps this is because I have not taken a gender and women's studies class before. It would be helpful to me if, when people are speaking, they could break down their language and get to the core of what they are saying.
ReplyDeleteThus far I really enjoy this class. I think people seem to be really interested and engaged in the subject matter, which makes the class extremely enjoyable. This class has made me think about the evolution of our country in a new way. How a male dominate society has allowed for so much growth in sexuality, but still hinders race and gender. Especially when it came to the Asian populations who were both racialized and genderized to the extremes, they seemed to be the lowest class citizens of this time. The thing i found to be the most interesting was the information about Native American and i would like to learn more about there customs and culture that influenced the American West. I don't quite know what to expect for the rest of this class, but i like the direction it has gone thus far.
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