University of British Columbia

Department of Anthropology

Anthropology 213:
Sex, Gender, Culture

Spring2015
T/Th 12:30-2
Math 100

Professor: Dr. Alexia Bloch T.As.: Sung-Sook Lim, AnSo 142;

Sultan Ahmed,
O.H.: Tues, 3:30-4:30 and by appt. O.H.: TBA
Contact us via: www.connect.ubc.ca Appts. also welcome

I. OBJECTIVES
This course introduces students to new directions in the study of sex, gender and culture, as well as revisiting some
classic debates. Drawing on theoretical, ethnographic, and popular culture sources we will consider how it is that we
learn about sex and gender, how people often conform to virtually unconscious rules and sometimes oppose them. We
will also consider major directions in the study of sex and culture, including historical perspectives and contemporary
issues, such as questions of the “trafficking” in women, polygyny, and artificial reproductive technologies. Students
will become familiar with key bodies of knowledge that have defined the study of sex, gender, and culture since the
early 20th century, and in the process, will gain tools to critically consider debates about cross-cultural understandings
of sex and gender.

Drawing on ethnographic case studies from Hong Kong, Samoa, the Dominican Republic, Turkey, Japan, Russia,
Israel and the United States, among others, we will challenge common sense assumptions about gender. In the first
half of the course we will consider how anthropologists have problematized the relationships between gender, culture
and biology by exploring the production and reproduction of masculine, feminine, and transgender identities in a
variety of contexts. We will also critically examine how gender intersects with other processes of social
differentiation, including race, class, sexuality, age, and nation. In the second half of the course we will examine the
ways in which gender is reconfigured by global capitalism, transnational processes, tourism, and migration. We will
discuss a wide range of issues, including sex work, transnational families, cross-border marriages, and gay sex
tourism.

Overall, students are expected to develop a broad understanding of the ways in which gender is (re)produced,
negotiated, and transformed in different spatial and historical contexts, as well as the ways in which knowledge about
gender is contingent upon the context in which it is produced. Students will gain a thorough introduction to the
anthropological study of sex, gender, and culture through lectures, guest speakers, films, and discussion.

II. TEXTS
There are two required books for the course, both on reserve at Koerner Library. Additionally, each week students
will have required readings that may include a journal article, book chapter, or selection from popular media. Most
required reading is available electronically via Koerner Library (indicated as *** in the syllabus), and some (indicated
as ** in the syllabus) is available via the Connect website.
Required:
1. Nicole Constable. 2003. Romance on a Global Stage: Pen Pals, Virtual Ethnography, and “Mail
Order” Marriages. Berkeley: University of California Press.
2. Margaret Mead. 1928. Coming of Age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western
Civilization. New York: American Museum of Natural History.

III. COURSE REQUIREMENTS

Distribution of Marks
Participation (including attendance) and discussion 15%
1
Midterm 30%
Observation exercise statement 5%
Event analysis 15%
Final Exam 35%

Late assignments will be marked down 5% for each day late (including weekends), except in the case of a documented
medical emergency. Assignments will not be accepted via e-mail. All assignments due in class should be handed in
to the instructor at the start of class. *Students deposit assignments in the department drop-box at their own risk*; in
cases where this drop-box is used, please inform the instructor via e-mail and look for an e-mail *confirmation*.
While updates to course material will generally be announced on Connect, this is not a substitute for announcements
made in class. All cell phones and other digital devices should be turned off during class; laptop use will be permitted
only by permission of the instructor.

Correspondence and required readings

We will use Connect for accessing some readings, as well as for corresponding with one another. Upcoming events
related to our course will also be posted on Connect.You should have already received an e-mail from Connect; check
your e-mail that is registered with the Faculty of Arts. The website for Connect is: www.connect.ubc.ca

IV. COURSE SCHEDULE (with possibility of some amendment)

1. January 6/8 Introductions and Overview of the Course
* Begin reading Coming of Age in Samoa, complete by week 6
* Watch “Understanding Hook-up Culture: What is Really Happening on College Campuses” on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Q2L7YQ2Hk

2. January 13/15 Sex, biology, Culture

* Continue Coming of Age in Samoa (through ch.3, ~ 20pp)
*** Martin, Emily. 1991. The Egg and The Sperm: How Science has constructed a Romance based on
Stereotypical Male-Female Roles. Signs: A Journal of Women in Culture and Society 16(3): 485-501.
(electronic journal at Koerner Library)

Film Selections: Margaret Mead: Coming of Age. 2010. Cambridge Educational. Films Media Group. 52min.

3. January 20/22 Reproduction, Technology, Surrogacy

* Continue Coming of Age in Samoa (through ch.6, ~ 28pp)
** Motluck, Alison. 2010. The Human Egg Trade. The Walrus. April. Pp.30-37.
*** Chapter 4, “Intended Mothers and Birthing Mothers”, in Birthing a Mother: the Surrogate Body and
the Pregnant Self (Koerner Library e-book)

Film Selections: Made in India. 2010. Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha, prod. Women Make Movies. 97min.

4. January 27/29 From Woman to Women

* Continue Coming of Age in Samoa (through ch.9, ~ 45pp)
** Abu-Lughod, “Do Muslim women need saving?”

Film Selections: Russian Feminism: Twenty Years Forward. 2009. Beth Holmgren prod. And Igor
Sopronenko dir. Signature Media Production. 50min.

Statement for observation exercise due January 29 in class

5. February 3/5 Romance and What’s Love Got to Do with It?

* Continue Coming of Age in Samoa (through ch.11, ~ 55pp)
** Choose 1: Chapters 6, 9, 12, in Educated in Romance: Women, Achievement and College Culture. 1990.
Dorothy Holland and Margaret Eisenhart. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pp.79-90,134-151,163-180.

6. February 10/12Gender, Sexuality, Performance

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* Complete Coming of Age in Samoa (~ 36pp)
*** Chapter 2 in Robertson’s Takarazuka: Sexual Politics and Popular Culture in Japan (e-book at
Koerner)

Film selections: Dream Girls. 1993. Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams, dir. and prod. New York: Women
Make Movies. 50min.

Midterm Thursday, February 12; take-home portion due as well

February 14-22 Reading Break
7. February 24/26 Masculinities and Nation
* Begin Romance on a Global Stage (complete through Ch.1)
*** Broughton, Chad and Tom Walton. 2006. Downsizing Masculinity: Gender, Family, and Fatherhood in
Post-Industrial America. Anthropology of Work Review 27(1): 1-12.
*** High, Casey. 2010. Warriors, Hunters, and Bruce Lee: Gendered Agency and the Transformation of
Amazonian Masculinity. American Ethnologist 37(4): 753-770

Film Selections: Though Guise: Violence, Media & the Crisis in Masculinity. Jackson Katz, prod. and Sut
Jhally, dir. 82min. Media Education Foundation.

8. March 3/5 Global Sexuality, Global Liberation?

* Continue Romance on a Global Stage (complete through Ch.2)
*** Manalansan, Martin F. 1995. In the Shadows of Stonewall: Examining Gay Transnational Politics and
the Diasporic Dilemma. Gay and Lesbian Quarterly: A Journal of Gay and Lesbian Studies 2: 435-38.
*** Stella, Francesca. 2013. Queer Space, Pride, and Shame in Moscow. Slavic Review. 72(3): 458-480.
(optional)

Film Selections: Queer China , ‘Comrade’ China. 2009. dGenerate Films. Cui Zi’en, dir, prod. 60min.

9. March 10/12 Kinship and Generations

Possible Guest speaker
* Continue Romance on a Global Stage (through Ch.3)
*** Lamb, Sarah. 2002. “Intimacy in a Transnational Era: The Remaking of Aging among Indian
Americans. Diaspora. 11(3): 299-330.
**

10. March 17/19 Intimacy and Globalization

Possible guest speaker
* Continue Romance on a Global Stage (complete through Ch.4)
**
** Brennan, Denise. 2007. “Love Work in a Tourist Town,” In Love and Globalization: Transformations of
Intimacy in the Contemporary World. Pp.203-225.

Film Selections: The Mosuo Sisters. 2013. Marlo Poras w/ Yu Ying Wu Chou, prod. Women Make Movies. 80min.

Event Essay due in class March 19

11. March 24/26 Mobility, Sex, Labour

* Continue Romance on a Global Stage (complete through Ch.5)
*** Bloch, Alexia. 2003. Victims of Trafficking or Entrepreneurial Women? Narratives of Post-Soviet
Entertainers in Turkey. Canadian Woman Studies. 22.3/4: 152-158.
***

12. March 31/April 2 Family, Marriage, and Border Crossing

* Continue Romance on a Global Stage (complete through Ch.6)

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*** Rytter, Mikkel. 2010. ‘The Family of Denmark’ and ‘the Aliens’: Kinship Images in Danish Integration
Politics. Ethnos. 75(3):301-322.
***

Film Selections: In the Name of Love: Modern Day “Mail-Order” Brides. Shannon O’Rourke, dir and prod.
Los Angeles, CA: New Day Films. 54min.

13. April 7/April 9 Current Issues in Sex, Gender, Culture

* Finish Romance on a Global Stage
** Further reading to be announced!

Assignments/Requirements
1. Participation and discussion
Students should have a firm grasp of the material and a fully positioned stake in the direction of discussion. Groups
will work together to discuss questions posed by the instructor and TAs, as well as at least one or two other questions
identified by students in each group; each week students should come to class prepared to think about readings.
Groups will be assigned after the first week of class.

2. Observation exercise; take-home portion of the midterm

Pick any public location, e.g. a park bench, a seat in a café, a community celebration, in which to make at least two
30minute observations related to sex, gender, and culture. Your task is to take notes on whatever you observe in these
two sessions and to come up with your own original analysis of what you see related to practices around sexuality,
love, or romance in Vancouver today.
a. The first part of this assignment is to identify a location for your observation exercise and to write a short
paragraph on what you think you might observe related to sex, gender, and cultural practices. This short statement is
due January 29.
b. The second part of this assignment is to conduct two 30minute observations, taking extensive notes on what
you see. You will analyse your notes, and also draw on class readings and lectures, and write a short essay of no more
than two pages (or four double-spaced) about what your observations can tell us about practices around gender,
sexuality, love, or romance in Vancouver today. Due as the take-home portion of the midterm exam, February 12.
Further assignment details will follow.

3. Event Review/Essay
You should identify one event related to sex, gender, and cultural practices in and around Vancouver that you will
attend. This event could be at a museum, an academic lecture outside of class, or a movie or other cultural event. Your
task is to reflect on what we can learn about sex, gender, and cultural practices from the event, and what else you
might like to know, and write about this in a short essay of no more than two pages (or four double-spaced);
additional pages will not be read. In addition to the paper itself, you should hand in a physical ad, e-mail
announcement, or poster promoting the event. You are free to identify any event and a number of pertinent events will
also be announced in class. Due March 19.

The paper will be evaluated according to the following criteria: clarity of thesis and overall organization; quality of
analysis; writing style, including proper citations; and reflection of original thought about the topic. If you are not
familiar with the UBC guidelines regarding plagiarism, see: http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/plagiarism/