Dominant Gender and Sexual Norms Essay

So far, we have explored several themes, questions, and concepts in LGBTQ Studies, enabling us to more
deeply explore the lives of LGBTQ people, and to reflect on sexuality, gender, and identity as structrures that
condition the lives of both LGBTQ and cisgender heterosexual people.
Now, regardless of your identity, is the time to start using these concepts and lessons to think about their
import on your own life. Use the concepts from the previous week’s themes (LGBTQ history and using history
today; the “ontogenic” or origin question of LGBQT identity; the concept of “gay culture,” its development, and
its positive and negative effects and uses; the development of LGBTQ character tropes in media; the link
between cultural production, means of production/technology used to make culture, and uses of “culture”; the
idea of “a” gay or queer culture; “queering” mainstream culture; the positive and negative intersections of
feminist and LGBTQ social movements and thinking; the “queerness” of feminist challenges to patriarchy) to
write a series of self-reflective vignettes.
Reflect on particular anecdotes, periods, situations, or running themes in your own life to reflect on the
following questions/themes:
1. How have you been positioned at various moments in your own life in relation to dominant gender and
sexual norms? How have you been influenced to think (or not think) about the origins of your own
gender and sexual identities as either essential/natural or socially constructed? How has this changed
over time?
2. How do you see your own identity represented, not represented, or misrepresented today in popular
consumer media? What role, apparent or not, does this play in the ongoing (in)stability, (un)happiness,
and (non-)confidence in your everyday life? In other words, how does your own relation to sexual and
gendered media sustain and/or constrain your life?
3. In what ways do you conform to contemporary norms about sexual and gendered identity, even if you
occupy a marginal form of identity? How do you experience, or how can you think about, your own
changing contexts of privilege and oppression in relation to your identity? If you identify with a
commonly privileged category, have you ever felt temporary moments when you deviated from and
then quickly returned to expectation?
Make sure that you address each of these three theme clusters to some sufficiently deep extent. Make
observations and then elaborate on the meaning of those observations. These themes are intentionally general
and abstract, allowing you the freedom and requiring the work of actively exploring them on your own terms
and based on your own interests.
Make sure that you refer to at least four (4) of the readings up to this point for inspiration. These
references should be relevant and substantive, going beyond citing them for facts.
This should amount to 4-6 pages (NOT including the Works Cited) of formal, academic writing, but may include
elements of creative writing or creative license. Use MLA formatting for the paper as well as for your citations,
including both in-text parenthetical citations and a Works Cited page at the end of your submission.
HUM-141: Introduction to LGBTQ Studies
Scott McLellan
Note that the scores will be assigned primarily on the depth and richness of conceptual reflection and
exploration. Use the following rubric for your guidance/reference:
3 2 1 .5 0
Origins &
Explanation
Elaborates on themes
related to the assumed
essential and/or
constructed nature of
own identities.
Culture:
Discusses the
impact/importance of
culture, media, and
representation in own
identities.
Politics:
Explores the way
political and social
movements relate,
directly or indirectly,
to more recent social
movements like
feminism & LGBQT
liberation
References:
Makes relevant,
substantial use of at least
4 course readings for
inspiration or starting
points of reflection.
CMF::
Presents a paper that
is free of citation,
mechanical, and