Digital Reading Room 2.0 -- MAIS 628: Gender and Sexuality

MAIS 628: Gender and Sexuality Report a Broken Link

MAIS 628: Gender and Sexuality introduces students to the theories and empirical research that form the backbone of gender and sexuality studies. The course directly challenges the sociopolitical imperative that there are but two biological sexes and that heterosexual desire and practice are the norms against which all other desires and practices are measured and found to be “deviant.” The course invites a critical examination of the two-sex binary order and the ways in which this order is reproduced but also resisted through feminine, masculine, queer, and trans performances of identity. It also pays attention to the intersections of gender and sexuality with other social identities such as race and (dis)ability.

Week 1: Binary Thinking and Its Discontents

Ridgeway, C. L., & Saperstein, A. (2024). Diversifying gender categories and the sex/gender system. Annual Review of Sociology, 50, 385–405.

TEDxTalks. (2017, June 19). Living as a non-binary in a binary world | Graysen Hall | TEDxUniversityofKent [Video]. YouTube.

Week 2: Biology Matters

DuBois, L. Z., & Shattuck-Heidorn, H. (2021). Challenging the binary: Gender/sex and the bio-logics of normalcy. American Journal of Human Biology, 33(5), 1–19.

Cooky, C., & Dworkin, S. L. (2013). Policing the boundaries of sex: A critical examination of gender verification and the Caster Semenya controversy. Journal of Sex Research, 50(2), 103–111. DOI: 10.1080/00224499.2012.725488

Week 3: The Invention of Sex: Histories and Genealogies

Laqueur, T. W. (1992). Chapter 1: Of language and the flesh. In Making sex: Body and gender from the Greeks to Freud (pp. 1–25). Harvard University Press.

Laqueur, T. W. (1992). Chapter 5: Discovery of the sexes. In Making sex: Body and gender from the Greeks to Freud (pp. 149–193). Harvard University Press.

Foucault, M. (1990). Part 1: We “other Victorians.” In The history of sexuality (Vol. 1) (pp. 1–14) (R. Hurley, Trans.). Vintage Books.

Foucault, M. (1990). Part 2: Chapter 1: Incitement to discourse. In The history of sexuality (Vol. 1) (pp. 15–35) (R. Hurley, Trans.). Vintage Books.

Week 4: Sex/Gender and Feminism

Nicholson, L. (1994). Interpreting gender. Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 20(1), 79–105.

Butler, J. (2014). One: Subjects of sex/gender/desire. In Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity (10th anniversary ed.) (pp. 3–44). Routledge.

Hotine, E. (2021). Biology, society and sex: Deconstructing anti-trans rhetoric and trans-exclusionary radical feminism. Journal of the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, 2(3).

Week 5: Theorizing Gender: Social Constructionism

West, C., & Zimmerman, D. H. (1987). Doing gender. Gender & Society, 1(2), 125–151.

Diefendorf, S., & Bridges, T. (2020). On the enduring relationship between masculinity and homophobia. Sexualities, 23(7), 1264–1284.

Schippers, M. (2007). Recovering the feminine other: Masculinity, femininity, and gender hegemony. Theory and Society, 36(1), 85–102. DOI: 10.1177/1363460719876845

Week 6: Intersectional Interventions

Terry, A. (2016). Reconceptualizing gender: A historical perspective from structure to process and intersectionality. Journal of Research in Gender Studies, 6(2), 69–82.

Southbank Centre. (2016, March 14). Kimberlé Crenshaw: Intersectionality and gender equality [Video]. YouTube.

Naples, N. A, Mauldin, L., & Dillaway, H. (2019). Gender, disability, and intersectionality. Gender & Society, 33(1), 5–18.

Week 7: Doing Cis Femininities

Taylor, A., & Hoskin, R. A. (2023). Fat femininities: On the convergence of fat studies and critical femininities. Fat Studies, 12(1), 72-85. DOI: 10.1080/21604851.2021.1985813

Gilchrist, K. R. (2023). Silencing the single woman: Negotiating the “failed” feminine subject in contemporary UK society. Sexualities, 26(1–2), 162–179.

Tredway, K. (2014). Judith Butler redux—the heterosexual matrix and the out lesbian athlete: Amélie Mauresmo, gender performance, and women’s professional tennis. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 41(2), 163–176. DOI: 10.1080/00948705.2013.785420

Nicholls, E. (2016). “What on earth is she drinking?” Doing femininity through drink choice on the girls’ night out. Journal of International Women’s Studies, 17(2), 77–91.

Week 8: Doing Cis Masculinities

Hill, M. E. (2022). Do the marriageable men want to protect and provide? The expectation of Black professional hybrid masculinity. Gender & Society, 36(4), 498–524.

MacMillan, C. (2025). When men seek support and comradery: Fathers’ rights groups and the complexities of manhood. Men and Masculinities, 28(3), 267–286. DOI: 10.1177/1097184X241306

Greenebaum, J., & Dexter, B. (2018). Vegan men and hybrid masculinity. Journal of Gender Studies, 27(6), 637–648. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2017.1287064

Thomas, G. M., & Thurnell-Read, T. (2024). Later-life masculinities: (Re)forming the gendered lives of older men. Men and Masculinities, 27(2). DOI: 10.1177/1097184X241231917

Week 9: Sex and Desire I: Masculinities

Chong, K. H., & Kim, N. Y. (2022). “The model man:” Shifting perceptions of Asian American masculinity and the renegotiation of a racial hierarchy of desire. Men and Masculinities, 25(5), 674–697. DOI: 10.1177/1097184X211043

Bury, R., & Easton, L. (2025). “Who can handle a true BBC?”: Masculinities, race and dick pic sharing on Reddit. Porn Studies, 12(2), 233–249, DOI: 10.1080/23268743.2023.2287459

Robinson, B. A. (2023). Transamorous misogyny: Masculinity, heterosexuality, and cis men’s sexist desires for trans women. Men and Masculinities, 26(3), 356–375.

Chow, J. (2022). No fats, no fems, no problems? Working out and the gay muscled body. Sexualities, 25(8), 1077–1095.

Week 10: Sex and Desire II: Femininities

Baker, N. J. (2023). The sexual politics of hookup culture: A Black feminist intervention. Sexualities, 28(5–6). DOI: 10.1177/13634607231209716

Andrejek, N., Fetner, T., & Heath, M. (2022). Climax as work: Heteronormativity, gender labor, and the gender gap in orgasms. Gender & Society, 36(2), 189–213. DOI: 10.1177/08912432211073062

Cooper, N. (2022). The experiences of a disabled dominatrix. Disability Studies Quarterly, 42(2). DOI: 10.18061/dsq.v42i2.9127

Neville, L. (2015). Male gays in the female gaze: Women who watch m/m pornography. Porn Studies, 2(2–3), 192–207. DOI: 10.1080/23268743.2015.1052937

Week 11: Making Things Perfectly Queer

Warner, M. (1991). Introduction: Fear of a queer planet. Social Text, 29, 3–17.

Eguchi, S., & Long, H. R. (2019). Queer relationality as family: Yas fats! Yas femmes! Yas Asians! Journal of Homosexuality, 66(11), 1589–1608. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2018.1505756

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Greensmith, C., & Giwa, S. (2013). Challenging settler colonialism in contemporary queer politics: Settler homonationalism, Pride Toronto, and Two-Spirit subjectivities. American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 37(2), 129–148.

Santinele Martino, A. (2025). Toward a “crip” sociology of fucking. Sexualities, 1–19. Advanced online publication. DOI: 10.1177/13634607251365765

Weeks 12–13: Trans Matters

Darwin, H. (2020). Challenging the cisgender/transgender binary: Nonbinary people and the transgender label. Gender & Society, 34(3), 357–380. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243220912256

Horncastle, J. (2018). Busting out: Happenstance surgery, clinic effects, and the poetics of genderqueer subjectivity. Transgender Studies Quarterly, 5(2), 251–267. https://doi.org/10.1215/23289252-4348684

Rogers, B. A. (2022). Trans manhood: The intersections of masculinities, queerness, and the South. Men and Masculinities, 25(1), 24–42. doi.org/10.1177/1097184X20927058

Stone, A. L., Nimmons, E., & Salcido, R. (2024). Refusing gender: Intimate (mis)recognition of gender identity and its relation to family instabilities. Gender & Society, 38(5), 788–815. DOI: 10.1177/08912432241277218

McGuire, J. K., Anderson, S. O., & Michaels, C. (2022). “I don’t think you belong in here”: The impact of gender segregated bathrooms on the safety, health, and equality of transgender people. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 34(1), 40–62. DOI: 10.1080/10538720.2021.1920539

Having difficulties opening readings in the DRR?

When this happens, the problem is usually in the browser’s stored cache and cookies. Opening links in Incognito/Private mode in your browser usually prevents most of the issues, and we recommend doing this whenever you do AU Library–related work. You can also try clearing your cache and cookies . Trying a different browser might also help—if a link doesn’t work in Chrome, it will often work in Edge and vice versa.

Week 14: Wrap Up

No online readings