Sexuality, Gender, and Disability

Catalog description

This course applies a critical lens to the study of sexuality, gender, and disability. We examine how social oppression is experienced by persons whose physical, cognitive, or psychological characteristics fall outside of socially constructed norms. In particular, we investigate the complex historical influences that impact how people discuss sexuality and disability. For example, people with disabilities have been considered asexual, hypersexual, or as victims, all of which deny their agency as sexual beings. We use disability, feminist, critical sexuality, and queer theories to explore and question various issues effecting the sexual lives and experiences of persons with disabilities and how these might help us understand gender and sexuality more generally. To understand the intersection of sexuality and disability, we engage with scholarly readings, news articles, popular media, social media, and TV shows/movies.