Latinx Gender and Sexuality Studies

Catalog description

WMNST/ LTNST 300 Latinx Gender and Sexuality Studies (3) (GH/US/BA) This course examines the historical development, theoretical premises, and political, social, and artistic contributions of Latinx feminisms in the United States. It shows the connections to as well as the divergences from Latin American feminism by beginning with an analysis of how the Spanish conquest, the imposition of Catholicism, and subsequent years of colonialism shaped gender and sexual identities. It examines the contemporary effects of these historical issues and inquires into the common concerns of Latin American feminists and Latinx feminists. It asks how theories and practices have diverged given different geographies, both between the U.S. and Latin America and within the U.S. The course will examine changes in the 1960s and 1970s in the U.S., when Chicano and Puerto Rican nationalist movements also gave rise to a feminist consciousness amongst Latinas; the conjuncture of race, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality is considered, with attention to how Latinas critiqued Anglo feminism's narrow focus on gender. The course will focus on family formations, considering social science and feminist discourse on the issues of patriarchy. How have Latinx feminists valued yet also rearticulated the traditional family? What critiques have made been against heterosexism? How has the LGBTQ community formulated new kinds of families? How does migration shape family relations? The course will explore how Latinx artists in different genres have responded to and resisted traditional gender and sexual roles. Literature, film, poetry, performance art, and hip hop are all examined for their diverse representations of sexual desire.