Sex & Gender in U.S. Politics

Catalog description

Legal traditions have long maintained that a “man’s home is his castle,” beyond the reach of the state (thereby ignoring “private” injustices like domestic violence). But the state has always found ways to justify some interventions in citizens’ private lives, including legislation of abortion and homosexuality. The personal has always been political, as second-wave feminists rightly insisted in the 1960s. This course examines the intersection of private and public, looking at the ways in which sex, identity and sexuality are implicated in and shaped by politics and policy-making: including the gendered division of labor inside and outside the home; the politics of gender identity; the legislation and policing of sex, sexuality, marriage and families; and the challenges facing women who enter politics. We will ask provocative and pressing questions like: How do sex and sexuality intersect with race, class, disability, and more? Can women (or anyone) really “have it all”? What is the future of transgender rights in the U.S.? Why do women still make up only 20% of Congress? Do women lead differently? To answer these questions, we will turn to political theory, political science, public policy, legal studies, and more.