SXL 115S/ENG 101S:
PERSPECTIVES IN GAY, LESBIAN, AND BISEXUAL STUDIES

(Spring 2000; TTh 3:55-5:05; SocSci 111)

Last update: 1 January 2000


Rainbow Flag created by Gilbert Baker for the 1978 San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade


This course fulfills the prerequisite for the undergraduate certificate
in the
Program in the Study of Sexualities


JOHN G. YOUNGER

Professor of Classical Archaeology
Director, Program for the Study of Sexualities
228 Allen Building
TEL 684-2082
FAX 681-4262
email: jyounger@duke.edu
www: http://www.duke.edu/web/jyounger/

Office Hours   M-Th 10:00-12:00
Other times are available; there is a sign-up sheet to the right of my office door (228 Allen Bldg).


Textbooks

Abelove, Henry, Michele A. Barale, David M. Halperin, The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader
Adam, Barry D., The Rise of a Gay and Lesbian Movement
Crimp, Douglas, AIDS: Cultural Analysis, Cultural Activism
Morton, Donald, The Material Queer


Readings on Perkins E-Reserve.

Photocopied articles available on E-Reserves
search for "younger;sxl115" or "younger;eng101".

A list of the articles, arranged by author.


Requirements
Class Attendance & Participation
Midterm (24 Feb (on theory, terminology, politics); NO final)
Written Work
8 Feb: Exercise 1 (analysis of a TV SitCom episode)
17 Feb: Proposal for Term Paper/Project or LEAPS Project (you need to inform me by this date what you intend to do)
23 Mar: Exercise 2 (analysis of a personal relationship)
25 Apr: Term Paper/Project or LEAPS Project Write-up
a journal of your readings -- to be turned in 22 Feb & 25 Apr


Some Relevant Web Sites

Queer Search Engine:
http://www.glweb.com/RainbowQuery/Index.html

Discussion ListsWeb SitesUseNet
DukeLGB
mail "subscribe dukelgb" to "majordomo@duke.edu"[no quotation marks]; anonymous posting is available

QSTUDY-L

mail "subscribe qstudy-l FirstName LastName" to "listserv@listserv.acsu.buffalo.edu" [no quotation marks]); anonymous posting is NOT available

Other discussion lists:

http://www.duke.edu/web/jyounger/lgblist.html
 Misc. Web sites:
http://www.duke.edu/web/jyounger/lgbwww.html

LGB University Programs and Services:

http://www.duke.edu/web/jyounger/lgprogs.html


SYLLABUS


ORIENTATION

Syllabus & Assignments

Jan 13 (Th)

Take a simple quiz at home.


UNIT 1

Queer Theories: Sexes & Genders & Sexualities & Sex

Lectures & Discussions:

Jan 18 (T), 20 (Th), 25 (T), 27 (Th); Feb 1 (T)

Topics

Sex or sexual acts?, Sexes (F/M I T), Genders (F/M T Gender "fuck"), Sexuality/ies)

History of Homosexuality

Readings
Required Readings
TEXT: Adam, The Rise of a Gay and Lesbian Movement
E-Reserves
R.A. Posner, Sex & Reason, selections
deLauretis, "Queer Theory," Differences 2 (1991) iii-xviii
LG Studies Reader
Rich, "Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence", pp. 227-54

Additional Readings (select 2 per Topic for your journal)
Topic: Sex, Sexes, Genders
E-Reserves
Weinrich, "Is Homosexuality Biologically Normal?" in Paul, ed, Homosexuality, pp. 197-208.
C. Burr, "Homosexuality and Biology," Atlantic Monthly, March 1993
Rotello, G., "Bi Any Means Necessary," Voice, 30 June 1992, 37-38.
On-Line
Intersex (people born without clearly male or female genetalia, and Transsexuals) links: http://www.duke.edu/SXL/intersex.html
QSTUDY-L discussions of "Social Construction & Bisexuality"
The Radicalesbian Manifesto, 1970: http://www.duke.edu/web/SXL/Radicalesbians.html
Material Queer
Wittig, "The Straight Mind", p. 207
Udis-Kessler, "Biphobia", p. 243
Smith, "What is Queer?", p. 277
Freud, "Sexual Aberrations", p. 77
Irigaray, "Female Hom(m)osexuality", p. 174
LG Studies Reader
Lorde, "The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power", pp. 339-343
Rubin, "Thinking Sex", pp. 3-45 (dont't forget the Postscript)
Sedgwick, "Epistemology of the Closet", pp. 45-61
Wittig, "One is Not Born a Woman", pp. 103-109
deLauretis, "Sexual Indifference & Lesbian Representation", pp. 141-58
Yarbro-Bejarano, "De-constructing the Lesbian Body", pp. 595-603
Butler, "Imitation and Gender Insubordination", pp. 307-20
Vicinus, "'They Wonder to Which Sex I Belong'", pp. 432-452
Topic: History of Homosexuality
E-Reserves
G Hekma, "A History of Sexology"
Symonds, A Problem in Modern Ethics
On-Line
LGB history
LG Studies Reader
Halperin, "Is There a History of Sexuality?", pp. 416-431


UNIT 2

Queer Movements: Civil Rights and the Law

Lectures & Discussions:

Feb 3 (Th)
Feb 8 (T)Feb 8: Exercise 1 DUE

Feb 10 (Th), 15 (T)
Feb 17 (Th)Feb 17: Term Paper/Project Proposals DUE

Feb 22 (T)Feb 22: Turn in Journals

Topics

General Matters of the Law
Hardwick v. Bowers: the state has the right to scrutinize your sex life
Sharon Bottoms, a Lesbian, loses custody of son to her mother
Colorado Amendment 2 declared unconstitutional, thereby remanding to the states whether Hardwick v. Bowers stands
Cincinnati: there can be no laws that deny protection to queers
Readings
Required Readings
E-Reserves
Hunter, "Life after Hardwick," Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review 27 (1992) 532-554.
Irons, "Interview with Michael Hardwick," in Rubenstein, Lesbians, Gay Men, and the Law, 125-131.
Sharon Bottoms Trial-Transcript
Robson, "Crimes of Lesbian Sex," Lesbian (Out)Law, ch. 3.
Epstein, Steven, "Gay Politics, Ethnic Identity: The Limits of Social Constructionism,"Socialist Review 17.93/4 (1987) 9-54.
On-Line
Bowers v. Hardwick, Supreme Court Decision

Additional Readings (select 2 per Topic for your journal)
Topic: General Matters of Law
E-Reserves
Halley, "Sexual Orientation and the Politics of Biology," Stanford Law Review 46 (1994) 503-68.
Copelon, "A Crime not Fit to be Named" in Kairys, The Politics of Law, 177-194
Fajer, "Can Two Real Men Eat Quiche Together?," University of Miami Law Review 46.3 (Jan. 1992) 511-652
Polikoff, "Educating Judges about Lesbian and Gay Parenting," Law & Sexuality 1 (1991) 173-237
White House Working Group on the Family, "The Family: Preserving America's Future. A Report to the President," 2 December 1986.
On-Line
Slebos, W, "The 1991-2 Report of the Duke University Task Force on Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Matters": http://www.duke.edu/web/SXL/LGBTF/LGBTF92.html
Duke University LGB history: html://www.duke.edu/web/SXL/DukeLGBhistory.html
Progress toward Gay Marriages: Hawaii 1996, Alaska 1998.
Material Queer
Selfa, "Identity Politics", p. 46
Chicago GayLib, "Working Paper", p. 49
LG Studies Reader
Hall, "Deviance, Politics, and the Media", pp. 62-90
Meyer, "Robert Mapplethorpe and the Discipline of Photography", pp. 360-380
Topic: Bowers v. Hardwick
E-Reserves
Haayes, "Heightened Equal Protection Scrutiny after Bowers v. Hardwick," Boston College Law Review 31 (1990) 375-475.
Topic: Colorado
E-Reserves
Zamansky, "Colorado's Amendment 2," Boston College Law Review 35 (1994) 221-258.
On-Line
1.: Nov. 1992: Evans et al., representing the cities of Aspen, Boulder, and Denver, petition the governor, Romer, to declare Amendment 2, approved 3 Nov. 1992, null & void
2.: May. 1993: oral arguments before the Colorado State Supreme Court
3.: July 1993: decision of the Colorado State Supreme Court to reverse the preliminary injunction on Amendment 2, and remand for trial
4.: Dec. 1993: District Court declares Amendment 2 unconstitutional
5.: Oct. 1994: Colorado State Supreme Court overturns the District Court, declaring Amendment 2 constitutional
6.: Oct. 1995: oral arguments before the US Supreme Court
7.: May 1996: US Supreme Court strikes down Amendment 2
Topic: Cincinnati
E-Reserves
Sherrill, "Expert Opinion" in the case "Equality Foundation of Greater Cincinnati v. City of Cincinnati" (1993).
On-Line
1.: Nov. 1992: Cincinnati includes sexual orientation in its anti-discrimination clause prompting "Equal Rights Not Special Rights" to propose an anti-homosexual amendment
2.: Nov. 1993: District Court grants a preliminary injunction to stop the amendment, "Issue 3", from appearing on the Nov. ballot
3.: Aug. 1994: "Equality Foundation" petitions the District Court to uphold the preliminary injunction that stopped the amendment, "Issue 3", from appearing on the ballot of Nov. 1993; Issue 3 declared unconstitutional
4.: 12 May 1995: in an automatic appeal, the US Circuit Court of Appeals overturns the District Court's ruling, finding that homosexuals are defined as people who do acts that are, in Ohio, illegal
5.: 11 Sept. 1995: "Equality Foundation" petitions the Supreme Court to reverse the Apellate court's decision
6.: 11 Sept. 1995: Amici Curiae co-petition the Supreme Court in support of "Equality Foundation"
7.: 17 June 1996: the Supreme Court, upholding the District Court, returns the decision to the Apellate Court for correction; the dissent is attached


Feb 24 MIDTERM


UNIT 3

Queers in Other Cultures

Lectures & Discussions:

Feb 29 (T); Mar 2 (Th), 7 (T), 9 (Th)

Topics

Greek Pederasty
Homosexuality in Other Cultures

Readings
Required Readings
E-Reserves
Bremmer, "Greek Pederasty and Modern Homosexuality"
Roscoe, W, The Zuni Man-Woman, pp. 195-214
Kimball "Aztec Homosexuality: The Textual Evidence," Journal of Homosexuality 26.1 (1993) 7-24
Schmitt, A, ed., Sexuality & Eroticism in Moslem Societies, pp. 1-24 & 25-32.
R Grémaux, "Mannish Women of the Balkan Mountains" in J Bremmer, From Sappho to De Sade, 143-172
Smith-Rosenberg, "Relations between Women in the Nineteeth Century," in Smith-Rosenberg, Disorderly Conduct, pp. 53-76

Additional Readings (select 2 per Topic for your journal)
Topic: Greek Pederasty
E-Reserves
Winkler, "Laying Down the Law" in Constraints of Desire
Dover, "Homosexuality & Initiation"
Material Queer
Plato, "Symposium", p. 64
LG Studies Reader
Winkler, "Double Consciousness in Sappho's Lyrics", pp. 577-594
Topic: Homosexuality in Other Cultures
Material Queer
Tsang, "Queer 'n Asian", p. 310
LG Studies Reader
Furth, "Gender Boundaries in 16th- and 17th Century China", pp. 479-497
Whitehead, "Homosexuality in Native North America", pp. 498-427
Nandra, "Hijras as Neither Man nor Woman", pp. 542-552

Mar 11-19 SPRING BREAK


UNIT 4

Queers in Our Culture

Lectures & Discussions:

Mar 21 (T)
Mar 23 (Th)Mar 23: Exercise 2 DUE

Mar 28 (T), 30 (Th); Apr 4 (T), 6 (Th), 22 (Tu)

Topics

AfroAmerican Same-gender Loving
White & Latino Lesbians & Gays
Readings
Required Readings
E-Reserves
Goldsby, "What it Means to be Colored Me," Out/Look, Summer 1990, 8-17.
Gomez & Smith, "Homophobia in the Black Community," Feminist Review 34 (Spring 1990) 47-55
Nestle, "Butch-Femme Relationships," in Nestle, A Restricted Country, 100-109
Material Queer
Moraga, Queer Aztlán", p. 297
LG Studies Reader
Newton, "Lesbians in Cherry Grove, 1960-1988", pp. 528-541

Additional Readings (select 2 per Topic for your journal)
Topic: AfroAmerican Same-gender Loving
Material Queer
Staples, "Homosexuality & the Black Male", p. 229
Topic: White & Latino Lesbians & Gays
E-Reserves
Creet, "The Psychodynamics of Lesbian S/M Fantasy," differences 3.2 (1991) 135-159.
LG Studies Reader
Abelove, "Freud, Male Homosexuality, and the Americans", pp. 381-93
Almaguer, "Chicano Men", pp. 255-273
Case, "Toward a Butch-Femme Aesthetic", pp. 294-306
Clark, "Commodity Lesbianism", pp. 186-201


UNIT 5

AIDS

Lectures & Discussions:

Apr 11 (T), 13 (Th), 18 (T), 20 (Th)
Apr 25 (Th)Apr 25: Term Papers/Projects DUE
Turn in Journals

Topics

Readings
Required Readings
TEXT: Crimp, AIDS: Cultural Analysis, Cultural Activism
E-Reserves
Patton, "Visualizing Safe Sex:," Inside/Out 373-86
Crimp, "Portraits of People with AIDS" in Grossberg et al, eds., Cultural Studies 117-133

Additional Readings (select 2 per Topic for your journal)
E-Reserves
Watney, "AIDS, Pornography, and Law" in Watney, Policing Desire, 7-21
Material Queer
Watney, "AIDS & the Writing of History", p. 236
LG Studies Reader
Alonso & Koreck, "Silences: 'Hispanics,' AIDS, and Sexual Practices", pp. 110-26
Patton, "From Nation to Family: Containing African AIDS", 127-38
Harper, "Eloquence and Epitaph", pp. 159-75
Watney, "The Spectacle of AIDS", pp. 202-11
Selden, "'Just When You Thought It Was Safe ...'", pp. 221-26


YOUR JOURNAL


Due Dates
Hand in your journal on 22 Feb and on 25 Apr. I will photocopy them to read, and hand them back to you the next class day.

Requirements

  • The journals are to consist of notes taken and observations made on the readings; I do not expect you to read everything.
  • Minimum number of readings: there should be at least two sets of notes on readings per class session (27 sessions = 54 annotated readings);
  • and one-third of these (18) must be on non-required readings.

    Articles suitable for readings should average no less than 10 pages each -- some articles are, of course, shorter, but I shall get irritated if most of the articles are very short.

    For the non-required readings, you may pick from the recommended readings or find other articles that interest you.

    For each article that you write notes on, give the author & title, then your notes.



    EXERCISES

    Exercise 1: Analysis of a TV SitCom (due 23 Feb)

    Your analysis should be short -- no more than 5 double-spaced pages long!

    Before you begin your analysis, please put, at the top of the paper (in single space):

  • Title of the SitCom
  • Subtitle of the episode (if there is one); station, day and hour watched
  • short, 1 paragraph, description of the plot of the episode, including a short description of the main characters

    Your analysis should treat the personal relationships among the characters; in your analysis include, but do not limit yourself to, how each person treats others in terms of their gender, sexual orientation, and affection, and the stated and unstated norms and deviances of behavior.


    Exercise 2: Analysis of a Personal Relationship (due 22 Apr)

    Your analysis should be short -- no more than 5 double-spaced pages long!

    Include with your paper the notes you took during your observations (see below).

    Before you begin your analysis, please put, at the top of the paper (in single space):

    a short, 1 paragraph, description of the people whose relationship you are analyzing; use pseudonymns, NOT real names!

    Your analysis should be based on observations taken over a space of time, at least a week. Do not tell the people you are observing what you are doing; merely observe, and take notes on each occasion.

    As in exercise 1, your analysis should include, but not be limited to, how each person treats others in terms of their gender, sexual orientation, and affection, and the stated and unstated norms and deviances of behavior.



    SAMPLE TERM PROJECTS/PAPER/LEAPS Write-up TOPICS

    For the subject of your term paper or term project, you may

    choose your own subject and do a term paper / project

    or participate in the LEAPS program

  • you must get up with the LEAPS facilitator for the class, and agree to participate fully in LEAPS (weekly meetings, keeping a journal),
  • Once in LEAPS, you may quit and do your own project, but the longer you wait to make this decision the more difficult it will be for you to do your own project.

    Everybody -- I want to talk with you personally about your term project/paper before Feb. 17 when you formally tell me what you will be doing.

    For non-LEAPers:
    I would very much like to see projects that deal with homosocial, homoerotic, & homosexual expressions in non-western cultures in pre-industrial cultures.

    Preliminary bibliography: http://www.duke.edu/web/SXL/cross-cultural.html
    Note: not all the articles in this bibliography deal with homoeroticism.


    Other TERM PROJECTS that I would like to see done (many of these could be done by 2 or more students)

  • maintaining a Web site for this course
  • compiling queer resources available through e-mail/gopher/ftp/www etc.
  • putting together a series of 4 films that we could all see
  • designing a queer resources publication for the Duke-Durham area
  • designing a safe-sex publication (down-to-earth, reliable facts, no hedging) for Duke students
  • designing a queer-friendly introduction to Duke for in-coming students at Orientation
  • helping the LGB Life Center develop its resources
  • helping Melissa Delbridge develop Perkins's LGB resources and/or design an up-to-date directory of Perkins's LGB resources
  • attitudes to Homosexuality on the Duke Campus
  • designing a Society Free of Discrimination

  • A Short Guide Series:
  • to Queer Theory
  • to Queer Activism
  • to Queer Cultures
    •



    RESERVES


    For a partial list of Perkin's Library holdings in queer studies, see: http://www.duke.edu/web/SXL/biblio.html

    Photocopied articles are now available on E-Reserves; search for "younger;sxl115" or (for unknown reasons) "younger;eng101".

    For a list of the materials on E-Reserves: http://www.duke.edu/web/SXL/reserve.html



    To return to the top of this document

    John Younger