Women's Studies 1021F/G Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Lesbian, Homosexuality, Asian People
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Women's Studies
1021F/G
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
SEXUALITY STUDIES
⚫ Studies the relationship between sexuality and society
⚫ Is an interdisciplinary field that tries to understand how sexuality is shaped
by social, economic, historical, legal and cultural forces
⚫ Purports that sex is not a natural act, it is a social act
⚫ Takes intersectional approach to try and understand how sexuality and
sexual identity are shaped by gender, race, class, ability, age and so on
⚫ Is not value neutral-- Sexual justice, taking away stigma from sexual
practice, all kinds of sex are ok (with consent)
1950s- constraints of what was considered proper sexual activity
1960s- opening of sex outside of relationships
→Birth control, increased pressure for people to have sex
→ Want social norms to be as fair as possible
Sept 23
REVIEW
⚫ Sexuality studies is an interdisciplinary field that studies the relationship
between sexuality and society; its focus is sexual justice; it strives to
understand the complicated ways that sexuality and sexual identity are
always shaped in relation to gender, race and class
⚫ Intersection: “1. a place where two or more roads meet ... 2. any place of
intersection or the act or fact of intersecting.”
Intersectionality: “The interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race,
class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating
overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.”
⚫ Intersectionality: the interrelatedness of social categories (gender, race,
class) as they create integrated systems of discrimination
⚫ Anne Lister (1791-1840) was a propertied, lesbian at a time when few
women owned property and few queers were “out;” she is considered the
“first modern lesbian” because she had self-awareness of her sexuality
If contemplated through an intersectional framework, how might we make sense
of the ways that Anne Lister's sexual expression was both enabled and constrained?
Anne Lister:
If contemplated through an intersectional framework, how might we make sense of the
ways that Anne Lister’s sexual expression was both enabled and constrained?
Video Notes:
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• Anne was sent to an all girls boarding school because she was a tom boys and
badly behaved
• At the school, she ended up being very disruptive to the other girls
• Eliza was Indian looking and was put in an attic with Anne
• The 2 girls were 13 and sort of outcasts, and decided to be husband and wife
• Anne was very mature about her sexuality at such a young age
• Romantic friendship: two girls who are a bit more then friends and would give
each other gifts like locks of hair, underwear
• They would kiss and touch, but they didn’t think that by doing this they are
breaking any rules
• Teachers started noticing the behavior
• Anne started becoming more demanding and aggressive they were considered
acting like a man
• 1816 she was sent to a mental asylum
• Eliza wasn’t in the same class as Anne, so it probably wasn’t an appropriate
relationship
• Anne’s diaries never showed any remorse
• 1817 Anne became infatuated with Elizabeth Brown
• She would wait for Elizabeth after church, go to study classes with her, and ask
her out to tea
• After 2 years of knowing each other, Anne finally kissed her.
• Anne is very seductive and understands the rules and how to get each girl
• Brown was of a lower class then Anne, so she couldn’t see her anymore. She went
to find more sophisticated women
• Anne then met Marianna, pretty girl. Their relationship developed over 3 years.
Anne enjoyed their intimate relationship
• Marianna married Charles, but Anne and Marianna continued to see each other.
Committing ‘adultery” Anne loved this
• Dramatic irony, they had sex during a huge thunderstorm
• Anne became more masculine looking as she grew older facial hair
• Marianna wanted Anne to have a more feminine figure. She didn’t like that Anne
looked different and odd
• Anna was increasingly lonely and isolated because she refused to have
heterosexual relations
• She became a landowner. Very little land in England owned by woman.
Independence
• She met Anne Walker who also owned an estate
• Prudence and romance are fused
• Anne Lister and Walker got married in the church
• Now they own together a huge amount of land, and their status in the community
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
1950s- constraints of what was considered proper sexual activity. Birth control, increased pressure for people to have sex. Want social norms to be as fair as possible. Intersection: 1. a place where two or more roads meet 2. any place of intersection or the act or fact of intersecting. Intersectionality: the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage. Intersectionality: the interrelatedness of social categories (gender, race, class) as they create integrated systems of discrimination. Anne lister (1791-1840) was a propertied, lesbian at a time when few women owned property and few queers were out; she is considered the. First modern lesbian because she had self-awareness of her sexuality. Anne was sent to an all girls boarding school because she was a tom boys and.
