Module 1 Assignment

So, one of the tricky things about this class is we’ll get PhD students from MWGS who specialize in gender and sexualities, and first semester MA students from SOC, who are just getting started in their academic careers. This module is designed to give some background and introduce some basic concepts, so I would like you to harness either your expertise, or your willingness to learn by defining a concept related to gender and sexualities, and providing an example of it.

I would like these to be in your words, so no copy and pasting!

Please post 2 paragraphs, 1 where you define and explain a term (use plain language and make it so someone who has never heard of this would understand it), and 1 where you give a concrete example of it in action.

You can pick whatever term/concept you want, so long as it relates to gender and/or sexualities. Some examples include: patriarchy, the male gaze, gender socialization, feminism, doing gender, queer theory, sexual identity, trans, identity politics, and intersectionality.

Module 1 Assignment Answer

Non-binary, also referred to as genderqueer, are individuals who identify themselves as neither female nor male. This is part of the concept of gender identity. In gender identity, it is considered as someone’s perceived/internalized gender of themselves. Non-binary are individuals who feel that they do not fit to these two conventional identities (Matsuno and Budge 2017). There can also be instances where non-binary people perceive themselves as somehow more associated with either femininity or masculinity; however, the key is that they do not comply with just a strict gender identity (ie. female/male).