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Syllabus

The Anthropology of Sex

391S

Fall 2008
 

Marc L. Moskowitz
Office:  HM 209
Tel: (803) 777-1536
Office Hours: T/Th 2-3:30 and by appointment.

E-mail: moskowit@gwm.sc.edu
Web Page: http://people.cas.sc.edu/moskowitz

Classroom: SUM 213
Time:
T/Th 9:30-10:45

 

Course Description

This course is a cross-cultural examination of sexual ideologies and practices. In it, we will address a wide range of cultural manifestations of sexuality and variations within particular cultures. The course will primarily be focused on contemporary culture but we will also address historical shifts in conceptualizing sexuality as a moral and medicalized discourse. The majority of readings for the course will focus on East Asia and the United States but we will also address other areas of the world including India, Latin America, and other regions of the world. There will be a special emphasis on cultural, economic, political, and religious influences on sexual thought and practice though we will also touch on psychological and other theoretical models of sexuality.

Warning: As the title of this course implies, we will cover a wide range of sensitive topics including abortion, homosexuality, masturbation, sexual religious imagery (including in the Old and New Testament), and other related topics.  Please think seriously about whether or not such issues will offend you before you decide to take this class.

Required Reading List

Dikötter, Frank. 1995. Sex, Culture and Modernity in China. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press.

Moskowitz, Marc L. 2001. The Haunting Fetus: Abortion, Sexuality, and the Spirit World in Taiwan. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

Articles

Grade Points

Paper 1

100

 

 

Paper 2

100

 

 

Paper 3

100

 

 

Midterm

350

 

 

Final Exam

350

 

 

 

 

 

 

Total Possible Points

1000

 

 

 

Films (Movies and Documentaries)

I will show several films in this class.  The films may appear on the exams.  If you miss class on a day I am showing a film it is your responsibility to get notes from a classmate and/or try to see it.  I do not lend my films out. Also, I do not guarantee that you will be able to find all of these films at our library or at the local rental store.  I also reserve the right to show a film on a day other than the one it is scheduled for.

 

Late Papers

Late papers will be accepted but will also be penalized 10 points for every day that they are late. If they are not turned in during class they will be considered to be a day late. I do not accept e-mailed papers.

 

Academic Honesty

To protect the majority of students who are honest, anyone who is caught cheating or plagiarizing will flunk the class (not just the assignment) and I will report them to the dean.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, the student will:
                Recognize and apply basic anthropological terminology and concepts.
                Have a command of the most important theoretical approaches to human sexuality.
                Understand different historical shifts in conceptualizing sexuality.
                Understand the range of different culturally bound beliefs about sexuality.
                Have a better understanding of gender issues in the US and in several other countries throughout the world.
                Have a better understanding of human sexuality in the US and in several other countries throughout the world.

Reading Schedule

You should complete the readings before class on the days that they are assigned.

   
 

Th 8/21   IntroductionNo assigned reading for today 

T 8/26   Power Point about the “Pre-History” of Sex. 
Bornoff, Nicholas. 1991. “The Creation Myths” In Pink Samurai: Love, Marriage, & Sex in Contemporary Japan, 3-14. New York: Pocket Books. 
and 
Meynell, Francis and Vivian Ridler, eds. [1611] 1963. “The Song of Solomon.” The Holy Bible, Saint James Version. 2: 406-412. New York: Random House. 
and

Ensler, Eve. [1998] 2001. The Vagina Monologues. New York: Villard Press. Pp 9-11, 33-55, 65-68, 91-92.

Th 8/28 DocumentaryThe Celluloid Closet
Schwartz, Kit. 1985. “Manual Pollution and the ‘Big M’ Plague.” In The Male Member. 20-31. New York: St. Martin's Press.
and
Schwartz, Kit. 1985. “Thrust Not or Forever Hold Your Piece.” In The Male Member. 74-91. New York: St. Martin's Press.

T 9/2
Freud, Sigmund. [1905] 1962. “Infantile Sexuality.” In Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality.  James Strachey, trans. 39-61. New York: Avon Books.

Th 9/4
Foucault, Michel. [1978] 1990. “The Perverse Implantation.” In The History of Sexuality: An Introduction.  Volume 1, Trans. Robert Hurley, 36-49. New York: Vintage Books.


T 9/9
Bordo, Susan R. 1989. “The Body and the Reproduction of Femininity: A Feminist Appropriation of Foucault.” In Gender/Body/Knowledge: Feminist Reconstructions of Being and Knowing, ed. Alison M. Jaggar and Susan R. Bordo, 13-33. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press.

Th 9/11 Paper 1 Due
Bordo, Susan. 1993. “Reading the Male Body.” Michigan Quarterly Review. Volume 32.

T  9/16 MovieThe Rocky Horror Picture Show. (Jim Sharman. 1975. 100 min)
Nanda, Serena. 1985. “The Hijras of India: Cultural and Individual Dimensions of an Institutionalized third Gender Role.” Journal of Homosexuality. 11(3/4): 35-54.

Th 9/18
Levi, Heather. 1998. “Lean Mean Fighting Queens: Drag in the World of Mexican Professional Wrestling.” Sexualities. 1(3):275-285.
and
Kulick, Don. 1997.
The Gender of Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes.”  American Anthropologist  99(3): 574-585.

T 9/23
Wardlow, Holly. 2004. "Anger, Economy, and Female Agency: Problematizing "Prostitution" and 'Sex Work' among the Huli of Papua New Guinea." Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 29(4): 1018-1040.

Th 9/25
Junge, Benjamin. 2002. "Bareback Sex, Risk, and Eroticism: Anthropological Themes (Re-)Surfacing in the Post-AIDS Era." In  Out in Theory: The Emergence of Lesbian and Gay Theory, ed. Ellen Lewin and William L. Leap, 186-221. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.

T 9/30
Kulick, Don. 2005. "Four Hundred Thousand Swedish Perverts." Gay and Lesbian Quarterly 11(2): 205-235.

Th 10/2 Midterm Exam

T 10/7 MovieBoys Don’t Cry. Warning: This is a very good movie but it is also extremely upsetting and contains graphic violence and rape. Please talk to me in advance about doing an alternative assignment if you do not wish to see this movie.
Rich, Adrienne. 1983. “Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence.” In Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality, ed. Ann Snitow, Christine Stansell, and Sharon Thompson, 177-205. New York: Monthly Review Press.

Th 10/9 No ClassFall Break

T 10/14
Carrier, Joseph M. and Stephen O. Murray. 1998. "Woman-Woman Marriage in Africa." In Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of African Homosexuality, ed. Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe, 255-
266. New York: St. Martin's Press.
and
Ajen, Nii. 1998. "West African Homoeroticism: West African Men Who Have Sex with Men." In Boy-Wives and Female Husbands: Studies of African Homosexuality, ed. Stephen O. Murray and Will Roscoe, 129-138. New York: St. Martin's Press.

Th 10/16
Greenfeld, Karl Taro. 1994. “Choco Bon-Bon and Emi: The Perfect Tuna.”  In Speed Tribes: Days and Nights with Japan’s Next Generation, 85-114. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
and
Willis, Ellen. 1983. “Feminism, Moralism, and Pornography.” In Powers of Desire: The Politics of Sexuality, ed. Ann Snitow, Christine Stansell, and Sharon Thompson,  460-467. New York: Monthly Review Press.

T 10/21

Moskowitz, Marc L. 2008. "Multiple Virginity, Barbarian Prince Charmings, and Other Contested Realities in Taipei's Foreign Club Culture. Sexualities.

Th 10/23
Documentary
The Lynchburg Story: Eugenic Sterilization in America.
Dikötter Chapter 2. The Passive Sex: the Naturalization of Gender Distinctions .

T 10/28
Dikötter Chapter 3. Sexual Desire and Human Procreation.

Th 10/30
Dikötter Chapter 4. ‘Four Hundred Million Siblings’: The Regulation of ‘Population.”

T 11/4
Dikötter  Chapter 5. ‘Civilization is Syphilization’: The Cultural Meanings of ‘Disease.’

Th 11/6
Dikötter Chapter 6. The Cultural Construction of ‘Youth.’

T 11/11
Dikötter Chapter 7. Epilogue: The Regulation of Sexuality in the People’s Republic.
and
Moskowitz
            Chapter 1. Introduction. 

Th 11/13 Paper 3 Due
Documentary
Guardians of the Flutes
Moskowitz
            Chapter 2. Beyond the Percentages: Abortion and Meaning in Taiwan.
            Chapter 3. Made in Japan? The First Stages of  the Adoption and Adaptation of a Japanese Religious Practice in Taiwan.

T 11/18
Moskowitz
            Chapter 4. Fetus Ghosts and Traditional Beliefs in Taiwan.
            Chapter 5. The Haunting Fetus.

Th 11/20

Moskowitz 
            Chapter 6. Written and Visual Media.
            Chapter 7. Religious Masters and their Temples.

T 11/25

Moskowitz 
          Chapter 8. Illness, Healing, and the Limitations of Fetus-Ghost Appeasement.
          Chapter 9. Sexuality and the Haunting Fetus.

11/26-11/30 No ClassThanksgiving Break

T 12/2
Moskowitz 
         Chapter 10. Blood-Drinking Fetus Demons – Greed, Loathing and Vengeance through Sorcery in Taiwan. 
         Chapter 11. Conclusion: Fetus Spirits and the Commodification of Sin. 

Th 12/4 No Reading todaytime for review.

Final ExamMonday, December 8, 2:00.