Course

The Anthropology of Gender And Sexuality

Faculty
Humanities & Social Sciences
Department
Anthropology
Course code
ANTH 2240
Credits
3.00
Semester length
15 weeks
Max class size
35
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Course designation
Certificate in Global Competency
Industry designation
None
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
Human sexual expression may begin in biology, but like all things human, culture heavily influences human sexuality. Cultural influence on sexual expression occurs in relation to behaviour, desire and meaning. It is manifest in gender and gender norms. For humans, sexuality ties together body/mind/society. This course is a cross-cultural survey of the forms of human sexual expression, their relation to culture, and their expression in gender.
Course content

The Anthropological Perspective and Theoretical Orientation

  • Theories of gender and sexuality in the social sciences

Biology vs. Culture

Biological Orientations

  • The biological basis for sexuality and gender
  • Primate studies

Cultural Orientations

  • Culture and personality
  • Love
  • Marriage
  • Incest Taboo

The Impact of Material Conditions on the Expression of Sexuality and Gender

  • Foragers: sexual and gender equality?
  • Horticulturalists and pastoralists: the origins of sexual inequality?
  • Agriculturalists and Industrialists: ideologies of sexual inequality

Ideological Constraints on the Expression of Gender and Sexuality

  • Birth and social difference
  • Religion
  • Language and its influence
Learning activities

The course will employ a variety of instructional methods to accomplish its objectives, including some of the following:  lectures, seminar presentations, audio-visual materials including video and research papers.

Means of assessment

Evaluation will be carried out in accordance with Douglas College policy.  The instructor will provide a written course outline with specific evaluation criteria at the beginning of the semester.

Instructors may use a student’s record of attendance and/or level of active participation in the course as part of the student’s graded performance. Where this occurs, expectations and grade calculations regarding class attendance and participation will be clearly defined in the Instructor Course Outline.

An example of one possible evaluation scheme would be:

Mid-term exam  25%
Final exam  30%
Research Paper             30%
Participation    5%
Presentation  10%
Total 100%
Learning outcomes

At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:
1. Describe and discuss the biological and social bases for sexuality, including problems of methodology 
and meaning.
2. Articulate the relation of the presentation of the self in relations to sex roles and social roles.
3. Explain the relation of incest taboos to the social boundaries of sexuality, in relation to classical theory 
and ‘pop’ anthropology.
4. Describe the basic forms of human sexuality and the cross-cultural attitudes toward them.
5. Discuss the process of sexual development according to sex research.
6. Discuss and explain the politics of sexuality in various cultures.
7. Articulate the relation of sexuality to spirituality and describe the religious uses of sexual expression.
8. Explain the relationship between sexual expression and social control.
9. Discuss rites of passage and human sexuality in selected cultural contexts.
10. Describe and discuss the relationship between sex, gender and mass media.
11. Articulate the relationship of sexuality to disease and illness.
12. Explain how human beings use their sexual expression to create personal meaning and shared 
collective meaning in their lives.

At the conclusion of the course the successful student will be able to:

  1. Describe and discuss the biological and social bases for sexuality, including problems of methodology and meaning.
  2. Articulate the relation of the presentation of the self in relations to sex roles and social roles.
  3. Explain the relation of incest taboos to the social boundaries of sexuality, in relation to classical theory and ‘pop’ anthropology.
  4. Describe the basic forms of human sexuality and the cross-cultural attitudes toward them.
  5. Discuss the process of sexual development according to sex research.
  6. Discuss and explain the politics of sexuality in various cultures.
  7. Articulate the relation of sexuality to spirituality and describe the religious uses of sexual expression.
  8. Explain the relationship between sexual expression and social control.
  9. Discuss rites of passage and human sexuality in selected cultural contexts.
  10. Describe and discuss the relationship between sex, gender and mass media.
  11. Articulate the relationship of sexuality to disease and illness.
  12. Explain how human beings use their sexual expression to create personal meaning and shared collective meaning in their lives.

Textbook materials

Will consist of a generic text plus ethnographic or case studies. Typical examples include:

  • Brettell, C. and Sargent, C. (2005).  Gender in Cross-Cultural Perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
  • Abu-Lughod, L. (2008).  Writing Women’s World’s: Bedouin Stories.  Berkeley: University of California Press.
  • Klein, L. (2004).  Women and Men in World Cultures.  Toronto: McGraw-Hill.
  • Herdt, G. (2006).  The Sambia: Ritual, Sexuality, and Change in Papua New Guniea.  Toronto: Nelson Education.

Requisites

Prerequisites

ANTH 1100 or SOCI 1125

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

No equivalent courses.

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for ANTH 2240
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX ANTH 2XX (3)
Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) KPU ANTH 2XXX (3)
Langara College (LANG) LANG ANTH 2260 (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU SA 1XX (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) TRU ANTH 2250 (3)
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU ANTH 2XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO ANTH_O 2nd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV ANTH_V 2nd (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC ANTH 2XX (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV ANTH 1XX (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC ANTH 2XX (1.5)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum seats
35
Currently enrolled
30
Remaining seats:
5
On waitlist
0
Building
Anvil Office Tower
Room
624
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
15:20
Section notes

This course can count towards an Associate of Arts specialization in Women's Studies and Gender Relations.