Gender & Sexuality Studies

The term "gender" was first distinguished from "sex" in the 1950s, when psychologists began to discuss the idea of "gender roles" - behaviors and responsibilities given to people by a society rather than flowing from their biology. Over the last two decades, transgender people have expandedour understanding of gender even further, introducing to the mainstream the concept of "gender identity," an individual's understanding of their own gender. Along the way, there have been numerous debates and controversies (i.e., what is the influence of biology on gender, how does the media impactgender and gender roles, and do transgender people reinforce gender stereotypes or help to free us from them?). In an easy-to-read format that includes questions and short responses, Gender: What Everyone Needs to Know guides the reader through basic definitions; the history of gender as a concept;the role of biology, psychology, and culture on gender; and gender norms over time and across the globe.

This volume presents a collection of the most recent knowledge on the relationship between gender and fashion in historical and contemporary contexts. Through fourteen essays divided into three segments--how dress creates, disrupts, and transcends gender--the essays investigate gender issues through the lens of fashion. Crossing Gender Boundaries first examines how clothing has been, and continues to be, used to create and maintain the binary gender division that has come to permeate Western and westernized cultures. Next, it explores how dress can be used to contest and subvert binary gender expectations, before a final section that considers the meaning of gender and how dress can transcend it, focusing on unisex and genderless clothing. The essays consider how fashion can both constrict and free gender expression, explore the ways dress and gender are products of one other, and illuminate the construction of gender through social norms. Readers will find that through analysis of the relationship between gender and fashion, they gain a better understanding of the world around them.

A fun, colorful, community-based resource that illustrates the beautiful diversity of gender - a gender 101 for everyone!

Also ONLINE @ thegenderbook.com

Analyzes current trends in contemporary culture in gender and sexuality.

Explores the following: Hinduism -- Buddhism --Judaism --Christianity -- Islam --Ancient cultures and tribal religions.

Sexual desire and gender -- Sexual behavior and gender -- Uncommitted sexual relationships -- Sex and marriage -- The politics of sexuality -- But how do we use what we know? Questions and answers.

Explores how public toilets demarcate the masculine and the feminine and condition ideas of gender and sexuality. Based on 100 interviews with GLBT and/or intersex peoples in major North American cities, Cavanagh delves into the ways that queer and trans communities challenge the rigid gendering and heteronormative composition of public washrooms.

Heralded as required reading (Geoff Nunberg) and the book (Anne Fadiman) for anyone interested in the conversation swirling around gender-neutral and nonbinary pronouns, What's Your Pronoun? is a classic in the making. Providing much-needed historical context and analysis to the debate around what we call ourselves, Dennis Baron brings new insight to a centuries-old topic and illuminates how and why these pronouns are sparking confusion and prompting new policies in schools, workplaces, and even statehouses. Enlightening and affirming, What's Your Pronoun? introduces a new way of thinking about language, gender, and how they intersect.