REGULATION OF GENDER PAPER

DUE Friday Nov 20

You are to pick a two-day period anytime in the 2 weeks prior to NOVEMBER 20 when you will note each time you become aware of how or when gender is regulated. The purpose of this assignment is for you to notice the many different ways that gender regulations manifest and to use our course texts to analyze the insidiousness of gender regulations within contemporary society.

Instructions:

Step 1: Select a two-day period when you will be able to take note of each time you observe gender regulations and subversions. In other words, you might notice that you are expected to wear gendered clothes, or you might notice that you subvert gender expectations through your clothing. You might notice particular spaces that regulate gender, or you might be engaged in conversations with language that reinforces normative gender ideas. You might see a television show with a character who intentionally transgresses gender, or you might watch a movie that tacitly prescribes gender norms. You might notice toys in a store that are gendered, or you might notice paperwork with questions that instill normative ideas about gender. You might notice someone, or yourself, exhibiting male privilege, or you might notice someone, or yourself, treating people of various genders differently. You do not need to do anything outside of your normal routine during this two-day period. Rather, the point is to notice when gender regulations and transgressions appear in what you read, watch, wear, discuss, in interpersonal relationships, in social norms, etc. Have a journal (or your phone—something to record things) with your from the time you wake up until the time you go to bed for each of the two days.   

Step 2: Go over what you observed. Where did you see gender being regulated and/or subverted? What were the most common ways in which gender was regulated? Were there ways in which ideas were explicitly or implicitly instilled about how different people are supposed to behave based on their perceived gender?

Step 3: In 4-5 double-spaced pages, present an analysis of your two days examining gender regulations. You will not be able to discuss each time gender was regulated. Rather, you will need to draw out themes and/or select a few of the most salient examples for your paper. You will need to ground your explanation in course readings so that you make clear what qualifies as the regulation of gender analytically. How does what you observed about gender fit (or not) with our course texts this semester? Using course texts to guide your analysis, what do your observations reveal about gender possibilities, or limitations, in 2026 (in Haverford/Bryn Mawr, PA)? Make a clear argument (thesis) about how gender is regulated in the present moment in your present location. You need to substantiate your analysis by citing or referencing at least three texts from the semester’s readings throughout your paper.

*Please note: You do not need to disclose anything about your own gender or gender choices. You may do that if it fits with your argument, but it is not necessary because your paper’s analysis/argument will not focus on you. The analysis should focus on how gender is regulated broadly in the present moment.