Gender and Sexuality in Chinese Culture

3 credits · Undergraduate

(3 hrs Lecture) This course focuses on Chinese society, culture and conceptions of identity through the prisms of gender and sexuality. Topics include normative social roles as defined by Confucian values, power and sexual dynamics within polygamous households, the social body vs. the biological body and the diversity of atypical bodies in traditional China. Further we will see how gender inequality was appropriated to reflect China's backwardness vis à vis the West and Japan in the modern period, and how contemporary culture and society has sought to free gender expression from the confines of national discourse. Cross-listed: EALC-4713(3), REL-3713(3), REL-4713(3). Restrictions: Students may not hold credit for this course and EALC-3709 | EALC-3713 | EALC-4709 | REL-3713 | REL-4713.