Women Studies 200 Paper #1
Fall 2003
B. Erbaugh

Due date: Thursday Sept. 18—BRING 2 COPIES TO CLASS

Length: 3-5 pages double-spaced

Topic: Gender Socialization

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate your thinking about how you arrived at the beliefs and values you now hold about sex and gender, and how those beliefs/values influence who you are and how you perceive the world.

Guidelines:
1.  Specifically state at least one of your beliefs regarding sex and gender (for example, do you agree or disagree with any of the opinions presented in one of the readings or discussed in class?  Do you hold certain values about your own gender? Are certain elements of wo/manhood good/bad?  Are the origins of sex and gender innate or learned?)

2.  Discuss where you think the beliefs came from (family, community, peers, religion, etc., or some combination?  Are ethnicity, race, class, etc. important factors?).

3.  Make at least one reference to an assigned reading or a topic discussed in class.

4.  The paper should be typed and double-spaced with 1-inch margins.  Correct spelling and grammar is expected.

5.  You must use citations correctly!  This means using quotes correctly when using text word-for-word, citing your source when paraphrasing someone else's idea, and in either case, providing the author's name, year published, and if a quote, the page number.  You can use any citation style (ASA, APA, MLA), as long as you are consistent.  Examples of acceptable ways to cite sources follow.

If quoting a text book:
I agree with the authors of Women, Men and Society that "the development of a masculine or feminine gender identity is quite independent of either the presence of a pair of XY or XX sex chromosomes..." (Renzetti & Curran 1999, 41).

If paraphrasing:
Gender can be understood as a process, a social institution and a stratification system (Lorber 2000).

If using an article from the reader or E-Reserves:
It can be argued that there are at least five biological sexes (Fausto-Sterling 1993).

If referencing lecture/discussion in class:
Labels like "bitch" and "faggot" are used to enforce social norms about gender (class discussion, Jan. 30).

Then your bibliography/references would look like this:

Fausto-Sterling, Anne.  1993.  "The Five Sexes: Why Male and Female Are Not Enough."  Course reader.

Lorber, Judith.  2000.  "The Social Construction of Gender."  In Reconstructing Gender: A Multicultural Anthology, 2^nd edition, E. Disch, ed. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co.

Renzetti, Claire M. and Daniel J. Curran.  1999.  Women, Men, and Society, 4th Edition.  Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.