AP/ANTH 2170 6.00 Sex, Gender and the Body: Cross-Cultural Approaches to the Body, Gender, Sexuality and Kinship

Is biology destiny? Are gender and sexual differences such as “male promiscuity”, “female monogamy”, “heterosexuality” and “homosexuality” genetically hardwired or socially constructed? How do we explain the range of sexualities people experience? Are all intimate relationships based on “love”? Is the “nuclear family” the basic building block of all societies? This course introduces students to what anthropologists know about sex, sexuality, gender, kinship, and the body cross-culturally. We will critically examine both common sense and scientific notions of what is “natural” (and what is not) about these categories.

Human nature is most often understood as rooted in biology – bodies are classified as ‘male’ or ‘female’, ‘heterosexual’ or ‘homosexual’, and are assumed to be distinct based on biological (hormonal, chemical, and physiological) differences. We often hear about “human nature” or “natural differences” as a way of explaining gendered and sexual identities and behaviours. Anthropologists, however, take a cultural approach to understanding human nature, gender and sexual diversity, and socio-sexual relations. In this course, students will learn how cultural our ideas about nature really are and explore the implications of these ideas for individuals and societies.

Course Director: A. Steinforth - asteinfo@yorku.ca