ENGL 4757 - Be a Man! Masculinity, Race, and Nation

(crosslisted) AMST 4757, FGSS 4757
(CA-AS, ALC-AS, SCD-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. Student option grading.

J. Branfman.

This course analyzes how cultural beliefs about masculinity intersect with race, sexuality, and citizenship. To emphasize how masculine norms vary across cultures, we will use the plural term “masculinities.” Treating gender as a relational system of power, we will investigate how masculinities are defined against femininities, and how different masculinities are defined against each other (for example, the stereotypes of the Latino “bad hombre” vs. the white “all-American football player”). Combining sociological studies with media analysis, we will ask the following questions and more: Where do beliefs about masculinities come from, and how do they change over time? How do these beliefs naturalize certain kinds of violence? How do these beliefs interact with, and help to create, ideas about race and nation?