“I was going to die, if not sooner then later, whether or not I had ever spoken myself. My silences had not protected me. Your silence will not protect you. What are the words you do not yet have? What do you need to say? What are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, still in silence? Perhaps for some of you here today, I am the face of one of your fears. Because I am a woman, because I am Black, because I am lesbian, because I am myself — a Black woman warrior poet doing my work — come to ask you, are you doing yours?” —Audre Lorde, “The Transformation of Silence Into Language and Action”
Sex and Power is an interdisciplinary course that poses intersectional questions about the relationship between gender, sex, and power and asks students to engage with the broader social, cultural, and political implications of institutional misogyny and other forms of discrimination. We will consider big picture questions relating to women in politics, gender and the economy, sexual equity, women’s movements, gender and race, transphobia, popular culture, and much more. The course will culminate in student-led projects that identify a specific gender-based problem and envision and articulate possible solutions.
Throughout the term we will use this website as a resource for those in the class and those simply interested in the topics and themes we will be discussing. We will provide our syllabus, suggested readings, podcasts, interviews, webinars and much more! We hope that you will follow along!
