Momcore, Me Too, and Hook-Ups: Gender, Sexuality, and Power in Politics and Practice

Students bring widely varying experiences of relationships, whether romantic, familial, platonic, sexual, or professional. This course provides students an opportunity to explore how power functions in these relationships. Relying on feminist critiques of power, students will examine how constructions of gender and sexuality impact our daily lives as well as how we relate to others in those relationships while negotiating power. Activities, readings, and discussions will prompt students to reflect on ways society constructs sex, gender, and intimacy via media and politics. We will explore the following themes through an intersectional lens: codes of masculinity, concepts and practicalities of affirmative consent in straight and LGBTQIA contexts, sexual harassment and sexual empowerment, and the lived experience of dating, romance, and relationships.