MODULE 1 NAME: SCHEDULE:
UNIT 2 Gender and Sexuality across time
INRODUCTION
Good day learners! In this unit, you will learn, unlearn, and relearn things with
me. This includes learning the historical roots of gender and sexuality.
Unlearning misconceptions of gender and sexuality and relearning the ideas
that you already have. Furthermore, you will be with me in visiting and
discovering its historical roots.
Welcome to this new adventure!
Learning Compass
At the end of the unit, the students will be able to:
1. Discuss the historical roots of our understanding of gender and sexuality
2. Show appreciation of how this understanding evolved through time affected
various aspect of human life.
LET’S BEGIN
I want you to answer the questions honestly.
1. Have you ever been restrained from doing something just because of your
sexuality(male/female)? If yes, write one (1) instance.
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2. Do you sometimes believe or conform to the superiority of a man(male)? Support your
answer.
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3. In this contemporary world where we live in, does belittling a person because of their
sexuality still occurring in our society? Support you answer.
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WE’RE ON WAY
What do you think are the problems on the images above? Why are these problems existing?
Write at least three(3).
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LET’S DIG DEEPER
Gender History
The history of gender has proved an integral part of the study of the
past. It has brought new perspectives, discovered new data, opened valuable new areas for
enquiry, generated new debates, and simultaneously established itself as an essential
component of all forms of holistic analysis.
History of masculinity emerged and in 1990’s, evidenced by
numerous studies of men in groups, and how concepts of
masculinity shape their values and behavior.
Unlike any classical societies, ancient Romans had a
complicated view of sexuality and gender identity. Their
daughters could take on some of the roles of a son if no
male heir were present.
Women's history could be reinterpreted as an epic of
resistance. Women were seen not as passive
sufferers but as active in empowering their own lives
- despite the sundry cultural, theological, political,
and even legal fetters that hampered them.
Michel Foucault, a French historian, and philosopher
criticizes the "repressive hypothesis", the idea that
western society suppressed sexuality from the 17th
to the mid-20th century due to the rise of
capitalism and bourgeois society. He argues that
discourse on sexuality in fact proliferated during this
period, during which experts began to examine sexuality in a scientific manner, encouraging
people to confess their sexual feelings and actions. In the 18th and 19th, centuries society took
an increasing interest in sexualities that did not fit within the marital bond: the "world of
perversion" that includes the sexuality of children, the mentally ill, the criminal and the
homosexual, while by the 19th century, sexuality was being readily explored both through
confession and scientific enquiry.
The repressive hypothesis supposes that since the rise of the bourgeoisie, any expenditure of
energy on purely pleasurable activities has been frowned upon. As a result, sex has been treated
as a private, practical affair that only properly takes place between a husband and a wife. Sex
outside these confines is not simply prohibited but repressed. That is, there is not simply an
effort to prevent extra-marital sex, but also an effort to make it unspeakable and unthinkable.
Discourse on sexuality is confined to marriage. We cannot free ourselves from this repression
simply by means of theory: we must learn to be more open about our sexuality, to talk about it,
to enjoy it. Discourse on sexuality, seen as a revolt against a repressive system, becomes a
matter of political liberation rather than intellectual analysis.
HOW FAR HAVE WE GONE?
Fill in the blanks for the correct answers.
1. Through history, issues of sexuality and gender have been recently _______.
2. Unlike in many classical societies, _______ could take on some of the roles of a son if no
male heir were present.
3. In particular, ______, a French historian and philosopher, criticizes the "repressive
hypothesis."
4. ________ the idea that western society suppressed sexuality from the 17th to the mid-
20th century due to the rise of capitalism and bourgeois society.
5. The _____ hypothesis supposes that since the rise of the bourgeoisie, any expenditure
of energy on purely pleasurable activities has been frowned upon.
6. ________ on sexuality, seen as a revolt against a repressive system, becomes a matter
of political liberation rather than intellectual analysis
WALK THE EXTRA MILE
Below are the images that best describe the words gender, and sex. I need you
to copy and draw the images on the table that you think would best define the two given
words.
GENDER SEX
