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orichalcum at 01:12pm on 20/09/2005
orichalcum at 01:12pm on 20/09/2005So, I'm about to go off and teach Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World, and give my students the following anonymous survey:
Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World
Anonymous Introductory Survey
This survey is designed to make you think about your assumptions about gender, sexuality, and the ancient world, and also to collect general data about the opinions of the class. This is not a test, and you will not be graded or evaluated on your responses in any way. Please answer briefly and completely honestly. Your confidentiality will be respected.
1. Do you think that women and men are fundamentally different emotionally and mentally? In other words, are there significant biological distinctions in the way that men and women think and their suitability for different mental tasks, or are such distinctions entirely the result of culture and upbringing?
2. Do you think that sexual orientation is biologically or culturally determined? In your opinion, are people born gay, lesbian, or bisexual, or does something in their environment cause their orientation to change? Is this distinction different for men and for women?
3. List three nouns or adjectives that you associate with the ancient Greeks, e.g. “tragedy” or “intelligent”.
4. List three nouns that you associate with the ancient Romans.
And coincidentally, outlawradio and karakara have alerted me to two news articles about the changing face of gender roles and attitudes towards sexuality in the modern world - one on how 60% of Yale undergraduate women interviewed said they wanted to stop working or work only part-time once they had kids: (sorry for bad link but on public computer): http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/20/national/20women.html?pagewanted=1
and another on the FBI's recent increase in agents to fight adult pornography: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091901570.html, while meanwhile I found a third article interesting which detailed a recent study showing a vast increase in the number of women under 30 who have had sexual experience with other women (14% in the 18-29 range) (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/national/16sex.html?hp&ex=1126929600&en=4cb329962222f612&ei=5094&partner=homepage), unmatched by the number of guys with same-sex experience, who are at about 7%, the same as higher age ranges.
Just on the basis of these articles, it seems like American society is careening in a series of rapidly different directions in terms of attitudes towards gender roles and appropriate sexuality. It's a time of change maybe - maybe as important as the 60's. Or maybe, this is just a bubble in a general peaceful trend towards more equality.
Comments invited. You can also respond to the survey if you want, even anonymously.
Gender and Sexuality in the Ancient World
Anonymous Introductory Survey
This survey is designed to make you think about your assumptions about gender, sexuality, and the ancient world, and also to collect general data about the opinions of the class. This is not a test, and you will not be graded or evaluated on your responses in any way. Please answer briefly and completely honestly. Your confidentiality will be respected.
1. Do you think that women and men are fundamentally different emotionally and mentally? In other words, are there significant biological distinctions in the way that men and women think and their suitability for different mental tasks, or are such distinctions entirely the result of culture and upbringing?
2. Do you think that sexual orientation is biologically or culturally determined? In your opinion, are people born gay, lesbian, or bisexual, or does something in their environment cause their orientation to change? Is this distinction different for men and for women?
3. List three nouns or adjectives that you associate with the ancient Greeks, e.g. “tragedy” or “intelligent”.
4. List three nouns that you associate with the ancient Romans.
And coincidentally, outlawradio and karakara have alerted me to two news articles about the changing face of gender roles and attitudes towards sexuality in the modern world - one on how 60% of Yale undergraduate women interviewed said they wanted to stop working or work only part-time once they had kids: (sorry for bad link but on public computer): http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/20/national/20women.html?pagewanted=1
and another on the FBI's recent increase in agents to fight adult pornography: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/19/AR2005091901570.html, while meanwhile I found a third article interesting which detailed a recent study showing a vast increase in the number of women under 30 who have had sexual experience with other women (14% in the 18-29 range) (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/national/16sex.html?hp&ex=1126929600&en=4cb329962222f612&ei=5094&partner=homepage), unmatched by the number of guys with same-sex experience, who are at about 7%, the same as higher age ranges.
Just on the basis of these articles, it seems like American society is careening in a series of rapidly different directions in terms of attitudes towards gender roles and appropriate sexuality. It's a time of change maybe - maybe as important as the 60's. Or maybe, this is just a bubble in a general peaceful trend towards more equality.
Comments invited. You can also respond to the survey if you want, even anonymously.
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